Another month is behind us so I’m back to share what I’ve been reading lately, and more specifically what books I finished in May. I’m happily still ahead of schedule for my Good Reads 2017 reading challenge, so I’m feeling pretty good about the goal I made to read 100 books this year!
Let’s see what I finished last month shall we?
Links found below are Amazon Affiliate links, so if you make a purchase through one of the links I will earn a few cents – and I do mean, a few cents, haha.
The Last Anniversary – Liane Moriarty
This is one of her earlier books, and as I’ve been on a trek to read all of her back catalogue I borrowed it to check off the list. It was an easy read, and as with most of her books there was a mysterious element. One that I didn’t figure out before it was revealed, but then when it was revealed I was like, “oh.” That’s it. I sort of felt flat about it, but it made for a fun, light read. I wasn’t overly in love with, or annoyed by any of the characters and cannot even recall any of their names now, but if you are looking for a light beach read this would fit the bill.
This is the third book in The Lunar Chronicles series, and I’m still keeping it real with the audio books and still absolutely in love with the series. I try to keep all my reviews spoiler free, and this will be no different, but man I love these books. So much so that I bought the first two for my niece for her birthday (but don’t tell her – her birthday is Saturday!). I just love this world Marissa has created. If you enjoy YA with a science fiction element definitely check these out!
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up – Marie Kondo
After it being all the rage for a year or more I figured I’d check out what all the hype was about. I’m a pretty organized girl. I live in a small house and am pretty good about getting rid of things. In face, back when I was first debating a career change I thought about becoming a professional organizer before I decided on the fitness industry. And yet, I still found some tidbits in this book that made me shift the way I was thinking, and even though I had recently gone through my wardrobe and donated a lot of stuff, I donated another entire garbage bag of clothes after reading the book. And that garbage bag of clothes was from my regular wardrobe, not my fitness wardrobe. And take it from me, my regular ward robe is TEENY. But I still got rid of at least 1/3 of it. CRAZY.
Fairest is a Novella from The Lunar Chronicles, considered book 3.5 it follows Queen Levana’s story from a child to “present” (in The Lunar Chronicles series) day. I always enjoy a good back story. Learning why someone is the way they are, and enjoyed this book however not as much as the others. Possibly because it followed Queen Levana and she is the antagonist so I felt it difficult to feel sorry for her. None the less, anyone reading the series would be missing out if they skipped this one as it does provide a lot of great back story and things that will come up in Snow (Book 4)
I learned about this one on What Should I Read Next and being a science fiction lover couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. In a nut shell you’re dealing with alternate realities, and how each decision you make creates another reality. If you watch The Flash, this will make more sense, because it involves the multiverse and different versions of yourself, and a whole lot of mind bending. If you’re not following me it’s probably a pass, but if you are a nerd and understand what nonsense I’m laying down it might be a good book to pick up. It was certainly a thinker. I liked it, and I think I’d like to see it made into a movie.
Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery Read by Rachel McAdams
I’ve read Anne of Green Gables countless times before, but not in the past 20 years or so. WHen I heard Rachel McAdams had voiced the audiobook for Audible I really wanted to check it out and I’m so glad I did. It is an absolute delight. I always considered myself more of a Emily of New Moon fan versus an Anne of Green Gables fan, but this version may have permanently changed my mind. Rachel does such a wonderful job when the book finished I wanted to immediately listen to it again. So, so, so, good.
FOr the record, I had never in my life read the chapter when Matthew dies. I knew what was going to happen from seeing the movie and the chapter title, but could never bring myself to actually read it. So this was the first time I actually heard/read the entire book. And yes, darn Matthew dying still made me cry.
LOVED IT.
THe first 1/4-1/3 I was on the fence about whether or not I liked it, and then something happened (I’m not even sure what) and I gobbled the rest up like a starving child. I don’t know what exactly drew me in so deeply so quickly, but this was one of those books that I found myself thinking about for a week after I finished it. It is one that I will be adding to my book shelf at home for sure because I know it is one I will be reading again and again. Why? I just don’t know, but I loved it to pieces.
Book 4 in The Lunar Chronicles is a looong one. Most of the other books were in the 10-15 hour range for the audiobook versions. This one was just under 24 hours! And yet – – – – give me more! As is the trend with this series, each book brings on two new main characters and while the two new main characters in this book were my least favorite of the 8, I still enjoyed them and the part they played. I’m always so impressed at how authors bring everything together in the end. I would love to write a series but I don’t know if I could do all the weaving good storytellers do. Such a good series. And with a female heroine – actually 4 female heroines. Just what today’s girls need more of!
Let’s go back to Fan Girl for a moment shall we? In Fan Girl the main character Cath, write Fan Fiction for a magical book series (not unlike Harry Potter, but also not like Harry Potter). In Fan Girl we get to read some of her Fan FIction as well as excerpts from some of the “original” series. In Carry On, Rainbow takes her stab at what she considers her fan fiction for this magical world that she created. So Carry On is not intended to be the series, but her fan fiction of the pretend series she created for a book about a girl who writes fan fiction. Confused yet? In fact all of that doesn’t really even matter as this is just a standalone book, but it’s fun to read after having read Fan Girl. Once again, I spent the first part of the book wondering why I was reading it and then – BAM! Sucked in and read the rest of it in an afternoon. This seems to be a trend with me.
The Sword of Summer – Magnus Chase & The Gods of Asgard 1 – Rick Riordan
Last year I read and really enjoyed the Heroes of Olympus so thought I’d check out this series by the same author. In fact I had purchased book two in this series last fall, not realizing it was book 2 so have been waiting for book 1 to be available at the library.
I didn’t hate it. It was interesting. But not that interesting. If I didn’t already have book 2 I’d skip it entirely, but since I have it I’ll give it a go.
Liane’s first book, and the last one I read. You can tell it was her first book ,especially as someone who has now read all of her later work. And had I read this one first I bet I would have enjoyed it a lot more. As it is I can barely even claim to have read it as I was bored and used my speed reading skills to get through this quickly so I could move on. As I rule, I never speed read even though I know how, but I made the exception here. I was just bored. And coming right off of reading another book that I found a bit dull I couldn’t help but speed read to put myself out of my boredom.
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
With all the hype this is getting this spring thanks to the mini series on TV and with all that’s going on in the world these days I decided I’d get the audiobook (read by Claire Danes) so I could say I’ve read it. My brother read it in high school and I remember bits and pieces about what he said about it, things that never exactly made sense until I read it. And now, he makes perfect sense. Just don’t tell him that. Anyway, as a lover of “fluff” when I read, this was pretty heavy both in topic and in vocabulary. I’m not sure I would have finished it if reading the text, but in audio form it was enjoyable. It is clearly a wonderfully written book, so much of her descriptions sound like poetry, not fiction. If you haven’t read it, the Claire Danes read version from Audible is really well done, and I’d highly recommend that over the written word in this instance.
I was in between audio books and looking for something short to take me back and forth to the city a week or two ago for a course and this fit the bill. There are some definite truth bombs dropped in there, but I felt like she went down quite a few winding paths that were unnecessary. However, for those who feel like they are lost, are unhappy and don’t know why, or at a crossroads trying to figure out how to turn their life around, this would be a great read. It’s not too heavy, the advice is practical and doable, and might be just the thing you need.
Sidenote – I am the lone existing female on earth that has never watched a Shonda Rymes show. Sorry universe.
So where that last put me? At 13 books for May I think? I’m really a little annoyed because I was *this* close to finishing two other books in May but didn’t quite make it. I’m still hoping to one day beat my own record (which I think is 14?) for books read in one month.
Maybe June will be the month!
Let’s finish off with my pick and my pass for this month.
Pick of the Month
Fan Girl. I really enjoyed this one, and think any of my awkward, nerdy friends would enjoy it as well. Possibly because we can all relate…
Pass of the Month
Three Wishes. It’s not a bad book, it just was my least favourite of the month. Instead pick up Big LIttle Lies or The Husband’s Secret by the same author.
Have you read any good books lately? Have one I should add to me to-read list? I love recommendations!