May 2018 Recap

May was a much better month for me. There’s still a lot going on in my life at the moment that isn’t so great but after April it’s nothing I can’t handle.

Reading wise though, May was another brilliant month. I managed to get through twelve books, which is again a 2018 personal best tied with last month, and I’m catching up on my Goodreads Reading Challenge too. Give me another month and I may even be ahead of my 125 book goal for the year.

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Books I Read

End of Days by Susan Ee – Four stars

A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas – Four stars
Check out my review here.

Circe by Madeline Miller – Five stars
Check out my review here.

State of Sorrow by Melinda Salisbury – Three stars
Check out my review here.

Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh – Five stars
Check out my review here.

Ōkami by Renee Ahdieh – Three stars
Check out my review here.

Yumi by Renee Ahdieh – Three stars
Check out my review here.

Smoke in the Sun by Renee Ahdieh – Four stars
Check out my review here.

Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi – Five stars

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik – Five stars

Sea Witch by Sarah Henning – Five stars

Beyond a Darkened Shore by Jessica Leake – Four stars

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I’m very steadily catching up on my Goodreads Reading Challenge. After getting through 12 books in April and another 12 in May I am 100% confident that by the time we come to the end of June I’ll not only be on track but ahead of my goal for the year.

The best book I picked up in May was Circe. There was a lot of competition this month because I got through some incredible books, but Circe was a tiny bit ahead of the rest. The development Circe went though over the thousands of years she was exiled on Aiaia was wonderful to explore, and Madeline Miller is the queen of Greek mythology retellings in my mind.

The worst book I picked up this month was Ōkami. It wasn’t terrible but what counted against it were the facts that it was a short story that didn’t add much to either Ōkami’s character or the overall story arc for the Flame in the Mist duology. Granted it didn’t take long to read at all, but you don’t need to pick this one up to understand what’s happening in Smoke in the Sun.

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My WIP

I’ve finally started writing again. This is a big moment for me, and while I can’t really say I’ve written a lot this month I have got something down on a Word document, and that’s more than I could have said previously this year.

One of the things I’m doing, and this is something I’ve always done no matter what I’m writing, is editing as I go along. So far I’ve written just under 5K words, but every single one of those words has been re-written at least once because when I finish a paragraph I go back and re-write it, and then when I finish a page or scene I’ll go back and re-work sections of it.

This was something I was doing even while working towards 50K words last November for NaNo. What I’m doing going forwards is setting myself a goal of 25K words a month, because maybe that will force me to cut down on my ad-hoc editing until I’ve finished the second draft of my WIP.

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Life in General

There were two bank holidays in May, and they were sorely needed. During the first my mum and I took part in Southend’s Great Pier Walk. It’s something we do every year, walking up and down the longest pier in the world (and the pier that’s burnt down the most times as well).

I went to see Hairspray live on evening, again with my mum. I’d seen the movie before when it was first released, but it was something special being able to see it live on stage.

During the second bank holiday I travelled up to London and went to the V&A exhibition Fashioned From Nature. I took a fashion-related course while at university so it’s always something I enjoy learning more about. The exhibition focused on the way nature contributed to fashions of the past, and the affect fashions of the present are having on nature now.

I started talking to one of my friends about us potentially moving out and buying a place together, just as a first step to get us both on the property ladder. Granted we’re still at the very beginning stages of everything, but I’m very excited about potentially getting to live with one of my best friends again.

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A lot of books were released in May, so a lot of pre-orders were arriving on my doorstep. All I can say is it’s a good job I carefully budget each month.

Books

• A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas
• The Dark Prophecy by Rick Riordan
• Charmcaster by Sebastien de Castell
• Legendary by Stephanie Garber
• Vicious by V.E. Schwab

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eBooks

• Ōkami by Renee Ahdieh
• Yumi by Renee Ahdieh

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Fairy Loot

• Beyond a Darkened Shore by Jessica Leake
• Onyx and Ivory by Mindee Arnett

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In terms of what I’ll be reading in June I’m still going to be catching up with some of the May releases I haven’t gotten around to yet. One June release I am so excited to get my hands on though is My Plain Jane, and I expect a lot more YA contemporary will be moving over to my ‘read’ list next month. Now that summer’s here and the weather is reflecting that I’m in a very “YA contemporary” mood.

I will also be taking a mini-break from blogging mid-June. I’m heading off the Dubai and Mauritius with my sister this month, so from June 20th I’ll be away from WordPress until July 5th when I get back home again and have recovered from the jet lag I’ll no doubt be stuck with.

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I hope everyone else had a good May, and I hope you all have an even better June as well.

Does anyone else have any exciting summer holidays coming up, or do you plan to stay and enjoy the sun you have at home? Who else is really excited for the release of My Plain Jane, or is there another June release you can’t wait for? Let me know.

Happy reading!