Monthly Rundown: May 2018

Books Read = 14

I had a most productive reading month. I finally feel like I’m getting back into the swing of things and no longer headed towards that rut that I kept feeling close at hand. I started a new reading challenge of sorts, where I’m trying to give more attention to the books that I’ve purchased (physical, ebook, and audio) and I made more progress than I expected. Of the 14 total books I read this month, 3 were review books, 3 were from the library/Kindle Unlimited/freebies, and a grand total of 8 were books that I purchased. Not bad if I do say so myself.

Posted Reviews

Alright, so I did say I had a productive reading month… but I didn’t post a single review. ha I have a few that I definitely plan on reviewing in June.

Unreviewed Reads

• Only Human (Themis Files #3) by Sylvain Neuvel ★★★★
• The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter ★★★★
• I Know I Am, But What Are You? by Samantha Bee ★★★
• Lock In (Lock In #1) by John Scalzi ★★★★
• Head On (Lock In #2) by John Scalzi ★★★★

• A Court of Frost and Starlight (A Court of Thorns and Roses #3.1) by Sarah J. Maas ★
• A Girl Like Her (Ravenswood #1) by Talia Hibbert ★★
• The Burning Maze (The Trials of Apollo #3) by Rick Riordan ★★★★
• Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden’s Syndrome (Lock In 0.5) by John Scalzi ★★★★★
• The Realm of Possibility by David Levithan ★★★★
• Chimes at Midnight (October Daye #7) by Seanan McGuire ★★★★

Best of the Month: Lock In (Lock-In #1) by John Scalzi ★★★★
Lock In was one of those books that I bought and its been languishing on my unread shelf. I decided to pick up the prequel story first and while I’m not usually one that geeks out on uber science-y stories but I really did with that one. It was a fantastic introduction to Lock In and I really enjoyed this strange robot/detective mystery (and the follow-up Head On was equally great.)

Least Favorite: A Girl Like Her (Ravenswood #1) by Talia Hibbert ★★
I figure I should say that for starters that this is a genre I read irregularly and super isn’t my thing so I may not be the best judge of character. I had heard a ton of great things about it and was one I could read to take advantage of my Kindle Unlimited membership but… something about this one rubbed me the wrong way. I technically DNF’d this and called it quits around 70%.

Biggest Surprise: Only Human (Themis Files #3) by Sylvain Neuvel ★★★★
I’ve loved this entire trilogy (and I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again, the audiobooks are the freaking best ever) but this finale still comes as a surprise because I always hate series enders for one reason or another. This wrapped up the story nicely and I’m really pleased with the story arc Neuvel crafted.

Biggest Disappointment: A Court of Frost and Starlight (A Court of Thorns and Roses #3.1) by Sarah J. Maas ★
Admittedly, I wasn’t a fan of A Court of Wings and Ruin either, but I was hoping that this spin-off series Maas is planning would draw me back into this fantasy world. I had been debating whether or not to actually pre-order it but I eventually did and I’m actually angry with myself for not following my gut instinct. lol I had even had this rated 2 star initially but nope, there really wasn’t anything that I liked about it. 1 star.