Monthly Roundup: May 2017

Here I was, thinking that I wouldn't have as much time to read in May, with the two busy vacations that were planned this month, and yet I read eleven books. That brings my current total of the year up to 44! I actually changed my book goal on Goodreads. It was originally 80, but I moved it to 100 since that's obviously the track I'm on. I hope to beat my record of 101 from last year!

This month, I read a LOT of good books:

To All The Boys I've Loved Before - Jenny Han (4 stars)
A Court of Wings and Ruin - Sarah J. Maas (4 stars)
Beneath a Burning Sky - Jenny Ashcroft (4 stars)
The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas (4.5 stars)
Defy the Stars - Claudia Gray (5 stars)
The Hundredth Queen - Emily R. King (4.5 stars)
Ensnared - Rita Spalding (2 stars)
Leviathan Wakes - James S. A. Corey (4 stars)
Flame in the Mist - Renée Ahdieh (3 stars)
Illuminae - Jay Kristoff & Amie Kaufman (5 stars)
PS: I Still Love You - Jenny Han (4 stars)

I started the Lara Jean series by Jenny Han and they are so cute and sweet and perfect for a light-hearted (and clean!) romance!

Sci-fi was a big theme this month too, with Defy the Stars, Leviathan Wakes, and Illuminae. ALL of those were seriously amazing.

My FairyLoot box came with Flame in the Mist (as I had expected). It was a good story, though some of the aspects of the book just weren't for me. I'll be posting a review soon!

The Hate U Give was this month's book club pick, and it was amazing. Go read my review!

I also started a Bookstagram account (an Instagram account about books). Go check it out @BooksViaAshley.

In June, I've already got a nice TBR pile! I found the book Nevernight by Jay Kristoff on sale at the local bookstore, so of course I snatched that up because I've been wanting to read it for AGES. I'll also be getting a new book towards the end of June with my FairyLoot box! I think I know what it is, but it's always a surprise! Plus I'm waiting on a few holds at my library, including the sequels to a few books I read this month.

I'll be in Africa for over half of June, with no internet! We'll see how much reading I get done, but I have a LOT stockpiled on my Kindle!

What did you read this month? What are you looking forward to?

Comments

This Savage Song

This Savage Song - Victoria Schwab Review: The newest book by one of my favorite authors, V.E. Schwab (She goes by "Victoria" for her YA novels). I love the premise for the book: violent acts create actual monsters. The two main characters are a human girl named Kate who desperately wants to be a (figurative) monster: a big, bad crime boss like her father, who runs one half of V-City. The other is August, who is a literal monster, a Malchai, one that drains the souls of his victims through his music, who desperately seeks his own personal humanity. I loved them both, and their personalities and characters and drives are so multi-faceted and real. They interact with other characters in believable and different ways. The juxtaposition of these two characters in and of itself is one of the driving things behind this story, and one of the things that makes it so compelling. Even though marketed as a YA, it really delves into the deep questions: What makes us human? W...

Thursday Themes: Five Books to Escape to a New World

Hello everyone! *waves* Remember how I said I was "back" and then didn't post anything for tover a year? Well now with this global pandemic I finally am returning to this blog. Lots of people are reading more than ever now, and I've had many people ask me to recommend various books. So I thought I'd do some posts more along those themes, and perhaps the occasional book review sprinkled in between. Today, the theme is inspired by traveling and exploring. I, like many of you, am tired of being stuck inside and unable to travel. One of the thing I love most about books is it's a way to escape and go on a new adventure. And I especially love books about finding a new world, ones that capture that awe and fascination and magical sense of a new place. It calls to that part deep within me that longs to see stunning vistas and meet new people and get to know a culture different from my own. Here are five books that capture that feeling, and will leave you aching t...

Thursday Themes: So you liked The Hunger Games

So you really liked The Hunger Games and want some more of that sweet sweet dystoptian YA feeling. I'm guessing you've already read Divergent by Veronica Roth and Maze Runner by James Dashner (if not, were you even part of the YA dystopian craze??). Here are some other series I think you'll enjoy: Red Rising by Pierce Brown Basically Hunger Games in Space with super evolved humans. The main character is of the lowest caste (a Red) and fakes his way to the very top of society in order to take them down. ***Content Warning*** This book has a lot of violence (about the same as HG), and there is high use of profanity. Partials by Dan Wells One of the most underrated series in my humble opinion. 99% of the world's population has been wiped out by a weaponized virus during the war with the Partials—engineered organic super-humans—and no new babies are being born. Sixteen year old Kira is trying to find a solution. When a supply run ends with them capturing ...

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