May 2024 Wrap-Up
Happy June!
A little blurry, but derpy doggo strikes again 😂
I had a month packed with birthdays and in-laws in May, so it's safe to say my social battery is dead 😂 Also, our doggo turned 2 and is even derpier than before. I'm excited to take some time to catch up on my reading this month, and make my TBR for the Romance Invades the Canadian Rockies signing event. These next couple months will be filled with romance reads! Anyhoo, I ended up finishing 5 books and 1 audiobook in May.
Editing Update: I am officially fully booked for June, and I only have a couple spots available for July. I’m super excited for a manuscript evaluation I’m doing this month as well! If you’re an author interested in getting an edit done for your manuscript, contact me today and check out my About Me page to see if I’d be a good fit. I offer a range of services and edit multiple genres. For more information, check out my Editing Services page.
My Library
Of Love and Libraries by Brenna Bailey
Review:
I love, love and I love libraries, so this book was perfect for me. I related to both MCs being a bookworm who loves to birdwatch as a hobby and always dreamed about traveling all over the world. I love it all. Frankie and Dylan, the MCs, had such great chemistry that kept getting better as the story progressed. I loved how they had a conversation early on to define the relationship and their expectations so there wasn’t any confusion, just undecided feelings. They did have some misunderstandings, but they were logical trains of thought, and everything worked out perfectly in the end. I was also completely taken by surprise by all the feels in the story. I didn’t expect to, but I ended up getting teary-eyed numerous times. The part with the National Geographic magazines absolutely broke me. I loved the inclusion of the letters to the library board, and the final 2 letters really give you all the feels. The ending of the story was so emotional too. Some other random parts I loved was the down-to-earth portrayal of the characters, like how they pluck their chin hairs out, and the part where Dylan brings 2 books to the park in case she finishes one. It's so cozy and I love the part about Dylan bringing 2 books to the park in case she finishes one—so relatable. This is just such a cozy romance, and I highly recommend it! I’m super excited to read the rest of the books in Brenna’s series, and the fourth book just released on May 30!
5/5⭐
Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin
Review:
I wasn’t too sure if I was going to like this book, but boy did it surprise me! The beginning of the story was a bit slow, but after the quarter point I was absolutely HOOKED. I totally called what happened when Rosemary got pregnant, but it was so fun to see how her character comes to the same conclusions later in the story. I felt like I was watching a movie in my head while I was reading this and the tension was so high. Regarding the other characters, I hated Guy and thought he was such a sleazy husband for essentially gaslighting his wife during her pregnancy, and I thought Hutch deserved so much better. The ending was so disturbing, but I loved every page. I watched the movie immediately after finishing the book and it was fun to see the differences between the book and movie, and what was omitted. I’d highly recommend this more as a thriller than a horror, but it was super entertaining nonetheless.
5/5⭐
Mabuhay! by Zachary Sterling
Review:
I loved the Filipino representation in the story. I related to so much of it. This book made me crave Filipino food so badly. It’s not something I typically cook myself, but I always used to get my fix at the many Filipino parties my mom took me to when I was a kid. Now that I moved out and am not going to those parties, I really miss the foods and community. I’ll definitely try the adobo recipe from the story. The names of the characters were very Filipino as well. I liked the inclusion of definitions of Tagalog words at the bottom of the pages. There are very teachable themes in the story, which is a nice addition for a kids book. The parts with Juan Tamad were so entertaining. Altea’s conflict in the story seemed a bit overdramatic, but honestly, for children that age, I think we were all a little overdramatic about everything so it makes sense. I really enjoyed learning about all the folklore through the magic arc of the story, but I didn’t really get the motivations behind the gem and the three witches and them getting too powerful. Other than that, I really loved this story, especially the representation. I’m so glad this story exists!
4/5⭐
Briar Vol. 1 by Christopher Cantwell
Review:
I love fairytale retellings, especially dark versions, so I was really excited to check this out. It was definitely a dark read 😅 The story was a bit hard to follow due to the accents though. Because of this and the slow pace of the plot, I didn’t think I was going to continue with the series. However, the characters started slowly growing on me because I was enjoying their little bits of wry humor. By the end of the volume I was curious to see what happens next, so I may end up reading the next volume, but I’m in no rush. I really loved the artwork on the end pages though. It’s so pretty!
3.5/5⭐
Netgalley eARCs
The Supernatural Files of CJ Delaney by Carol Williams
Review:
I thought this was such a fun MG mystery! I thought it would be more like a Scooby-Doo story where the supernatural turns out to be logical, but this was actually supernatural. I always love any book with witches, so I enjoyed the storyline of this one. I also did not see that ending coming at all. CJ had a really vibrant personality, but I found that she was quite self-absorbed at times. Everything works out well in the end though. I loved the short chapters of the story and I think that’s a great thing to have for kids books because reading seems to go by a lot quicker when chapters are shorter. Let me know if you’ve noticed that before when reading books with short chapters. Either way, I would highly recommend this book for kids! It’s such a fun story with a really passionate and driven FMC.
4/5⭐
Other (e)ARCs
I haven't read too many ARCs lately, but I'm still super excited to get to everything!
Audiobooks
The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
Review:
I felt a bit bored during the first half of the book, but I loved the second half once they were in the castle. I found myself zoning out during multiple parts of the first half, especially during the bandit bit. The book is written in very flowery language, which was beautiful to listen to, but I especially loved the poems and riddles. It was fun to see the difference between this and the movie, and now I want to rewatch the movie. I’m not sure if I’ll continue with the series though, even though the next book is just a novella. On a side note, I really liked the narrator for this audiobook. Their voice was so soothing!
3/5⭐
And that's a wrap! If you've read any of these books, I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments! If you've read The Last Unicorn too, were you engaged for the entire story, or did your attention lag throughout?
Happy reading 😊
