Goodbye 2016, because you are just flying by! Another month, another wrap-up. This month was productive in some ways, but then again I also watched a lot of anime this month which prevented me from both reading and writing, so… maybe not as productive as I wanted it to be.
What I Read
- This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp – A book about a school shooting that takes place over the course of an hour. It was fast-paced and heart wrenching. 4/5 stars Check out my review!
- Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater – This third book was kind of intense and I didn’t really know how to feel after reading it. 4/5 stars Check out my review!
- The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater – The final book in The Raven Cycle was everything I hoped it would be and more. Amazing. 5/5 stars Check out my review!
- The Mirror and the Maze by Renee Ahdieh – This short story gave us a look at the events directly after the first book from Khalid’s point of view, and though it was nice to read, I didn’t really feel much of anything from it. 3/5 stars Review to come with The Rose & the Dagger.
Books I Started But Didn’t Finish
- Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews – book #5 in the Kate Daniels series. I’m really enjoying it so far and the mystery behind what’s making the Masters of the Dead not be able to control their vampires anymore.
- Asylum by Madeleine Roux – Scary things are too much for me, and add pictures to this and I’m freaked out. I’ll finish it one day!
- Splintered by A.G. Howard – I’m really liking this Alice in Wonderland retelling a lot so far, with its goth/punk features and purple font. I definitely want to finish this soon!
- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern – Yes, I’m finally starting this book and so far I’m enjoying it. It definitely has an atmospheric feel to it so far and I’m really interested to see how the story unfolds.
- Water’s Wrath by Elise Kova – The fourth book is finally out and I started it and I’m so excited to read iiiiiiiit. I’ll definitely finish this soon.
- The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows – I’ve wanted to see what this book was about for a while, and I’m enjoying what I’m reading so far.
- Binge by Tyler Oakley – I started this sometime last year, and I picked it up for Genrethon this year, but only read a chapter. I’ll finish it one day!
- Paper Hearts, volume 1: Some Writing Advice by Beth Revis – I can always use pointers and tips when it comes to writing, so I decided to pick this up this month given I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo.
Books I Got This Month
I HAVE NO CONTROL.
- When We Collided by Emery Lord
- Water’s Wrath by Elise Kova
- The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi
- The Rose and the Dagger by Renee Ahdieh
- The Book Thief by Markus Zuzack
- Some Women by Emily Liebert
- Scarlett Epstein Hates It Here by Anna Breslaw
- The Mirror and the Maze by Renee Ahdieh
- The Mirror King by Jodi Meadows
- Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman
- The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury
- The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater
- The First Time She Drowned by Kerry Kletter
- Gabriel and the Swallows by Esther Dalseno
- Emerge by Tobie Easton
- Shattered Blue by Lauren Bird Horowitz
- Tales from the Front by Elise Kova
- Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
- This is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp
I SWEAR THAT’S ALL. *flops under pile*
Discussions I Held
- Rayna Recommends: Swoony Reads – Because let’s be real: I can’t get enough of romance.
Top Ten Tuesdays & Top 5 Wednesdays
- TTT: Bookish People You Should Follow On Twitter – Because I love doing shoutouts and these are awesome peeps on Twitter!
- TTT: Books Every Magic Lover Should Read – Because magic is a beautiful thing.
- T5W: Books On Hard Topics – Such as depression, school shootings, and other sensative topics.
- TTT: Books That Will Make You Laugh – I don’t laugh when I read… which I need to amend!
- T5W: Intimidating Books – There’s always those ginormous or well known ones.
- TTT: Bookworm Delights – All the things that make my bookish heart happy.
Writing Related
Well, I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo this month and it was less than spectacular. I still got some writing done, which is good, but not enough to my liking.
- Camp NaNoWriMo Week 1 Recap
- Week 2 Recap
- Week 3 Recap
- Week 4 Recap & Wrap Up [link will come soon]
Fun Things
- There were readathons that I took part in: TBR Takedown 3.5 and Genrethon, both of which were fun times.
- The Book Drop May Subscription Box – Some pretty cool stuff in this month’s box!
- April Uppercase Box Unboxing – I love bookish swag~
- Beautiful Covers:
So as for Flights of Fantasy, I’ve read another three fantasy-esque books/novellas, bringing my total up to 22 books! I’m probably going to pass my goal of 30 books, but that’s okay.
Life Updates
- So I went to the author signing for Erin Bowman & Jodi Meadows out at Brookline Booksmith near Boston and it was a really fun event! Not only was the bookstore charming, but I got to get books signed and pictures taken with the authors, who were super sweet.
- More cute clothes from maurices is a wonderful feeling when you’re so used to not being able to find a lot of cute, flattering things.
- We were going to adopt my coworker’s cat, but we ended up giving her back after a few days because a) I had bad allergies to her, b) my bird was not a fan, and c) she didn’t seem happy here, which means we weren’t happy, either. It was sad, but I’m okay with it because I’d rather her be happy and me not die of a stuffed nose.
So this month just seemed like it was full of memes and fun things, which isn’t horrible or anything, but I think it’s because of the challenge of Camp NaNoWriMo that made it difficult for me to post any more discussion topics or more reviews. I hope to remedy that for next month, though!
Let’s Chat! ≧◡≦
What was your favorite book you read this month? Mine was definitely The Raven King. (ALL THE FEELS.) What are some of your bookish delights? Did you participate in Camp NaNoWriMo? If so, tell me how your progress went!