May Reading Roundup

You’re probably thinking, “Wow! Something other than cancer talk?” Yes, girl! I do have a whole life outside of dealing with cancer. Crazy I know!

I am a nerd 100%. I embrace my nerdiness. Through high school and college I was the girl who was walking around with her face in a book. I love to read and will talk nerd whenever I get the chance.

I started off the year using reading to distract myself from what I was going through. Unfortunately, the chemo and the other medications I was on made it hard for me to focus on anything especially reading. Now that I’m able to focus again, I’ve been reading so hard on all the good books. This past month I have been working on my TBR and didn’t realize how many good books I’ve been holding onto!

The first book I started with, I started on April 12 and unfortunately it took me a month to read because the focus was just not there. My mental health also wasn’t great so that played into it as well. But this book was phenomenal and I will definitely be reading this entire series over and over. I read Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros. This whole series is very popular on social media. I heard about it on tiktok. I read the first book back in November. I checked it out from my local library and fell in love with the series. I was on a waitlist until February for the second book in the series. I was lucky enough to get the second and third book as a gift from my sister in law so I could read them and keep them. I would give Iron Flame 5 stars. Fourth wing was also 5 stars. My favorite thing about this series is that there is very little spice. No, I’m not a prude. I read and watched 50 Shades of Grey. I have also read other spicier books. I loved the storyline of this book. And, let’s be honest’ I love dragons. I didn’t think I was much of a fantasy girlie but I have learned that I do enjoy myself a good fantasy read.

My Second book of May was Onyx Storm. I stand by what I said previously, this series is amazing. I gave this book 5 stars (obviously). I am so sad that the 4th book is not even written yet, but I do understand that the author needs to take some time before she writes the next book. There is a lot to be covered in it. I am saying now though, if Xaden is killed off I’ll be pissed. I have fallen in love with the characters and have been so upset when any of them are killed off. I also like to think that I could be tough enough to survive crossing the parapet, threshing, and the gauntlet. I’d honestly probably get incinerated by a dragon but it’s fun to pretend.

Third up for the month was Sunrise on the Reaping. The Hunger Games series is one of my all time favorites! My favorite genre has always been Dystopian and I have read so many amazing books in this genre. This book is the conclusion for the whole series. I’ll give out no spoilers, but the movie has the potential to be the best one yet! This book got 5 stars from me. I’ll be re reading this series before the newest movie is in theaters!

I love getting recommendations from people of their favorite books. My youngest sister is also a reader so we talk books a lot. One of her favorite books is Almost Perfect by Brian Ketcher. She lent me the book and I was very surprised. I did not read the summary of the book so I went in knowing absolutely nothing about the book. I thought it was going to a normal boy gets girl romance book but I was thrown for a loop. This book is 5 stars as well. Fantastic read and one I’d recommend!

I ended the month with a book that I had actually found for my oldest son who enjoys reading books with animals in them. I read Dumbo. Not the older version of the book but the one that follows the live action disney movie. I actually watched this movie while I was in the hospital receiving chemo. this book was very good. I enjoyed the little snippets about the characters past. I think it helped the story. I rated this book as 5 stars. My oldest son just started reading this book and so far he is also enjoying it.

Normally, I have very few 5 star reads, but last month was a good one. I have already started reading for June. Finished one book and I’m onto my second. I am interested to see how manly I complete. I do not give myself month by month goals. I also do not pick out books that I hope to finish in a month. I have a large TBR pile and I’m just working through them as a book catches my eye. I do give myself a yearly reading goal. It’s not in the hundreds like a lot of people I’ve heard about. I challenge myself to read 12 books. That’s one book a month. A pretty doable goal I’d say, Last year I completed 58 books. That was huge for me. So far this year, I’ve read 20 books. It would be nice to beat last year but I’m not focusing on that. I just want to find some great books to enjoy.

I can’t wait to share June’s reads with you all. Do you make reading goals? If so, what are they? Are you on your way to complete your goals? What have been your favorite reads this month?