Books I Read - May 2020

I had a decent reading month in May. I didn't read very many five star reads, but most of the reads were four star (I also DNF'd one book).

Favorite Books of the Month: 

Across a Star Swept Sea by Diana Peterfreund 

The Light of All that Falls by James Islington 

The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glasser 

The Field Guide, The Seeing Stone, and Lucinda’s Secret by Toni DiTerlizzi   

Spiderwick Chronicles 1-3 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

When their dad leaves, their mom takes Jared, Simon, and Mallory to their aunt’s old rundown house. While Jared is working through his anger, he finds a field guide that opens up a dangerous world of faerie creatures. 

This series is our current read aloud and Ashtyn loves these. The first is a little slower and more of an introduction, but the second picks up really quickly. I do think they are much more interesting to the target age group than to adults than other middle grade I have read. 

Across a Star Swept Sea by Diana Peterfreund 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is a Scarlet Pimpernel retelling set in a dystopian future. It’s set in the same world as For Darkness Shows the Stars (while you could read this independent of the first, there are characters from the first that appear in the second).

I loved this! I really felt the retelling captured the feeling of the original book. I loved seeing the parallels to the original and the unique way the story went with the scifi world and with the scarlet pimpernel being female. 

The Amazing Spider-man by Stan Lee 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is a collection of the original Spider-Man comic books back in the 60’s, I believe. I have always loved Spiderman best and I also like the style of these older comics, so I really enjoyed them. 

DNF: My Sister, My Friend  

⭐⭐⭐

This was a nonfiction LDS book--more of a supportive, uplifting book. It wasn’t bad, but it also didn’t have anything that made it stand out to me. 

The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy 

⭐⭐⭐

This is a self help book talking about the idea that small actions lead to big results. It had some good ideas embedded in it, but I didn’t love the author and the way he explained many of the ideas. 

The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glasser 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Vanderbeeker family have always lived on 141st street, so when their landlord refuses to renew their leases, the kids hatch a plan. 

This was a charming, light hearted read. It was a little predictable, but for me that was actually enjoyable and I had a lot of fun with it. I had heard it compared to The Penderwicks before, but it didn’t quite live up to it, so I would recommend not going into it expecting that. 

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear 

⭐⭐⭐

This is presented as a historical mystery, but it’s actually a character-driven, introspective historical fiction that has some mystery aspects to it. It takes place years after WWI and focuses on the emotional impact it left on people. The beginning was very slow and because of my expectations going in, I didn’t love it as much. The middle of the book is a flashback to the main character’s background, which I personally loved, and then the ending picked up more in regards to the mystery. It was an okay read, but I’m not sure I’ll continue the series. 

Just Jane by Nancy Moser 

⭐⭐⭐

This is a historical biographical historical fiction. It was enjoyable and I loved learning more about Jane Austen and seeing where some of her inspiration might have come from. It dragged just a little for me, though, especially by the end. 

The Rose Legacy by Jessica Day George 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

When orphaned Althea is sent beyond the borders of her country, she discovers that not only do magical horses still exist, but she has a special bond with them. 

I enjoyed this fairy tale-esque story, but I was left wanting more. It was a short read, which made for a fast paced plot, but it also left a lot of the world and characters feeling not quite as fleshed out. 

The Light of All that Falls by James Islington 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was my audiobook this month and the final book in the Licanius trilogy. It was a very satisfying ending. The book was about a four star rating for me until the ending, but the epilogue tied things together so well and was such a great conclusion that I had to bump it up to five stars. 

And as a bonus, I thought I'd include my stats here as well! I love stats :D

We’ll start with my reading stats. I read 11 books in May for a total of 3,201 pages. I DNF’d 1 book, only a couple chapters in. 

I had 1 reread and 10 new reads. I read 3 shorter books aloud to my kids (the first 3 Spiderwick Chronicles). 

I read only 2 five star reads, 6 four star reads, and 3 three star reads. I had 0 two or one star reads. I think I would have rated the book I DNF’d 3 stars. 

With genres, I read 5 fantasy, 1 mystery, 1 contemporary, 1 scifi, 2 historical fiction, 1 graphic novel, and 1 nonfiction (a self help book). 

I read 5 middle grade, 2 ya, and 4 adult books. 

Of the books I read, 3 were from the library, 2 were eBooks, 1 was an audiobook, and 5 I owned a physical copy of it. 

I read 8 female authors and 3 male authors. 

I read 2 new releases. 

From my May TBR, I read 7/10. 

From my 2020 TBR list, I read 3 books. 

That brings me to a total of 13/36 books so far this year. 

I read 6 books that are part of a series. I started 2 new series and finished 1 series. 

I bought 2 books and unhauled 0 books. I bought 4 ebooks and my husband bought 2 (we share a Kindle account) for a total of 6 ebooks bought. I bought 1 audiobook. 

At the start of the month, I owned 18 books I hadn’t read yet, starting in June I now have 14. 

At the start of the month, my Kindle had 14 ebooks I hadn’t read yet on it. Starting in June, it has 18. 

At the start of the month, I had 4 audiobooks I haven’t listened to and starting in June, I have 4 audiobooks still.

I didn’t keep track of how many words I wrote because I wasn’t drafting. 

I edited about 50% of my second draft. 

On my YouTube channel, I posted 11 videos. I gained 8 subscribers in May. Since switching to Authortube, rather than a focus on BookTube, my channel growth slowed down a lot. I expected that and am working on finding my new audience and community. 

I had 595 views and 33.5 hours of watchtime. 

There are my stats! I had a pretty good month overall and am happy with my progress. I didn’t have the best reading month, but I still had a lot of good reads. I am excited to move forward into June! 

What was your reading month like in June?