Books Read in May: 16
Books Read for the Year:  67/225

Topical Books/Monthly Goal Books:
Penelope in Retrograde, by Brooke Abrams (TBR): I really enjoyed this! Penelope was almost clueless, but the whole family was pretty entertaining.
Brave New Girl, by Rachel Vincent (TBR): I enjoyed this, although it felt pretty familiar, like I’d read something similar.
The Alchemary, by Rachel Vincent (TBR): I REALLY en joyed this read!
Escape to Honeysuckle Hall, by Rebecca Raisin (TBR): This was basically too cutesy to be believable, but it was a nice, light read.
A Parade of Horribles, by Matt Dinniman (audio): Still enjoying this.
Warp, by Meghan Ciana Doidge (TBR): I’m not sure I’m going to read more of these.
For Review:

Burnout Summer, by Jenna Ramirez. This was a decent read, although the MC blamed everyone but herself for pretty much everything, which got on my nerves.

Seconds to Spare, by Rachel Reiss. I enjoyed this YA mystery/thriller. not sure I’d ever step foot onto a plane again…

The Shippers, by Katherine Center. It’s a Katherine Center book. Of course I loved it. This was both funny and relatable.

Dungeons and Danger, by Elizabeth Penney. An enjoyable cozy mystery read.  

The Valencia Expat Club, by June Patrick. Really enjoyed this read about growth, change, and travel.

The Heirs, by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé. I only liked one of the MCs, but this was a quick and interesting murder mystery.

My Roman Summer, by Bruna De Luca. This was a quick YA romance. Sweet, but not anything unexpected.

The Unicorn Hunters, by Katherine Arden. This was a great read! Historical fiction mixed with fantasy, with strong, fascinating characters. I found this deeply engrossing.

The Chateau on Sunset, by Natasha Lester. If you’re looking for a read about strong female characters fostering great friendships and learning to be strong, this is it.

The Stargazer of Nantucket, by Julie Gerstenblatt. This was a decent historical fiction read.

Left Unfinished:
The Night of Many Endings, by Melissa Payne: The MC seemed to be obsessed with her brother and his drug use, and I didn’t want to keep reading about ONLY that.
The Calamity Club, by Kathryn Stockett: I really, really wanted to read this. But I found it very slow going and I couldn’t continue reading with my attention wandering.
Enormous Wings, by Laurie Frankel: While I thought the writing was solid and the premise was great, I refuse to read anything that promotes abortion.
Only the Pretty Lies, by Rebekah Crane: Just nope.
Good Joy, Bad Joy, by Mikki Brammer: This just didn’t hold my attention.
The Cove, by Claire Rose: From the GOP-bashing, the let’s-portray-Chrsitians-as-evil-and-closed-minded rhetoric, and the glorifying the occult…this was a bad choice for me. And I find anything that sticks to surface level characterization to be poorly written.
Welcome to Fae Café, by Jennifer Kropf (audio): This was…bad. The characters were annoying at best, and ridiculous the rest of the time. And WHY did everything have to be “Faeborn”? Would the MMC really think about his “Faeborn days” to himself? Or just…his days?
The Cupid Dilemma, by April Asher. Just…why did the first five pages feel like a farce?
Deathbringer, by Sonia Tagliareni. I didn’t make it too far in this because I didn’t like either of the MCs.
A Sprinkle of Sweet Serendipity, by Rachel Linden. This just felt too predictable.
When the Forest Dreams, by Andrea Ezerins. I read almost half of this, but Emma…cannot POSSIBLY be this clueless about real life. This wasn’t remotely believable to me, and I quite at the part where Emma has narrowly escaped being assaulted, and Jake shows up and they hop into bed together. Jake, who knows she hasn’t even been kissed, and he takes advantage of her? No, thank you.
Road Trip, by Mary Kay Andrews. I read the first three chapters, but I didn’t like either of the FMC, so…I stopped reading.