May 2024 was not a good month. Between a miserable last month of school, and then ending it by losing my stepdad, I’m just glad it is over.
My reading was down thanks to all the stuff going on with my family, only 13 new books finished, but I also had a re-read of an old favorite, so 14 books total read. As well as I was driving someone to and from work for a week or so, which took away from audiobook listening time.
- # of pages read: 4130 – A weird thing I noticed this month is that I had a lot of books that had what seemed like the same number of pages, 384.
- Amount of time spent listening to audiobooks – Since I only count what I finished in my personal calculations, my time spent was 17 hours and 3 minutes for audiobooks. As I mentioned above, between stress and an extra person in my car for drives to work, I didn’t get as much listening in.
Here are my StoryGraph stats for May:
My Reviews
Of the 18 specific titles listed last month, I got 11 read and most reviewed, 2 DNFs, and one started but not finished yet.
- [2 May] Happy Medium by Sarah Adler ★★★★½
- [3 May] Muffin But Trouble by Talia Hunter ★★★★½
- [4 May] Band Together by Piper Sheldon ★★★★½
- [6 May] The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste ★★★★
- [8 May] Skies Over Caledonia by Samantha Young ★★★★★
- [9 May] Young Buck by Kilby Blades ★★★½
- [11 May] Package Makes Perfect by Lauren Connolly ★★★★½
- [16 May] Truth or Wolf by Anne Marsh ★★★★★
- [17 May] White Trash Zombie Gone Wild by Diana Rowland ★★★★★
- [23 May] Pity Parade by Whitney Dineen ★★★★★
- [25 May] Attached at the Hip by Christine Riccio ★★★★★
- [27 May] Wild About You by Kaitlyn Hill ★★★★★
- [28 May] Bite Me, Royce Taslim by Lauren Ho
- [28 May] It Waits in the Forest by Sarah Dass
- [29 May] Louder Than Hunger by John Schu ★★★★½
- [29 May] Maybe This Time by Cara Bastone ★★★★★
- [30 May] All's Fair in Love and War by Virginia Heath ★★★★½
Challenge Check-In
My goal is 24 for the year using the prompts that are listed, but I didn’t get anymore done from last month. Even adding and choosing some different prompts.
- Prompt: On your TBR 5+ years – Five Minutes Late by Rich Amooi
- Prompt: Anthology or omnibus edition – The Natural History Novellas by Erin Mallon
- Prompt: We all scream – horror – The Dead List by Jennifer L. Armentrout
- Prompt: Walk through history – Something Wilder by Christina Lauren
- Prompt: Writing about writing – The Nerd and the Neighbor by Lainey Davis
- Prompt: STEM stan – Co-Wrecker by Meghan Quinn
- Prompt: 4 Word title – Getting Lucky Number Seven by Cindi Madsen
My goal was 6 for the year and I did get one more done this past month, so I’m halfway to my goal!
- [6 Mar] Discussion Post: Just Can’t Get Enough or Do You Also Want All the Special Editions and Book Boxes?
- [22 Mar] Discussion Post: Give It Away, Give It Away, Give It Away Now, or Do you still host giveaways on your blog or enter on other blogs?
My goal was one book a month. I didn’t get any done this month either so I’m still behind!
- Hooked by Lynn Stevens
- Five Minutes Late by Rich Amooi
- The Nerd and the Neighbor by Lainey Davis
My Goodreads and StoryGraph Goals of 150 books are on track with books 71 read so far, putting me ahead of schedule. I’m also still trying to keep my Netgalley percentage above 80%, in May I did drop down to 78% at one point, but then got some reviews done, so back up to 79%.
What to Expect in June
May was miserable at school like the last few months were. With my stepdad passing we didn’t have our final Lilley’s Landing Memorial Day vacation like we’d planned. We may go back with just our immediate family as my nephew had been looking forward to using their new pool this year. My mom is thinking she doesn’t really want to keep the Branson cabin without my stepdad. It was kind of their place, their thing to do together once their health kept them from being able to keep a camper. We are looking at helping her get their big house cleaned out and maybe finding her one that has only a main story and an almost straight walk out the back for taking the dog outside. Maintenance provided if possible too. But with the real estate market how it is, that may be a ways in the future to buy a house.
June will be summer school again, but with my current boss being the summer school principal, I’m afraid I won’t get anything near the amount of things done I did last year when I completely genrefied my fiction section in my library. I keep hoping that like other than with my current job, I will actually get a new job in the summer, like every other time I got hired for my jobs in June or July. But we will see if I’ll be continuing to look forward to (dread) another year in my current job. I just hope I can get some reading done this summer.
Here is My Proposed TBR for May:
- Past Present Future by Rachel Lynn Solomon – I love this author, and the book that goes with this was my first by her, and I got such a cool swag box for it! I got an ARC of this from the publisher and am reading it as the month starts, hoping to post my review on the 3rd.
- In the Weeds by B.K. Borison – the audiobook I started at the end of May and should finish before I start the last WTZ book.
- House of Light and Ether by Leia Stone – so, I got an e-galley of this last minute, and hope to read and review by the 4th maybe?
- Ana Maria and the Fox by Liana De la Rosa – I have this hardcover from Book of the Month, hoping to get read in the first week for the Beat the Backlist challenge, but we will see since I did start it last month.
- Isabel and the Rogue by Liana De la Rosa – an e-galley from the publisher, I’d hoped to read and review at the end of last month, but did not. Maybe will get read this month and post the review the first week.
- Not In Love by Ali Hazelwood – an e-galley from the publisher, should be posting my review on the 10th
- The Calculation of You and Me by Serena Kaylor – an e-galley the publisher sent me. Hope to read and post a review on the 13th
- One-Star Romance by Laura Hankin – another e-galley from the publisher, should read and post a review on the 15th
- The Art of Catching Feelings by Alicia Thompson – an e-galley that I hope to read and post a review on the 17th
- White Trash Zombie Unchained by Diana Rowling – the last book in the WTZ series, will be listening to the audiobook and posting my review right before the discussion on the 21st
- A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston – another e-galley from the publisher for a review posted on the 24th. Hoping to go meet this author in July in St. Louis too!
- So This is War by Meghan Quinn – I should be reading this for the author’s review team and posting the review on the 25th
- Walkoff Wedding by Maren Moore – hoping to read this for a blog tour review and posting on the 28th
- Stars (Wendy Darling #1) by Colleen Oakes – I’ve read the second book but not the first, and I’ve wanted to go back and read this for a while. So hoping it will be part of my Beat the Backlist challenge for a review on the 22nd
- Any other Beat the Backlist books I might get to, maybe some planned for last month like Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala, or also on my BTB backlist for this month: What the River Knows by Isabel Ibanez, Stars (Wendy Darling #1) by Colleen Oakes, Our Divine Mischief by Hanna Howard, Pinky Promise by Rebecca Rennick
- Finish up the audiobook I started at the end of May, Lock In by John Scalzi
- 49 Miles Alone by Natalie D. Richards – an ARC I got from the publisher for review in July.
- Maybe a new Teagan Hunter book at the beginning of July?
Final Thoughts
I hope you had a better May than I did. Working to make my way through summer school. Making plans for next school year under the hopes that maybe next year will go better since I couldn’t seem to get a job anywhere else. We will have an almost completely new English department, with more than half of them gone, and a total of at least 22 teachers leaving our school after this year.
My specific titles planned for June is down compared to May, but I hope to try to catch up with my BTBs I didn’t get done in May if possible. Plan to spend lots of time with my mom, and we will have a Celebration of Life for my stepdad on June 8th where I look forward to talking to his friends and family and getting memories from them to add to my own. Later in the month I’ll go down to my mom’s little cabin in Branson to help her go through and decide what she wants to keep, and what she’ll try to just leave in it to sell as pre-furnished. Which actually a lot of the furniture was already there when she and my stepdad bought it.
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I am so sorry for the passing of your stepdad, Lisa.
Thank you.
It was a tough month and I hope you get some breaks this month. You have to include your ARCs in your COYER total, you are doing fine!
Okay, make sure I’m clear on that, do I have to have gotten them before this year though? That’s where I’m confused. I thought it had to be books published/received before 2024.
No if you look at the COYER linky it is full of current year releases. There are some seasons or RAT which have more restrictive rules but I can’t remember ARCs never not being counted.
Okay, maybe I just set those rules on myself then. I will have to definitely take a look back and see how many I can add in and get my numbers fixed. Thanks for the tip!
I’m so sorry to hear that you didn’t have a great month, especially in regards to your stepdad. I know his health was something he was struggling with for a while. I’m sending you lots of hugs and positive thoughts 💜
I am such a nerd, I love that you include graphs for the month 😆 I only do it mid-year and at the end of the year, but maybe I should do it more! I’m such a sucker for numbers and graphs! And I love that you included one for the amount you read every day of the month! Very cool.
I am also doing summer school this year, so I feel your pain 😔 And that is so many teachers that are leaving! Things aren’t great over here either. There have been some pretty intense budget cuts across the state. The school district where I live is getting rid of an entire elementary school! The school district is getting rid of teachers, and our classroom sizes next year are going to be bigger. I really feel for those teachers. And a school district a couple of towns over, where the daughter of our SPED para worked, is also doing some heavy firing. It’s wild because a couple of teachers have apparently just been fired in the middle of class??? Like?? And even the school nurse was fired while she was caring for a student, and then they are expected to go back to work for the rest of the day like nothing? It’s insane!! I know that it’s all about the money, but I hate that it is because all of this affects the students learning. Not to mention the amount of teachers who will be without a job because there are cuts happening everywhere! My patient is only at this school for one more year and then she will probably have her tracheostomy removed, so I’m expecting to not be working at a school in the next year or so, and honestly, I’m okay with that.
The graphs are from StoryGraph which I love the free version of! Of course I can’t quite let go of Goodreads yet, so I’m updating both at the same time. I think the school system is breaking down and don’t know how it is going to be fixed the way it is right now. I just need 4 more years to get my retirement and then I’m out!
Impressed with how organized you are. Sorry to hear about your step-dad. Sending condolences to you and your mom.
Eh, not sure how organized I am, lol. I know I kind of just copy my post from the month before. And I start it a week before the end of the month, lol.
I’m sorry May was such a tough month! It’s tough moving on after loss, but I hope June is a better month for you! I also have A Novel Love Story. Hope we both love it!
I’m hoping to enjoy A Novel Love Story too. Plus I’m going to meet the author in July hopefully, so that will be neat!
Oh, I’m very sorry for your loss, Lisa. And it sounds as if it was a bad month even before losing your stepdad. I hope June is a better month for you. You still got a lot of reading done, and I hope it provided some solace in these difficult times.
Thanks, and you’re right, reading helps out when my brain is able to concentrate and I have a good book.
UGH. I’m sorry your work is so miserable. Hopefully you can find a new job. I”m glad you can be there for your mom and I hope the service for your stepdad is filled with good memories and love.
Thanks. Putting out some feelers for new jobs right now!
22 teachers leaving!! That speaks volumes about the work place with those sort of numbers. I really hope for you that something better comes along.. We spend the majority of our week at work, if it is not a safe space, it can really affect our wellbeing.
Yeah, when you are crying at least once a week at work, it is a sign you need to move on!
I’m sorry for your loss and the challenges that come with this. Take care Lisa. I’m thinking of you.
Thanks. Working through it as we can.
I’m so sorry for your loss, Lisa. We just lost my father-in-law yesterday and I’m trying to be there for my husband and support him best I can. It sounds like you and your mom have got a good support system in family and friends who knew your stepdad. I hope the Celebration of Life for your stepdad is a great one. Sending you lots of love. ❤️
I’m so sorry! Losing parents is so hard. Even when I had realized it was coming, I’ve just been so lucky to have them so long that it is just weird to have them gone. Today at work I had a few moments when just one little thing I’d hear in a song got me thinking and missing him. I hope your husband is doing okay, and I’m sure he’s very glad you’re there for him.
Sorry you had such a rough month of May 🙁 Sorry for your loss. I am kinda impressed with how much you got read during such a traumatic and busy month.
I think a lot of that was at the beginning of the month before things really got to the point at the end. Thanks for visiting!