The Looooong and the Short of It: May 2025 Wrap-Up Post and Looking Forward to June

Once again I’m joining up with the Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up which is hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction and Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight.

May was a better month for the most part. Work still sucks, and knowing I’m stuck there at least one more year. It was a rough month in a way because it was the one year anniversary of my stepdad’s passing. Dora was on the mend which stressed me a bit, so that kept me from reading and doing as much blogging as I wanted. And I seemed to have some trouble getting into several of the books or audiobooks that I tried throughout the month. So I feel like my reading was down. Weather was cooler, which I actually liked. And we got to have our Memorial Day weekend family in Branson this year. Which was bittersweet without my stepdad, but still had time for reminiscing.

As I mentioned, I feel like my reading was down again. I got 12 books finished, so that is actually 1 more than last month. Here is the Storygraph cover collage:

Here are my StoryGraph stats for May in the graphic they now provide.

My May Reviews

Of the 14 specific titles listed last month, I got 8 read and reviewed, had 3 DNFs, 2 e-galleys I thought I had but did not, and one ARC that actually doesn’t come out till next month, so I didn’t get to it yet. No more Beat the Backlist titles read, and still no more for my COYER goals.

• [3 May] Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry ★★★★★
• [5 May] Nun the Wiser by Lissa Sharpe ★★★★
• [10 May] The Romance Rivalry by Susan Lee ★★★★
• [13 May] Death in the Cards by Mia Manansala ★★★★
• [16 May] Love, Canter, Action by Katie Gilbert ★★★★½
• [23 May] All Joking Aside by Piper Sheldon ★★★★
• [24 May] The Friendship Fling by Georgia Stone ★★★★½
• [27 May] Eliza, from Scratch by Sophia Lee DNF
• [27 May] This Could Be Forever by Ebony LaDelle DNF
• [27 May] Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross DNF
• [28 May] The Failing Hours by Sara Ney ★★★★
• [28 May] Caraval by Stephanie Garber ★★★★½
• [28 May] Better Luck Next Time by Cara Bastone ★★★★½
• [29 May] A First Time for Everything by K.L. Walther ★★★★★
• [31 May] Can't Always Get What You Want by Sara Ney ★★★½

Challenge Wrap-Ups

Trying to shorten up my end of month post by using the graphic below to show this. My Goodreads goal continues to go up obviously. I had two more library books for the Library Love challenge, and I also bumped up my Netgalley score. I went and in and gave reviews for some books I knew I wasn’t going to get to, but already had purchased for my library. As long as I left a review for the book it bumped up my percentage.

Got one new book for my ABC challenge, M, so I have 4 letters left to do for the year: G, U, X, and Y

Once again I am doing the Chapter Break Bingo Challenge for May, and here are my books that fit each spot. I didn’t do so great this month. Probably because lack of books read. Only got 22 plus the free square.

• Nun the Wiser – In a series, Beard/piercing/tattoo, close call/escape
• Love, Canter, Action – Free book
• Death in the Cards – Origin story, Premonition, Suspense
• The Romance Rivalry – Not in a series
• All Joking Aside – Read an ebook, Flowers on the cover, Book club read
• The Failing Hours – Not a new release, Started but not finished last month
• Caraval – Audiobook
• Better Luck Next Time – Unusual mode of transport, Mother/grandmother, Storm/bad weather
• The Friendship Fling – Read a physical book
• A First Time for Everything – Sunrise/sunset
• Can’t Always Get What You Want – Next book published after long gap
• Masquerade of the Heart – Library book

I also gave in and joined the 2025 Romance Reading Bingo Challenge hosted by Blodeuedd @ Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell, Jen @ That’s What I’m Talking About, and Carole @ Carole Rae’s Random Ramblings. No more boxes checked off this month, leaving still 2 more for the rest of the year. One I think will be taken care of this month, and the other probably not till closer to October is my guess.

What to Expect in June

I feel like I’ve got a lot of review books scheduled in June, several the first week if I haven’t already read them. But I’ll be done with school after the first Monday and hope to do more reading while school is out.

Here is my proposed TBR for May:

1. Till Summer Do Us Part by Meghan Quinn – e-galley for author’s review team, review post on the 3rd
2. A Girl Walks Into the Forest by Madeleine Roux – e-galley from publisher, hope to review on the 5th
3. Always Be My Bibi by Priyanka Taslim – finished copy from publisher, hope to review on the 7th
4. Seven Year Itch by Amy Daws – another e-galley from an author’s review team. Review posted on the 10th
5. Shopping for a Highlander’s Elopement by Julia Kent – I tend to get these e-galleys even when I don’t have time, but I’ve got this on the calendar so I hope I get it! If I do I’ll post the review around the 11th or 12th depending on when I’m done
6. Look Before You Leap by Virginia Heath – e-galley from publisher – should post a review on the 14th
7. Frosting and Flames by Allie Winters – an e-galley from the author, review either the 17th or 19th
8. A Royal Mile by Samantha Young – e-galley from the author, review either the 17th or 19th
9. Writing Mr. Wrong by Kelley Armstrong – e-galley from publisher – review on the 21st
10. Embrace the Serpent by Sunya Mara – egalley from publisher – review on the 23rd
11. After We Burned by Marieke Nijkamp – ARC from publisher for review on 25th
12. Save Me by Mona Kasten – e-galley from publisher, loved the tv series, hope to review on the 28th
13. The Spirit of Love by Lauren Kate – an e-galley from the publisher, review on the 30th?
14. Any audiobooks I listen to.
15. I’d hoped to get some more from my TBR read, we shall see! Some possibilities are either the special edition copy of Gent by Harloe Rae – because it will meet the G on my Read the Alphabet Challenge, or maybe Under the Heavens by Ruth Fox – because it would meet the U on the same challenge.

Final Thoughts

How was your May?

Mine was better than last year, even if not as good in some ways as I would have liked. Dora does seem to be back to mostly normal. But I’m still being uber-paranoid about her going up ramps and kind of keeping her in her own kennel? But I think Argyle misses snuggling with his sister, so I may start putting them back together in the big kennel when I’m gone.

For June I’m looking forward to being out of school and hopefully having more time to blog. I don’t know how this first summer with not doing summer school and my stepdad being gone if my mom will want to do a lot of things on summer days. Which I will do gladly. I do have a two day “internship” for learning about the travel/hospitality field and being able to take things back to tell students. I am also taking a graduate class in AI that I started this past month and that will finish up this month. Mostly I’m just getting excited for the cruise in July with my family.

What are you looking forward to in June?

Related Posts