May 2020 Wrap Up

So this month Blogger, which I use to host my blog, changed its interface. And I am still trying to find everything again. It looks nicer on my side of things, but the old interface was in place for years. Sorry if things seem a little different while I get adjusted.

I am also working on a blog post about some of the current events and things that people can do to educate themselves and to help. Stay tuned for that, I will try to get it finished and posted soon.

Alright! Books read in May:

Title: Ouran High School Host Club Volumes 13-18
Author: Bisco Hatori

Synopsis: Haruhi is a poor scholarship student at the very wealthy and prestigious Ouran Academy, where the students have too much money and too much free time. In a twist of fate, Haruhi ends up in debt to the school host club (a gang of six attractive boys). Originally mistaken for a boy herself, she keeps her gender a secret from the rest of the school to become a host to work off her debt. And hilarity ensues.

Thoughts: I needed something light, quick, and fun to read, and these fit the bill. I finally finished the series and I really enjoyed them. They were cute and fun.

Rating: Overall, 4 out of 5 stars

Title: Ask Again, Yes

Author: Mary Beth Keane

Narrator: Molly Pope

Synopsis: Two New York police officers end up buying houses next to each other in the suburbs. Francis's wife, Lena, looks forward to making friends with Brian's wife, Anne, but Anne seems cold and like she wants nothing to do with anyone. They go through normal life, Lena and Francis have three daughters and Brian and Anne have one son, Peter, who is around the same age as Lena and Francis's youngest daughter, Kate. Kate and Peter become best friends. When tragedy strikes to tear them and their families apart, they will have to decide if friendship and love is enough.

Thoughts: This was a book club read for me (and I didn't quite finish it in time for the club's online meet, but I did finish it a day or so later). Overall, I enjoyed the story. Parts were sad or strange or heartbreaking, but there was a lot to love and a lot of redemption. However, I think I was more interested in Francis and Lena and George than I ever was in Kate and Peter.

Rating: 3 1/2 stars out of 5

Title: The Mark of Athena

Author: Rick Riordan

Narrator: Joshua Swanson

Synopsis: The adventures of the seven demigods begins as the Argo II travels from Camp Jupiter to Rome after possibly starting a war between the Roman and Greek demigods. Then when they finally reach Rome after a harrowing journey, Annabeth must strike out on her own quest to follow the Mark of Athena. The other six have to find and save Nico from evil twin giants.

Thoughts: This was a re-read for me. I have lost count of how many times I have read these books, but I just love them!

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Title: The House of Hades

Author: Rick Riordan

Narrator: Nick Chamian

Synopsis: Nico has been saved and joins the crew of the Argo II, Annabeth and Percy have plunged into Tartarus. Percy and Annabeth need to find the Doors of Death to help close them and Nico has to lead the rest of the crew to and through the House of Hades to close the doors on the mortal side. Meanwhile, the Roman demigods are marching to Camp Half-Blood, intent on destroying the Greeks.

Thoughts: Another re-read for the up-teenth time. And I had book club books to finish or start but I still re-read this anyway. I did decide to wait to re-read the Blood of Olympus until after I finish another book club book. I love these books very much, in case you couldn't tell.

Rating: 4 1/2 out of 5 stars

Title: I Hope You Get This Message

Author: Farah Naz Rishi

Synopsis: In seven days, the world will end. According to the alien message received on Earth, the aliens from the planet Alma have human lives in their hands and plan to terminate those lives. Jesse isn't sure he believes this and sets out to capitalize on peoples' hopes to help his mom and himself out of the poverty they've been struggling in. Cate, urged by her schizophrenic mother, sets out to find and meet the father that doesn't even know she exists. And Adeem, the coding wiz and radio amateur goes in search of his estranged sister and bring her home before the end. Their paths will collide in Roswell, New Mexico.

Thoughts: This was an Owlcrate book from several months ago. I thought it sounded interesting, but wasn't really in the mood for this sort of apocalyptic/sci-fi type of story. It ended up being quite good, in my opinion. I kept thinking about it and the characters when I wasn't reading. And while I did predict part of how the book ended, I still wanted more and had more questions. But I guess that's sort of the way real life is.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Title: The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper

Author: Hallie Rubenhold

Narrator: Louise Brealey

Synopsis: The stories of the ones no one talks about. We all know about Jack the Ripper, but what about the women he killed? This book talks about the five women who were murdered: Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine, and Mary-Jane. Also, they were not all prostitutes as the stories like to tell. These are their stories.

Thoughts: I am guilty of being fascinated by Jack the Ripper, which is why I chose this book. And this book is not about Jack the Ripper and talks only briefly about the murders. It is about his victims who were real women that were treated very unfairly by society both before and after their deaths. This was actually a book club book and I was excited that it was one of the selections because it had been on my TBR for a while. I greatly enjoyed it. If you are interested in history, this book is very well researched and the stories are well told.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Favorite book read this month: Aside from the House of Hades? The Five.

Least favorite book read this month: I think I have to say Ask Again, Yes, only because I didn't really care enough about Kate and Peter.

Also, I read three books with characters named Kate/Cate? Ask Again, Yes, I Hope You Get This Message, and the Five (Catherine was called Cate/Kate--not sure how it was spelled as I listened to the book).

Reading challenges:

I have read 46 of 80 books for the year.

For the alphabet challenge I crossed off "I" (I Hope You Get This Message) and, inadvertently, "H" (The House of Hades, but was planning to read House of Salt and Sorrows for "H.")

In other news, a student that I started tutoring about 6 years ago graduated high school this month. I am so proud of her and excited to see what her future brings.

It was also Mother's Day and I sent my momma a card and gift and got to talk to her an extra day that week. But Kevin was sweet and put a gift together for me "from the rats." It was super sweet. Here is a picture of the front of the card and the painting they made.

The painting is color-coded. Green for Zeus, blue for Poseidon, and red for Hades. And orange for Kevin.

Social distancing has continued, but I still have spent every Saturday evening chatting with friends via Houseparty. Sometimes we play games or work on crafts/projects, and sometimes we just hang out. I love it!

I have started thinking about my next disease post. I can never decide what disease I want to tackle, but I think I will do diphtheria next. I hope you are as excited as I am!

I hope you are all staying safe and healthy and reading good books!

April 2020 Wrap Up

I feel like April has been a long month. I'm sure there are many people who share that feeling. At least I am still working normally (if not overtime). Social distancing takes a toll on everyone though. Luckily I have had weekly video gatherings with some of my good friends, which cheers me up. I've been in contact with some other people who I haven't seen since I moved to New Mexico and it's een really nice to catch up with them. Maybe when things start to return to normal, some of these things will continue.

I'm still keeping my bullet journal and trying new things to help track my moods and motivation levels. Or track when/why I am most tired. I hope this will help me eventually.

On the plus-side, I have read several books this month. Lets go to that portion.

Title: Ouran High School Host Club Volumes 3-12
Author: Bisco Hatori

Synopsis: Haruhi is a poor scholarship student at the very wealthy and prestigious Ouran Academy, where the students have too much money and too much free time. In a twist of fate, Haruhi ends up in debt to the school host club (a gang of six attractive boys). Originally mistaken for a boy herself, she keeps her gender a secret from the rest of the school to become a host to work off her debt. And hilarity ensues.

Thoughts: I needed something light, quick, and fun to read, still, during and after my reading of Made You Up. But these are fun and I want to finish the series.

Rating: Overall, 4 out of 5 stars

Title: The Starless Sea
Author: Erin Morgenstern

Synopsis: There are magical doors that lead from the ordinary world to a strange place underground where stories ebb and flow like the Starless Sea. If you are meant to find a door, you will. If you do not open it, your chance may be gone forever. Or not, in the case of Zachary Ezra Rawlins. He found his door as a kid, but was too afraid that the magic would let him down to open it. But he gets another chance after some strange encounters with other people who dwell in the harbor of the Starless Sea and other people who have traveled to these mysterious places. But the world of the Starless Sea is in trouble and it might be Zachary's job to fix it. Or change it. He's not sure, but he feels he must try.

Thoughts: I loved the Night Circus so I was excited when she finally wrote another book. And I have to say that I enjoyed it, but I just am not really sure what to think. What I mostly think is that I need to read it again. There were so many parts that changed and were tangled together that I think I spent more time thinking about that than what the actual story was supposed to be. But it was really interesting and kept me thinking. I liked all the different incarnations and tangles of the stories.

Rating: 3 1/2-4 out of 5

Title: Made You Up
Author: Francesca Zappia

Synopsis: Alex is a high school student just like any other. Except she has schizophrenia and can't always tell what is real and what isn't. She has lots of methods to help her keep the real world and the world in her head separate. After changing schools, she finally makes friends with some other kids and with Miles who might have been someone in her past, or not, or maybe possible past-Miles wasn't even real. But this Miles is real and as they become friends and start to fall in love, the real craziness of the world around them comes out. Alex doesn't think anyone will believe her.

Thoughts: Oh my goodness. This book was incredible. Alex is the ultimate unreliable narrator because even she doesn't always know what is real which means you can never know what is real. I was anxious while I read this book and I had so many feelings. After I finished the book, I closed it and then sat there crying for a while (even though, spoiler, the ending wasn't particularly sad. I was just so emotional). And I had a massive book hangover for WEEKS afterwards. That's why I read so much Ouran High School Host Club: it was easy and manageable. I still feel like I don't want to read another book because it could never live up to this one. It might be a new favorite. Even weeks later, I am trying not to cry about it. Generally, unreliable narrators aren't my thing, so I was a little hesitant to read this. But I am unimaginably glad that I did. I don't even have proper words for this book. But if you read it and love it, please come talk to me because I need someone to cry over this with me.

Rating: 4 1/2-5 out of 5 stars. And lots of hearts.

Title: The Lost Hero
Author: Rick Riordan
Narrator: Joshua Swanson

Synopsis: Jason shows up in the Wilderness School for Troubled Youth with no memory of who he is or how he got there. He meets (for the first time?) Leo and Piper and together, they end up at Camp Half-Blood. Piper and Leo have secrets of their own: Piper's father is missing and she is meant to betray her new friends to save him and Leo can summon fire and may have contributed to the death of his mother. But they end up on a quest together and discover friendship despite everything.

Thoughts: This was a re-read, mostly because I wanted something familiar and fun after Made You Up. So I decided to start re-reading this series because they are fun. And because I love Leo to pieces.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Title: The Son of Neptune
Author: Rick Riordan
Narrator: Joshua Swanson

Synopsis: Percy arrives at Camp Jupiter with no idea who he is and no memories of his past life beyond Annabeth's name. There he meets Hazel, who has been given a second chance at life after dying in the 1940s, and Frank, who is told that he has great powers but mostly feels like a clumsy dolt. Together they go on a dangerous quest to Alaska, the land beyond the Gods, to defeat a giant and free Death.

Thoughts: Another re-read because I love these books and decided I would try to re-read the whole series. And also because I love Leo (though he isn't really in this book).

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Title: Explosive Eighteen
Author: Janet Evanovich

Synopsis: After a vacation gone horribly wrong, Stephanie returns to New Jersey alone. Next thing she knows, the man next to her on the plane was found dead and many people are after her because they think that he planted an important photograph in her bag. Which he did. And which she threw away. On top of dealing with the FBI, fake FBI, and other assorted crazies on her tail, Joyce (her nemesis) is holed up in her apartment, she's having horrible man trouble, and she still has to pick up her skips with Lula.

Thoughts: These are some of my guilty pleasure books. I call them my "beach trash" novels. They are so easy to read and funny. And as I was still in severe book-hangover-mode from Made You Up, this sounded like something I could handle. This series of books has gotten me out of many a reading slump in the past, this one did not disappoint.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars


Favorite book read this month: Made You Up (obviously)
Least favorite book read this month: None, I enjoyed all of them for different reasons

Reading challenge: I actually increased my reading goal for this year from 75 to 80 since I have been reading manga and they are much shorter and quicker to read. I might increase it to 85 later. But as of right now, I have read 37 of 80 books.

Alphabet reading challenge: L (The Lost Hero), M (Made You Up),  S (The Starless Sea), and X (Explosive Eighteen).