And the delays continue. Life has been super hectic. I went to the wedding of a good friend at the beginning of May. Then Kevin and I had our Morocco trip starting in May into June. And once I got back, work has been utterly consuming most of my life (and not in good ways). I had lots of messes to clean up and nonsense to deal with. It's been, frankly, ugly. We had to put one of our rats, Eros, down right before we left for Morocco, which was sad but definitely the right choice. Then we lost Dion shortly after we got back and Apollo had a weird cancer that he needed pretty big surgery for. Then another friend's elopement that I was able to attend. Lots of good things and some bad things, too. But with all of that, I also have not had any energy to work on my blog. I have still been reading though. And there have been other things going on, which I do plan to share, just not quite yet.
I feel like I have some sort of excuses for being late every month (or every two months as the case may be). I want to keep my blog going and I have some other posts started (not finished). Life has just been crazy. Maybe that is just how life is now? Is this what it means to be a grown up??
I will try to give some quick reviews of the books I read in May and June here. Due to the tardiness of my post, I will keep them very breif.
Title: Dreams Lie Beneath
Author: Rebecca Ross
Narrator: Chloe Dolandis
Synopsis/Thoughts: This was an Owlcrate book and I listened to the audiobook some of the time and read the physical book the rest of the time. I actually enjoyed it quite a bit, maybe more than I expected. Every new moon, nightmares stalk the streets in the kingdom of Azenor. The magical wardens are tasked with collecting information on nightmares and defeating them each new moon. Clementine is posed to take over her father's warden-ship when a couple of brothers take his position. To get revenge, Clem disguises herself and becomes the assistant to one of the brothers, Phelan. But the dreams they are fighting are more complicated than they realize and they may need to join forces to uncover the truth.
Rating: 4 stars out of 5 stars
Title: The Raven Cycle series
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Narrator: Will Patton
Synopsis/Thoughts: OK, I know I just read these back in March. But I just wasn't ready to leave this world. And I may have some Ronan obsession problems. I even have a character playlist. I don't know if I want to talk about it. But I just love these books.
Rating: 5 stars out of 5 stars
Title: The Sun and the Star
Authors: Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro
Narrator: A.J. Beckles
Synopsis/Thoughts: I really like Nico and Will and I was glad to see the story of Bob re-visited and completed. I was exciting for this book, but there were some things that I didn't love. There was some dragging and repetitiveness. Maybe a side effect of dual authors? I don't know. I did enjoy it overall and if you are a fan of Rick Riordan's books, this is worth the read. I'm sure I will re-read it in the future and maybe my thoughts will change.
Rating: 3 1/2 stars out of 5 stars
Title: Jay's Gay Agenda
Author: Jason June
Synopsis/Thoughts: This was a quick enjoyable read. Jay is the only gay teen (maybe gay person) in his tiny hometown. So when his parents announce they are moving to Seattle, he is ecstatic to experience life as a gay teen with other LBGTQ+ people around. He does a lot of growing up. It is sweet and funny and sometimes sad. But it is a good, happy story in the end.
Rating: 4 stars out of 5 stars
Title: Call Down the Hawk
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Narrator: Will Patton
Synopsis/Thoughts: Another one I just read a few months ago... I just needed to re-read the Dreamer Trilogy, too. I still really enjoyed this book. I like seeing more of the Lynch brothers (and of Ronan, obviously). It holds up.
Rating: 5 stars out of 5 stars
Least favorite book read in May/June: All of them were good, but the Sun and the Star has the lowest rating.
Favorite book read in May/June: the Raven Cycle books
As of the end of June, I have read 44 books toward my goal of 75.
I promise that I will try to be better in July. Thanks for sticking with me anyway!
