What Did You Read in May?

[dorothyinAus]

Anything outstanding -- good or bad?

If you have any, how are you going on annual goals?  Challenges?

[dorothyinAus]

17. Murder on Amsterdam Avenue by Victoria Thompson
18. Foreign Éclairs by Julie Hyzy
19. The Alexandria Affair by Ashley Gardner
20. Winter at Death's Hotel by Kenneth Cameron
21. Beatrice Goes to Brighton by M.C. Beaton/Marion Chesney

The Alexandria Affair was the best of the month, but I was eagerly awaiting that one and dropped everything to get through it.

The worst was Foreign Éclairs.  I was disappointed by the end of the series, though I had become disappointed by the series a couple of books ago.  I just wanted to finish it.

Goodreads says I'm 2 books ahead of schedule for my annual goal, which makes me happy, but I feel like I've been slow on the reading this year.

[revjen]

The Raven King
The Selection
The Elite
The One

I'm not tracking this year.

[abs]

I read:

A Glittering Court--3.5*
A Court of Mist and Fury--5+*
Confess--4*
Hidden Bodies--1*

It was a good reading month for me! The best was easily A Court of Mist and Fury. Everyone should read it!!

Hidden Bodies was absolutely terrible. I just skimmed the last quarter because I couldn't wait to move on.

[BlackCanary]

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant 5*
Alice by Christina Henry 5*
Down the Rabbit Hole: Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny by Holly Madison 3*

I could not finish Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. Just couldn't get into it.

My favorite this month was Alice, so good!

[Vespasia]

May 31, 2016 18:50:30 GMT -5 BlackCanary said:

My favorite this month was Alice, so good!

I loved that one too! Can't wait for the sequel.

[Vespasia]

The Nightingale
Her Final Breath
The Last Girl

I didn't love any of these. Her Final Breath was probably the best because it was a good, basic mystery. It met my expectations, which weren't high to start with.

The Nightingale was the hardest to get through and a big disappointment.

[spedrunner]

Eleanor & Park.  (2 1/2 stars)

It was ok. It was a cute, light read. 

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki  (2.5 stars)

Meh. This book sort of annoyed me. I felt it was very drawn out and at times so "philosophical". It pretty much drove me nuts. I think it is a beautiful book, well written and great meaning, Just was not for me.

[Nonny]

Only three this past month:

The Rosie Project

The Cuckoo's Calling

The Cider House Rules (still celebrating finishing this!!)

I rated them all three stars, and Goodreads says I'm 4 books behind schedule on my 50 book goal for the year.  Fuck you John Irving for that one! 

[aurora]

I read/listened to

Roots by Alex Haley (though I finished this on 5/1 and I think I included it in my April list)
The Passage by Justin Cronin
The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan
Nightwoods by Charles Frazier
The Green Mile by Stephen King

I feel like I've been doing a lot of re-reads lately but only The Great Hunt was one for May, so maybe not so much.

I'm ahead of 2015, but I don't have a specific goal for the year.

[ufcasey]

I've read/listened to 15 books in May so I'll just list my top 3 (all are really highly recommended!):

A Court of Mist and Fury
Rena's Promise: A Story of Sisters in Auschwitz
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

I'm at 89 books for the year so far.

[MrsAxilla]

Trigger Warning - Neil Geiman (short stories): 4*
Deliver Her (kindle first): 3*
A Court of Mist and Fury: 5*
Orphan Train: 4*

QOTD: I decided last year that goals were stupid - lol. I missed last year's goal of 1 per week, but I read significantly more pages than the year before. Why should a bohemoth like Gone with the Wind be "worth" as much as a shitty little James Bond novel? My goal is just to read as many pages or more than the previous year, and to read what's already in my kindle. This way I don't have to assess myself until the end of the year!

[rootbeerfloat]

Written in My Own Heart's Blood (Outlander #8), Diana Gabaldon - 4*
Morning Star (Red Rising #3), Pierce Brown - 3*
Breakable, Tammara Webber - 3*
Grave Sight (Harper Connelly #1), Charlaine Harris - 3*
Ice Cold Grave (Harper Connelly #3), Charlaine Harris - 3*
Grave Secret (Harper Connelly #4), Charlaine Harris - 3*

I'm at 21/50. I caught up after working on WIMOHB all of April.

[rainbowchip]

I read:
Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) 4*
Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3) 5*
Virgins (Outlander #0.5) 4*
The Crown (The Selection #5) 5*
Fairest (The Lunar Chronicles #3.5) 3*

The Crown was probably my favorite for this month. I read it in one day which I haven't done it a really long time!

I am 3 books ahead of schedule on my goal of 52 books.

[willyh19]

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Darkfever
Rosemary's Gravy
My Favorite Husband
Rules of Civility
The Raven King

My favorite was The Raven King. I'm very pleased with how it all wrapped up.

My least favorite was Rules of Civility. I just never felt like I connected with the characters.

Goodreads says I'm 4 books ahead of schedule for the year. I'm at 28/60.

[snshne322]

It's been a slower reading month for me.  I'm having trouble staying focused.

A Gathering of Shadows - V.E. Schwabb ***
Long Hard Ride - Lorelei James ***
A court of Mist and Fury - Sarah J Maas *****
Kiss of Snow - Nalini Singh ****
The Sin Eater's Daughter - Melinda Salisbury ***
Branded by Fire - Nalini Singh *****

I'm at 60/116 and 12 books ahead of schedule.

I ADORED A Court of Mist and Fury.  Some of the others were rereads.  I'm not into much lately.  Nothing is jumping out at me.

[susiebw]

I only managed to finish 2 books in May. I spent a bunch of time listening to another one that I wound up quitting on, so I can partly blame that. But I also blame Hamilton, because that's all I ever want to listen to in the car anymore. So it's impeding my audiobooks.

The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman 4*
Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King 5*

I have no goal other than to try and read at least as much, or more, than last year. But these were only books 13 and 14 for the year, and last year I read 59 books, so I'm not on track at all. I've been reading a lot of history, and that tends to take me longer to get through than fiction.

[susiebw]

May 31, 2016 18:50:30 GMT -5 BlackCanary said:

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant 5*
Alice by Christina Henry 5*
Down the Rabbit Hole: Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny by Holly Madison 3*

I could not finish Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. Just couldn't get into it.

My favorite this month was Alice, so good!

I adored Lolita.  I listened to it as an audiobook, and I think that helped me enjoy it more, because for me, it felt like Nabokov's prose and style came across better out loud.  All the alliteration made the writing stand out so much over the messed up story.  Jeremy Irons read it, and he's played Humbert a few times, so he nailed the tone and everything, too. 

[kelliebeans104]

Furiously Happy - Jenny Lawson 3*
HP Order of the Pheonix - JK Rowling 5* (reread)
Childfree and Loving It - Nicki Defago 4*
The Raven King - Maggie Stiefvater 5*
The Residence - Kate Anderson Bower 2*

My favorite was definitely Raven King. I love that series.

I'm two books ahead of schedule on my goal to read 52 for the year.

[litskispeciality]

Me Before You by Jojo Myers 3.5 *'s

The Nanny Diaries 3 *'s

I wasn't that impressed by Me Before You...sorry! It was ok, definately sad, but didn't live up to the hype. I should have read more this month, Nanny Diaries is a quick, fluffy read, just didn't have enough time. My goal for the year is 24 books/2 per month. I'm at 9 for the year so I gotta have a strong June to get back on track.

[charlatti]

I read a ton in May, but not much I really enjoyed all that much. Best was The Never Open Desert Diner, a random pick from the library shelves that turned out to be quite good. I really disliked Sweet Lamb of Heaven by Lydia Millet -- very much a not-for-me book.

[litskispeciality]

Jun 1, 2016 0:33:05 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

QOTD: I decided last year that goals were stupid - lol. I missed last year's goal of 1 per week, but I read significantly more pages than the year before. Why should a bohemoth like Gone with the Wind be "worth" as much as a shitty little James Bond novel? My goal is just to read as many pages or more than the previous year, and to read what's already in my kindle. This way I don't have to assess myself until the end of the year!

I love that! It's true you might read a short YA and a long "classic" novel that takes longer to read, you still get to the same number of books.

[travella]

Circling the Sun - 4.5
A House in the Sky - 4
The Dinner- couldn't finish
Britt-Marie was Here - 3

I set a goal of 30 books for this year. I am over 50% of the way towards my goal, but I'm not sure how much I'll read towards the end of the year since we will be moving.

[jf940407]

I am way behind on my goal for the year, I need to start reading more. I've only read 28 out of my goal of 116.
Most books I read were good, in May I read:
Every Last Word - Tamara Stone - 4*
Beautiful Burn - Jaime McGuire - 4*
Midnight Bites - Rachel Caine - 3*
He Will Be My Ruin - KA Tucker - 4*
Lady Renegades - Rachel Hawkins - 3*

[mrspez07]

I finished my book club book in May but struggled to get through anything.
Americanah 3.5*

I'm rereading A Breath of Snow and Ashes and that took up a ton of my time but I didn't finish.