May 2022 in Review

Posted June 3, 2022 by Kate

hello, loves!

Hey there!! It’s unreal how fan May slid right on by for me. I became a college senior, moved back home with my parents for the summer, immediately got the flu, wrapped up seasons 12-15 of Supernatural, and went back to work at the front desk of a local resort (yay me!). Woo-hoo 😂

June is an incredibly exciting month, as I will flying to New York City on June 9th to attend NYU’s Summer Publishing Institute for the next five weeks!!!! You’ll be hearing about it from me – don’t worry :) I’m incredibly anxious, but I also cannot wait 💛

✨ Stories Consumed! ✨

Reading Statistics

This was definitely my least genre-diverse month of reading yet. I only read adult ebook romances – some were erotic, one was supernatural-esque, and most of books came from Kindle Unlimited. They were also all M/F heterosexual romances, which is incredibly disappointing. That’s what I get for just picking up random KU romances all month. This was definitely a fall-into-bed-and-read-for-a-bit-before-bed month, and there were only a few was obsessed over.

Books I Read (17!)

READING MARIANA ZAPATA: I was down bad with the flu for about two weeks at the beginning of the month, so I decided it was time to pull out one of the few remaining Zapata’s I haven’t read… and I LOVED IT!!! I fell in love with MZ’s books all over again 💛 So then I decided to reread some of her others… the one’s that I always think are my least favorites of hers, but turns out I really enjoyed them :) I say “least favorite” loosely, if pressed to rank them, but now I’m thoroughly confused. Except for one thing… I DNF’d The Best Thing. *covers face* I know! I really loved the other two (Hands Down and Under Locke), unexpectedly, but I actually enjoyed The Best Thing less than the first time.

ROMANCES THAT TOOK ME BY SURPRISE: I loved Hazelwood’s debut, but I was still completely blown away by how much I adored her novella release! But more than that, Ten Trends to Seduce Your Bestfriend gave me SUCH MZ vibes!! I’m completely obsessed with this newest release. I’m blown away. Did I just forget how much I love Penny Reid?? I think I did.

SERIES // THE DEVILS: I read A Deal with the Devil and The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea when it was recommended by Julia @entirelybonkerz … and they’re incredible!! I’m going to have to go on Elizabeth O’Roark binge soon, because these are short, sweet, breezy romances. They’re incredibly dynamic and surprising!

CATCHING UP ON SERIES: To be fair, I’ve already read Don’t Hex and Drive by Juliette Cross. But I haven’t read the rest after it! So It’s a step towards catching up on this incredibly fun series. This one was sweet, shy and full of pining. So sweet! Can’t wait for the next one, which I haven’t read yet. Then I read Act Your Age, Eve Brown, the conclusion to the Brown sisters series. It took place in a bed-and-breakfast, and I absolutely adored it. UGH. God, words can’t express.

DIDN’T LIKE THESE: I mean, I’m happy there’s only two? I suppose? Fake it Till you Bake It was an ARC that I received (review coming later this month, after release week), and I basically hated it… the writing, the characters, the conflict… most of it. Full rant review, coming later. Remedial Rocket Science was more disappointing than hateful, but I still just wasn’t a fan of the way most of it played out (or the characters).

EROTIC ROMANCES: Not featured, but I enjoyed both Brianna Hale and Lee Jacquot this month!

Movies + TV Shows Consumed

CASUALLY WATCHED: I watched a few episodes of the latest season of “Bull,” and always enjoy the trial science aspect of the show. The characters are great, but they’re not enough to keep me watching without the interesting cases. When ill with the flu, I watched the first few episodes of “How I Met Your Mother” again. I’d love to get into it and start binge-ing the show (especially with the reboot dropping soon(?)), but so far it’s just an easy show to enjoy and then drop out of. In between, my Dad and I have been watching “Stay Here,” where marketing expert and an interior designer travel to struggling short-term rentals to make over business, brand and decor! This decorator knows what she’s doing, and it’s an excellent job!!

COMFORT WATCHES: “The Other Woman” is one of my all-time favorite movies!! I found out my mom hadn’t watched it before (how???) so I made my parents sit down and watch with me. Love the friendship and revenge plot! I’m also continuing to watch “New Girl!” I’d started it with my roommate a couple months ago, but we didn’t get to finish before college ended for the semester and we moved back home for the summer. It’s definitely not the same watching alone, but I still very much enjoy the story… even if I think it shone within the first three seasons best.

SUPERNATURAL: It’s the end of an era, and I finally wrapped up season 15 and the series finale 😭😭😭 It still doesn’t feel real. I’ve been watching Supernatural since I discovered it 7th grade (wasn’t everyone??), but committed to starting over and finally running all the way through about 2.5 years ago with my parents. We managed to watch 15 seasons within the less-than-ten-months that I’ve been home, between moving out for college. I think I may have to start rewatching again…

2022 Resolutions: How’s that going?

Publish 12 Posts by the end of the year: 15/12 complete! DONE ✅
Participate in + complete readathons: I participated in Polarthon back in Februrary, but chose not to complete the last challenge! I read a Zapata book instead :) Hopefuly for @whateverthon in June :)
Maybe a little review pressure… March did me dirty, I’m only at about 52% of books read getting reviewed!!
Post to Bookstagram 4 times a month (minimum). I need to. I know I need to. Now that it’s warm, I have no excuse…. but….
Publish Netgalley Warriors posts quarterly: One post published so far, but I’m waaay behind in my reading 😳💀
Use Goodreads as the tool that it is: successssss! I’ve been keeping Goodreads updated, and even occasionally post updates throughout the reading journey. Wooooahh, right? 😂
Expand my reading repertoire: Doing okay overall… but I still wish I could read a few more YA books/thrillers. This month was a fail, though
Engage in bookish communities. Doing… better but still not great. Bookstagram stories is rocking, but I’ve yet to post and engage too deeply in my feed.
Experiment with your reading tastes and methods: Better but also still not great. Mood reading is still large and in-charge, but I’m getting some things read that I’ve been putting off!
Track your reading, utilize Airtable database: Smashing this one! I love my Airtable database reading tracker :)
Try new things, evolve my perspective with reading: Also better, but not great. I’ve read more #ownvoices stories than usual, with representation towards mental health, race, neurodivergence and chronic pain/illness. I would like to keep this at the forefront of my mind when selecting books.

Netgalley Warriors Update

Read: 4/20

January: A Brush with Love by Mazey Eddings (2022 Release | Review)
January: Sweet Talk by Cara Bastone (2021 Release | Review)
February: Nothing :(
March: Nothing :(
April: Nothing :(
May: Not Second Chance by Christa Maurice (2016 Release | DNF)
May: Fake it Till You Bake It by Jamie Wesley (2022 Release | Review)

June TBR

aka, my ebook library loans…

Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo
Running with Lions by Julian Winters
The City We Became by NK Jemisin
It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey
If We Were Villains by ML Rio
The Witch King by HE Edgmon
The Mistake by Elle Kennedy
Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall
If this Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich
Read a YA book, either Ruin of Kings, Dark Rise, From Blood and Ash or We Hunt the Flame.
Read two books from my Netgalley Warriors List (above)
Read a thriller