Sunday, June 3, 2018

Monthly Reading Wrap Up -- April and May 2018

I thought I was developing a new average for me, to have read six books in the month of April.  And yes, considering my normal monthly "books read" average is usually around 10 to 15 books--at least in the past couple years it has been--this is considered a slow month for me.  But then May drew around and I ended up only finishing one book.  Yes--only one book.

In the meantime, I had barely posted anything on this blog.


It's been THAT kind of feeling, both abandoning my reading and my blog.  So I will just wallow in my own rain and feel bad.

And thus, we are getting a combined April and May Monthly Reading Wrap Up.

Although, to be honest, I'm not entirely complaining, or really that sad about not having  blogged anything throughout the entire month of May.  I've been giving my attention to other forms of entertainment, which also makes me extremely happy.  And isn't that all that matters?

In terms of blogging and socializing, I feel like I'm batting zero for zero here, though.  I think I spent, maybe all of two seconds on Booklikes the past few weeks, and that was just to check on a blog post I'd written a long time ago.

Anyway, this wouldn't be the first time I've gone on hiatus with a blog of mine; however, this would be the first time I've felt really bad about it since I truly DO love reading and blogging about books.  In the past, I'd done blogs for anime and manga and even live drama of the Asian variety... but I don't think I ever really got into those, and let them fall to the wayside without any qualms.

But as we can see... I'm still hanging on.

Which, I think, is why I'm allowing myself a chance to take a break from blogging and reading as vigorously as I'd been doing the past couple years.  I think this will be good for me, in that I will probably be less social online for a while, but will still try to post something, sometimes, whenever I'm feeling the mood.  I don't know how long this hiatus will last, but I'm hoping to jump back in sometime, at least before the end of the year.

I love writing reviews, and I love discussing books, but because I always end up subconsciously putting myself on a schedule, I think I wear myself out.  Try as I might to take the blogging scene in a leisurely fashion, I will always eventually start stressing about my own self-dictated deadlines and whatnot.  And while I had that kind of drive last year, the year before, and even the year before that, I think it's time for a little vacation.

To anyone still paying attention:  I'm still here.  But for now, I'm probably going to be pretty sporadic and scarce in my postings.

April Reads



May Reads




Books Dropped/Put On Hold


None this month!  Yay!

Currently Reading



Yes, I know.  Despite the fact that my reading mood has been low lately, I sure have started a lot of books already since the month of May...  Then I went ahead and started Mistress of Mellyn as June rolled around; of course, this was a book I had intended to start reading in May.

And yes, I'm still working on All I Want by Jill Shalvis.  I intend to finish it, because I only have so much of the audio book left, and it's the last book in the series published thus far.  It seems way too much of a shame to quit now.

April Reading Stats

Total works read:  6
  • 6 print/e-book novels

Average rating: 3.08 Stars
  • Highest Rated:  Blood Surfer by Debra Jess // 3.5 Stars
  • Lowest Rated:  5 books // 3.0 Stars
    • All the rest of the books--I'm not listing them.

Series I started reading:
  • Thunder City by Debra Jess
Series I completed:
  • Whispering Springs by Jayne Ann Krentz
  • St. Helens by Jayne Castle
Series I have made progress on:
  • I-Team by Pamela Clare

Favorite reads:  The truth is, this was a slow enough month that I really didn't have a favorite of all the books I read in April.  I always enjoy Jayne Ann Krentz, and I always enjoy Pamela Clare... but no dice this month.  Even the one, highest rated book of the month, Blood Surfer was really not all that great, as you can see by the average 3.5 star rating.

Disappointing reads:  In disappointments, however, I'm sad to say that I HAD hoped that Pamela Clare's newest I-Team installment would bring back all my Rom-Suspense feels that I had when I first discovered her.  But either I was just not in the right mood, or the book didn't work for me.  So, yes, slightly disappointment there.


May Reading Stats

Total works read:  1
  • 1 print/e-book novel

Average rating: 3.0 Stars -- Lady Beneath the Veil by Sarah Mallory

Series:  Did not start, make progress on, or finish any series.

Favorite reads:  I read one book for May... and the truth is, I didn't really like it.

Disappointing reads:  See above.


Reviews & Notable Posts

Reviews Written


Memes

  • Did Not Meme This Month!

Other Posts



Coming Up In June

Tentative TBR


Other Stuff

I honestly don't know what I want to read or what I want to blog about in May.  I'm actually 75% finished with my Author Love Challenge, having read nine Jayne Ann Krentz/Jayne Castle books, out of the proposed goal of twelve.  So I only need to finish three more and I'll have accomplished my task.

Meanwhile, I suppose I need to start thinking about the second half of the Reading Assignment Challenge, coming up with a new list of books--I'm definitely sticking with one book a month for the rest of the year.  I'll probably be able to propose a new list sometime soon, scheduled to post by the end of the June--brainstorming is already in progress.

I'm still keeping to a really light reading and blogging activity, and while I'm posting very rarely and sporadically, I will still try to post.  Reviews, however, may or may not be written since I've been really lazy and just not in the mood.  There are a few reviews I've already written that will probably see the light of day within the next couple weeks after I've given them a final edit.

Then... I might work on some review transfers from stuff I've posted on either Goodreads or BookLikes prior to this blog's creation.


2018 Wrap-Ups 

Past Monthly Reading Wrap Ups (2016 / 2017)
See Also: 2015 Reading Wrap-Up posts (scroll to bottom of page)

(updated as year progresses by month)
January | February | March | April | May | June
July | August | September | October | November | December



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