(Belated) May Challenge Wrap Up Post

2019* Books I Already Own Challenge

So, I'm just full of blogging excuses! My last wrap up post was several weeks late, and again here we are mid-month and I still haven't posted my wrap up from May... All I can say is life happens? Work is busy. Today is actually the first day of summer reading, so we spent the last few weeks prepping like crazy for our busy season at work. I've been reading, I just haven't had time to do things like write blog posts lately. 

Anyway, here's what I read in May:

Audiobooks I Own
Atomic Marriage by Curtis Sittenfeld (novella)
The Hundredth Queen by Emily R. King
Faerie Magic by Emma Adams *5 star*
Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff *5 star*
Corpse & Crown by Alisa Kwitney
Imposters by Scott Westerfeld

Physical Books I Own
Kingsbane by Claire Legrand
Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
Finale by Stephanie Garber *5 star*

Required Reading
(for work) Murder in the Paperback Parlor by Ellery Adams
(for work) A Friendly Life by S Prestley Blake

Book Borrowed from the Library
A Lady's Guide to Etiquette and Murder by Dianne Freeman

Again, this was a very good month for audiobooks.  I was running around a lot and prepping for my trip into New York City for the Book Expo and so listening was often easier than sitting down to read.  I should mention, though, that I liked two of these audiobooks enough (Aurora Rising and Corpse & Crown) that I actually bought the physical books to add to my Personal Library.  They were both great "reads." 

I also read a bunch of physical books that I really enjoyed this month.  AND I finally finished Priory of the Orange Tree!! I didn't really give myself time to sit down and read big chunks of this book until May, so I literally read this book over a course of six weeks, which is an excruciatingly long time for me. It turned out to be very good, though not as good as I'd hoped.  I was a little disappointed in the end, but then I followed it up with Kingsbane and Finale, both of which were amazing.

Overall, it was a month that sort of passed in a blur, but it was a happy fuzz of good reading, so that's okay.  How was your May in terms of reading?

2019 5 Star Review #8 - Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating

Josh & Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren
Published Sept 2018 by Gallery Books

Format Read: Print book from Personal Library

Description from Goodreads:
Hazel Camille Bradford knows she’s a lot to take—and frankly, most men aren’t up to the challenge. If her army of pets and thrill for the absurd don’t send them running, her lack of filter means she’ll say exactly the wrong thing in a delicate moment. Their loss. She’s a good soul in search of honest fun.

Josh Im has known Hazel since college, where her zany playfulness proved completely incompatible with his mellow restraint. From the first night they met—when she gracelessly threw up on his shoes—to when she sent him an unintelligible email while in a post-surgical haze, Josh has always thought of Hazel more as a spectacle than a peer. But now, ten years later, after a cheating girlfriend has turned his life upside down, going out with Hazel is a breath of fresh air.

Not that Josh and Hazel date. At least, not each other. Because setting each other up on progressively terrible double blind dates means there’s nothing between them...right?

My Review:

A book that will make you laugh out loud.  There was nothing earth-shattering about the plot of this book, but I loved the characters of Josh and Hazel and their interactions SO much that I LOVED this book with all my heart.

I gushed about it at work on my lunch break. I gushed about it in DMs.  I told anyone I thought would like a funny rom-com to try this book. And now I'm telling you.  

This book had me snorting with laughter. It also had me tearing up.  I felt like emotions were just so genuine in this one and I adored every moment I spent reading it.  I hope that I can find other books by this author that hit me just the same way.  

Highly recommended as a beach read or a holidays read (when you need a little destressing) or really an anytime you need a laugh and a heart full of love kind of read!

(Belated) April Challenge Wrap Up Post

2019* Books I Already Own Challenge

Okay Spring, can we slow down a little? Work has gotten busy and not only have I not been able to read very much lately because I've been both busy and tired, but I also suddenly realized it's mid-May and I hadn't posted my April wrap up yet.  So, here it is...

What I read in April:

Audiobooks I Own 
Morning Star by Pierce Brown *5 star*
Devil May Care by Pippa DaCosta
Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues by Diana Rowland *5 star* 
White Trash Zombie Apocalypse by Diana Rowland
Lucky Suit by Lauren Blakely (novella)
Never-Contented Things by Sarah Porter
Carter & Lovecraft by Jonathan Howard
Faerie Blood by Emma Adams *5 star* 

Physical Books I Own
Getting Hot with the Scot by Melonie Johnson *5 star*
Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor
Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare - group read

eBooks I Own
Thrall by Carina Cook *5 star*

Required Reading
(for work) Snobbery with Violence by Marion Chesney
(for review) An Artless Demise by Anna Lee Huber

As I mentioned work has gotten quite busy and I was also traveling to and from meetings quite a lot. So the majority of my reading was actually done via audiobook this month. I had a very hard time actually sitting down to read. Thankfully, the majority of the audiobooks I listened to were pretty stellar and eight is not too shabby a number to cross off my list! LOL.  The physical books I squeezed in were all pretty great, too, so overall it was a pretty good reading month.  I had one book that turned out to be a HUGE disappointment, but that happens. I also finished my group read of the Infernal Devices trilogy in April, and while I was really glad to have read them, I didn't love them as much as I'd expected to, so they got donated to the library.

How was your reading in April?