May Wrap Up

Total Number of Books: 15
Total Number of Pages: 4,399
Physical: 3
eBooks: 7
Audiobooks: 5
Favorite (New) Reads of the Month: Family of Liars by E. Lockhart AND Please Don’t Sit on My Bed in Your Outside Clothes by Phoebe Robinson

Physical:

Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen (reread) – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Family of Liars by E. Lockhart – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Had to reread Along for the Ride by my queen Sarah Dessen because the adaptation was released on Netflix. It’s not my favorite of her books, but still great and much better than the adaptation. When I heard that one of my favorite books, We Were Liars, was getting a prequel I immediately preordered the new book Family of Liars. I loved getting to know the Sinclair family. In We Were Liars, we get snippets of the mothers and grandfather, but in this book, we get a better sense of the mothers’ dynamic with each other and their parents. I was pretty disappointed with Conversations with Friends. I really enjoyed Normal People so I was excited to read Sally Rooney’s debut and I want to watch the Hulu show, but this was kind of a slog to get through.

eBooks:

Fireworks by Alice Lin – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Can’t Look Away by Carola Lovering – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Home Field Advantage by Dahlia Adler – ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan – ⭐️⭐️.5
Half Sisters by Virginia Franken – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
How Maya Got Fierce by Sona Charaipotra – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Exactly Where You Need to Be by Amelia Diane Coombs – ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

It was a pretty below average month for ARCs. I think I need to be more selective when it comes to requesting ARCs, especially YA. I think I’m slowly narrowing down what YA books I want to read instead of reading basically any contemporary that comes out. How Maya Got Fierce was my most disappointed read of the month. The cover was SO gorgeous and I loved the comparison to The Bold Type but it just didn’t rise to the occasion. I really enjoy Dahlia Adler’s short stories and I think she does great things for LGBTQ+ books in the YA community, but I’ve yet to read a full novel from her that I gave more than 3.5 stars. Can’t Look Away was wild and ridiculous and so much fun to read. beyond entertaining.

Audiobooks:

The Love Connection by Denise Williams – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Nothing Burns as Bright as You by Ashley Woodfolk – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hello, Molly! by Molly Shannon – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Happy People Are Annoying by Josh Peck – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Please Don’t Sit on My Bed in Your Outside Clothes by Phoebe Robinson – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Great month for audiobooks! Ashley Woodfolk’s books get better and better with each new release. Her latest, Nothing Burns as Bright as You, was a book-in-verse highlighting an explosive friendship. Finally got approved for Phoebe Robinson’s third book Please Don’t Sit on My Bed in Your Outside Clothes. her writing is so well done, combining humor and thought provoking ideas on race and gender. Hello, Molly! was a joy to listen to.