I don’t know about you, but May was MY month. I am so impressed and pleased by all the reading and BIG BOOKS that I conquered last month and I’m really excited to share them with you today!

Despite May being as busy as many of the previous months where I haven’t read as much as I would like, I made extra room (a.k.a. I slept less) to fit in a read-a-thon and WHA-POW! More books were read. Which was glorious! I got up an hour earlier every day for a fortnight and just having that tiny bit more time to myself to read was honestly so nice. However, I’m far too sleep a person to keep that up forever.

But anyway! Let’s take a look at what I read.

---

Obsidian
by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Genre: Paranormal Fantasy, Young Adult
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Published: November 2011
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Pages: 335 {paperback}

Will I continue the series? YES

A good friend of mine, Sarah, sent this to me a while back and I’ve been meaning to pick it up for quite some time. It was so enjoyable to dive into a book like this that I could just take for face value and enjoy the American country-town, insta-paranormal-love that happened. You can’t really go too far wrong when it comes to Armentrout.

My review

---

The Priory of the Orange Tree
by Samantha Shannon

Genre: Fantasy
Author: Samantha Shannon
Published: February 2019
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages: 827 {hardback}

I am ridiculously pleased with myself for having read this book. One of my goals for 2019 is to read bigger books and to stop being so intimidated by them. I read this one via audiobook and really loved the story. However, there were a few factors in this book that left me less enamoured with it than many other people, it seems. You can check out my review below, or head to my BookTube channel for a discussion review.

My review

---

The Ruin of Kings
by Jenn Lyons

Genre: Fantasy
Author: Jenn Lyons
Published: February 2019
Publisher: Tor
Pages: 560 {hardback}

Will I continue the series? YES

I could not have been more surprised by how much I loved this book. I was sent a copy of this for review in February from Pan Macmillan and after one failed attempt to read this then, I retried it in May and absolutely fell in love with the story. This book requires a bit of patience but oh wow does it pay off in the end.

My review

---

Navigating the Stars
by Maria V. Snyder 

Genre: Sci-Fi, Young Adult
Author: Maria V. Snyder
Published: November 2018
Publisher: Harlequin
Pages: 455 {paperback}

Will I continue the series? YES

This was a fantastic work of science fiction from our beloved Maria V. Snyder. I’ve not heard many people talking about this book, truth be told, but I absolutely loved it. This is definitely a book many of you will LOVE – especially if you enjoyed Claudia Gray’s Firebird trilogy.

Review to come

---

What if it’s Us
by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera

Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult, LGBT+
Author: Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera
Published: October 2018
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 437 {paperback}

This was bloody fantastic. I knew it was going to be good but WOW. These authors need to team up more because what they’ve written is an absolute powerhouse of a novel. This is LGBT+ romcom at its best. If you haven’t read this yet, you are quite literally missing out.

Review to come

---

Autoboyography
by Christina Lauren

Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult, LGBT+
Author: Christina Lauren
Published: September 2017
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 410 {paperback}

This was another stunning and thought-provoking LGBT+ contemporary that I enjoyed. I probably shouldn’t have read it immediately after What if it’s Us, but alas, I did. This is set in Utah and deals with being gay in a Mormon society. Super interesting.

My review

---

Vicious
by V.E. Schwab

Genre: Paranormal Fantasy, Young Adult
Author: V.E. Schwab
Published: September 2013
Publisher: Titan Books
Pages: 340 {paperback}

Will I continue the series? YES

This was my first V.E. Schwab book! I’m so proud! I wasn’t sure on this one when I started reading it but it soon had me hooked. There are so many interesting ideas and concepts in this. There’s just nothing not to love with all the bad things going on and the crazy superpowers.

Review to come

---

• I reviewed some books:
  • Autoboyography by Christina Lauren
  • The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
  • Obsidian by J. L. Armentrout
  • A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer
• I did my April wrap-up
• I participated in Top Ten Tuesday:
  • Top Ten Releases from this Decade
  • Characters with Disabilities
• There was a guest post involving an interactive, literary map
• I planned my TBR for the Shelf Love Crate Readathon
• I talked about new releases for May 2019

---

---

Genres Read:

Pages Read:

Total: 3,364

Year of Publication:

Progress Towards Goodreads Challenge:

48%, or, 24/50 books

---

May was my birthday month! Which meant I was excited the entire month thinking about it. Because gosh I love birthdays. So I will start at the end and say that I had a wonderful birthday (on the 27th) where Jayden took me out for a day at the zoo. A literal dream come true, I have no idea why I love the zoo so much but damn, I do. We took a picnic and had PERFECT weather (which is so lucky for late May — remember, southern hemisphere here for ye northern hemisphere-ers, so = winter). I even bought a koala cookie cutter and made awesome cookies. #LifeGoals.

I also made excellent progress with my very own book last month (and this month, but that’s not for now). I’ve really cracked onto the editing regime and currently have over half of my book edited. Which is so exciting. By editing, I mean big, clunky fixes that simply had to be done + making the story make sense, before I start fishing for agents. I’m hoping to have it polished and ready to go in July!

I’ve made a new backdrop for Instagram which was really exciting. I’ve got a How To video up on my YouTube channel if you’re wondering how I did it and where I bought things from. I’m super happy with it and it’s so nice to FINALLY have a decent background.

I tried two excellent new restaurants, a Moroccan one for mother’s day that was scrumptious, and a local Italian with Jayden which we both loved. I can’t wait to go back and try their pizzas.

I also attended the ballet with my mum for something different to do. It was three hours long and sheesh, that’s a long time. But it was beautiful and really fun to get out and go and do!

I would usually include movies and TV series that I watched last month but I’ll be honest, I didn’t keep track of them and because of my next big exciting news, I’m simply too tired to spend time working out what I did or did not watch. Although I’m pretty sure aside from Masterchef and Brooklyn Nine-Nine I literally watched nothing. It was a busy month of reading.

My big news is that I now have a new job! So to get really real for a second, I must raise a hand and say I don’t know how consistent my blogging will be for a while. I’ve got the real adult gig, working the 9-5 in the city, which means I’m up at 6am and not back home until 6pm (depressing, right? Why do we want to be adults??). I aim to spend my weekends tucked in bed being extra productive and blogging like there’s no tomorrow. Blogging is so soothing, no? But I have no idea if that will happen.

So I apologise in advance if things are quiet around here whilst I find my feet but I am NOT disappearing. I literally couldn’t exist without this blog. So wish me luck and let us hope that I keep on top of things (like seriously, I was so close to being so on top of things YIKES don’t let it all fall apart!).

---

Tick! May done!

What was your favourite book that you read in May?

---

~~ Kirstie ~~

Follow @ozbooksnail