May was actually a pretty good reading month for me, as well as a diverse one. I read a total of 7 books: 2 adult, one of which is a non-fiction adult collection of essays, 3 middle-grade books, and 2 young adult novels.
ADULT:
Silver Bay by Jojo Moyes 4/5 stars
I read Me Before You by Jojo Moyes in January and absolutely loved it (5/5 stars), so I really wanted to pick up some of her other books as well. You can imagine my excitement when I found her book, Silver Bay, at my local Goodwill bookstore. Silver Bay is about a woman named Liza McCullen, a single mother who is trying to escape her mysterious dark past. She finds refuge in a small Australian ocean-front town called Silver Bay, where she and her daughter live with her aunt in her bed and breakfast. Everything is fine until an Englishman named Mike Dormer whose motives for visiting Silver Bay could jeopardize not only Liza, but the entire bay.
I really enjoyed this book. The characters were so likable. After I finished the book, I found myself wondering where the characters were now; how their lives were getting on after the book ended (as if they were actual living human beings). One thing I’ve noticed about Moyes is that her books have the light, fluffy feel of a summer contemporary novel, but they have such heavy, resonant underlying subject matters that hit the readers so hard. I think that’s what really moved me to read all of her books after I read Me Before You. Totally recommend Silver Bay.
4/5 stars
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling 3.5/5 stars
I’ll be honest, prior to reading this, I wasn’t the biggest Mindy Kaling fan. I guess a part of me just automatically believed that Mindy Kaling was exactly her character in The Office, Kelly Kapoor. Quite obviously, that’s not true at all. In this collection of personal essays, Kaling tells her audience about many of her life experiences spanning from her childhood to her college years, all the way to her life in Hollywood/show business. I found Kaling’s voice really refreshing and hilarious. Plus, this book is a nice quick read.
3.5/5 stars
Middle-Grade
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynn Jones 3/5 stars
Howl’s Moving Castle is one of my favorite anime films, so I’ve wanted to read the book for many years. I finally found it at a secondhand bookshop and read it immediately. I will say this, if you read this book primarily because you loved the film, know that the book is very different from the film. But no less magical. This book is about a young woman named Sophie who encounters the Wicked Witch of the Waste. The Witch puts her under a spell that makes her an old woman. In an attempt to break the spell, Sophie finds herself at the ominous moving castle of the infamous Wizard Howl. During her stay there, Sophie soon learns that there is more to Howl, and to herself, than she previously thought. Although it’s different from the book I still very much loved the story and its characters.
3/5 stars
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman 3/5 stars
All I knew about this book before reading it is that it won a bunch of awards. However, the plot is really intriguing. It follows a boy whose family was brutally murdered when he was a baby. Miraculously, the boy escaped his family’s murderer and ended up in the local graveyard. Seeing that he was in danger, the ghosts of the graveyard agree to adopt a protect the boy. Which is good considering his family’s murderer is still looking for him. The plot was really interesting, and it was entertaining trying to figure out all of the mysteries in the stories. It did have some issues, but I still enjoyed it.
3/5 stars
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan 3.5/5 stars
I finally jumped the bandwagon and picked up a Percy Jackson book, and I’m so glad I did. This book is about a 12 year old boy named Percy Jackson who has trouble staying in school. He’s constantly getting expelled and struggles with dyslexia and ADHD. Despite these issues his life is pretty normal. That is, until the worst teacher in his school turns into a murderous monster, and his best friend and favorite teacher are not who they seem. Percy finds himself at a strange summer camp and thrust onto an epic quest to find a very important missing object. This book includes a ton of Greek mythology, which I was never interested in until I read this book. Pretty educational as far as the mythology and highly entertaining. I will be continuing the series.
3.5/5 stars
Young Adult
City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare 4/5 stars
This is the fifth book in The Mortal Instruments series, and I enjoyed just as much as the rest of series. I love the characters (especially Magnus Bane) and the way the story is unfolding. I can’t give too much away about the plot given that it’s the fifth book, but if you like YA fantasy, definitely pick up this series. I still have to Clare’s other books, including The Infernal Devices trilogy, which I hear is even better than TMI!
4/5 stars
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas 4.99/5 stars
I can’t handle this book. It’s just too amazing. I mean, I already want to re-read this book… all 600+ pages of it. I’ll say it now: if you had problems with the characters/relationships and whatnot in the first book, PLEASE pick up this sequel because I promise you the issues are all resolved and made up for twice over. Personally, I loved the first book, A Court of Thorns and Roses, so I was definitely looking forward to this second installment in the series. However, I was not expecting this book to be 10x better than the first one! The characters and their development, the massive world-building, just everything was so amazing. This book made me feel all of the emotions and the ending, gosh the ending. The first book was a Beauty and the Beast retelling, and this one is more of a Persephone retelling. Absolutely stunning. If you like fairytale retellings, fantasy, and overall badass-ness (yes I just made that up), DEFINITELY pick up this series!
4.99/5 stars
So those were all of the books I read in the month of May. I enjoyed them all, and I’m pretty proud, not only of the amount I read within the month, but also of how diverse my reads were.
What was your favorite read during the month of May? Have you read any of these books I listed above? Let me know in the comments below!
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Happy Reading!
Books and Messy Buns 