May TBR

Hello Readers!

It’s finally May, are you excited? May always seems to be somewhat bittersweet; it’s a time of transitions, endings and beginnings and in-betweens. If you’re in school, there is an obvious correlation for each of these are the semester ends (at least here in the USA) and summer break begins. Now that I work in the library, the sentiment is still there. Everyone has been preparing for the Summer Reading program for months, and I think some places will start early registration this month. For the most part I’m getting used to my new position, but of course there are still plenty of things to learn, and I miss my old coworkers more than I expected. I can’t wait for summer reading to kick off and see all the activities my new location has, as well as the energy the kids will bring.

I’m scaling back my personal reading expectations a bit this month, as I am still figuring out how to fit into a day or week everything that I would like to do. In fact, I have already started reading all but one of the books I plan to read this month. So, mostly my goal this month is to finish the books that I started last month. Here’s how that stands (all links go to Goodreads unless otherwise noted):

📚 Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

Genre: I’m going to just say ‘experimental’ is a genre. Each section is so different.

I think I’m getting close to the limit on how many times I can renew this book from the library, so I’m going to have to either finish it very soon or let it go for now.

📚 The Shadowverse by John-Clement Gallo

Genre: YA Science Fiction

This is a stretch from what I usually read, but it is the first book by a young, new author and I am optimistic. I love being able to support new authors! I’m not very far into this at the moment, so I haven’t formed much of an opinion yet.

📚 The Sea Before Us (Sunrise at Normandy #1) by Sarah Sundin

Genre: Historical Fiction

The second book in this series was released recently, and I found the ebook of this first book for 99 cents! I am really loving the characterization so far, and expect to zip through this book pretty quickly.

📚 The Movement of Stars by Amy Brill

Genre: Historical Fiction

The thing about working at the library is that I not only get to see the books that are on the shelves and as they process through, I also have access to additional tools to help customers discover something new that they might like. While perusing one of these recommendation-building databases, I came across The Movement of Stars. It combines the historical fiction genre and stargazing by following a woman who dreams of being an astronomer in the late 1800s, which sounds fascinating to me! So I requested it, and it came in the very next day! Apparently it isn’t new (it was published in 2013), but I had never heard of it and I am glad to randomly come across it.

📚 Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Genre: Children’s classic

Little Women is one of my all-time favorite books, and something of a safety net. I impulsively decided last month to reread it again when I was ahead on my reading schedule, but now that I have lost much of my reading time, I may not end up finishing it this time around. Still, I love the simplicity of the book and how genuine the girls are.

Now for books I have not started yet…

 

📚 The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Genre: Classic, possibly some fantasy elements, literary fiction?

I have never read The House of the Seven Gables, but I have heard good things about it, especially about the message and the things it makes the reader think about. I bought a used copy from the library’s annual book sale a few months ago, so I think it is finally time to read it. Also, I am hoping to put together a read-along in October if there is any interest, so I need to have read the book at least once before then!

📚 Free Choice – I would like to read one more book in May, either another ARC I have accepted or something to fill out another slot in my year-long reading challenge. We’ll see what comes my way this month; if I don’t have time for anything else, I’m okay with that too.

I can’t wait to dig into all of these books! It’s a fair mix of genres, and of authors I am familiar with and new ones. Surely I can find time to work through these, and keep you updated!

What do you hope to read this month? Would you be interested in participating in a read-along of The House of the Seven Gables? Comment below!

Also, today (5/8/19) is the last day of the Souls Astray blog tour! See my post from yesterday for links to the giveaway, Facebook party, and more. This author always makes great blog tours, so check it out while there is still time!

 

Until the next chapter,

Jana