Sunday 1 June 2014

Monthly Recap: May


Hi everyone, I can't believe its June already, this year is going by way too quickly! So how was you're reading month of May? I didn't read as many books as I was hoping to, but I did get my first five star read in 2 months! From the comments below you'll probably be able to guess which book it was. Also to let you know I'm going (Jasprit) to be away from tomorrow onwards, I'm going to Greece mid-week and will be back by the end of the week, I'll probably still be lurking about on Twitter until I go, but will have loads more reviews for you when I get back! Anyway here's a recap for the month of May! 

Number of Books read:
Jasprit: 5
Rachel: 15

Highest rating:
Jasprit: 5 stars
Rachel: 5 stars

Lowest rating:
Jasprit: 3 stars
Rachel: DNF


Books reviewed:

Jasprit: 
(click on titles for review link)



   
   




Rachel: 
(click on titles for review link)

Snow-Kissed (Snow Queen #1)  It Happened One Wedding (FBI / US Attorney, #5)  All You Need is Love (Green Mountain #1)  Sun-Kissed (Amour et Chocolat, #7; Snow Queen, #2)


Parasite (Parasitology, #1)  The Immortal Crown (Age of X, #2)  Grim Shadows (Roaring Twenties, #2)

Best read of last month:
Jasprit: To All the Boys I've Loved Before. I don't think I've given any of Jenny Han's book less than four stars, she knows exactly how to lift me up when I'm in a slump or just having a crappy day, honestly I couldn't stop smiling in Starbucks when I was reading this. If you're in the mood for something cute, fluffy, fun and has great focus on family, I hugely recommend giving this book a go!

Rachel: 
Snow-Kissed by Laura Florand. It was a novella but it was so emotional and moving to me. I know I sing her praises all the time but seriously, Laura Florand's writing casts a spell over me every time! Grim Shadows and All You Need Is Love are close seconds.

Book which surprised me the most: 
Jasprit: To All the Boys I've Loved Before. I think maybe because I went into it expecting something else, and got something different entirely, not that I'm complaining, as I loved the character growth that our MC goes through, also the great cast of characters that Han created.

Rachel: 
I'd have to say Snow-Kissed. It's about a marriage in crisis and you'd expect it to be a depressing read, but it wasn't at all. That's not to say it didn't make me cry, because it was very emotional. I think it accurately portrayed the deep hurt and love you can feel simultaneously in a committed relationship.

Fictional crush of the month:
Jasprit: Well there were two great guys in To All the Boys I've Loved Before, so I'm not going to say who my favourite was, but this guy just totally won me over. (If you've read this book I'd love to discuss this with you!). Also Sarah Alderson created amazing characters in Jay from Out of Control and Kit in Come Back to Me!

Rachel:
Oooh, I think Lowe Magnusson in Grim Shadows was so very naughty and delicious! His inner thoughts were quite wicked in the best sort of way!

Three books I'm most looking forward to this month:

Jasprit:

 (Click on titles for Goodreads link)

  
  

With the great success that I had with Jenny Han's contemporary read, I've decided to go for more contemporary books this month. I've heard nothing but praise for these pretties either, so here's hoping I end up loving all three too.
                                            
Rachel:
(Click on titles for Goodreads link)

Flat-Out Celeste (Flat-Out Love, #2)  I Want to Hold Your Hand (Green Mountain, #2) Laugh (Burnside, #2)

I loved Flat-Out Love and Flat-Out Matt, so I have high hope Celeste's story will be a hit as well. I do know Jessica Park had the ability to shatter my heart, as she did in Left Drowning before gluing it back together, but I'm hoping she's goes easy on me here.  I can't wait to get back to the quaint town of Butler, Vermont and all the gorgeous Abbott men in Marie Force's I Want to Hold Your HandLaugh sounds amazing and two of my bloggy friends loved it: Andrea @The Bookish Babe and Keertana @Ivy Book Bindings, and I haven't been steered wrong by them yet. 

Bookish Photo: 

Photo from Flickr


If I (Rachel) ever get to Edinburgh, Scotland I NEED to visit this gorgeous library!!

We've decided not to feature a poll this month, but will do next month. Rachel will still be here whilst I'm away with some wonderful posts, see you in a week!


15 comments:

Siiri said...

Rachel is a reading machine :O Figure this, I read only one book :D Crash Into You :D Glad you both had 5 star reads this month :) I'm so pumped to read To All the Boys already :) Ha! And absolutely no surprise that Rachel's fav read was by Laura Florand :D Ooooh! I hope you enjoy Open Road Summer, Jas! And Rachel, I'm fying to know what you think of Flat-Out Celeste. Rashika and Danielle have some concerns so I hope you enjoy and can give us thumbs up by the end of your reading experience ;) Holy smoke! That photo is so awesome. Need to stalk that flickr account lol. Happy reading, girls!

Mel@Thedailyprophecy said...

The bookish photo *drool*

To all the boys I've loved before sounds interesting. I can't wait to give it a try. Happy reading in June :D!

Mel@thedailyprophecy

Amanda Gray said...

It's okay Jasprit, I didn't have a hugely good reading month either and I'm quite annoyed at myself, 10 books and two novellas doesn't feel like enough.. But here's to June, where has this year gone indeed?! Good luck with your contemporaries hunny! I have a lot of fantasy, dystopians to get through this month even though I'm feeling contemporaries myself, so I might treat myself mind month or something. That bookish photo though, I LOVE Scotland already, but now I want to go for sure! :)

Melanie said...

YES I need Open Road Summer. It looks so pretty in all the instagram pics I've been seeing so I'm defintiely buying that one as a hardcover sometime soon. Woah Rachel, 15 books?! Awesome job :D

Rashika said...

AHH I am so happy to see you loved Snow-Kissed, Rachel. I read the novella earlier this year and it's definitely one of my favorite books of the year even if it's only a novella. I am not sold on Sun-Kissed but I'll always wish Snow-Kissed would have been a full length novel instead. There was just so many emotions packed into it and the author handled the situation so well... it really tore your heart.

I am so glad to see that you were surprised in the best way possible by All The Boys I've Loved Before, Jasprit!!! :D I definitely have this on my TBR list and will get around to it.. eventually .-. I seem to have too many books to review atm (not that I am ... complaining..??)! ALSO I AM SO LOOKING FORWARD TO READING MAGNOLIA. I grabbed an e-galley off of EW and if it doesn't live up to my expectations, I will be heartbroken. I have On the Fence too.. and hope to read it soon as well!

Don't hate me Rachel but... I am probably not going to read FOC I am kind of pissed at the implications the book has for Matt and Julie's relationship and am not sure I would be able to deal with that without raging (hell I am raging now :P) but I really hope you love it! :) I want to read Laugh though. I LOVED her The Story Guy and am definitely interested to read a novel by her :D

I am glad to see both of you ladies read 5 star books this month! Here is to another wonderful month!! :D

Rashika @ The Social Potato

Carina Olsen said...

Well, damn. I have actually read none of these books, lol :D But glad you guys enjoyed a lot of them. <3 And yess. How can it already be JUNE?! Ack. This year is going by so fast, hih. Anyway. Amazing post :) I hope you both will have an amazing month. <3

Unknown said...

GREECE?! I'm so jealous and happy for you, Jasprit!

I have to agree on your picks, Rachel. Snow-Kissed was amazing.

Hope you both have a great June!

brandileigh2003 said...

Great month, glad for the first 5 star in a while and have fun in Greece

Shooting Stars Mag said...

Have fun in Greece, Jasprit! Sounds awesome.

Rachel- I still need to check out Flat-Out Love, etc, but I'm curious.

Anonymous said...

Amazing post, Rachel! Wow, your first five stars in two months?! My last one was Strawberries for Dessert. (Technically 4.5, but SHHHH ;)) And 15 books is a very good number! I think I read something like ten books last month. I'm looking very forward to reading Snow-Kissed; looks so nice! Hope you have a great time in Greace! (OMG, Greece?! That's so cool.)

The Bookish Manicurist said...

What a great month, ladies! And I too cannot believe it's June, ag!

Jas - enjoy your trip to Greece!
Rach - I hope you get to visit that gorgeous library one day!

Mands @ The Bookish Manicurist

Amanda said...

Sounds like you both had really good months reading-wise!
Jasprit, I just bought To All the Boys I've Loved Before (currently on sale for kindle in the U.S., at least) and I can't wait to read it! And have fun while vacationing in Greece - I'm jealous! :)
Rachel, I'm always so impressed by how many books you read each month. I wish I could be as productive. ;) Seriously, though, I feel like I have to go back to Florand's series and give it another try because your enthusiasm makes it hard to resist reading them.
And I love library photos like that. Definitely a site to keep in mind if I go to Scotland!

Keertana said...

Jasprit, I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed Han's latest so much! I haven't read any of her works yet, but I do want to start and all three titles you're planning to read this month are fantastic, so you're in for a treat!(: Rachel, I looooved Laugh so I'm excited for you to read it and can't wait to pick up Grim Shadows this month, especially after you enjoyed it so much. Fantastic recap, ladies!

Jess said...

Totally agree Jasprit! I loved To All The Boys I've Loved Before. I'm currently reading On The Fence and finding it another super cute summer read. I think you'll like that one :)

Unknown said...

It looks like you both have had a great month! I really liked TAtBILB and I really loved On the Fence! AND THAT PICTURE. Oh my gosh, I want to visit all the great bookish places/libraries. *drools*

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