May 2013 Reading Wrap-Up

Hello everyone! I’ve been very absent on the blogging front lately; one of my close extended family members back home in the United States has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, which is devastating news, and it has had a huge impact on how much energy and creativity I’ve had in the last few weeks. Just going to work and getting everything that needs to happen done has consumed most of my effort, leaving very little left for writing. In less severe news, our car broke down a week ago, so overall May has actually just been a terrible month. I’m aware things could be a lot worse, but at the moment I would be very happy for some good news. Here’s hoping that June is more positive; we’ve already booked a camping trip to Scotland to try and get away from it all next weekend, since I’m pretty helpless across the pond anyway, so I’ve perhaps foolishly got my hopes up.

In May I read 12 books, mostly series and urban fantasy books, although I’m pleased that I actually read some non-fiction. AND an older book, The Doctor and the Diva. And I started going back to the library – two of the books below are borrowed.

Fiction

• A Clash of Kings, George R.R. Martin
• Stray, Rachel Vincent
• The Doctor and the Diva, Adrienne McDonnell
• A Confederation of Valor, Tanya Huff
• Frost Burned, Patricia Briggs
• Moonshifted, Cassie Alexander
• She Rises, Kate Worsley
• Maisie Dobbs, Jacqueline Winspear
• Paris, Edward Rutherfurd
• The Marriage Plot, Jeffrey Eugenides

Non-fiction

• The Secret Rooms, Catherine Bailey
  
• Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell

Favorite of the Month

I’m falling deeply in love with character-driven science fiction these days and Tanya Huff’s A Confederation of Valor is fantastic for it. It’s military sci-fi and a bit of the jargon and alien names takes some time getting used to, but once you’re in the main character, Torin, simply steals the show. I loved the camaraderie between her and her men, the new worlds she explores, and the way that each of the two books contains a particular expedition that grows her as a character. Loved it, should probably actually review it. I immediately bought the next in the series, Heart of Valor, and I’ll probably buy the following two in quick succession.

As for The Secret Rooms, I actually managed to review it, so you’ll find all of my thoughts contained in that post, but it’s a really intriguing mystery and simultaneous look at the declining aristocracy just before, during, and after World War I.

What’s Ahead for June

I’m considering taking a blogging break, but I’m not sure I will. I have this feeling that as soon as I decide to leave the blog for two weeks, I’ll immediately want to write something – which surely wouldn’t be a bad thing, but puts me off officially going away. I might take an impromptu break here and there, and posts are scarce enough as it is, but I’m just going to see how it goes and not stress.

In the meantime, what am I reading this month?

I’m definitely not doing as well sticking to the immediate TBR pile as I used to; I read 12 books as above in May but two of these books in the picture have been on the pile since the beginning of April. Those are In a Fix and Deception, so I’m aiming to read both of those this month and in general start to work through some of the books I’ve had for a while. From this pile, I’m excited to read The Churchills and The Engagements the most, so I think both of those will definitely be June books.

What’s ahead for you in June?