Monthly Wrap-Up: May ’19

Can anyone tell me where May went? It feels like it flew by for me. My birthday was earlier in the month and I got so many books. I should feel guilty about it, but I don’t, I’m so happy. I finished five books this month, which I am slowly beginning to realize is my sweet spot. I did an impromptu buddy read of Storm of Locusts with Jocelyn @ yogi with a book, one of my Latinx Book Club cohosts. Speaking of the Latinx Book Club, today we launched our blog for the club. You can find us and follow us here. Basically, it’s a place for us to stay organized, help readers find book club info, and maybe recommend some stellar books. We hope you can stop by!

My biggest news from May is I’ve decided that I’m going to take an entire month off from blogging. It’s something I’ve been considering for a while, but I just haven’t been able to fit it in anywhere. Don’t worry, I won’t be disappearing quite yet, but I’m aiming for July, so come the end of June, I should be making the official announcement.

(Book covers below are linked to my reviews, unless otherwise specified.) 

Favorite Book This Month:

I had two five-star reads this May and I’m not going to choose between them because you cannot make me. Rebecca Roanhouse’s much-anticipated sequel, Storm of Locusts was a thrilling ride and I just need more Maggie and Kai in my life. Margaret Rogerson’s Sorcery of Thorns was incredible. It’s as beautiful as its cover and if you’re looking for a sign to push that preorder button, consider this your sign.

Least Favorite Book This Month:

*heaviest of sighs* I was really looking forward to Five Midnights, but there are several aspects of the novel that really rubbed me the wrong way.

Other Reviews Posted This Month:

Read, Review Coming Soon:

(Cover linked to Goodreads)

Books I Didn’t Review:

Yes, I’m going to try to get in the habit of not reviewing every book I read. Cover is linked to Goodreads.

Swati Teerdhala’s Tiger at Midnight was a really fun fantasy and I enjoyed my time with it, but I wasn’t as impressed with the writing as I would have liked to have been. Still, if the enemies to lovers trope is your thing, you might want to think about checking this one out. Rating: 3/5

Notable Blog Posts This Month:

Latinx Book Club: June’s Book Club Pick – We are so excited to dive into next month’s selection for the Latinx Book Club. And for future reference, book club announcements will be posted on our official blog instead.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin – I have been waiting forever for this one and it’s almost here! Only a few days left before I get to hold this one in my hands.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante – If this book isn’t on your TBR, be sure to add it! It release this Tuesday.

Top Ten Tuesday: My Literary Soul Mates – This was my favorite TTT post this month as it gave me a chance to talk about characters I have a really strong connection to.

Kernels of Nonsense: Keeping Up with Comments – You might have noticed I’ve been less active in my comments section and that’s because after much deliberation, I have decided to adopt a different philosophy with regard to comments.

Reading Challenges:

Aside from the Goodreads challenge, I’m only taking part in one reading challenge.

1. The Beat the Backlist Challenge 2019 is hosted by NovelKnight. This month I read nothing toward this challenge. Boo me.

• Challenge Goal: 10 books; Current Count: 4 books

June Releases I’m Excited For:

 

Did May fly by for you? When was the last time you did a buddy read? What summer release are you most looking forward to? Let me know in the comments and feel free to leave me a link to your own wrap-up post and I’ll be sure to visit.

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Monthly Wrap-Up: April ’19

If you haven’t visited my blog in the last few days, you may notice some changes and that’s because I gave my blog a little makeover. I’ve been thinking about a change for a while and I finally took the plunge. It took me several hours to find just the right colors, theme, and make the graphics, but I think I’m satisfied…at least for now.

I would have finished my fifth book of the month, but I was busy working on the blog, so I only got to four. This month the Latinx Book Club read it’s first pick, The Storm Runner by J.C. Cervantes, I did a buddy read with Carolyn @ A Hundred Thousand Stories of The Lies of Locke Lamora, ran a Twitter giveaway (ends at 4pm PST today, check it out here), and won a couple of exciting giveaways myself. I feel like April was a really busy month for me and I’m honestly kind of itching for another mini-break. We’ll see how that goes. Also, it’s my birthday next week and I splurged a bit on books. I’m so excited!

(Book covers below are linked to my reviews, unless otherwise specified.) 

Favorite Book This Month:

My favorite April read was Don’t Date Rosa Santos by Nina Moreno. I loved this one so much, I think it’s my favorite 2019 read so far. My review is coming up very soon. Warning: lots and lots of gushing!

Least Favorite Book This Month:

No book this month received less than three stars.

Reviews Posted This Month:

 

Read, Review Coming Soon:

(None)

Books I Didn’t Review:

Okay, I am so guilty this month of skipping out on reviews. I was very tired this month and I just couldn’t find the brain capacity to write even a snapshot review. So here is some very pithy reviews of the following:

J.C. Cervantes’s The Storm Runner was overall enjoyable, but there were a few choices with regard to the main character’s arc that I wished had been resolved sooner.  Rating: 3/5

Scott Lynch’s The Lies of Locke Lamora was so enjoyable and a great heist book. I loved how intricate the schemes were, but also the fact that Lynch kept me on my toes. As good as Locke Lamora is, there were still people who were capable of outsmarting him. Rating: 4/5

Notable Blog Posts This Month:

Latinx Book Club: May’s Book Club Pick – We’ve selected our next book club pick. Come join us on Twitter in May!

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: Nocturna by Maya Motayne – I am ready to be swept away by this Latinx-inspired fantasy. It comes out on my birthday, so it’s basically destiny.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo – I might cry when I finally hold a copy of this one on my hands. Also comes out on my birthday which makes it feel extra special.

Top Ten Tuesday: Things Book Bloggers Love That Non-Readers Don’t Understand – Loved putting this post together and loved that it was so relatable to other bloggers.

Kernels of Nonsense: 2019 Preorders So Far (Part II) – To no one’s surprise, I preodered more books!

Reading Challenges:

Aside from the Goodreads challenge, I’m only taking part in one reading challenge.

1. The Beat the Backlist Challenge 2019 is hosted by NovelKnight. This month I picked up The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch.

• Challenge Goal: 10 books; Current Count: 4 books

May Releases I’m Excited For:

 

Did you have a busy April? Are you participating in any book clubs this year? Which May release are you most looking forward to? Let me know in the comments and feel free to leave me a link to your own wrap-up post and I’ll be sure to visit.

Welcome to My New Blog…Kind of

Welcome to my new blog…kind of. If you visited my blog yesterday, you saw that I had planned to change things up. I originally was just going to go with a simple header, button, sidebar labels, and background change. So I did it, but then I wanted to see what other themes WordPress had to offer. I went through so many and finally settled on the one you are seeing now. I had to add another color to my header in order for the theme to really work for my graphics. I’m really satisfied with how everything came out. There are a couple of things I want to be nitpicky about, but I’m just going to go forward and see if these things end up growing on me. Also, I appreciated all your kind words yesterday. You all are amazing. And one last thing, isn’t my new button so pretty? I love it so much.

This is the last, last thing. For WordPress users, do you get conflicting follower counts? When I click on my blog on my phone is says one thing (specifically in the app), but when I look at my stats in the insights section it says another. Yesterday I discovered a completely different number when I was looking at my follow my blog by email widget. Anyone know which of these is the correct number?

Tell me what you think of the new layout! Have you ever gone through a dramatic blog change? Did you ever regret it? What do you wish you would have done differently? Let’s talk in the comments!

This Blog Is Under Construction

You might have seen me tweet this past week about spending time on a new header and button for my blog. The truth is, I’ve been contemplating a change for my blog for a while and I just haven’t been able to come up with any ideas that I liked. Fast forward to today. I’ve been mulling over a potential change and after a few days of going back and forth about whether my header was good enough, I decided that yes it is.

Then there were other things to consider when changing my header. I made new graphic labels for my sidebar (already changed) and various other graphics that I use for my site’s posts. It took me longer than I will admit here. Bear with me today and potential tomorrow when my blog will be undergoing these changes. I have everything prepared except for my background, so that’s something that you will definitely see changing throughout the day. I might need to tinker with a few things here and there, so don’t be surprised if it looks one way now and then another when you visit again. Thank you for your patience and hopefully I don’t do a complete 180 and go back to what it was before. Wish me luck!