May is a month of wrapping up for teachers across the US, so I thought now would be a good time to start writing and posting about my latest reading adventures. First some stats: This month I read 6 books, totaling 3004 pages. This brings my 2021 totals to 47 books and 14682 pages. The best book I read this month was The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang. This book was recommended by several BookTubers that I like, so I went into it expecting to enjoy it, and dear reader, BookTube was right. The Sword of Kaigen combines many elements that I personally enjoy: female warriors, Asian-inspired cultures, complex relationships, and high stakes for the characters. Yes, the book is a chonk, but the story is so compelling that you'll feel like the book was too short. In fact, I devoured the second half of the book in under 24 hours. Other books that I highly enjoyed this month: The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty. I finally allowed myself to slow down and take the time to read thi
Back in January, I decided that the one thing I really wanted to work on in 2021 was reducing my screen time in favor of reading time. So, I set about reading as many of the 600+ books on my Goodreads TBR as I could. 40 books into the list, I realized I needed to be documenting this journey somewhere more official than my bullet journal. The thing about starting a blog in May, especially a reading blog, is now I feel compelled to do a post covering everything I read this year BEFORE starting to blog about it. So, here it is, for your reading pleasure, Mel's 2021 Reading Adventure: A Summary. January The Stats 7 books 3 short stories 2435 pages 2 DNFs The Books (in the order I read them) The Duke and I by Julia Quinn. 🌟🌟🌟 DNF An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. "The Cleaners" by Ken Liu. 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Hazel & Gray by Nic Stone. 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Shadow & Bone by Leigh Bardugo. 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce. 🌟🌟🌟🌟 The Unlikely E