May 2021 Wrap-up Spoiler Free

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 this 784 page final installment in The Daevabad Trilogy.  I delayed reading this partly because I was a little disappointed by the second book in the trilogy, and partly because I didn't want the series to end.  I loved The City of Brass, and thankfully this book matched it for enjoyability.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid.  Yes, I am late to the bandwagon on this one.  I finally gave in after the umpteenth recommendation (it was my cousin Kate's recommendation that cinched it), and I have to confess that I wish I had read it sooner.  Evelyn was a great character, defined by both good and bad traits, and that definitely made the book more interesting than I thought it would be.  I loved her relationship with husband number six.  Recommend for readers that like stories about complex and complicated women. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibañez.  I have read a lot of magical realism books that just didn't work for me, but this book was not one of those.  I loved the magical elements, and I really appreciated that while the magic was helpful to the main character, it didn't create an easy means to solving the central conflict.  This is another one with complex characters that leave you guessing who the "good" guy is and make you reevaluate initial assessments of the supporting characters.  I really like that the supporting characters were as well-rounded as Ximena. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo  I really enjoyed Six of Crows but I absolutely loved Crooked Kingdom.  Each character really shines in this sequel, and while I feel that the strength of this series is really rich character development, the book also has some really great world building, and realistic stakes.  Would definitely recommend, especially to those of you that have enjoyed the Netflix adaptation of Shadow and Bone.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐