May 2020 Wrap-Up

Well. I thought March was a time of many changes, but I think May 2020 is right up there with it! Here’s a quick recap of my May in reading, life, and blogging.

reading~

How many of my planned books did I read:
Maybe half of them? Look, I’m a newbie at trying to plan my reading, so I’m going to consider this a win. 🙂

I think I broke my record…again… for most books read in a month. I’m at 16 now (prev. was 15) although this month included a lot more graphic novels and comics, so volume-wise it’s probably not my max. But for stories completed, here’s our winner! ^.^

This is an important month because I had the privilege to read possibly the most important book I’ll read for a very long time. It was an advanced copy that I was somewhat desperate to have and so grateful I was granted, because I knew it would be important. I couldn’t wait to read it, and now that I have, I can’t wait to have it come out and be in the world. Expect to hear a lot about this book, The Cat I Never Named by Amra Sabic-El-Rayess, when I have adequately sorted my thoughts and emotions about this book to write about it.

I finished my yearly reading goal… in May. It wasn’t intentional, but kind of inevitable given how much obligation-free time I’ve had in the last two months. I wrote about my new goals here!

One of my new challenges is to push myself into doing things I don’t usually do around reading, which translated to participating in my first ever bookish bingo! It’s a big deal to me, because I have never planned my reading before. It’s odd to try to rein in my emotional reading style. However I did enjoy the prompts that had me get creative and reach for some books I might not have otherwise (or had been putting off for-everrrr, like Lexicon and The Joy Luck Club.) And, yes, I did complete a bingo. Almost two! 🙂

Similarly I’m participating in a “summer camp” reading group lineup, which is also very out of character for me. Still, there’s basically zero pressure since it’s a list of books and you can choose what to read or not, and when. Check out Summer Reading Camp from Booksparks for the details!

I have finally found a way that I can enjoy audiobooks. I’m so excited that I wrote a celebratory post about it. ^.^

I’m also now down my first month with a bullet journal and I still like it one month later. It’s a good sign from my fickle heart as I tend to love a craft or project briefly then move on. Yay, something new to enjoy!

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life~

I worked in a tech role at a travel company, an industry which has obviously crashed during COVID19. They had me on furlough (unemployed but with plans to bring back) since March, but this month I was officially let go from my job since they didn’t foresee things getting better. Honestly this wasn’t a surprise, so it wasn’t such a terrible thing. 🤷‍♀️

And then a few days after I was let go, my ex-manager called me and said actually no wait I’m re-hired to my job and can I start Tuesday? So while I could deal with being let go, being actually re-hired and working again is good too. I’ll count my blessings… and prep a plan B in case their “we don’t see this going well” attitude is validated in the next few months. 👍 There were a lot of changes that all led to these things happening, so I kind of have whiplash from how quickly my plans and expectations kept changing. Adaptability! ^.^

At least where I live, states are starting to slowly open up again. Not much, really, but now the park isn’t taped off. Honestly that’s the only change I can actually see in my daily life, but the upshot is COVID19 is on the downswing here, which is good!

Possibly one of my most important updates, I’ve befriended a chipmunk.

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blog~

Here are some of my favorite posts I worked on this month, in case you missed them!

• Solved the mystery of “a novel” taglines!!!
• The guy you see on the most romance novel covers
• What’s better than book mail? Surprise book mail!
• Discussion: “a book isn’t worth reading once if it’s not worth reading twice”

And here are some of my favorite posts by other bloggers!

• 7 Books Future Me Will Be Happy I Read Now — Holly @ Nut Free Nerd
• 10 Things I Want To See More of In YA Books About Mental Health — CG @ Paper Fury
• It’s Our Nine Year Blogoversary at Pages Unbound! (+Giveaway) — Briana @ Pages Unbound (congrats!!!)
• Post Ideas I’ve Scrapped — Sabrina @ Wordy and Whimsical

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How you doin?

How are you managing stay at home orders, if you are living under them at the moment? If you’re not, HELLO FROM THE OTHER SIIIIIIDE.

Stay happy y’all. 😊