My nice plan of posting regularly is blowing up at the moment. I’m a little stressed out because it’s exam time. I’ve got a lot of studying to do and spend most of the rest of my valued free time on reading. So instead of the June wrap-up that I intended for today, you’re getting the one for May which I had written but forgot to publish. I’m sorry about that. I promise I will give you the June wrap-up at a later point.

May started out great: I read four books in the first week! That blew me away since I hadn’t read much in April. Suddenly, everything seemed possible – even finishing off my whole utopian tbr-list. And then … then I spend two long weekends at home and everything went downhill. It’s the strangest of things, but when I’m surrounded by almost all of my beautiful ~1,300 books, I just don’t get to read at all. There’s a fast Internet connection and four horses that keep me busy. At least I somehow managed to read the book(s) for my fantasy literature seminar but instead of getting back to my list, I spontaneously decided to re-read A Game of Thrones, because we were also discussing it in class and I thought that my memory could use some refreshing. In an act of extreme desperation, I tried to read The Nightmare Affair on the very last day of the month, but I was too slow to finish it in time.

Finished

2. Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1) by Gail Carriger

   I only had about 100 pages left and it was only a matter of hours before I devoured them. I extremely enjoyed this book. I was constantly laughing or squeaking, a light funny sexy read. 5/5

Read

4. Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John

   I really liked the idea of an almost deaf girl managing a dysfunctional school band and coping with all the difficulties that come with it while she struggles to be respected. Although it had some flaws, I really enjoyed it. It was great fun although I wanted to slap some of her relatives from time to time. 4/5

3. Die Rebellin (Die Gilde der Schwarzen Magier, #1) by Trudi Canavan
   [OT: The Magicians’ Guild (The Black Magician Trilogy, #1)]

   This one had spent a couple of years on my tbr-pile when one of my friends coaxed me into reading it. Therefore, I had high hopes to which it wasn’t able to live up, but I liked it nevertheless. At least, it introduced me to Akkarin! Dark, brooding, more or less evil Akkarin – well, hello, obsession! In the end, I settled with 3/5 because I wanted to leave some room for improvement for the sequels (which will hopefully feature Akkarin excessively).

5. Ein Tag wie jeder andere (Diabolo, #11) by Gabi Adam
   [ET: A Day Like Any Other (Diablo, #11)]

   Well, well. This one wasn’t as bad as the last one but there were some rather ludicrous points. At least it didn’t end all stars and butterflies. 2/5
   Next up is one of my childhood favourites. I’m really curious how that will turn out now.

1. A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1) by George R.R. Martin

   After I had finished the fifth novel, I was a little devastated. What was I supposed to do with my life until the next one would be published? My sister jestingly suggested to start anew. I never thought this would actually happen but since we had the novel up for discussion in class, I decided to refresh my memory – and oh dear, there is SO MUCH FORESHADOWING! Gah! Sometimes, it was incredibly difficult not to scream at certain characters to tell them not to do what they were about to do. It really hurts knowing what will happen to them in later novels. However, I had totally forgotten – shame on me – that Rhaegar and Lyanna are featured prominently throughout this book. My dearest OTP, I wish you could have lived! 5(000000000000)/5

Started

1. The Earthsea Quartet (Earthsea, #1-4) by Ursula K. Le Guin

   A Wizard of Earthsea: I started out really liking it but then it dragged on and on and since I’ve watched the film version a couple of times when I was younger, I knew how it would resolve. It was a little frustrating. 3/5
   The Tombs of Atuan: This one was much more interesting since the film version greatly deviated from the novel. I especially loved the creepy gloomy atmosphere. 4/5

2. Beautiful Darkness (Caster Chronicles, #2) by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

   I started it! That’s all that matters! I have no idea why, but I’m having a really hard time to get into the story. I really enjoyed the first one, though, so what the hell’s wrong?

3. The Nightmare Affair (Arkwell Academy, #1) by Mindee Arnett

   Awww, this one is so sweet and fun! Before I started it, I had a totally different concept in mind, one that didn’t really make sense. It took me some time to get that she is physically just a normal girl.

Stats

In Books

In Pages