Monthly Musings – May 2016

This is a where I look back at what I read (or tried to read) during the past month. I also plan on highlighting my experiences in any book club reads I from the month as well. I will always start with any books I would label as a surprise find/under-read books so if anyone missed my reviews for them, and don’t make it to the end of this post, they’ll be easy to find.

I feel like a broken record, but I really don’t understand how these months keep flying by. I’ve been pretty busy, and I think Tenacious Reader has been a little quieter because of that. But hopefully the posts I do manage make it worth coming by to read.

Highlighted Reads from May

It was a good month for horror!

Review Summary [MONTH]

• [2 May] The Fireman by Joe Hill ★★★★★
• [9 May] The Summer Dragon by Todd Lockwood ★★★★
• [16 May] Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay ★★★★
• [23 May] The Girl with Ghost Eyes by M.H. Boroson ★★★★
• [27 May] Written in Red by Anne Bishop ★★★½
• [31 May] The Suicide Motor Club by Christopher Buehlman ★★★★½

What I Read Last Month

I thought I had a really slow month this time, but looking, it was better than I thought.

• Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay –  This was good, though maybe not my favorite book by Kay (not that that means much). It was also my first time reading one of his books rather than listening to it as an audiobook. I don’t know that that was the difference, though, even if I do love to listen to his books. 🙂
• The Suicide Motor Club by Christopher Buehlman – I loved this one. Seriously, if you are a fan of darker vampire stories, ones where the vampires are more disturbing and unsettling rather than hunky and sparkly, you absolutely need to check it out.
• Written in Red by Anne Bishop – Overall this was a fun read. I did get a little annoyed at the main character whining though. I still plan to read the next one though. Its one of those stories that is just a nice simple, fun type of book.
• The Girl with Ghost Eyes by M. H. Boroson – I have to admit, this one was a bit stranger/weirder than I expected and that is really my only complaint (which is not really a negative against the book, I just don’t always do well with weird). Overall, it was a fun quick read with a different setting (San Francisco’s chinatown in the mid/late 1800s.
• Hope and Red by Jon Skovron – Honestly, I’m still making my mind up on this one. Overall, it was OK. Definitely trope-y. Both the main characters are major Mary Sues. But those things don’t necessarily kill a book as those things can be good fun when your in the mood.
• The Voodoo Killings by Kristi Charish – This is a fun zombie/ghost with a bit of a murder mystery story set in Seattle.

May 2016 Backlist Burndown

For May, I read Written in Red by Ann Bishop. This is a book I’ve been curious about since it was released, and am glad I finally took the time to read it. While I won’t say it blew me away, it was actually a really fun book to listen to an audio (minus the whiney parts!). I definitely plan on continuing the series, so you may see the next one as another Backlist Burndown option one of these days.

Here’s what other people read and burned off their backlist this month! It makes me happy to see other people joining in with this, so thanks to all of you! 🙂 Anyone else that posted a backlist review this month, feel free to link up! Hope to see another great set of books for May.

Looking Forward to June 2016