The time it was a monthly recap {34}

You guys. How is it June?

I didn’t do much in May and almost skipped the recap, but I was spoiled rotten, so I wanted to share that and the books I did read…Ready for the recap?

Settle in.

Last month, I read a total of 18 books.

• What I leave behind by Alison McGhee — 3 stars
• the game can’t love you back by karole cozzo — 2.5 stars?
• a court of frost and starlight by sarah j maas —  2 stars
• ride on by gwen cole — 4 stars
• it’s all about the duke by amelia grey — 2 stars
• neanderthal opens the door to the universe by preston norton — 5 stars
• wildcard by marie lu — 5 stars
• daughter of the burning city by amanda foody — 2 stars
• the start of something good by jennifer probst — 4 stars
• lifel1k3 by jay kristoff — 4 stars
• the opposite of here by tara altebrando — 3 stars
• city of ghosts by victoria schwab — 5 stars
• what you left me by bridget morrissey — 3.5 stars
• the proposal by jasmine guillory –4  stars
• the duke of lies by darcy burke — 5 stars
• the art of french kissing by brianna r shrum — 4 stars
• dear rachel maddow by adrienne kisner — 4 stars
• scotland or bust by kira archer — 3 stars

I’m a little surprised by that number of books because I was expecting a lot more.  I started scrolling through the completed dates and there are days in between some of them and I know that lately I haven’t been in the mood to sit down and read anything.

I’m currently not really wanting to read anything that I have coming up for review, so I think I’ve just ignored all of the books so I’m not hate reading anything.  Hopefully I’ll be able to spend some time with a few amazing things {Vicious, I’m looking at you} and I’ll be able to get out of this mini-slump like thing I’m in.

• I got the Villains Series mailing with the new cover of Vicious and a bunch of other goodies.  I literally screamed at my FedEx guy when I saw him walk in with the box because it had a Vicious sticker on it
• Penguin Teen sent me an arc of Smoke in the Sun and a paperback of Flame in the Mist with the new cover
• Disney sent an awesome mailing for The Darkest Minds, complete with all of the books with their new covers, two rad camping mugs, and ingredients to make s’mores

• Simon Teen send an adorable mailing with Stay Sweet that had an ice cream dish and sprinkles {which exploded all over my balcony}
• Entangled Teen sent an arc of Bring Me Their Hearts with a matching book sleeve, socks, and chocolates
• Bloomsbury sent a finished copy of The Opposite of Here with a boarding pass luggage tag and pouch with all sorts of yummy travel cosmetics

I also got a finished copy of Kiss Quotient from Berkley {this is one of my top books of the year. Go forth and pre-order!}, a signed copy of Save the Date from Simon Teen, an amazing box of Furyborn stuff from Sourcebooks Fire, an insane stack of arcs from Fierce Reads and Wednesday Books, an arc of Dance of Thieves + a satiny bag and awesome bookmark from Fierce Reads, and copies of The Lying Woods and #murdertrending from Disney.

Fangirled over:

• A lot of people at YallWest

Special stuff:

• Five Reasons to Read: Royals by Rachel Hawkins
• Press: Bad Samaritan press junket

 

• We drove to Phoenix for their comic con.  This year they called it Phoenix Comic Fest.  I’m not doing a full recap because there wasn’t too much to see.  Most of the booths were vendors and while spread out through various levels and two buildings, it’s really not that big.

• We got there Friday and tried to run to see Victoria Schwab at her 1:30 signing.  We were running late and we literally asked 7 different people where the author signing area was before someone actually got us to the right place. About 20 escalator rides later, we got to the area 90 seconds after she left.
• I ended up being first in line for her 4:30 signing and flailed all over her, as usual.  We talked about the new cover of Vicious and how she rallied for a new design, her upcoming trip to SDCC and the comics, her 24 hours of travel, and how many more times I would be able to see her before I ran out of things to have her sign. She has quickly become one of my favorites.

• There were some great cosplayers, but a few of the people I wanted to take photos of wouldn’t/didn’t stop.
• There was an entire section set up with backgrounds or set replicas that you could take photos at and there were several educational booths about space.
• The upsides: there was a lot of room to move around since everything is insanely spread out, attendees were polite, everything was really clean, and we saw some smaller vendors that don’t make it to Cali who had some pretty rad stuff.
• The downsides: it was 106* while we were there, parking was super expensive and blocks away, it wasn’t nearly as big as it appeared to be.
• The verdict: I doubt we would go again.

• Fangirling over: Claire Legrand, Tamara Ireland Stone, Gretchen McNeil, Robyn Schneider, Danielle Mages Amato, and Demetra Brodsky…and I’m moderating three of these events. O_o
  
• Reading Rewind: Yes?
  
• Discussion post: Perhaps.
  
• Special Stuff: blog tours for Smoke in the Sun and Dear Rachel Maddow
  

How about you? How was your May? What was your favorite read for the month?