May was finally more of a laid back month, and I’ve been trying my best to get caught up on some things I neglected in April. I completed a side project that I had volunteered to do through a Jewish Genealogy website, transcribing records so they can be added to a searchable database. Since it was a low-stress project that isn’t due on any specific deadline, I took on another book listing records to transcribe. My family always focused on giving back and supporting charitable organizations, and I look at the donation of time to be just as valuable.

In addition, May focused on following up on health issues for both myself and my mother, which is time consuming, but worth it. I am always looking for new ways to stay organized, as my mom starts to become forgetful (she’s 85, so nothing out of the ordinary) and I stay forgetful (a side effect of one of my meds). I rely on my own monthly/weekly planner to keep track of everything, and I found a blank weekly planner that’s spiral bound, and that stays at the house for us to list all of our appointments. It also gives a little space to write out to-do lists, and to also put any items for the week that are high/low priority. So far, it seems to be helpful, and things are going pretty smoothly. Fingers crossed that it stays that way.

May was a relatively productive month, as far as reading went. I found myself doing a lot of audiobook reading, and I’m working on getting caught up on reviews and ARCs that are past due to be reviewed (as always). Even with all of that, I still made sure to do some reading just because I wanted to, and continued my nonfiction kick. There’s another blogger who tracks all the locations of the books she reads on Google Maps, and I decided to see how many different places I can travel through books. 

I got more accomplished in May that I did in some previous months, and also focused on reading a few nonfiction books. If I’m going to learn about a distant country, I really like learning about that place and what it is like there. Reading fiction and reading nonfiction are two really different ways to experience a place, and it is really interesting to see that play out in a book. I read a little bit more this month than the last, and my ARCs are still a little out of hand, but I’m really happy with how the month went. One of the high points was a buddy read of The Empyrean series, and I’m working on the next book. I can’t even imagine the book hangover heading my way, but luckily I have a lot of really great reads for June.

Here’s some highlights for me from May:

• My follower count continues to grow a little bit at a time, and I’m now close to 1,100 followers! It’s really exciting because I still remember how happy I was to get to those first milestones: 1 follower, 10, 50, 100, and I’m just as happy with each new follower. Welcome to my blog and seeing my quirky posts and rants.
• I read two nonfiction books, and added the following places to my map of where I’ve read: the Bronx, NY; Mumbai (Bombay), India; Washington, DC; Santiago, Chile; Saigon, Vietnam; Kazakhstan; Tajikistan; Uzbekistan; Turkmenistan; and Kyrgyzstan.
• There was only one book I DNF’d this month, and that was only until I can read the hard copy of the book — the narrator was not a good fit for the book she was reading.
• Since I watch shows while working on the computer, I rotate through different shows. I highly recommend The Better Sister on Prime Video, Nine Perfect Strangers on Hulu (season 2 just dropped), and Will Trent on Hulu.

Here’s my breakdown of monthly totals for May: 

May Totals:

• Books read: 14
• Books DNF’d: 1
• Pages read: 1,938
• Hours listened: 123.62 hours
• Average pages: 62.52
• Average hours listened: 3.99 hours

Genres Read in May:

• Fantasy: 6
• Historical Fiction: 4
• Mystery: 1
• Politics: 1
• Romance: 1
• Travel: 1

Backlist vs. New Releases:

• Backlist books: 8
• 2025 releases: 6

Fiction Vs. Nonfiction:

• Fiction: 12
• Nonfiction: 2

Format Read:

• Print: 2
• Digital: 3
• Audio: 9

Age Range:

• Adult: 12
• YA: 2
• MG: 

My favorite book of the month was Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros.

Here’s what I read in May:

1. The War on the West by Douglas Murray | Goodreads | Amazon 
2. My Name is Emilia del Valle by Isabel Allende | Goodreads | Amazon
3. The Women by Kristin Hannah | Goodreads | Amazon
4. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (The Empyrean #1) | Goodreads | Amazon
5. Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros (The Empyrean #2) | Goodreads | Amazon

1. Six Days in Bombay by Alka Joshi (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
2. Magician and Fool by Susan Wands (Arcana Oracle #1) | Goodreads | Amazon
3. Come As You Are by Dahlia Adler (NG ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
4. Tonight, I Bleed by Katharine J. Adams (Witches of Halstett #2) (Publisher ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon
5. Sovietistan: Travels in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan by Erika Fatland | Goodreads | Amazon

1. The Missing Half by Ashley Flowers (Libro) | Goodreads | Amazon

1. Houses of Detention by Jean Ende (Publisher ARC) | Goodreads | Amazon

1. Tonight, I Burn by Katharine J. Adams (The Witches of Halstett #1)  — reread
2. How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler (Dark Lord Davi #1) — reread

1. A History of the Jews by Paul Johnson — DNF audiobook at 65%. Click the title to see my GoodReads review.

How did May go for you? What were your high points?