May wasn’t the best month personal wise… One of my cats passed away after she was hit by a car, my knee is still acting up whenever I try to run and I found out two weeks ago I will need to return to the Netherlands temporarily to retrieve some papers if I want to get my permanent visa here in Argentina. Which kind of sucks, because I will have to travel without my hubby and I don’t know how long I will have to stay in Holland in the first place… š¦ Ā The trip is taking up a lot of my time andĀ I haven’t been reading much for the last two weeks or so, but somehow I still managed to read 18 books in May. I guess the Bout Of Books read-a-thon really did wonders for my bookish numbers…
- Number of books read in May:Ā 18
- Total number of books read this year:Ā 82 (+1 reread)
- Total number of pages read in May:Ā 5.578
- Total number of pages read this year:Ā 25.739
I’m way ahead with my Goodreads challenge, which I guess is a good thing since I’m not sure if I will be able to read much during the next few months… May was a pretty good month with 3 books with a 4,5 star ratingĀ and only seven books had a 3 star rating or below. I had no 5 star reads in May, but I’m still quite happy with these results!
4.5 STARS:Ā This one was almostĀ perfect. Surely fantastic!Ā
Hero – by Belinda CrawfordĀ //Ā Heartsick – by Chelsea Cain // Housebroken – by The Behrg
4 STARS: Wow, this was really good. Close to amazing!
The Name Of The Star – by Maureen JohnsonĀ //Ā The Reader On The 6.27 – by Jean-Paul Didierlaurent // Stars Above – by Marissa Meyer // See How They Run – by Ally Carter // Binge – by Tyler Oakley // Harry Potter Y La Piedra Filosofal – by J.K. Rowling
3.5 STARS: Great read. Really entertaining!
The Improbable Theory Of Ana And Zak – by Brian KatcherĀ // Leaving Time – by Jodi Picoult
3 STARS: It was a nice read, but not fantastic.Ā
The Strange And Beautiful Sorrows Of Ava Lavender – Ā by Leslye Walton // All The Rage – by Courtney Summers // Love Letters To The Dead – by Ava Dellaira // The Time Machine – by H.G. Wells //Ā The Little Prince – by Antoine de Saint-ExupĆ©ry
2 STARS: It was ok. But mostlyĀ āmehā.
Daughter Of Smoke And Bone – by Laini TaylorĀ // Dumplin’ – by Julie Murphy
In 2016Ā I decided to join in total four yearly challenges. So far Iām right on track with all of them, so I’m not really worried yet. Ā Hopefully I will be able to keep this up! I also joined the second Bout Of Books Read-A-Thon (16.0)Ā this year which was hosted in May.
# CHALLENGES #
- Goodreads Reading Challenge:Ā 82/100
- Reading Through The Centuries Challenge: 4/10
- 2016 When Are You Reading? Challenge: 9/12
- The 2016 Bookish Bingo Challenge: 31/35
As for my other blogging goalsā¦ I made some progress with my classics, Spanish read and rereads, but overall May wasn’t that good. To make things worse my TBR pile has even increased! since last month. Iām hopeless haha. Running has been terrible as well since my knee is still acting up whenever I try… The cold and wet weather doesn’t really help either.
# OTHER READING/BLOGGING GOALS #
- Read at least 5 classicsĀ (rereads donāt count): 3/5
- Complete at least 5Ā seriesĀ (rereads donāt count): 3/5 (the murder complex/never never/veronica mars)
- Reread at least 3 books: 2/3 (red queen, harry potter y la piedra filosofal)
- Bring my physical TBR pile below 200Ā books: 327/200
- Read at least one book over 800 pages:Ā 0/1 (longest book 608 pages)
- Read at least 5 books in Spanish: 2/5
Join at least 5 challenges during the year- Finish older reviews that havenāt been posted yet: 4/10
- Update older reviews to new format: 4/14
- Reach 5km running!Ā 2300m/5000m
Happy JuneĀ and Happy Reading!
I’m so sorry about your cat! That’s so sad! I hope your other cat is doing ok without his/her friend, too.
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My other cat Jasmin actually was her mother (although they weren’t really close), and she has become rather dependent on me ever since Sienna passed away…Poor thing is probably feeling lonely now she doesn’t have her daughter to play with.
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Oh, no! I’m sorry! š¦ My parents had two cats that were sisters, and the one left was very sad when her sister died. So my parents got another cat to be her friend, and they kind of hate each other. :p
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I’m not even going to try and get another cat for now, because Jasmin is really jealous and will probably hate a new ‘intruder’ as well. xD Maybe if I find another rescue kitten/cat in the future…
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It’s not so bad bookwise! š What happened to your knee? Also: we’ve got bitterballen/stroopwafels/hagelslag/Bossche bollen/frikadellen/roze koeken etc. over here xD Happy thoughts! š
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I definitely managed to read a lot of books anyway haha. I injured my knee a while back while running and it never completely healed… Nothing serious, but quite annoying. š And the food is probably the best part of having to go back! Is it weird that the thing I’ve missed most is dark bread with Old Amsterdam cheese and drop?! I’m going to eat SO much while I’m back haha.
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You did ;). Ooh, yeah, I ‘oversquatted’ a couple of years ago and now it sometimes even hurts while walking up the stairs -.- old ladies inc! XD Hahaha, old Amsterdam is da shit idd. I eat it every morning for breakfast (with dark bread ^_^). š
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Haha definitely old ladies inc! I can’t believe 28 already feels this old. xD And I’m definitely eating Old Amsterdam every. single. day. while I’m in Holland. š
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Wait until you hit the big 3-0. I swear, my metabolism just dropped like crazy after that, I’m starting to develop 50 + saddlebags! >.<. Hahaha, pics or it didn't happen! š
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I’m keeping my fingers crossed that won’t be happening to me, since my metabolism is superslow already ever since my thyroid gland started failing on me. xD And diet or not, I will be eating my cheese anyway while I’m there haha. I will definitely post pics when I’m in Holland in August! š
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Oh crap, and then you can’t exercise properly because of your knee either! But you’re probably going to be fiiiiine. Some peeps have the opposite effect; after turning 30, they get incredibly skinny all of a sudden. Either way. Yes. Cheese. Pics. Keep’em coming in August xD
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Skinny? Me? I don’t think that is ever going to happen haha. I will definitely be looking forward to all the Dutch food though. š
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Sorry about your kitty. Hope your knee gets better soon. I’ve had Heartsick by Chelsea Cain on my TBR shelf for ages, and seeing you give it so many stars has made me want to pick it up again. Have you reviewed it? Are you planning on reviewing? I’d love to know your thoughts š
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Heartsick is actually next on my review list (I’m a bit behind haha), but it is definitely worth reading! One of the best mystery/thriller books I’ve read in a while, even though the main character is a bit cliche (a detective with a messed up personal life, which is the standard for just about every detective story)
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I’ll keep an eye out for your review then! And don’t worry, I’m perpetually behind with my reviewing. And you are definitely right about the standard detective, always with the messed up personal lives
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18 books is still so amazing! I wish I could read that many books a month on my own. I could easily hit 18 if I include audiobooks haha. But alone I can probably read 6-7 tops.
I hope everything goes well with getting your permanent visa.
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I tried getting into audiobooks, but somehow I never seem to like the voices… I haven’t tried many audiobooks though, so that might just have been bad luck. š
And getting the permanent visa will be easy as soon as I have the missing papers; it’s just a hassle I have to go all the way to Holland to get them (and probably wait for a while to get them and prepare them for use in Argentina: bureaucracy and all).
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You had a fantastic reading month! Impressive!
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Thanks! š
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Sorry to hear about the cat and your knee. Hope everything goes okay in Amsterdam. Your reading list is impressive, well done.
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Thank you! š
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So sorry to hear about all the personal misfortunes that went on and are still going on–especially about your cat and your knee! Fingers crossed for you that everything turns out okay though. ā¤
On a completely different note, way to go on your reading for May! It seems like despite the not-so-great reads, there were several good ones, and 18 books is quite an accomplishment! Good for you! š
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Thanks! ā¤ I'm sure things will work out in the end. And I agree May wasn't that bad bookwise… Hopefully I will have better luck with my reading choices in June (I'm already suspecting I will have at least one 5 star read with ACOMAF haha)
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My heart breaks for you losing your cat. I know how hard that is. I’m sorry your knee is still giving you trouble, and that now you have to deal with the travelling issues. I hope things get worked out quickly! Regardless, you still had a fantastic reading month!
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I’m hoping to start fresh in this new month; I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I can go back to running soon. If anything, having to travel to Holland during summer time at least means I will be able to run outside without having to worry about the cold weather. š
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I’m so sorry about the loss of your cat and your knee injury. I hope things get better for you.
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Thank you! š
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18 books last month is a good number. I think you’re doing great. Except for your cat, though, I’m sorry to hear about her š¦ Hope you’ll have a better June š
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Thanks! š
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I am so sorry to hear about your cat and your knee and the trip too. Hope all works out well with the trip and quick recovery. 18 books is pretty impressive and glad to hear that most were good reads.Happy June.
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Thank you and happy June! š
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