Hello everyone,
My goodness, it it June already?! It honestly feels like only a week ago since I was typing my last monthly wrap-up, and May seemed to pass by like a blur. That said, I did manage to get several things done along the way.
The weather here in the UK has been wonderful for several weeks, so I have tried to spend to time outside as often as I can, even though there is little to do at the moment besides walking.
Most of the other things that are happening in the world at the moment are depressing. On top of the continued presence and impact of COVID, we have seen the truly appalling events of recent days. The amount of racism that still exists is absolutely sickening and should not be tolerated anywhere. We should do as much as we can to support #BlackLivesMatter.
As far as reading goes, May did not feel like the best month. Although none of the books I read were a total disaster, most of them were three star reads and a lot of the time I was relieved to get to the end in order to start on the next one. It started and finished on a high, but everything else was just average.
In total, I read six books in May, and here they are:
Harrow Lake ⭐⭐⭐.5
Siege and Storm ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Angel’s Mark ⭐⭐⭐
The Saracen’s Mark ⭐⭐⭐
Catalyst ⭐⭐.5
Clap When You Land ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
In a little over two months since I started work on my current WIP, I have made it past 16,000 words, which I am very happy with. I feel like the crux of my story is now starting to fall into place and I have some ideas for the direction the plot will go.
For my first draft (sounds official, doesn’t it!), I am focusing primarily on the plot and the characters. The plan is that when I go back and make edits, I shall hone my writing style a little and make it more descriptive.
In other news I managed to complete a six-week course in Forensic Anthropology and Archaeology, led by Durham University. It was extremely interesting and I learnt so much about how to excavate and identify skeletal remains. I am really glad I decided to take part.
I have also been preparing a secret bookish project in the last few weeks. I am a bit nervous about it and it could be a total failure, but we’ll see what happens! It is not booktube, in case you are wondering 😂.
Another thing that happened in May was that I actually joined NetGalley, and received my first approval on my second request. As someone who is not used to being accepted for anything, that was a really nice surprise! I have not requested any books since – my TBR is the main priority and I plan to use NetGalley in moderation…
I shall finish with some of my favourite blog posts from May:
- Chana explained why she loved reading book blogs in a post that I found very relatable. She also told us why we should read book blogs.
- Sofii wrote one of her marvellous discussion posts on the pressure of blogging and told us about her own experiences.
- Jessica discussed the pros and cons of having a daily routine, and provided some excellent tips.
- Lili wrote a fantastic review of Catalyst by Tracy Richardson, as part of our ongoing Write Reads blog tour. She described the book perfectly.
That is everything for now, so I hope you all have a wonderful June.
Happy reading :)
Stephen Reads Books 