Monthly Inventory: May 2020

May 2020

This was a weird month for me. Things started on such a high following a great April (reading wise) and I was optimistic things were on the right track for the rest of the month.

I celebrated 7 years of blogging at the start of the month. It’s crazy that I’ve been doing this for 7 years! I’ve made lots of changes over the last 7 years like moving to a self-hosted site (and debating about staying that way), changing my posting schedule to post less and changing my review formats. Over the last two years I’ve struggled to find the time to blog but I learned I just had to find the right balance and change my expectations. I might not work on my blog everyday like I used to, but when I do, I’m reminded why I started this hobby in the first place. And especially with the state of the world right now (working in healthcare like I do is particularly challenging of late), finding joy in the little things has helped my mental health incredibly.

My reading itself was all over the place this month. While June was my planned “Sequel Month #2” for the year, approximately 50% of the books I read in May were sequels. Some were good and some were bad. I think this tweet sums things up nicely:

Either I’m picking up terrible books or I am in a reading slump again.
I suppose this is the #bookbloggers chicken/egg dilemma 🤔

— Lauren (@SERIESousBooks) May 25, 2020

So by the end of the month, I tried my best to keep things light (ie mostly read contemporary romances) because that’s what my mood seemed to thrive on. And as June approached, I felt a little better about diving into those sequels and FINALLY starting my Scribd free trial.

Total for May 2020: 24 Books Read + 0 Novellas Read

DNF’d: 1 Books

Last May: 13 Books Read + 1 Novellas Read + 0 DNFs

Standout Read (★★★★★)

I love Piper’s works and this series is shaping up to be one of her best yet. This book had everything I love in a good contemporary romance. Very excited for the finale!

Biggest Let Down (★★)

I think I just outgrew this series. It took me over 6 months (and numerous loans and renewals) to finally finish this book…and I was skimming it. The way this series progressed and evolved just wasn’t for me. And I could do without seeing the word “mate” for another 6 months.

Previously posted series reviews that got updates:

You can always get the full details on all my challenges on my dedicated page but here is a quick update:

5 Year 5 Book Challenge: 2 books added | 13 of 31 Titles Read – On Track!
Goodreads Challenge: 24 books added | 88/155 Books – 24 Books Ahead!
Tackling the TBR Challenge: 2 books added | 11/24 Books – 1 Book Ahead!

View my Challenge Progress Here!

Created by Lia @ Lost in a Story

I used to do a big Goodreads Purge twice a year but I like the idea of doing a little bit at a time and had great success last year doing this on a monthly basis. The idea is to go through 5-10 books on your Goodreads TBR list chronologically and decide if they should stay or go. My 10 titles consist of 7 “new to me” titles and 3 “previously started series” titles.

This month: