Happy end-of-May! I read quite a bit this monthly, mostly manga still. I just can’t shake this kick that I’m in, I don’t know what’s up with it.
Anyways, this is what I read:
Books
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire – While I did like this book, I fear I have the unpopular opinion of ‘it didn’t leave me wanting more’. I know there are like four or five books in this series now but honestly I don’t plan on continuing. I rated this highly, so don’t think it was because I didn’t like it, but I don’t know, it just didn’t really… ensnare me, I guess? 4 stars
Shaman King vols 1-4 by Hiroyuki Takei – Shaman King is a series I read a lot as a teen. I used to own the first seven or eight volumes, and the first volume in particular – the one shown above – I’ve probably read fifty times. I ended up giving my copies to my sister though, who went on to collect the the entire 32 volumes of it. I decided since I’m stuck at home anyways, that I should finally read the whole thing. I like it just as much as I remember! 4, 3.5, 4, and 4 stars respectively
Waiting for Spring vols 1-4 by Anashin – If you follow my wrap ups at all, you’ll know that I just read this back in March or so. Well, I read it again when I picked up the volumes physically, along with three more. I like it just as much as I did, and I do plan on getting more volumes in this series. This is a fluffy romance and it’s cute and I love it. 4, 4, 4, and 3.75 stars respectively
Yarichin Bitch Club vols 1-2 by Ogeretsu Tanaka – Honestly going from the synopsis, I went into this expecting it to be pwp, but surprisingly there is a plot, along with some pretty interesting character dynamics. I’m definitely interested in reading more of this but I still gotta tell ya, it’s one of the weirdest things I’ve ever read. 3.5 and 4 stars respectively
The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren – Again, I’m an unpopular opinion here: I thought this book was alright. I didn’t hate it at all mind you. I thought it was cute. But I think the hype got to me about this one, and I didn’t rate it anywhere near the almost-constant five stars that I’ve been seeing around. It was enjoyable for what it was, though. 3.75 stars
Honey Darling by Norikazu Akira – This was a cute one-shot romance fluff between a vet and a guy who has no idea how to care for a kitten. Went into it expecting fluff and that’s what I got. I rather liked it. 4 stars
Blue Exorcist vols 1-2 by Kazue Kato – This is another series I borrowed from my sister along with Shaman King. This one she really likes, and it has an anime that my husband has seen and liked, but I’ve never been exposed to either. So I picked it up and aside from a sixteen year old being a professor, I’m rather enjoying the story. I’m gonna continue. 3.75 and 4 stars
Given vol 1 by Natsuki Kizu – This I picked up because I adore the anime. Honestly reading this had me wanting to really watch the whole thing start to finish, which I still might do. I rather liked this format, but for a story about music, I feel the anime does it a bit more justice. 4 stars
Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits vols 1-2 by Waco Ioka – This series I picked up having heard nothing about it and I unexpectedly found myself loving it. It’s so whimsical and Spirited Away-y. I did write a full spoiler-free blabber on it, if you’re interested. 4 and 4.5 stars
Takane & Hana vol 2 by Yuki Shiwasu – I’m still luke-warm to this series unfortunately. I kinda like it, but there’s an uncomfortable age gap between the two main characters and it has the potential to get weird. It hasn’t… yet. And I’m holding out hope that it’ll go wholesome instead, but if it does go creepy, I’m dropping it, man. 3.5 stars
Candy Color Paradox vols 1-2 by Isaku Natsume – This one I really liked. The romance is sweet and both characters are rather likeable. It’s funny, too. I definitely plan on continuing this one. 3.75 and 4 stars
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And that’s it for books! I’m almost done with another, but it’s just too soon for me to add it to the list. It’ll be on next month’s for sure!
Other Stuff
- Honestly nothing much of note has happened this month. Still being a hermit. I miss the bookstore.
Reading Goals
- Read 50 books – 105/100
- Maintain a consistent posting schedule
January – Fail
February – Pass
March – Pass
April – Pass
May – Pass - Keep track of reading statistics – In progress
- Reduce physical TBR to 200 – 235
And that’s it! Happy reading!
Man I’ve been waiting to dive into this one for some time now. It was put on my 
Last month or so I began my reread of Novik’s Temeraire series – I read it originally back in high school and at that point there were only five books out. When six through nine came out I didn’t ever get to them. So since the series is finished now and because I’ve touted it as one of my favorites for a long time, I figured I should actually finish it. And just like the first one, this one was also 5 stars. I’m glad that I’m enjoying it just as much this time around as I did last time.
I picked this one up as an ebook years ago and honestly forgot it was on my account. When I picked up another ebook recently I saw this on there and figured I should read it.
These were both 4 star reads for me and honestly they would have been five, except that I’m also currently watching the anime and had already watched the plot these two volumes covered. So I didn’t get the same ‘wow’ factor as I did if it would have been my first exposure. But the anime series I’m really digging and the manga is just as high quality in my opinion. I can see why this is the new ‘it anime’. It’s really great.
This manga I picked up as part of borrowathon, and honestly it was not my cup of tea. The premise is that this merman shows up in this guy’s tub one day…. and that’s it. Like, there’s no plot other than ‘oh hey this merman is here’. And what’s worse is that the merman is essentially a giant man child. The author tries to portray him as this tiny little adorable creature and the house owner treating him with an ‘you’re a bit exasperating but you’re lucky you’re cute’ kind of manner, but it comes off as this merman mooching off this guy, acting totally helpless, and doing this weird very childlike ‘well I’ll help!’ stuff that goes as far as a normal five year old would be able to take it. And I’m reading and waiting for a plot to pick up… and it never does. My friend lent me the first six volumes of this, and I read the synopsis of the back of the rest and it’s more ‘oh hey this merman is still here, what a hoot!’. So I give them back to my friend and ask if a plot ever pops up and she says not really, that the manga is meant to just be light and fluffy. I suppose I can understand that, but the merman acting like a child the whole time kind of ruined it for me. I gave this 2 stars and won’t be continuing.
This manga I picked up from borrowathon as well, right after quitting the above, and went into it expecting the worst. My friend and I swap manga and books all the time and our tastes align roughly fifty percent of the time. Sooo I was expecting this one to be another miss. But! This one actually turned out to be pretty neat, and I’m currently in the middle of volume 2.
This is the second book in Hobb’s Liveship Traders trilogy and the fifth in her Realm of the Elderlings world. I wrote a 
This is one of those series that I’ve known about for a while but never really popped into my ‘wanna read this’ list. I found it for super cheap and picked it up on a whim… and honestly, most of the way through it, it basically was what I expected. It was okay. I enjoyed it but it wasn’t anything special… until the end. And dammit, now I want volume two. It lead me into a false sense of ‘this is decent’ security when it was really hiding how good it was ’til the end. Well butts. Now I’m buying this series, too.
This was probably my most anticipated release for this month and I started reading it the day I came out. It was decent! I rather liked it. I wrote a 
I’m slowly workin’ my way through this series. One day I’ll catch up. One day. ONE DAY.
And the non-fiction for the month. I’m really bad with non-fiction usually – it doesn’t hold my attention for very long. It’s not the book’s fault most of the time, it’s my own. I just… lose focus. But this one, I listened to on audio and while it did indeed go into the history of the gene and all sorts of experiments and conferences and breakthroughs, it did so in almost a narrative format. It was really neat and I was able to stay focused on it. 😛 So.. props to him for writing a non-fiction a dunderhead can follow? 😀 It was really good and I really enjoyed it. I learned a lot, too!
This one has been and likely will continue to be on my currently reading list for a while – it’s a ‘about’ book for a dungeons and dragons setting – not exactly something you binge, haha. I’m enjoying it though – it’s allowing me to flesh out the background of my character nicely. 😀
GUYS. I’VE BEEN WAITING TO READ THIS BOOK FOR FOREVER. I finished the second one last month and have been waiting to pick this up until after I had finished my coding project – I knew if I picked it up before that I would never finish the code, haha. So I made it my reward to myself for finishing. 😀
Embuhleeliest 
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