Bookwyrm Breakdown: Continuing the Julie Kagawa Agenda, Getting the Stabby and Other Things

June’s here! Approximately one year ago according to my journal entries, I was a stressed ball of stress and probably wrote at least 3+ entries a day just to cope (graduation, pandemic and everything that comes with those two will do that, though).

Meanwhile this year, I haven’t written an entry since two weeks ago, and then before that, another two weeks. Stress level? Still there, definitely less compared to last year though.

But I’ll take it.

This Month’s Posts

• [2 May] Bookwyrm Breakdown: Oops, Slipped Into Webtoon Hole
• [7 May] The Ones We're Meant to Find by Joan He ★★★
• [12 May] Bias by Lucy Gold ★★★
• [21 May] The Last Fallen Star by Graci Kim ★★★★★
• [28 May] Cleaning Up Some of My Oldest Goodreads Books

Books Hoarded

Sophia

• Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston
• The Last Fallen Star by Graci Kim (Publisher)
• The Iron Fey series (Fairyloot Special Editions) – Outside of Shadow of the Fox (are we really surprised here?) and Grace and Fury (which I’ve yet to read), I really don’t own that many special editions. But The Iron Fey remains dear to my heart and Julie Kagawa is one of my favorite authors, so of course, I just had to get these editions.
  • They’re so pretty, I think I could cry.
  • I think my friends are tired of me sending initial pictures and I didn’t feel like taking photos yesterday, so maybe I’ll just shove them into June’s breakdown.
• Idol Gossip by Alexandra Leigh Young (Publisher ARC) – Considering 90% of my current music diet is made up of K-Pop, all you need to pique my interest is to dangle a book set in the industry. Even though there are only two that I actually liked so far…

Lupe

I haven’t been reading, but lord knows I’ve been shopping.

• Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon
• Twice Shy by Sarah Hogle
• The Intimacy Experiment by Rosie Danan
• Life’s Too Short by Abby Jimenez
• Love at First by Kate Clayborn
• Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto
• Beach Read by Emily Henry
• People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
• The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren
• The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon
• A Sweet Mess by Jayci Lee
• Well Played by Jen DeLuca

Books Devoured

Sophia

I started the month not reading as much, but as May progressed, the reading monster continued to rear its head, and even more so in the end when quite a few library holds broke free. So much for reading A Spark of White Fire this month like I originally planned. (I also planned on reading 4 ARCs, but I only finished two of them…)

Like the past few months, I’m only listing a handful of books I’ve read.

• Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas – I think at this point I’ll read anything by Thomas
• Night of the Dragon by Julie Kagawa – less painful, but the ending still hurts
  • My Julie Kagawa agenda continued with Jayati, Sam, Clo and a few others, and Jayati is now continuing my agenda. 😈
  • Jayati would like to blame for emotional damage so let this be a warning this book will cause emotional pain. Don’t finish at 3 am (me) or at work (Shon).
• Crave by Tracy Wolff – I tried but this wasn’t my cup of tea and I DNFed at 62%
• The Bone Witch trilogy by Rin Chupeco
• If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman – I do love to put myself through pain this month apparently.
• From Little Tokyo, With Love by Sarah Kuhn – I think at this rate I might read anything by Kuhn now, too.

Lupe

Please advise how I can get out of this reading slump.

Fandom Assemble

Media we’ve consumed and enjoyed, or what we’re looking forward to that’s been announced lately.

Sophia

The movie and TV show watching was definitely strong with me in May, even more so than April.

TV Shows

• The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Part 1 – I finished most of the first part last year for a class paper, but I never got around to finishing it until this month.
• Shadow and Bone Season 1 – Overall, this was a solid adaptation, and I think I might like this better than the books (because Alina’s story was a snooze fest for me). There are some things I didn’t like, though, especially the anti-Asian racism throughout that just had no meaning than existing, but I think I’ll save that for a review I may or may not write.

Movies

• Love, Simon
• Love on Air (aka Wonderful Radio)
• Street Dance
• Detective Pikachu – As much as CGI Pikachu scares me a little, I surprisingly liked this out of all the movies I’ve watched this month.
• The Sun is Also a Star

Music

May was full of catchy bops from new and old groups along with album releases from a few favorites.

• Gratata by Hot Issue – I wouldn’t say Hot Issue’s debut song has made me a fan as quickly as Kingdom’s did, but I think it’s safe they’re on my radar.
• Kura Kura by Twice – If you asked me two years ago if I listened to Twice, I would’ve said no, but ever since I Can’t Stop Me, I’ve been following their releases.
• The Blowing (Album) by Highlight – Not the End is a particular favorite from the album.
• Flavors of Love (Album) by Monsta X
• Advice (Album) by Taemin
• Let Me Know by Pixy – I wasn’t a huge fan of Wings (although I liked it), but Let Me Know is definitely a favorite.
• Hot Sauce by NCT Dream – I didn’t think I would like this one, but here we are.

Rookie group Kingdom announced a comeback in July with a concept photo released at the end of the month! Considering their strong debut back in February with Excalibur (which I immediately loved and shuffled it into the Fandom Assemble section in February’s breakdown), I’m excited and am definitely keeping my ears open. (Also so I can continue shoving the group at Clo.)

Books

JULIE KAGAWA IS WRITING A MIDDLE-GRADE SERIES!!! I 100% had to scream about this in all caps with a few exclamation points right after.

I am super excited to announce a brand new middle grade series with Disney Publishing: Shinji Takahashi and the Mark of the Coatl. Check out the official announcement and cover reveal here: https://t.co/gl8xh1LdoJ

— Julie Kagawa (@Jkagawa) May 25, 2021

Lupe

VAMPIRE ACADEMY WILL FINALLY BE A TV SHOW! If you know me at all, Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead is one of my favorite series. I HIGHLY recommend the series and the spin-off series, Bloodlines, if you haven’t read them already. The TV series will be on Peacock and I hope they don’t mess this up. I was beyond happy when I first heard about this. Still worried that they might screw this up, but one can only hope. I might just set my standards low to be easily impressed. Considering that the movie adaption from 2014 wasn’t that great… My standards are sky high.

The Breakdown

What catastrophes have the universe handed us throughout the month? Let’s find out. 🧐

Sophia

To be honest, while May felt like any other month, it’s been a pretty decent month, because I finally found my lost chocolate from late last year that thankfully haven’t expired. (I knew you were in the fridge somewhere.)

What else happened:

• My mom finished the second shot of her vaccine and I got my first! Unlike my mom who got no reactions, I felt like someone forced a hard balloon into my arm and a giant bead in a certain part of my forehead for a few days. Plus a sleep potion, because I felt obnoxiously sleepy.
• I got the special Iron Fey editions in the mail and I can’t stop admiring how pretty they are. I think I already said this earlier in the post, but I can’t think of a better way to end a week where I got jabbed with a needle. It’s like a gift from the universe with the timing. *Lupe is Jelly*
• Finally restarted a game that I’ve been playing for two years. It’s good to work from scratch again and create a new storyline instead of cruising through everything.

Lupe

I’m still alive!

A lot has happened these past few months. Unfortunately, my grandfather lost the fight to cancer back in March. My parents and I did not take this well. On top of this, I had to travel for work the following week. It was my first time flying and it was quite an experience. Also, it was the first time I’ve ever lost a close family member. Close as in “someone closely related to me”. I have never met him and I was planning to travel to Mexico. I wanted to meet all 4 of my grandparents in person at least once in my life time, but it’s too late. Don’t get me wrong, I still want to meet my 3 grandparents I have left. Just sucks that I wasn’t able to meet one of them. It’s something I am still trying to wrap my head around.

Work has been taking over much of my time and the stress of getting promoted soon is nerve-racking. Also, I am fully vaccinated! My reaction to the second dose was really rough. Had chills and a high fever. It was brutal, but worth it. I am trying to get back into the habit of reading. Let’s hope I break this reading slump I’m in.

Let’s talk, bookwyrms: How was your May?