May Round-up

Cripes when did we get to the end of May? This year is flying by so fast it's making my head spin - before I know it it's going to be the end of September and I'll be on my way back here to my new flat that's not quite by the sea, like this years has been, and I'll be starting my second year of university which is damn scary. Not to mention that I'll be turning 20 this October (Lord when did I get so old??). Hopefully over this summer I can get myself into a routine for maintaining my blog which doesn't mean I spend all day sat online stalking my inbox and twitter etc.

This month has been when I've finally hit the ground running with this blog, although I've had it since January it has only been in the last 4 weeks that I've been participating regularly in several weekly memes and posting reviews at least semi-frequently although compared to the number of books I've read so far this year I have a massive deficit of reviews which may be impossible to make up unless I go insane writing backlog reviews over the next few months. What's really great is how literally over the last two weeks my follower count has jumped from just under 30 to nearly 75 - I'm thinking of doing a giveaway when I reach 100 followers so I'll have to start giving some thought as to what I might have as a prize. Thank you to everyone who has followed me so far!

Books Read in May
77. Looking for Alaska by John Green 4.5 Stars Review Here
78. Shadows and Strongholds by Elizabeth Chadwick 4.5 Stars
79. Becoming Bindy Mackenzie by Jaclyn Moriarty 4.5 Stars
80. Dreaming of Amelia by Jaclyn Moriarty 4 Stars
81. The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong 4.5 Stars
82. The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson 4 Stars Review Here
83. Taran Wanderer by Lloyd Alexander 4 Stars
84. The Birds and other Stories by Daphne du Maurier 4 Stars
85. Fade Out by Rachel Caine 4 Stars
86. Feeling Sorry for Celia by Jaclyn Moriarty 4.5 Stars
87. Company of Liars by Karen Maitland 4.5 Stars Review Here
88. Pride by Rachel Vincent 4.5 Stars
89. A Memoir of Jane Austen by James Austen-Leigh 4 Stars
90. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green 4.5 Stars
91. The High King by Lloyd Alexander 4 Stars
92. Forget You by Jennifer Echols 5 Stars Review Here
93. Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead 5 Stars
94. The Taste of Sorrow by Jude Morgan 4 Stars Review Here
95. Paper Towns by John Green 4.5 Stars


Books Bought in May
Looking for Alaska - John Green
Becoming Bindy Mackenzie - Jaclyn Moriarty
The Owl Killers - Karen Maitland
The Return: Shadow Souls - L.J. Smith
The Taste of Sorrow - Jude Morgan
Lord of Misrule - Rachel Caine
Carpe Corpus - Rachel Caine
Fade Out - Rachel Caine 
Kiss of Death - Rachel Caine
Julius - Daphne du Maurier
Classical Mythology
The Reckoning - Kelley Armstrong
The Adoration of Jenna Fox - Mary E. Pearson
Feeling Sorry for Celia - Jaclyn Moriarty
A Memoir of Jane Austen - James Austen-Leigh
Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
Pride - Rachel Vincent
Radiant Shadows - Melissa Marr
Paper Towns - John Green
An Abundance of Katherines - John Green
The Complete Fairy Tales - Brothers Grimm
Spirit Bound - Richelle Mead
Grave Sight - Charlaine Harris
Grave Surprise - Charlaine Harris
An Ice Cold Grave - Charlaine Harris


Whew! 26 books is a little bit steep  for a month and since I've read over half of them it's clear to me that in June I need to do a *lot* less buying of books and read the 100 or so which are loitering about on my TBR shelves!! I think that I shall try very hard to read more of the books which I bought back in 2009 so that I can read the many books that I've bought so far this year without feeling guilty!


Memes I've Participated in This Month
In My Mailbox - Hosted by Kristi @The Story Siren
It's Monday! What are you Reading? - Hosted by Sheila @One Person's Journey through Books
Teaser Tuesdays - Hosted by MizB @Should Be Reading
Booking through Thursdays - Hosted by Deb @Booking through Thursdays
Book Blogger Hop - Hosted by Jennifer @Crazy for Books


I think I'm happy with the number of memes I do at the moment. I don't do Waiting on Wednesday or On my Wishlist because I'm not terribly clued it on what awesome books are coming out in the future unless it's a book in a series that I already read so I'd probably end up mentioning books which other people knew about weeks earlier because I posted about them after seeing someone else's WoW post or whatever.


I do want to create my own unique feature but obviously there's always the problem of there being lots of book bloggers who all have their own features so coming up with something marginally original is rather difficult (although I have just had a slight brainwave which may be feasible so keep an eye out in the near future)


Plans for the Summer
Over the next week or two I am hoping to do some kind of vlog about my potential Summer Reading list and I shall also try and show people the full extent of my book collection (which is ridiculously big and I have serious shelving issues) but considering how I only have my webcam on my computer it's going to be hard - unless I borrow my mum's iPhone for the camera *ponders*


Of Course there'll be reviews, hopefully more than this month with maybe a mixture of written and vlog reviews.


From the 20th June until the 6th July I shall be away on a cricket tour to Barbados (Aren't I a jammy sod?) so I shall have to sort out some posts ahead of time or maybe get someone to do guest posts - If anyone would like to write a guest post on a bookish subject of your choice then please send me an email as I would love to add some variety to the blog and not leave it hanging while I'm away. *pretty please?*


Also I have plans in the works for a Harry Potter Party in the last week of July up to the 31st which would be Harry's 30th birthday (were he real) so I was thinking of going mad and doing reviews of every book on each day of the week, doing posts on my favourite characters of the series, hosting a Potter-Themed giveaway and just generally celebrating how awesome the series is and the influence it's had on my life. I had hoped to get some other Potter-loving bloggers on board to join in the mayhem but unless some step forward now or in the next week I shall either be forced to plow ahead alone or abandon the whole venture. So if there is folk who are interested please send me an email (address in the sidebar) I will be super grateful :)


Now this Round-up has took me so long it's already June (in the UK at least)
Ever Verbose
LadyV