Monthly Wrap-Up: May 2024

May has been my best reading month so far this year. I DNFd my first book of the year, but I read 7 other books (3 were re-reads) for a total of 3180 pages, which is about 500 pages more than last month.

• 6 were part of a series, 1 standalone
• I started 2 series and technically finished 1 but I'm not counting it because it was a re-read lol
• All 7 were finished copies
• All 7 were physical books
• 3 were 5-star books, 2 were 4-star books, and 2 were 3-star books
• All 7 were traditionally published
• All 7 were by authors I've previously read
• 2 were adult books, 1 YA, and 4 middle grade books
• 3 were horror and 4 urban fantasy

Review: Daughter of the Deep by Rick Riordan

Title: Daughter of the Deep

Author: Rick Riordan

Genre: Middle Grade, sci-fi, fantasy

Publication date: January 2021

Published by: Disney Hyperion

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis: New York Times #1 best-selling author Rick Riordan pays homage to Jules Verne in his exciting modern take on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Ana Dakkar is a freshman at Harding-Pencroft Academy, a five-year high school that graduates the best marine scientists, naval warriors, navigators, and underwater explorers in the world. Ana's parents died while on a scientific expedition two years ago, and the only family she's got left is her older brother, Dev, also a student at HP. Ana's freshman year culminates with the class's weekend trial at sea, the details of which have been kept secret. She only hopes she has what it'll take to succeed. All her worries are blown out of the water when, on the bus ride to the ship, Ana and her schoolmates witness a terrible tragedy that will change the trajectory of their lives.

But wait, there's more. The professor accompanying them informs Ana that their rival school, Land Institute, and Harding-Pencroft have been fighting a cold war for a hundred and fifty years. Now that cold war has been turned up to a full broil, and the freshmen are in danger of becoming fish food. In a race against deadly enemies, Ana will make amazing friends and astounding discoveries about her heritage as she puts her leadership skills to the test for the first time.

My rating: ★★★★☆

I love mythology and I love Rick Riordan’s takes on all these different myths, but I was very excited to read something new and a little different from him! This book was inspired by the classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I didn't know anything about it, so I was excited to dive into it (pun absolutely intended 😆) and learn more through Rick Riordan's writing. And I ended up really enjoying it!

Review: A New Fear (Fear Street Sagas #1) by R.L. Stine

Title: A New Fear

Series: Fear Street Sagas #1 (can be read as a standalone)

Author: R.L. Stine

Genre: YA, horror, mystery, thriller

Publication date: March 1996

Published by: Archway Paperback

Source: Purchased paperback

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Synopsis: The Fear name brings fortune... and doom.

The dark power of the Fear family consumes all those connected with it. The Fears. Those they love—and hate. The entire town of Shadyside. All are tainted forever by the evil of the family’s curse. No one can escape.

Nora Goode and Daniel Fear hoped to end the curse of the Fear family. But on their wedding day, a horrible fire swept through the Fear mansion, taking the life of every member of the doomed family.

Except one. A new Fear. The child of Nora and Daniel. Will he be able to live his life untouched by the evil of his family? Or will the dark forces claim yet another Fear for their own?

My rating: ★★★☆☆

It has been a minute since I visited Fear Street, so I thought it was time to get back to it. I actually only have two more Fear Street series to read before I’m completely caught up, and honestly, it makes me so sad. I love this world so much!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #369: Nervous About The Blood of Olympus

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #403: Three More Weeks...

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

Review: You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron

Title: You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight

Author: Kalynn Bayron

Genre: YA, horror, mystery

Publication date: June 2023

Published by: Bloomsbury YA

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis: At Camp Mirror Lake, terror is the name of the game... but can you survive the night?

Charity Curtis has the summer job of her dreams, playing the “final girl” at Camp Mirror Lake. Guests pay to be scared in this full-contact terror game, as Charity and her summer crew recreate scenes from a classic slasher film, Curse of Camp Mirror Lake. The more realistic the fear, the better for business.

But the last weekend of the season, Charity's co-workers begin disappearing. And when one ends up dead, Charity's role as the final girl suddenly becomes all too real. If Charity and her girlfriend Bezi hope to survive the night, they'll need figure out what this killer is after. Is there is more to the story of Mirror Lake and its dangerous past than Charity ever suspected?

My rating: ★★★☆☆

I've been playing the part of a girl who escapes a serial killer every night for months. It's not a game this time. The consequences are real, but we still have to play.

I really liked the idea of this book! They had filmed a slasher at the camp where this is set, Camp Mirror Lake, but now it’s this full experience thing where they sort of recreate the events of the movie and the main character plays the final girl. It honestly sounds hardcore.

Review: Japanese Demystified by Eriko Sato

Title: Japanese Demystified

Author: Eriko Sato

Genre: Adult, nonfiction, language learning

Publication date: May 2008

Published by: McGraw Hill

Source: Borrowed from library

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Synopsis: Say sayonara to your fears of learning Japanese with the updated premium edition of this fast, painless guide

The updated third edition of Japanese DeMYSTiFieD provides you with the comprehensive, step-by-step educational experience that has made the DeMYSTiFieD language series such a success. This established, unintimidating approach to speaking, reading, and writing a new language takes the mystery and menace out of the learning process, whether in class or at home.

Hundreds of quiz and test questions, chapter-opening objectives, and specific recommendations for difficult subtopics and individual weaknesses help you learn basic grammar structures and verb tenses, pronunciation, essential vocabulary, and how to communicate with confidence. In addition to DeMYSTiFieD’s time-tested strategies, this edition features 70 minutes of streaming audio recordings and chapter review quizzes via the unique McGraw-Hill Language Lab app, so you can enhance your study via mobile or online, at home, in class, or on the go.

My rating: ★★★★☆

I did it! I finally finished Japanese Demystified! After I don’t know how many years of me checking out this book from the library, reading a little, returning it, checking it out again, rinse, repeat, I finally did it!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #368: First DNF of the Year

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #402: Exhausted, But I Got a Pretty Book!

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

Review- The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth: And Other Curiosities from the History of Medicine by Thomas Morris

Title: The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth: And Other Curiosities from the History of Medicine

Author: Thomas Morris

Genre: Nonfiction, adult, medical science

Publication date: October 2018

Published by: Dutton

Source: Purchased hardcover

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Synopsis: A mysterious epidemic of dental explosions,
A teenage boy who got his wick stuck in a candlestick
A remarkable woman who, like a human fountain, spurted urine from virtually every orifice

These are just a few of the anecdotal gems that have until now lain undiscovered in medical journals for centuries. This fascinating collection of historical curiosities explores some of the strangest cases that have perplexed doctors across the world.

From seventeenth-century Holland to Tsarist Russia, from rural Canada to a whaler in the Pacific, many are monuments to human stupidity – such as the sailor who swallowed dozens of penknives to amuse his shipmates, or the chemistry student who in 1850 arrived at a hospital in New York with his penis trapped inside a bottle, having unwisely decided to relieve himself into a vessel containing highly reactive potassium. Others demonstrate exceptional surgical ingenuity long before the advent of anaesthesia – such as a daring nineteenth-century operation to remove a metal fragment from beneath a conscious patient’s heart. We also hear of the weird, often hilarious remedies employed by physicians of yore – from crow’s vomit to port-wine enemas – the hazards of such everyday objects as cucumbers and false teeth, and miraculous recovery from apparently terminal injuries.

My rating: ★★★☆☆

Medicine has improved almost beyond recognition in the past few centuries, but some things never change. The human capacity for mischief, misadventure and downright idiocy is apparently a trait that progress cannot eradicate.

This book was wild. It went into some strange illnesses, the weirdest foreign objects in bodies that you could imagine, sketchy remedies that were worse than the actual disease/injury, remarkable recoveries, and other strange medical cases. As I kept reading this book, there was one trend I noticed:

Review: How to Survive a Horror Movie by Seth Grahame-Smith

Title: How to Survive a Horror Movie

Author: Seth Grahame-Smith

Genre: Nonfiction, adult, horror, satire

Publication date: May 2011

Published by: Quirk Books

Source: Purchased ebook

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Synopsis: Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.

From ghosts, vampires, and zombies to serial killers, cannibalistic hillbillies, and haunted Japanese videocassettes, How to Survive a Horror Movie shows how to defeat every obstacle found in scary films. Readers will discover:

-How to Perform an Exorcism
-What to Do If You Did Something Last Summer
-How to Persuade the Skeptical Local Sheriff
-How to Vanquish a Murderous Doll
-How to Survive an Alien Invasion
-How to Tell If You've Been Dead Since the Beginning of the Movie

and much, much more. Complete with useful instructions, insane illustrations, and a list of 100 important films to study, How to Survive a Horror Movie is essential reading for prom queens, jocks, teenage babysitters, and anyone employed by a summer camp.

My rating: ★★★★★

I’m a huge horror movie fan so when I discovered this book I knew that I needed it in my brain immediately! The thing about me though is that, honestly, I would probably be that person who dies in the first 5 minutes of a Supernatural episode 😆

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #368: A Little Bit of Adventure, A Little Bit of Horror

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #401: The Addiction is Real

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

Literary Nails: Percy Jackson

I have been reading a lot of Percy Jackson lately, so last weekend I did some nail art lightly inspired by that.

Review: The Darenti Incongruity (Colonial Explorer Corps #0.5) by Julia Huni

Title: The Darenti Incongruity

Series: Colonial Explorer Corps #0.5

First book in this series: The Earth Concurrence

Author: Julia Huni

Genre: Adult, sci-fi

Publication date: August 2023

Published by: IPH Media

Source: Kickstarter reward

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Synopsis: When Colonial Explorer Corps Lieutenant Nate Kassis gets trapped on an alien planet, he discovers something that will change the galaxy—if he gets back to his team.

*This story was first published in The Expanding Universe 8.*

My rating: ★★★★☆

I have been loving Julia Huni’s books! She just writes really fun sci-fi books with lovable characters! In her Colonial Explorer Corps series, Siti and her friends/colleagues, well, explore planets. Lol.

Review: The Darenti Paradox (Colonial Explorer Corps #4) by Julia Huni

Title: The Darenti Paradox

Series: Colonial Explorer Corps #4

Previous books in this series: The Earth Concurrence (#1) | The Grissom Contention (#2) | The Saha Declination (#3)

Author: Julia Huni

Genre: Adult, sci-fi

Publication date: October 2022

Published by: IPH Media

Source: Purchased ebook

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Synopsis: Lieutenant Serenity "Siti" Kassis has built a name for herself and the beginning of a career with the Colonial Explorer Corps. But after five years on active duty, she's assigned to a new mission: the return to Darenti.

Over a hundred years ago, her father discovered the first intelligent life in the galaxy, becoming the Hero of Darenti Four. Siti has lived in his shadow all her life, and now she's forced to follow in his footstep once again.

But this time she's on her own. After being separated from her team, Siti must decide if she can trust the Darenti--and figure out what their goal is. Because if she doesn't, they could unleash a terrifying menace on the unsuspecting human race.

My rating: ★★★★☆

I've really been enjoying reading this series, and one thing I have always been curious about is why Siti’s dad is called the Hero of Darenti Four. Well, in this book, Siti and the crew are heading to Darenti Four! I was very excited about that!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #367: Heroes of Olympus

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Date and Unleashing Reads.

Sunday Post #400: Miscommunication and Glitches

Welcome to The Sunday Post hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where I talk about what is going on in life and the blog, and show you all the bookish things I got that week!

Review: A Sprinkle of Krimson (Tales of a Former Space Janitor #4.5, Krimson Empire #4.5) by Julia Huni

Title: A Sprinkle of Krimson

Series: Tales of a Former Space Janitor #4.5 | Krimson Empire #4.5

Previous books in the Space Janitor series: The Vacuum of Space (#1) | The Dust of Kaku (#2) | The Trouble with Tinsel (#2.5) | Glitter in the Stars (#3) | Sweeping S'Ride (#4)

Previous books in the Tales of a Former Space Janitor series: The Rings of Grissom (#1) | Planetary Spin Cycle (#2) | Waxing the Moon of Lewei (#3) | Christmas Cookie Crumbs (#3.5) | Changing the Speed of Light Bulbs (#4)

Previous books in the Krimson Empire series: Krimson Run (#1) | Krimson Spark (#2) | Krimson Surge (#3) | Krimson Flare (#4)

Author: Julia Huni

Genre: Adult, sci-fi

Publication date: December 2023

Published by: IPH Media

Source: Kickstarter reward

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Synopsis: When Scott Calvin shows up on SK2, you know it's Christmas time. This year, he needs Triana and O'Neill's help, although as usual, he doesn't know exactly what he needs help with. When the Reinsdyr takes them to an interdicted system, our heroes meet new friends from the Krimson Empire.

*Author's note: If you haven't read any Space Janitor stories, this one might not make a lot of sense to you. I recommend starting with The Trouble with Tinsel if you're short on time, or The Vacuum of Space. Links to both of those books can be found in the back of this story.*

My rating: ★★★★★

Ah! A Space Janitor/Krimson Empire crossover novella?!

Review: Krimson Flicker (Krimson Empire #0.4) by Julia Huni

Title: Krimson Flicker

Series: Krimson Empire #0.4

Books in this series: Krimson Run (#1) | Krimson Spark (#2) | Krimson Surge (#3) | Krimson Flare (#4)

Author: Julia Huni

Genre: Adult, sci-fi, adventure

Publication date: September 2023

Published by: IPH Media

Source: Kickstarter reward

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Get it HERE

Synopsis: Tony meets Quinn prequel short story.

My rating: ★★★★☆

Quinn and Tony had been friends for several years by the time we caught up to them in the first book of the Krimson Empire series, Krimson Run. I was always so curious about how they first met so I was very excited when the author gave us this prequel novella!