Monday, June 1, 2015

May Wrap-Up // June TBR | 2015

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image source: here. edited by me.
We're halfway through 2015, yayy! May was a pretty good month for me, even though things got a little bit hectic at work but it's still manageable. In terms of reading, I think I maintained my reading progress quite well. I read 6 books in May and reviewed 9 books in total (including last month's reads that I just reviewed this month). I did read half of my May TBR and hopefully I'll be able to tackle the rest of it this month. Here are the books I've read and reviewed this month, non-review posts in May, and a list of books I'm planning to read in June.

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This was the first time for me to read a book by Patrick Ness and I instantly fell in love. This book is so very depressingly beautiful, if that makes any sense. The whole story is extremely gloomy and dark; and I definitely had a lot of questions in mind when I was reading. But everything made perfect sense in the end. And it left me extremely emotional when I closed the book. Definitely a 5/5. ✮✮✮✮✮
There's a lot of hype surrounding this book and a lot of people loved it. This book is a typical YA contemporary that talks about family, friendship, and love. I really enjoyed Jenny Han's writing in this book, but I wasn't fully satisfied with the overall plot. I gave this book a 4/5. ✮✮✮✮
Wonder was one of my favorite reads last month and I'm interested to see the story from Julian's point of view. Indeed R.J. Palacio's writing is still exquisite, but I'm still not really fond of Julian's character in this novella. However, I feel relieved by the end of this novella because Julian's character finally came to a realization. And it's something that anyone can also learn along with him. 3.5/5 for this novella. ✮✮✮½
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Another novella that's still related to Wonder, and this one is actually written in the perspective of a character that doesn't show up very much in the book. I love how even though this is just a short novella, R.J. Palacio was able to stir up my emotions incredibly well. This novella is so heartwarming and nice, so I decided to give it a 4/5. ✮✮✮✮
I received this book from the publisher and it's a collection of short stories written by the publisher's most renowned teenlit authors. Most of them are authors whom I've read when I was a teenager and I'm glad I could enjoy their writing again. Unfortunately, the stories doesn't leave a huge impression and mostly are too ordinary. So I ended up giving this a 2.5/5. ✮✮½
I started reading this book because I wanted to see the movie adaptation, and it turns out I was really enjoying it. I'm still amazed at how Cecelia Ahern was able to tell a story just through a bunch of text messages and email correspondence. I love the characters and it felt like throughout the book they had become my friends that I've known for so long. I gave a 4/5 star for this lengthy book. ✮✮✮✮
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Finally I'm determined to marathon this popular trilogy; and to be completely honest it was quite difficult for me to get into the story. But I'm absolutely hooked when I reached the second-half of the book. Everything is very intense, action-packed, and full of unexpected twists! 4.5/5 for this one :) ✮✮✮✮½
I was a bit worried before I started reading this book, because this author's previous books kept using the same formula and it started becoming too predictable. Thankfully, the author took on a different theme with this book, which is marriage. I absolutely adore the chemistry between the two main characters. And this book really entertained me from beginning to end. 4/5! ✮✮✮✮
OMG this book is just amazing! A lot more twists are happening in the second book and I literally don't know who to trust. I'm really glad because in this book a lot of things  are revealed and explained; although some of them came as a shock to me because it was so unexpected. The ending of this book just made me want to quickly pick up the third book to see how this trilogy is going to wrap up. I certainly hope it won't be disappointing. Definitely a 5/5 for this one. ✮✮✮✮✮
By the time this post is published I will also be finished reading Champion (Legend, #3) by Marie Lu, and hopefully the review will be up within the first two weeks of June. I must say that I'm thoroughly satisfied with my reading this month, because I read an equal amount of English and Indonesian books. I really want to cut down my TBR, especially the English books—because I know there are so so many amazing books that I haven't read yet. As for the non-review posts, I just do the usual but not too frequently; and also finally watched the movie adaptation of Love, Rosie. There are also two posts related to the blog tour I'm participating, which includes a giveaway and an interview with the author. And as usual, I also listed some book I'm planning to get to next month ;)

Non-Review Posts in May:
Top Ten Books I Will Probably Never Read
Top 5 Wednesday: Books You'd Want to See as TV Shows
Top Ten All Time Favorite Indonesian Authors
The Scorch Trials - Official Trailer
[Blog Tour] Marry Now, Sorry Later: Interview with Christian Simamora
[Blog Tour] Marry Now, Sorry Later Giveaway
Movie Adaptation Review: Love, Rosie
May 2015: Book Haul
#MARRYNOWSORRYLATER Giveaway: Winner Announcement
June TBR:
(I might have more books coming in next month, so this list can change and is quite flexible)
Stolen Songbird by Danielle L. Jensen
The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami
Paper Towns by John Green
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn


As for the non-book related things, I'm really happy this month because I finally got to return to my old routine which I missed out on since I started working. Basically every Tuesday I went to my friend's house to have a spiritual fellowship together and the last time we did it together was last Christmas. So I'm really thankful that I can have this routine back, because these people are like my second family ♥♥ I feel really good to have these people that I can share everything with and discuss my spiritual struggle with them as well. So be sure to keep in touch with those who are important to you and will make you a better person :))

Oh, and I'm TOTALLY EXCITED about The Scorch Trials after seeing the official trailer two weeks ago. September is four months away and I literally cannot wait! Anyways, besides that nothing much happened this month. Mostly just work. And these are the two albums that I've been addicted to in the month of May. You can click the album cover below to go listen to it on a Youtube playlist ;)

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BTS (방탄소년단) newest album In The Mood For Love (화양연화) is the best. I love every single track and I never got bored even though I constantly put the whole album on repeat. My favorite songs will be the title track, I NEED U,  쩔어 (DOPE), and 흥탄소년단. If you enjoy Korean hip-hop/rap/R&B, you might enjoy listening to their album :) I love BTS so much because I think they're so talented and they deserve all the love they're getting these days! <3 And another album that I'm currently addicted to is Meghan Trainor's album called Title. On my way to work I always turn on the radio, and Meghan Trainor's songs constantly got played. My favorite song by her will be Dear Future Husband, which is a very catchy pop song—and I love her voice as well. Looking forward to her songs in the future as well ;)

So I guess that's it for this month's update. I hope everyone had a great time in May and I'd also like to wish you a better one in June :) And hopefully I can read more books than I did last month because I'm planning to continue on with A Song of Ice and Fire series in July. Okay, bye now! Don't forget to keep reading ;)


 by.stefaniesugia♥ .
 

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