Friday, May 31, 2013

May in review

May is finished and done! How did we already get five months through 2013 already? I feel like maybe I've blinked and missed a month or two...

These last few weeks have been super busy! Especially with it being half term this week and that N took the week off it has been a wonderful bit of family time and not very much reading or blogging going on... Luckily, the rest of the month more than made up for that.

Books Read in May 2013:

Imposter by Jill Hathaway
The Elite by Kiera Cass
Up To No Good by Karen S. Smith
Fire After Dark by Sadie Matthews
You Don't Know Me by Sophia Bennett
Crossing the Line by Katie McGarry
The Drowning by Rachel Ward
Down London Road by Samantha Young
The Summer I Became A Nerd by Leah Rae Miller
Monkey Wars by Richard Kurti
Eighty Days Yellow by Vina Jackson
Eighty Days Blue by Vina Jackson
Nantucket Blue by Leila Howland
The Anti-Prom by Abby McDonald
The Night Itself by Zoe Marriott
Ink by Amanda Sun
Unbreakable by Elizabeth Norris
In Too Deep by Portia Da Costa
The Stranger by Portia Da Costa
The Originals by Cat Patrick
The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen


Total: 21

It's been a mix of reading this month. I really wanted to catch up as much as I can with my review reading but every time I thought about how many books I have on my review pile I felt so under pressure that I was halfway to a reading slump at different periods of the month. Which is why there are so many adult romance books there to balance out that feeling.

I did read some great books this month, especially books by British authors... I loved You Don't Know Me by Sophia Bennett and The Drowning by Rachel Ward and The Night Itself by Zoe Marriott.  Lots of great books by non-British authors too! Including the new Sarah Dessen and Unbreakable by Elizabeth Norris which is quickly becoming one of my favourite series.... What was the best of the bunch though?

May Book of the Month:


It has to be Monkey Wars by Richard Kurti. It was absolutely fascinating and endlessly interesting with wonderful characters and a really fast pace. It's a book about warring monkeys and power struggles amongst them, but there's really something special about it as well.  It's definitely a book that's gotten under my skin and has left me thinking about it still, weeks after turning those final pages.

Books reviewed in May:

Dead Silence by Kimberly Derting
You Don't Know Me by Sophia Bennett
Flat Out Matt/What Really Happened in Peru
Follow Me Down by Tanya Byrne
Where You Are by Tammara Webber
Monkey Wars by Richard Kurti
The Drowning by Rachel Ward
Dead To You by Lisa McMann
Imposter by Jill Hathaway
The Elite by Keira Cass
Mini-reviews (Game On, Through Dead Eyes, Dare You To)

Guest Review by Hayley

Parallel by Lauren Miller
The Night She Disappeared by April Henry


Non-review posts during May:


UKYA in 2013

UKYA in May

Loving and hating the Internet - A writer's perspective by Sophia Bennett (You Don't Know Me blog tour)
Five Things That Make Me Happy by Tanya Byrne #WeLoveYA
Why Monkeys? by Richard Kurti
Writing Romance by Marie-Louise Jensen, author of Smuggler's Kiss
Interview with CJ Harper, author of The Disappeared
Where Do Your Ideas Come From by Rachel Ward (The Drowning Blog Tour)

I've been incredibly lucky to have so many awesome authors being interviewed or sharing guest posts on my blog! Thank you to Sophia Bennett, Tanya Byrne, Richard Kurti, Marie-Louise Jensen, CJ Harper and Rachel Ward for taking the time to share their words on Fluttering Butterflies! I really do appreciate it.



Celebrating British Bloggers

Beth from Thoughts from the Hearthfire (Celebrating British Bloggers)
It Was Lovely Reading You (formerly Ebony Black Lines) (Celebrating British Bloggers)
Amber from The Mile Long Bookshelf (Celebrating British Bloggers)
Amy from Amy Bookworm (Celebrating British Bloggers) 

I have just two more of these Celebrating British Bloggers interviews lined up and then sadly this feature will end. I've had a wonderful time getting to know everyone through these interviews and I'd like to offer my thanks and appreciation to everyone who took part, read or commented on these interviews!



Waiting on Wednesday

The Killing Woods by Lucy Christopher
Cruel Summer by James Dawson
Downside Up by Hayley Long

I use Waiting on Wednesday posts to share with you some upcoming UKYA that I'm excited about...!


Bookshelf Requirements

Maggie Stiefvater (Bookshelf Requirements)
Jackson Pearce (Guest post by Kate Ormand)

Bookshelf Requirements is my new feature on the blog that I'm really excited about. I've sent some emails out to some bloggers and publicists that I know and I have two more wonderful guest posts lined up. (Huge thank you to Kate Ormand for her lovely guest post linked above!) But if YOU would like to be involved in this feature, I'd love to hear from you. Leave a comment, tweet at me or send me an email.

My reading quirks and habits
The current state of my TBR shelves
What I'd like to see more of in YA - LGBT storylines and characters 

Here are some bookish posts that I wrote this month.  I love writing non-review posts. Do you like reading them? 

Things I'll Never Do
Embracing my Inner Geek - Pop-Up Books

These are my semi-personal posts. By that I mean that they aren't reviews and they aren't necessarily about books. How do you feel about these types of posts? 


British Books Challenge update in April

Up To No Good by Karen S. Smith
Fire After Dark by Sadie Matthews
You Don't Know Me by Sophia Bennett
The Drowning by Rachel Ward
Down London Road by Samantha Young
Monkey Wars by Richard Kurti
The Night Itself by Zoe Marriott
In Too Deep by Portia Da Costa
The Stranger by Portia Da Costa


Total in May: 9
Total in 2013: 33

I've only signed up to the one reading challenge this year, you'd think I'd be doing amazingly with it ... and yet I'm not. I'm actually surprised by the number of books I've read this month that have fit in with this challenge. I think it's my highest monthly total so far this year! Let's hope that continues!  Currently, 29% of the books I've read so far this year have been books written by British authors. Not bad, but I want to do better! 

Personal challenge to read 10 non-review books a month:

Up To No Good by Karen S. Smith
Fire After Dark by Sadie Matthews
Eighty Days Yellow by Vina Jackson
Eighty Days Blue by Vina Jackson
The Anti-Prom by Abby McDonald
In Too Deep by Portia Da Costa
The Stranger by Portia Da Costa

Total in April: 7
Total in 2013: 31/120

This personal challenge was taken up so that I'm doing more to clear my TBR shelves. They are certainly out of control. I've fallen behind in the past few months, and while I didn't hit my target of 10 of my own books reading this month, I feel like I'm slowly getting there. Perhaps June will be my month!

What was your favourite book that you read in May? 

8 comments:

  1. How do you do it Clover? I think i read three books this month - at a push. and HOW DO YOU HAVE SUCH AN AWESOME BLOG? seriously. you've posted like a GAZILLION times this month! haha. I'm interested to know what you thought of Ink as i've heard both good and bad things about it. I think i've missed a few of your posts so i'm off to read the guest post by Marie Louise Jensen, but i think i missed this too..whats the Bookshelf Requirements?
    Great post, as always .:D

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    1. Thanks for the lovely comment :) I have a pretty rigorous blogging schedule that I try hard to keep to..

      Ink was okay. Enjoyable, but I had issues with it. Will be reviewing soon.

      Bookshelf Requirements is my new feature in which I ask other bookish people what books/authors/series do they NEED to have on their bookshelves. I want to hear specifics about why they love those books.

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  2. Wow you managed a lot this month! I loved your mix of reviews and personal posts, especially the state of your TBR pile, something we can all relate to!

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  3. You read SO MANY BOOKS! I consider the month a success if I read half that amount!! You read some really good ones though and I've been loving your bookshelf requirement posts

    Cait x

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    1. Yay, I'm glad to hear it! I do read a lot ... it's to keep me busy while I'm sadly unemployed!

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  4. The 5th Wave was my favourite book of May. I like how you are reading so many books by British authors!

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    1. I've heard wonderful things about The 5th Wave! I have a copy and hope to get to it soon. One of my New Year's resolutions this year was to have 1 out of 3 books I read this year be by British authors. I'm almost there so far.

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