Monthly Catch Up #5 – May 2018

May is the month I turn a year older, and I’d love to say wiser too, but truth be told, I’m just probably more of a wiseass than a year before.

For a short period I had two cats again, after my neighbour discovered a lost kitty in our communal garden, and as the resident cat lady, it was sort of obvious to everyone that I will be the one taking care of the poor thing.

Bobby, a.k.a. the Bobcat claimed the bed five minutes into his stay…

With my amazing investigating skills, surely cultivated by all the crime thrillers I’ve read in my lifetime, it took me a week to find the owner and reunite them, but by then my cat Toby was absolutely infatuated with Bobby, the fluffball. Aww… He kind of reminded me of my cat, Benji, that died last year: smelly as fuck, way too intense for his own good, and totally adorable. Super cuddly too, with no awareness of personal space.

So let’s see what happened in May on Reading Under the Blankie, shall we.

Not sure how, but during all this cat drama and wanting to crawl into a bush and die on account of work being shit, I read 12 books this month. To be fair, two of them were super short, but we shall not speak of that.

Kathy’s Moody May Challenge was right up my alley, and in fact, inspired me to read all sorts of stuff I wouldn’t normally do. Even though I’m a mood reader, I somehow still end up reading mostly thrillers or stuff about murders. Go figure. So, this is how I ended up reading some cute stories like Since You’ve Been Gone, and I’m almost scare to admit, but one of the books turned out to be borderline romance. When will I ever learn that books with cakes and shit like that on the cover are not to be trusted?

The Good Twin by Marti Green
A bit of an over-the-top thriller about sister rivalry and surprise twins.
The Family At Number 13 by S.D. Monaghan
A wanna-be-thriller domestic drama with unbelievable scenarios.
My Sweet Friend by H.A. Leuschel
We love toxic friendships!
Darling by Rachel Edwards
Stepdaughters are vicious creatures.
Sweetpea by C.J. Skuse
The diary of a serial killer. Think Dexter just blonder, boobier and funnier.
Her Name Is Merci by Chris Roy
Snappy short stories for noir fans.
Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage
Kids are scary as fuck.
The Woman Before Me by Ruth Dugdall
A thrilling domestic drama with intriguing prison setting.
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
A lyrical and dreamy account of a summer that changed everything.
The Favourite Sister by Jessica Knoll
… or why I don’t watch reality TV.

The Woman Before You by Carrie Blake. Said to be a shocking thriller, but in reality it turned out to be story about a relatively boring woman and a secretive, possibly dominating dude and a lot of lackluster masturbating. I can’t even…

What Lies Within by Annabelle Thorpe. Secrets, lies and atmosphere are my thing, but they only existed in the blurb. Even though there was a dead body pretty much on the first page, the book started off with some deadly boring, and frankly confusing back story with a lot of yelling in French and mind numbing conversations. Nice cover though…

The Final Trade (The Dominion Trilogy #2) by Joe Hart

Zoey is not the woman she once was. She’s watched her friends die at the hands of their captors, been hunted, and returned from the brink of death. Now she must find the truth about who she is.

In search of the family she never knew, Zoey learns of personal records stored in an Idaho missile silo that may contain the information she and the other women seek. With the help of her group of newfound friends, Zoey travels to the missile facility, but among the records, they uncover information that leads to an insidious and horrific new foe: the Fae Trade, a macabre carnival of slavery and pain.

I can never get enough of dystopia, and if you are like me, you might want to check out this list of YA series for some inspiration.

Teenagers Save The Day – 16 YA Dystopian Series, Not Only For Teenagers

The Outsider by Stephen King is here! Enough said!

Summer is here as well, so watch out for summer themed reading lists coming up soon!

I have some shelves to build! Thanks to my lovely other half, who got me some super pretty bookshelves for my birthday, my books will now have a new home. I bought two tiny ones this month for the paperbacks that somehow spilled into the bedroom but they filled up way too quickly. I don’t know how that happened. Honestly! Charity shop be like: “We make good business to you, yes?“

 

I look forward to seeing what you guys are up to!