May Recap 2021

Another whirlwind month in what seems to be the waning stages of the pandemic (I’m still not convinced).

After the last-minute trip home for my grandfather’s services, I immediately turned around and got on a plane again to go see Tim’s family in Las Vegas. For the most part the flights felt safe and the hotels/casinos kept people distanced, but it was weird being there as things started to open up! Like the table dividers came down our last day and I was like whoa-whoa-whoa, let’s not go crazy!

While in Vegas, we celebrated our seventh anniversary and saw a lot of Tim’s family, we also ate some REALLY good food (see end of post). Seriously, Majordōmo was freakin’ amazing and Mizumi, our anniversary dinner, was just as delicious!

Books and Bookish Things
I read a lot this past month. I fell into a MM Romance streak thanks to a series, but spread it out across graphic novels, classics, romance, and even started a nonfiction work to cap off the month.

809. Heartstopper, Vol. 3 (Heartstopper #3) – Alice Oseman
810. Mrs. Dalloway – Virginia Woolf
811. Yes, Daddy – Jonathan Parks-Ramage
812. The Step Back – J.T. Bushnell
813. Cameron Wants to be a Hero (Love, Austen #2) – Anyta Sunday
814. Better Be Sure (Harrison Campus #1) – Andy Gallo and Anyta Sunday
815. Better Have Heart (Harrison Campus #2) – Andy Gallo and Anyta Sunday
816. Better Be True (Harrison Campus #3) – Andy Gallo and Anyta Sunday
817. Better to Believe (Harrison Campus #4) – Andy Gallo
818. Keeping Kellan (Keeping Him #2) – Amy Aislin

I picked up a few galleys this month:

• Keeping Kellan (Keeping Him #2) – Amy Aislin
• Flash Fire (The Extraordinaries #2) – T.J. Klune
• Fifty Words for Rain – Asha Lemmie

And a couple of library/Kindle Unlimited books. Hopefully, I’ll get to everything when they’re published or soon after!

But all of that aside, look at these AWESOME finds on social media this month. FIRST, they announced a sequel to Bloom, which I adored and will read at least twice before Part II is released.

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A post shared by Savanna Ganucheau (@savi_bunny)

And then a paper artist that I first encountered at Hawksby’s Gallery of Delights when we visited the Brontë Parsonage in Haworth started sharing photos of a Wuthering Heights project that I desperately wanted to order, but have somehow resisted so far.

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A post shared by Jennifer Collier (@paperjennifer)

And then Colossal came through with this awesome bookstore in China:

Other Things
As promised here are the food photos. What is funny, is that not long after we returned from Vegas, we started Nutrisystem. So, we went from super lux food to pretty much vegetables and minimal portions. It’s going well so far, but OMG I’m so tired of vegetables and yes everyone has a million suggestions on how to do them better, but meh. It probably didn’t help us that we had such great food the weeks leading up to the start. Seriously, I’m still dreaming about that short rib, the banana flambé, and the wagyu rice bowl—just writing this has my mouth watering again:

The first five are Majordōmo and the last two (with red napkins) are Mizumi.

What’s Next?
On the reading front, I’m making my way through Kill Switch, which is beyond fascinating and a far quicker read than I thought it would be. After that I’ve got a few galleys lined up (A Husband for Hartwell by J.A. Rock and Lisa Henry; Blackout by Marco Carocari; Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie). And I’m hoping to finally knock Saint-Exupéry by Stacy Schiff off my TBR list, which would be a HUGE feat!

June will be even busier than May! Not only is it the end of the fiscal year at work, but we’ll be celebrating Tim’s birthday (it’s a milestone :-D). We’re going to Maine for his actual birthday and then at the end of the month heading off to Aruba for two weeks. I’m definitely looking forward to the relaxing, we just have to get there first! And, I’m going to see some coworkers in person for the first time in fourteen months, so that’s something else to look forward to.