(So, in all honestly, I was meant to publish this yesterday, but I wrote the post and then forgot to press publish. 😛 oops)
Was it just me or did May practically fly past??? I’m sitting here now and trying to remember what I actually did in May. Here’s what I can remember of May.
Writing
After a crazy writing month in April (I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo and won) I relaxed a bit in May. I did, however, start work on a new novel, the prequel to my Camp novel. It has about 15,000 words now
I also started work on a screenplay, the first screenplay I’ve ever tried to write. I think I’m up to scene 16, but I’ve just run out of steam. So far I’ve found the screenplay format of writing really challenging, and I’ve taken a break to think over my script and decide whether I keep going or switch to novel format for this story.
Other than that, I was supposed to be editing two previous novels of mine, which just didn’t happen.
Reading
I did really well at reading this month (probably because I hardly did any writing). I can’t clearly remember whether all of these books were read during May or during the tail end of April. Oh well. (I tried to make this post all pretty by adding the covers for the books I read… that didn’t happen. My pictures were being obstinate). All the links lead to Goodreads.
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne. I listened to this one as an audiobook. It was so good! Four and a half stars.
Fortunately, the Milk….by Neil Gaiman. This is the first Neil Gaiman book I’ve read, and I honestly found it a little bit disappointing. It was funny and ridiculous, but, in my opinion, childish (which, in fairness to Gaiman, it was probably supposed to be). Three stars.
Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman. The second Neil Gaiman book I read, I enjoyed it more than the previous one. It was a quick read, and I appreciated all the Norse mythology references. Three and a half stars.
Raising Dragons by Bryan Davis. This was a re-read, I first read a few years back, and unfortunately I didn’t enjoy it as much as I remembered enjoying it. It was still worth the read though. Four stars.
Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne I will admit right now that I’ve never knowingly read Winnie-the-Pooh (My mum might have read them to me when I was little though, I’m not sure). I remedied that this month. If you haven’t read them, go read them right now! They are such sweet stories, which are actually very humorous as well. Five stars.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J.K. Rowling. *Note: this is the screenplay of the movie, rather than the field guide type book of the same name* I read this, not really because I’m a Harry Potter fan, but simply because I wanted to read a screenplay. I was surprised by how good it was. It was easily one of my favourite reads of the month and I’m now anxiously waiting to be able to borrow the movie from the library. Five stars. (Plus an extra star for the cover. Isn’t it gorgeous?)
Shadow by Michael Morpurgo. Another re-read. This is a really good book by Michael Morpurgo which details the story of an Afghan boy, his mother and his dog, Shadow, escaping from war-torn Afghanistan to England. It is aimed at a middle-grade audience, but it is thought-provoking and interesting, and even heart-breaking. Four stars.
Race to the End of the World by A.L. Tait. This was a new series I noticed at the library. The premise looked promising, so I got it out. It was fairly good, written in the style of the Ranger’s Apprentice series, though it moved slowly in several sections. It is the first book in the Mapmaker Chronicles. Three and a half stars.
A Study in Scarlet and The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I’ve just finished watching the first three seasons of Sherlock, so I had to go back and read the originals. Both books were pretty good, though they moved slowly, and I actually came to the conclusion at the end of Hound that Sherlock had improved that particular story, which is an odd thing for me to say. Four stars for both.
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. I’m not usually a fan of survival stories, but this one is an exception. Brian is stranded out in the middle of the wilderness, with only a hatchet to aid in his survival. It was fast-paced, though the lack of dialogue annoyed me sometimes (but in fairness, who is going to talk to?). Four stars.
The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman. This was an emotionally intense novel, let me just say that. But it was good, very good, and a fascinating look at the lives of Australian lightkeepers after World War 1. I also appreciated the fact that it was Australian, because so many popular novels aren’t. Five stars.
Yulki: Our Aboriginal Sister by Phyllis Mercer. This was a biography of an Arnhem land Aboriginal lady, Yulki. It was a bit disappointing, as I would say it was self-published and had quite a few small errors. It was still an interesting glimpse into the life of an interesting woman. Three stars.
Sherlock Holmes: The Rediscovered Railway Mysteries and Other Stories by John Taylor. This was my other audiobook read. As I said, I’ve just finished three seasons of Sherlock, and I came across this, a Sherlock Holmes anthology read by Benedict Cumberbatch. The stories were okay, but not brilliant, but it was still pretty good. Three stars.
Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. I finally got around to reading Percy Jackson. It was okay…Some parts reminded me of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and I thought Percy just over came everything too easily, but other than that I enjoyed it. I’m hoping to make a post about it soon.
Doing
Watching movies and TV shows, including the X-Men series, Doctor Strange and Sherlock.
Choreographing a dance with my sister. Both of us dance Highland, so we’re coming up with a contemporary Highland dance together.
Praying about and looking for a job.
Planning several new (and hopefully awesome) blog posts for An Ordinary Pen.
Studying the book of Mark. There is so much wisdom in this Gospel! My current devotional is called The Disciplines of the Christian Life and it’s written by Eric Liddell. I highly recommend getting your hands on a copy of it (I’m not sure if it’s still in print or not, though). Its so challenging.
Anyway, that’s about it for my May. This post ended up so long! I hope you don’t mind, but if you read to the end of it, well done!! Until next time, God bless!
How was your May? What did you get up to? Have you read any books on my list? What are your plans for June?
an ordinary pen 