May 2009 Wrap-Up

Wow. I can’t believe it’s been over a week since I posted my review for Last Night in Montreal!! Time is just flying. In that time, I’ve finished two more excellent books! Shimmer by Eric Barnes and The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs. Look for reviews of these soon. I’m almost finished with The Catcher in the Rye, too. Can’t believe I’ve never read this before. I only have about 50 pages of it left to read and I’m really enjoying it. OK, now on to what I was up to in May:

Books read and reviewed this month:
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro -- 4.5 roses -- highly recommended
The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz -- 4 roses -- excellent read
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga -- 3.5 roses -- very good
In Over Her Head by Judi Fennell -- 4 roses -- excellent read
Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel -- 4.5 roses -- highly recommended

Books read but need to be reviewed:
Shimmer by Eric Barnes (2009)
The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacob

Books abandoned: None ;o)

Currently Reading: The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

Favorite book read this month: Extremely tough call. I liked all of them for different reasons. If you’re looking for a book to make you think, try Never Let Me Go or Last Night in Montreal. Looking for something that is just pure entertainment, try In Over Her Head or The Spellman Files.

Books I could have done without: None. I had a great reading month ;o).

Challenges completed:
Book Awards II Challenge - 10/10

Challenges joined:
Book Awards III Challenge (6/1/09-12/31/09) - 5 books that have won 5 different book awards

Challenge progress: (those without an end date end on 12/31)
Countdown Challenge (ends 9/9/09) - 34/45
Chunkster Challenge (ends 11/15/09) - 2/3
Book Awards III Challenge - 0/5
100+ Challenge - 35/100
Read Your Own Books (RYOB) Challenge - 21/50
999 Challenge - 29/81
Support Your Local Library Challenge - 12/25
TBR Challenge - 2/12
Pages Read Challenge - 9,791/30,000
Perpetual Challenges:
New Classics Challenge - 22/100 (0 this month)
Around the World in 80 Books - 10/80 (1 this month)
Science in Fiction - 6 read (1 this month)
Book Around the States Challenge - 23/51 (0 this month)
Raved-About Reads - 14 read (1 this month)

Plans for June:
Nothing to Fear by Karen Rose
The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer
Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Anyone read any of these? Have a recommendation on where to start?