We’re almost halfway through the year, and finally our little island got some sunshine! April was wonderful, and put me in a GREAT mood, but it was also kinda dreadful to be stuck in work wishing you were in a beer garden instead…

May was a MENTAL month – I organised a 45th Birthday Bash for my company (which was very exciting and super stressful!), and the next day one of my best friends got married! It was kinda surreal. I’m aware that I’m 27, but when these things happen in my friendship group, I feel we’re not adult enough yet for this carry on! Somewhere in between all of the madness, I have to revise for two exams coming up in June and July. They’re very important to me progressing in my job, so all fingers and toes crossed, please and thanks!

With all of that going on, I hope you’ll excuse my minimal posting for a little while. BUT, I do have an exciting collaboration coming up soon! Also, we haven’t officially launched it, but myself and Trish over at Between the Lines, have created an Irish Book Bloggers Facebook group (we’re not discriminatory, if you’re from another geographical region and we know you through blogging, you’ll get in).

The Books:

• The Circle: I’ve heard a lot about how amazing this book is, and I’ve wanted to read it for a while. There’s a movie with a Emma Watson and Tom Hanks, so you know I’m ALL over that (I adore Tom Hanks). Check out the trailer for The Circle.
• The Essex Serpent: I’m not going to lie, I have an intense feeling I’m going to hate this book, but I’m pushing myself out of my comfort zone. It’s literally all Simon @ Savidge Reads and Mercy @ Mercy’s Bookish Musings talk about, so although I acknowledge our reading tastes are quite different, I’m prepared to give it a go.
• A Court of Wings and Ruin: Of course this was preordered, and of course I’ve read it already, and yes when I get half a second a word-vomitty review will follow. The last book in the trilogy. I can’t believe it’s all over.
• Yes! 50 Secrets from the Science of Persuasion, To Sell is Human, Predictably Irrational, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Influence – The Psychology of Persuasion: You might be wondering what the deal is with all of these. Well, a local entertainer and all-round fabulous human called David Meade performed at our company’s 45th Birthday Bash, and as I’ve always loved psychology, we got chatting and these are the books he recommended to me. I one-clicked on Amazon immediately.

I was a lucky blogger this month, and also got sent some great books to review from Publishers:

• Here I Stand: I don’t often read essays or short-story collections, which I should do, because every time I try one I love it. Being the big raging Feminist I am, this was right up my street. Review to follow soon!
• Release: Patrick Ness seems to be a really popular author, but the only thing I’ve read by him so far is A Monster Calls. This book covers a lot of difficult topics, which I’m gravitating towards lately.
• Truth or Dare: Though I’ve heard a lot about Non Pratt, I’ve never actually read anything by her, so I’m really looking forward to getting stuck in to this one.
• Love & Gelato: Sometimes when you’re done with exam season, and summer is approaching, all you want is a contemporary romance with holiday feels…
• Beck: This seems really different than my typical read, so I requested it for review. Described as, “a picaresque novel set during the Depression as experienced by a young black man, it depicts great pain but has an uplifting and inspiring conclusion”. 

Movies and TV Shows:

The Founder

I promise that after watching this you will never look at McDonald’s the same way again. I watched this in April, and when I think about it now, I’m still conflicted. A great, albeit at the same time awful, movie.

Beauty and the Beast

I was ridiculously excited for this movie. Beauty and the Beast was one of my favourite Disney movies as a kid, so I couldn’t wait to see what they would do with this! I really enjoyed it, which surprised me, because I’d heard so many negative reviews. I’m loving what Disney are doing with releasing live action versions of their original animations, though my favourite so far is definitely Maleficent. Jolie did SO well in that role, and I prefer when the live action movie is a retelling or different perspective, as opposed to the original story.

Fifty Shades Darker

I’m kind of over this now. I read the books in 2012. I’d just finished Uni and found I actually had time to read for entertainment again (as opposed to manically cram-reading for an exam), which was a novelty. I binged those books so quickly, and it was all anyone was talking about. I pushed them on my sister, and we had lengthy discussions about character motives (even if we both thought the writing itself was less than poor).

When the movie was announced, and especially with the lead actor being from our country, we were all over that! The first movie was better than I expected it to be, even with the increasingly annoying Dakota Johnson, but the second movie? I think you can tell it’s a different crew in charge of it, and not in a good way. I was expecting the thriller aspect of the story to really ramp up, but meh, it wasn’t great. They should release the last one as soon as possible to make the most of the gravy train, because I think it’s had its day.

Now You See Me 2

In some ways, I have so much YES for this movie, even if it did take a really long time to get used to seeing Janis Ian performing magic tricks (if you know, you know). I LOVED the first movie, and this one was also super impressive (I think I’m slightly in love with Jesse Eisenberg). Sure, you need to suspend reality quite a bit to fully get it, but it’s worth it.

Wrappin’ It Up!

• Cristina @ Girl in the Pages asks how many books do you read annually?
• Tara @ The Librarian Who Doesn’t Say Shhh shares a new perspective on 13 Reasons Why (which is well worth a read!).
• Amy @ Ten Penny Dreams wrote a review of The Power, which sounds like a fab read!
• Nicole @ Feed My Fiction Addiction talks about NetGalley and why she struggles to rate MG fiction.
• Anna @ Spines and Covers shows us her shelves and talks about collecting books.
• Laura @ Boats Against the Current asks how do you organise your shelves, and wonders how much is too much for an eBook?
• Amber @ A Mile Long Bookshelf shares 10 things she loves about summer and makes me jealous by talking about all of the authors she has met.
• Holly @ Nut Free Nerd tells us why she is no longer rating books.
• Cathy @ 746 Books launches her 20 Books of Summer Challenge (which I’m definitely taking part in!).
• Becky @ A Fool’s Ingenuity asks how long do you wait before you put an unfinished draft out of its misery? (In case you’re wondering, I don’t. I have about 60 drafts – some partially formed, some single-sentence ideas, and they’ll stay that way until I’m inspired to finish, or re-purpose, them until they’re fit for public consumption!).

In Case You Missed It:

Honestly? You missed very little around here lately! That being said, in April I reviewed The Hate You Give (5/5*), which was FABULOUS, and I also took a bit of time to put together the ultimate collection of Book Bloggers You Should Be Following.

I don’t want to promise you’ll hear lots from me over the coming 2 months due to revision and exams but hopefully I can squeeze a little blogging in, and then come back with a bang once they’re out of the way!

My most popular post in April was What Is the Point of Preordering?, and my most popular review in April was my series overview of The Mortal Instruments. My most popular post in May was an old Top Ten Tuesday post called Ten Books To Read If You Like…, and my most popular review in May was my series overview of Noughts and Crosses.   

What have you been up to in my absence? What great books have you read lately? 

Talk to me in the comments!