Reading Wrap Up: May 2018

I thought I hadn’t read much in May. I was wrong. I’m actually surprised with how much I did read this month! So, without any further ado, here we go!

Stats
Books read: 11 (non-fiction: 5,children’s: 2, detectives: 2, fiction: 2)
Pages read:  1919
Stars: 1 star (0), 2 stars (2), 3 stars (2), 4 stars (7), 5 stars (0)

This has been a really positive reading month, as most books had 4 stars, and I usually only give 3 stars to books! So let’s get into the mini reviews.

the Pug who bit Napoleon, animal tales of the 18th & 19th centuries by Mimi Matthews
(review)
I loved this book. I loved it a lot! If you love animals and history, this is the book for you. It had lots of fun stories about notable animals during the 18th and 19th century (as the title implies!), my only downside is that it’s very dog heavy, and the other stories aren’t very in-depth or individual like the dog ones. If you want a longer review, you can check mine out! I gave this 4 stars on Goodreads.

I want my Mommy! by Tracey Coderoy and Alison Edgson 
I love picture books and I love to collect them. Children’s books are the reason I love books so much! Unfortunately, this book wasn’t it. It isn’t bad, but it was described as a book that would help children with leaving their parents behind, and I don’t feel like it would? The story is pretty fun, it was just missing something. I’m still happy to add it to my collection, and I will maybe update this if I ever have a baby of my own to try this one out with! 😉

Big and Small by Elizabeth Bennett and Jane Chapman 
This is a really cute story about a mouse and a bear. The mouse (named Small) is a little bit too tiny for this world, and needs the bear’s (Big) help with a lot. But at night, Small needs to help Big because he’s too afraid of the dark! A really cute story and I gave it 3 stars on Goodreads.

Evil under the Sun by Agatha Christie
I finally read a new Poirot! A complete turn around from the picture books. This is one of my favourite Poirot’s thus far. I didn’t know who did it until the end, and at the end I still felt like it was actually someone else. The story was really fun and you saw a little bit of a different side to Poirot. One of the Poirot’s I’d recommend reading first! I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads .

the Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan
(review) 
This was a really boring book. It took me a really long time to finish this book, even though it’s only 119 pages. I hated the main-character, he was a dick. The writing was boring and the story itself as well. You can read my review if you are interested, but other than that I’m done with it. I gave this 2 stars on Goodreads.

Stories for Boys Who Dare to be Different by Ben Brooks
(review)
Ok. I’m not going to lie. I didn’t expect much of this book. I didn’t. But I was so surprised! This book is incredible. Really inclusive and really fun stories. Some of the people in it I didn’t expect, but I do understand why they are in it, considering this is a book for children and not adults. I’ve got a more in-depth review here! I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads.

Death on the Cherwell by Mavis Doriel Hay 
I never read anything by Mavis Doriel Hay. I also don’t really read books written in the 1930s, for some odd reason. This was a really fun, girl power detective. It isn’t bloody, it isn’t boring, it’s just a more YA type of detective. I really recommend it if you are just starting out on the detectives!  Really, one of my favourite detectives I have read thus far! I gave this 4 stars on Goodreads.

the 1940s Look by Mike Brown
(review)
This is the most in-depth book on 1940s fashion I have read so far. It is incredibly informative, with lots of pictures, photos and advertisements. It talks about everything from fashion to glasses and it’s a great addition to anyone’s fashion history library! The only downside to this book is it’s size, but that can be overlooked. I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads.

the Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw
This was by far my favourite book of the month, I finished this in about 9 hours, while at work, than you know I love it! This book is about a town called Sparrow where every year 3 sisters who got murdered on witchcraft charges come back to haunt the town. Well, they take over the bodies of 3 girls and murder at least 3 boys as revenge. This book was so much fun, quick, and I just loved it so much. I wanted it a bit more from the ending, but the ending was still really nice. This really got on the list of favourite books of 2018! I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads.

Mary’s Household Tips & Tricks by Mary Berry
First of all, Mary Berry has the best name ever. Second, this is a really great book if you start out living on your own! Most of these things seemed common knowledge to me, but that’s because I spend a lot of my grandma, so most of these tips are one’s I’ve been told before. But it’s a great gift if you know someone who is starting to live on their own, or for yourself! This book is great because it will actually help you, as it gives you not only tips on how to store food, but also how to repair clothing and all kinds of handy household tricks. 😉 I gave this book 3 stars on Goodreads.

the Midwife by Susan Cohen
As a young child I always wanted to be a nurse on the neonatal department, because my brother was born way too early. I never took this course in my life, but I still have a very big love and respect for the profession. So, when I saw that Shire Library had a book about midwifery, I had to read it! It’s a great little book about the history of midwifery. A good thing to note is that these books are really basic, it won’t go in depth, but this will just lay out the basics. Which I really love about the Shire Library books! It has tons of beautiful pictures and is really informative and you can tell the author really loves the subject as well, which I really appreciate. Honestly a great book if you want to read about midwifery! I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads.

As you can tell I had a really good reading month! What was your favourite read of this month? 🙂