Can you believe it's already May? No really, because I can't believe it. Summer is right around the corner. This list of my May "Love Your Library" reading reflects my transition from Spring into Summer. This month I finished 6 library books, and 3 of those were physical books! It's been far too long since I finished a physical book from my library. As well as preparing for summer reading at the library, I am also preparing for summer reading on Instagram. I am busy returning books, putting books on hold, and checking out books in preparation. Yesterday, I took pictures of four of those books for Instagram, and I am so psyched to get started. Usually, I save those announcements for the end, that's how excited I am. I didn't even want to wait that long to tell you all.

I would like to thank Bookish Beck, inspired this series with her monthly blogging challenge. A link to her blog is down at the bottom. Now, on to my library activity for the month of May.

READ

Mighty Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men, Vol. 1 The Strangest Superheroes of All by Stan Lee, illustrated by Jack Kirby - This comic book compilation features the first ten issues of the X-Men. The first book was double length and felt far longer than that. It took me 6-months to read this. I was only reading a little to fall asleep before bed. The slow pace, heavy narrative dialogue, and simple illustrations were great for my sleep habits, but questionable for my reading habits. After the excitement of seeing where the X-Men got their start, I lost interest. ★★★☆☆ CONTENT WARNINGS: Fantasy Violence, Outdated (offensive) terms IG Post
Without a Trace (Nancy Drew: Girl Detective) by Carolyn Keene - Released in 2005, this is by far a nostalgia read. I remembered the climax of this book, at age 10, I read and re-read it, but many of the details between the beginning and climax I did not remember. The story has excitement and intrigue as Nancy and her friends solve two mysteries for her neighbors. However, as exciting as the climax is, the conclusion is simplistic and a bit of a letdown for the first case of this "all-new" Nancy Drew series. ★★★★★ Read on Hoopla CONTENT WARNINGS: Mild language, peril and main character injury
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins - Here is another book that took me a long time to read. I read it in just under a year. I was engaged and entertained by the writing; however, with this story, I knew how the games ended from Catching Fire I wasn't sure that I wanted to read that ending. I love sixteen-year-old Haymtich; he is part-young hooligan and part-budding rebel. Unfortunately, the tone of this novel has an expectation of death, as Haymitch doesn't expect to survive the games. However, meeting younger versions of so many character from the original trilogy was fun. I especially like Mags, and Wireess. Some of the brutality of this book, really emphasized how the Hunger Games showed that the war between the Capital and Districts was still ongoing. ★★★★★ CONTENT WARNINGS: Strong language, violence, death, and mentions child pr*stitution
The Matter of Truth by Andrew Klavan - Book three in The Homelanders series, picks up with Charlie in New York trying to track down, Waterman, a government agent with ties to his forgotten past. This four-book-series should have been edited down into a duology. The first book was about the year before the Charlie's missing memories. Then the second book is him learning what really happened that year. This third book was about him rediscovering his forgotten memories; however, everything he did, minus a few dramatic escapes, was all about the past. He doesn't deal with his present enemies. I suspect that will be the content of the final book. At this point I'm far too invested in the story. I keep reading because I enjoy the themes of a young man wrestling with right and wrong and determining if his views are really worth defending. ★★★★☆ Read on Libby CONTENT WARNINGS: Language, violence, death, and Christian views
What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez, narrated by Ahmed Hamad and Ana Osorio- I finished the whole book and felt like I knew even less about what was going on than when I started the story. This book has a sequel Where the Library Hides. I think that book will finally answer Inez's (and my own) questions. This young adult novel is a blend of so many different genres: historical fiction, fantasy, mystery and romance. When Inez receives a letter from her uncle that her parents died on an archeological dig in Egypt, she defies all convention and common sense by traveling unchaperoned to Egypt and sneaking onto the next archeological dig. At every turn she's met by the secretive, young, English ruffian, Whitford Hayes, who will either be her greatest ally or biggest obstacle, since he works for her uncle. With no idea who to trust Inez finds herself in constant danger. This book did not wrap any of that up, and only left me with more questions. After a slow start during her journey to the dig, the excitement was welcomed but leaving me with so many questions felt unsatisfying. ★★★★☆ Listened to on Hoopla CONTENT WARNINGS: Adult language, grief, violence and Teen s*x with light description. 12 Recs from 12 Friends 26
Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys the Big Lie by Anthony Del Col, illustrated by Werther Dell Edera - This modern noir adaptation of familiar childhood characters, was both interesting as infuriating. Forget everything about the Nancy, Frank and Joe, their personalities, their backstories, and legacy. Then if you forget that, this is an interesting comic book mystery mini-series. Also, I would only recommend this for older teens (16+) and adults. Frank and Joe are the prime suspects in their father's murder, before they can be arrested for something they did not do, Nancy Drew recruits them to go inside a drug smuggling gang to find out the shocking truth. Yep, everything you thought you knew about these characters is thrown out, in favor of a dramatic adult mystery. ★★★☆☆ CONTENT WARNINGS: Adult language, graphic violence, death and mentions illegal drugs.

Currently Reading

Climbing Rejection Mountain: An Actor's Path to Success, Stability, and Self-Esteem by Nick Wyman, Michael X. Martin
Famous Anonymous by Morgan Baden
Love Unmasked by Becky Dean
Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn
Enchanted to Meet You by Cara Stout
Summer of Sloane by Erin L. Schnider

Checked Out, To Be Read

Star Wars: Mace Windu: The Glass Abyss by Steven Barnes IG Post
Star Wars: Complete Locations by Kristin Lund
Star Splitter by Matthew Kirby
Star Wars: Crimson Climb by E. K. Johnston
One Plate at a Time: Recipes for Finding Freedom with Food by Demi Lovato
Flirting with Murder by Amanda Sellet - On a funny side note, my mom saw this title, and said, that what I really need is a book on "Flirting with boys, not murder." 🤣
Summer of Sloane by Erin L. Schinider
Out of Air by Rachel Reiss
Rosewood: A Midsummer Meet Cute by Sayantani DasGupta
Stargirl: The Complete Second Season (DVD)

In The Reservation Queue

13 Days of Summer by Stephanie Kate Strohm
Hearts Overboard by Becky Dean IG Post
The Summer of Second Chances by K. L. Walther
Until Next Summer by Allison Ashley
If You Were Here by Abigail Johnson
Royal Summer by Kass Morgan
Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 13 by Sorata Akiduki
Just My Luck by Jennifer Honeybourn
Bad Influence by Claire Ahn
Last Chance Books by Kelsey Rodkey

On Hold, To Be Picked Up

None at this time.

Returned Unread

Arya Khanna's Bollywood Moment by Arushi Avachat - I used this for a spell the month back in either January. I wasn't sure if I'd read it or not, so I went ahead and kept it until it had to be returned. IG Post
On the Wings of La Noche by Vanessa L. Torres - I checked this one out as "a Blind Date with a Book" title in February. When I opened it up, the title didn't really interest me, but I kept it in case I got around to reading it before it had to be returned.
Taste of Home: Spring 26 - I read half of this cooking magazine when I saw that it needed to be returned. It was filled with interesting spring recipes, but I didn't make any as most of them were not food allergy friendly.
Batman Soul of the Dragon (Blu-Ray) - I actually checked this right back out and started watching it last week. I'm about half an hour in. I will finish it eventually.
The Easy 5-Ingredient Meal Prep Cookbook: Meal Plans and recipes to save money and time by Michelle Ann Anderson - I've been looking for recipes to try but haven't had much success. I thought maybe something like a 5-ingredient cookbook would be less overwhelming. I was wrong, so when this became due, I returned it.
Create, Inc. the ultimate guide to turning your creative hobby into a successful business by Meg Mateo Ilasco - I read a few pages of this. I've been wanting to put my friendship bracelets online or in some sort of shops to sell some, but I haven't really been sure what to do.
Meet Me at Wonderland by Julia DeVillers - So my sister's non-profit bookstore job was donated a copy of this book that I've been trying to read. It was a paperback, ARC edition, and she thought it would be fun to prank me switching my library checkout copy for it. Joke's on her, I returned to library book and kept the ARC edition to read.
Star Wars: Complete Locations by Kristin Lund - I used this for a May the 4th: Star Wars Day post for Instagram. I flipped through the illustrations of various locations from the movies and TV shows. It is an interesting visual reference.

Thank you so much for reading another Love Your Library! I have way too much fun doing this every month. They just keep getting longer. I'll have to try to keep them from getting any longer, last month's blog was very difficult to write. Since in the US we have Memorial Day on the final Monday of the month, I had some extra time this week. For June I'm expecting to have lots to blog about. My workplace, it is doing another summer reading competition. Last year's winner read an average of 4 hours per day. If I want to be competitive, that's how much I will have to read. Additionally, next month, corresponding with the fifty days of my county library's summer reading program, I will be sharing summer books on Instagram. I haven't quite decided how I'm going to arrange those posts yet, but I'm already finding books and planning those. Follow me on Instagram at Skai_BooksAndBracelets to not miss any of those awesome recommendations. Keep reading below for this month's writing and reviewing updates. Thanks again for reading and happy Memorial Day! To those who are serving or have served this country and your families, thank you for your sacrifice.

Over on Instagram, I have been in a writing rut. I've done seven posts so far this month. However, two of those were book reviews and I have one more in the works. My most recent review is How to Walk Away by Kathrine Center. I read it as part of my 12 Recommendations from 12 Friends reading challenge. I've read five of the books so far, so I now need to review another four books to catch up, so there will be many more reviews coming. I am trying to rework my free time to schedule in time for writing. It's going slow because it's a part of a much larger reorganization project.

Overall, I have been a in writing (and editing) rut. Remember that illusive fanfiction piece I've been talking about since last year? The line edit was done last month, this month, I started updating the first few pages of my Word document. But that's as far as I got. I still plan to edit and then share it to a fanfiction stie when it's done. *Sigh* But it's not done yet.

For a piece of fiction to read, I have the short story "Until Death Do Us Part." I was looking through my blogs, and thought, "I don't think I've shared this yet." May is my parents' (quickly doing the math in my head) thirty-fourth wedding anniversary. This story is fictional, and NOT inspired by their marriage, but the sentiment is inspired by the longevity of their marriage. I hope you enjoy!

#LoveYourLibrary

Thank you, Rebecca for coming up with this blog challenge that encourages me to read and write every month. Check out her blog, Bookish Beck.

I love making Bookish Friends! Follow me on Instagram Skai_BooksAndBracelets.

Stay up to date on all reading and reviews by following on Goodreads.

Inspirational Skai

Monday, May 25, 2026