The Language Of Kindness by Christie Watson -
This is a memoir of Christie Watson's twenty years as a nurse in the UK, all the way from her training to an experienced nurse. I found this book to be very interesting and helpful to me as someone who works in the healthcare field. However, this is not a book for everyone. While there are funny and entertaining stories, it is a raw look at nursing and includes a lot of nursing theory and academic discussion. It's a great book for those interested in the reality of being a nurse, but perhaps not for those just wanting some fun nursing stories.
Rating: 3/5 | Review
Leah On The Offbeat by Becky Albertalli -
This book was more than I ever expected. I read Simon back in February and really enjoyed it, but didn't like Leah. I wasn't sure how I would feel about this book, as this is Leah's story, but I still wanted to know how Simon's story continued. I ended up really enjoying this book and completely adored Leah. I wasn't expecting that at all but found her to be a completely different character in this book and so easy to relate to. The friendships were a real highlight of this book, again the opposite to my opinions of Simon, as well as the surprising love interest. I'm so glad I picked this up, despite my reservations.
Rating: 4/5 | Review
From Twinkle, With Love by Sandhya Menon -
After the somewhat disappointment of When Dimple Met Rishi, which I hoped to love but found to be pretty average, I decided to give this author another chance. Stupidly, I had equally high hopes from this book, which I ended up really not enjoying. This book is about a girl who wants to be a filmmaker so, with the help of her crush's twin brother, makes a film for the summer festival. I found the plot to be quite boring, I hated the characters, and the drama just seemed immature and unnecessary. I felt like I was reading about 14-year-olds instead of the 16/17-year-olds they're meant to be. This book was not for me and I think I have accepted that this author is not either.
Rating: 2/5 | Review
Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider -
This book has been on my shelves for years but I decided to pick it up as part of a Try A Chapter Tag and was hooked. This follows a group of teens at a boarding school for those with drug resistant TB. I flew through it. Despite it being a heartbreaking story about very ill teens, it's also a fun boarding school story with adventure, new friends and falling in love. It ripped my heart to shred repeatedly but it was a great book.
Rating: 4/5 | Review To Come
Eve Of Man by Giovanna & Tom Fletcher -
The first joint book from these authors is the first book in a dystopian series about the first girl born in fifty years. I found this to be an interesting idea and a decent first book in a series. The premise isn't necessarily unusual, but the way it is told in this book is unique. I loved all of the technology involved in the story, it was used so creatively to become integral to the whole plot. There were a lot of really great things about this book, but the characters and the pacing were disappointing. There is definitely potential for future books in the series to be really great.
Rating: 3/5 | Review
A Thousand Perfect Notes by CG Drews -
This book follows a boy whose violent mother forces him to play piano obsessively, but when he is paired with an unusual, always happy girl on a school project, he starts to consider rebelling. This book was tough to read. Beck's mother is horrendous and I found it so heartbreaking to read about her treatment of her children. I loved August and how completely opposite she was, not only to Beck but to his life in general. Every character in this book was so real it felt like they were standing in front of me, but the plot didn't live up to that standard. Not a lot really happened, so that let the book down slightly for me.
Rating: 3/5 | Review To Come
Quidditch Through The Ages by JK Rowling -
After such an intense, heartbreaking book, I needed a little bit of light fun and this was perfect. I have been needing a little bit of Harry Potter in my life recently so it was great to dive back into the world and learn more about Quidditch. The edition I listened to on audiobook also included some Pottermore content about the Quidditch World Cup, which was great fun.
Rating: 4/5
Wonder by RJ Palacio -
Oh my days, this book! I had heard all of the hype and I watched the movie trailer but I still wasn't prepared for this. I didn't have high expectations, as I rarely feel as strongly about overhyped books as everyone raving about them. This was different. I absolutely adored this book. It was beautiful and fun and heartbreaking and funny and inspiring all at the same time. I honestly can't recommend it enough.
Rating: 5/5
Emergency Admissions by Kit Wharton -
This is another nonfiction book, again a memoir but this time from an Ambulance Technician. This is a hilarious book full of stories from his time on the frontline of the UK healthcare system, and all of the many people he has met along the way. I rarely stopped laughing throughout this book, the writing was genuinely funny and I appreciated the dark humour, though that may not be for everyone.
Rating: 4/5
The Summer Of Us by Cecelia Vinesse -
This is a fun, summer read about a group of friends who go travelling around mainland Europe the summer after graduating high school. As well as being a fun travel story, there is also a lot of relationship drama. Unfortunately, the relationship drama, and some friend drama, overshadowed the travelling part of the story. It became the constant focus, with only brief mentions of famous landmarks in each city. I did enjoy this book, but I would have enjoyed it a lot more if it had featured more about the amazing adventure they were having in these beautiful cities.
Rating: 3/5 | Review To Come
There we have it, all 10 books I read in the month of May. I'm very happy with that, especially as I enjoyed almost all of the ten books. I'm really hoping to have another good reading month in June, I had a really great time with thees books in May.
Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them?
Sophie :)
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