Reading update
I read five books in May:
Relative Failures by Matthew Sturgis
Goodbye Chinatown by Kit Fan
Bane of Bernicia by Matthew Harffy
Once the Deed Is Done by Rachel Seiffert
Carrion Crow by Heather Parry
My reading has definitely slowed down over the past couple of months but I’m attributing that to spending more time gardening, which recently has consisted mostly of watering and complaining about the lack of rain. Two books vied for my favourite this month – Bane of Bernicia and Once the Deed Is Done. I still haven’t made a decision.
Blog update
I published 28 blog posts in May:
Book reviews – 7
Memes – 11
Reading updates – 8
Reading challenges – 2
For those who like statistics, my blog received 8.6k views in May, down 12% on the previous month, had 7.1k visitors, down 10% on the previous month, but there was an increase in comments so thank you if one or more of those was yours.
Reading challenges update
Goodreads – 38/104, 5 books behind schedule (eek!)
Books in my TBR for longer than two years – 2/20
When Are You Reading? Challenge – 8/12
Historical Fiction Reading Challenge – 17/50
Classics Club (List 2) – 3/50
Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2026 longlist – 9/12 (5/5 of shortlist)
NetGalley feedback ratio – 97%
Audiobooks – 5/12
I also attended four events at Winchester Books Festival.
Coming up in June…
- The start of the 20 Books of Summer Reading Challenge
- Read A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie for the Classics Club Spin
- Read Call Me Ishmaelle by Xiaolu Guo for my book club
- Ramp up my reading!
What Cathy Read Next... 
No, Cathy! Your reading can’t slow down right before 20 Books of Summer! 😱
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Don’t worry, it’s about to speed up as I’ve just finished the first book on my list. However we are going to need 20 Reviews of Summer to run alongside it.
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In May i read the following books and travelled to the following places
1 Six Couples and a Wedding by Lynn Raye Harris. USA, Alabama
2 How to Fake it in Society by KJ Charles. UK, London
3 My Whiskey Redemption by Melissa Foster USA, Colorado
4 Grizzly Sleuth by Eve Langlais. Russia/Poland
5 Resolution by Veronica Scott. Space
6 Never and Always by Anna Hackett. USA, Colorado
7 Explosive Evidence by Cindi Myers. USA, Colorado
8 Beneath a Trojan Moon by Anna Hackett. Space
9 An Ordinary Sort of Evil by Kelley Armstrong. UK, Scotland
10 Platform Decay by Martha Wells. Space
11 On a Cyborg Platform by Anna Hackett. Space
12 The Last Aquarius by Eve Langlais. Iraq, Mars
13 Killer Remains by Kaylea Cross. USA, Washington State/Canada, Vancouver
14 Return of the Alien Warrior by Honey Phillips. Space
15 Conor:Dragons of Claddare by Veronica Scott. Space
Gill
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Welcome back down to Earth!
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