May Wrap-Up

May was one hell of a month… in more ways than one. *lol* I read so many books. Actual books not only webcomics, mind you. 😛 And this even though I went back to work as well. At the beginning of May I commuted to my office for the first time after almost 8 weeks and it was kind of crazy to be back at work… well physically at least. I was working from home all this time anyway. With reduced working hours due to short-time work but still. XD (And just in case you wondered: All my plants are well and safe! My colleague was so kind to water them while I was away! ❤ )

I didn’t only go back to work though! My library opened on the 18th of May and of course I was there on the 19th with my bestie! *lol* It was so awesome to be able to go to the library again. It’s like a sanctuary for me and I always go there when I’m stressed out or emotionally drained. When I need to find some peace. Ironically the one place that is my safe haven was closed during our Covid-19 lockdown and I think I don’t even have to tell you how stressed I was. >_<

Well, all that time away from the library and at home had something good though. I could actually read the books I borrowed and focused on my blog. For instance I started to go for a Top Ten Tuesday Topic once a month, began to host my own blog meme SASSY Saturday , finally continued with Hugs’n’kisses OR Dismissed by the Missus/Messrs and added a new signature to my already existing one as some of you might have noticed. 😛

Additional info to my sig.

I wanted to draw a distinction between my „male“ and „female“ side/days and therefore added „V. Ronan“ to the mix. That way you’ll know when I’m in a male (V.Ronan) or female (Virginia) mindset when I write my posts. I noticed this might be helpful when you refer to them. *lol*

 

And last but definitely not least: #BlackLivesMatter 

”Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
– Martin Luther King Jr.

I wrote this blog post in advance but considering the current happenings I wanted to use my Wrap-Us as a way to show my support for the movement! There are a lot of things you can do in order to help! I won’t list them here, but I’ll give you a useful link: #BlackLivesMatter Everyone of us has a voice and we should use it.

This said: This was already a very long introduction to my Wrap-Up, so I might as well just begin to actually write it! *lol*

Books read: 7 (6 books & 1 webcomic)

Pages read:  2.544 (I guess that number is only so high because ACOWAR alone contributed 699 pages. Which is A LOT! *lol*)

Average rating: 4,14 (That’s a pretty nice average rating, but then again all those books were 4 or 5 star reads. XD)

Books that were on my reading list:  1 (1 from 2019 and 0 from 2020, Okay! It’s obviously time to focus on My Book List 2020! >_< )

May Reads:

      

      

Blood Rites:

This is already book 6 in the series and I’ve to admit that it becomes more and more intriguing with every book that I read. And, let’s be honest here, also more dangerous for Harry. *lol* That poor man has a lot of trouble to go through but thanfully he’s never alone and has good friends that don’t only care about him but also help him to find his way. I can’t wait to read book 7. Well, as a matter of fact I already borrowed it from the library. 😛

Lumine:

This webcomic is one of the cutest things ever!!! ❤ Lumine is such an adorable and innocent furball and his friendship with Kody is legit the best thing about this webcomic! Also I love Kody’s father!! I read this on webtoons and couldn’t stop until I reached the ending. The temporary ending, mind you, because the comic is still ongoing. If you’re looking for a webcomic with great art, lots of heart, werewolves, witches, and many other supernatural things this one most certainly will be a treat for you. XD

When You Get the Chance:

This was my first ARC from NetGalley and I couldn’t believe my luck when I got it. I already added it to my shelves at the beginning of February and the cover as well as the premise of the book made me want to read this… badly! *lol* I’ve to admit that I kind of expected something different when I started to read the book but even though I didn’t really like the characters I still enjoyed the book! If you want to know more details you can always read my review here!

Nevernight:

It took me AGES to read this book, but it was my own fault because I wanted to savour every little piece of it. *lol* Which I did! Boy, did I love to read this book! I know the blogging community has varying opinions about „Nevernight“ but for me it was perfect! I like my books dark and twisted, with a lot of backstabbing, intrigues and dangerous people. What can I say? It’s the faerie and Slytherin in me. 😛 And let me tell you this, both of them were really happy and satisfied once I reached the end of the book. XD

Dry:

Everybody, literally EVERYBODY warned me to have a bottle of water next to me while I read „Dry“ and you guys really weren’t kidding! *lol* I got so thirsty reading this and I think I appreciate my water tap way more than I ever did before. XD This was such a good and fast read! I loved all the different POVs and I can’t help but wonder why not more people speak about this book! If you like dystopian science fiction books this should be right up your alley!

A Court of Wings and Ruin:

I really love this series but even my reread couldn’t help me to get over the many issues I had with this book. *lol* It still feels like Sarah had enough and just wanted to connect all the open threads regardless if it was harmonious with the rest of the series or not. XD Me being bitter? No way! 😛 Anyway if you actually want to read my 4.658 words long essay about all the things I liked and didn’t like you’re welcome to do it here! 😉

Five Feet Apart:

The topic of this book is really heavy and if I wouldn’t have seen the movie with Cole Sprouse ( *sighs dreamily* ❤ ) I probably would have never even known that there is a book. „Five Feet Apart“ was as sad and heartbreaking as I expected it to be, reading the book I got way more details about the daily routine of people with CF though. There are always some things that get lost while watching a movie and to read the book as an addition certainly helped me to understand the characters and their lives even better. I don’t know if the CF rep was done properly but the books purpose was to raise awareness for it and if you ask me they succeeded to do so.

How was your May? Did you read a lot of books? Were your libraries closed too and if yes did they open up again? Do you like the changes on my blog? Will you try out „SASSY Saturday“? Can anyone of you teach me how to use the new wordpress editor? (My head is one big question mark! *lol*) Talk to me and let me know!

And as always: Stay healthy and take care! ❤

*hugs’n’kisses*

The Sassy Library Fox

ARC Review: When You Get the Chance (Tom Ryan)

Rating:

*A huge thank you to NetGalley and “Perseus Books, Running Press” for providing a free ARC*

This book has been on my radar for quite a while and the moment I saw the cover I really wanted to read this. I just love how queer this is and the skyline of Toronto in the background as well as the blurb only added to my already high expectations. If you ask me the world needs more covers like that and I’d be happy to buy them all. This said, the most important question is: Did “When You Get the Chance” live up to my expectations or not?

Truth be told, this isn’t as easy to answer as some might think. The beginning of this book was pretty slow and about half of the book deals with their stay at the family cottage. It’s only about the 50% mark that things actually start to get interesting when they finally hit the road. From there on out I really enjoyed their journey though and I think Tom Ryan did a great job at capturing the spirit of Pride. The feeling of being a part of all those people, of the respect, acceptance, support and safety they offer. It felt like I was there along with them and made new friends while we walked the streets of Toronto.

Another thing I truly appreciated was the diversity we got to see in this book. Mark is gay, Talia is a lesbian or pan (she’s questioning her sexual orientation because she dated Erin who is non-binary) and of course there are a lot of other queer characters as well. 😉 Speaking of the characters themselves I can’t say that I connected with any of them. Well, none except of Paige! Mark’s ten years old little sister is such a ray of sunshine and I swear she was the best character in the entire book! I loved how she saw the world and tried to understand it and I absolutely adored her stance on being queer. For her it was so normal to have a brother who’s gay and gosh how I want more people like that in the world. Ten year old Paige gave me hope in humanity and I can’t thank Tom Ryan enough for that!! For me she represented a generation that grew up with LGBTQ+ rights and accepts everyone who’s under the rainbow and I really hope that one day we’ll actually get there. =) Still, there was a moment when one of the MCs got outed by Paige and I was very glad this issue was broached and challenged. No one should out you except of yourself!

As for Mark and Talia?! Mark might have been outgoing but he was also self-centred and more than just a little egoistic! I couldn’t with him and even though some of his actions later on in the book obviously tried to redeem him, I really can’t say that I liked his embodiment of the entitled white male. Then again I’ve to admit that it was good to have a character like Mark in this book, because quite honestly not everyone can be a sweet fluffy cinnamon roll and the world is made of more complex characters than that. 😉 Talia on the other hand, was the complete opposite of Mark and more on the calm and distant side of things. Whilst Mark didn’t seem to care about deep feelings and only wanted fun, Talia was a very deep and emotional character who had difficulties to accept that her partner had changed without her at their side.

I could probably go on and on about this book but I think I’ll leave it at that. The only thing that truly bothered me was that the characters apparently had no decency regarding their situation. I mean their grandfather just died and their grandma ended up in hospital; you’d think they would have thought about other things than the fastest way to pride. I suppose some of their behaviour could be explained by them being teens and having no tangible idea of the concept of mortality, but even then I would have felt bad for my actions if I’d have been in their shoes. (I felt really sorry for Talia’s dad and Mark’s mom.)

Regardless of everything I just mentioned this was still a fast and enjoyable read. Sure, there were some important topics that were only brought up but never truly addressed, since this book had only 272 pages I had no problem to overlook those little weaknesses though. There’s only so much you can put into a 250+ pages book and considering this Tom Ryan actually did a good job! All told this leaves me with 3,5 paws rounded up to 4 and the hope that my next Tom Ryan book will be another pleasant read.