A New Month, A New Set of Reading Challenges: An Introduction to May's Bookish Adventures

As I sit here filming this video, I'm surrounded by stacks of books, excitedly anticipating the start of a new month and all the reading challenges that come with it. One of my favorite things about being an avid reader is the opportunity to discover new authors, try out different genres, and revisit old favorites. This month, I've got a exciting lineup of books to tackle, and I'm eager to share them with you.

First up, we have "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy. While I loved reading "Ella Enchanted" as part of the Offbeat YA series, this one follows different characters, and I'm thrilled to dive into Millie's story. The premise of this book had me hooked from the get-go - someone is literally watching me film, and it's just so relatable! Millie is excited about not attending fat camp and her mission to kiss the boy she has a crush on. I just think this is going to be so cute and quick and fun, and I'm counting down the days until May 8th when it's released.

Next up, we have "The Bird in the Blade" by Meghan Ballin. I remember pre-ordering this book without much information beyond its fantasy genre, but something about it caught my attention. As someone who struggles with high fantasies, I'm a bit apprehensive, but fingers crossed that I'll be able to get into it and enjoy it. This book is also a sequel, so I've got to read the first one to prepare myself for the series.

Finally, we have "A Court of Frost and Starlight" by Sarah J. Maas. As a fan of her other books, I was excited to pre-order this novella as soon as it was announced. With its smaller page count compared to her other novels, I'm hoping to fly through this one quickly and easily. I'm also planning on doing an Offbeat video for this book, so stay tuned for that! Sarah J. Maas books always take me a while to get through, but with a novella under my belt, I'm feeling optimistic about reading it in no time.

Random Reads and Wishful Thinking

In addition to these scheduled reads, I've also got a few random books that I'd like to tackle this month. First up is "99 Days" by Katie Cannon. I've been wanting to read this one for ages, especially since it's the companion novel to "9 Days and 9 Nights". The premise of a European travel book has me intrigued - who knows what adventures await? As someone with severe wanderlust, I'm hoping to live vicariously through Millie as she travels across Europe.

I've already checked my Goodreads and found that I've read most of the European travel books out there. I've got "I See London, I See France" under my belt, but I couldn't finish "A Thousand Madonnas". Maybe this one will be different? The only thing I know for sure is that it's a sequel to an earlier book, and I'll have to read the first one before diving in.

The Final Challenge: Reading a Sequel

Speaking of sequels, my final challenge for May is to read "A Court of Frost and Starlight" as part of the A Court of Thorns and Roses series. As someone who's struggled with high fantasies in the past, I'm hoping that this one will be different. The novella format has me feeling more optimistic about reading it quickly, but we'll see how it goes! With a new video to film for Offbeat, I've got my work cut out for me.

That's all for now - what books are on your TBR for May? Let me know in the comments below! Don't forget to subscribe and follow me on social media for more bookish content.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enfavor in Italian and today I'm going to be talking about my may TBR I don't know how I feel about this shirt it's like more of a look than I was expecting and also my neck I just well I never have anything around my throat because it feels like it's choking me and like this TBR is probably going to be really quick in short because I don't really have a very big reading plans for me I do however have really big writing plans I'm hoping to finish my book in the next couple of months hopefully at the end of June I will have a finished novel ah I'm close to the end but we shall see I also can't believe that it's May at the end of the month I'm going to book on MBA which is crazy it doesn't even feel real yet because I've always wanted to go but it never been able to so the fact that this year I'm actually going I'm like ridiculously nervous but so excited to and I can't wait to meet everyone it's going to be so much fun let me know if you were going and oh my god I'm leaving on May 29th it's gonna be so many things and then when I get back from book on I'm going to be home for a few days and then I go off to California for a month so like this next little bit is gonna be crazy so I don't know how reading is going to go it's been really hair mist lately so I only have a few books to talk about today for my TBR so I'm going to start off with my 60b are challenges the first one being a classic and I actually don't know what classic I want to read this month I feel like since it's super nice outside it's really springy and everything I would like to read a springy classic but I've already read all of the springy classics I feel like there are at least the ones that I know I've read The Secret Garden already I've read Heidi I've just read all of the really fun ones I've obviously read Alice I don't know if you know that but like I have so I don't know what classic I want to read this month but let me know if you have a good suggestion for a happy fun springy classic for me the next challenge is to read a TBR vet and I am going with windfall by Jennifer E Smith I bought this book last June so it's been on my TBR for about a year now I do have books that I have been on my TBR for a longer but I feel like this will be the quickest one to get through it's not that I'm not interested in this book but I just picked it up I'm sorry I just looked at the cover and I did not think that said let luck find you I thought it was another uck word is very confused and alarmed by also curious anyways I picked this book up right when I came back from my month-long trip to Europe so there had been a ton of books that had come out and I didn't even know that this one was a thing but then I read the concept and I was very intrigued it's about this girl who buys a lottery ticket for her best friend who I think she actually has a crush on and then he ends up winning the lottery so I was like whew intriguing but I just never picked it up I wasn't a slump when I came back from Europe and then I just didn't want to read contemporaries but now I'm kind of on a contemporary cake so I feel like this would be the perfect time to give this a go next is a new release from last month so a new release from April and I am going with Iceland by Wendy's finale I have all of these books in paperback so I'm not gonna pick this one up for another year because hardcovers come out and the paperback comes out and year later much to the chagrin of many other customers that I talk to all the time I film right in front of my door and I could like hear my feet moving the floor but I thought it was someone outside so I opened the door and like what am I gonna say to the right in a person who broke into my house like hello how are you do you want to be in my youtube video now I'm really concerned that it's like a demon anyways I'm just gonna close the door and just never leave this room again I do have books in here though so we'll be fine I just don't have food but like who needs food when you have books anyways I'm actually already started listening to the audiobook for ozland it came out on April 24th I believe but it is the third book of the Everland trilogy so I think it's the finale I'm not actually sure if it's a trilogy I'm just kind of assuming it is but the first book was a retelling of Peter Pan the second book was a retelling you Alice in Wonderland in this third book is a retelling of obviously The Wizard of Oz I'm very excited because that's kind of like the golden trifecta of children's Leia it's three books that I've really loved and enjoyed but the series itself is kind of dark but they're really fun stories in their original form so I'm really interested to see how oz will come into play in this book so if you are going to read these books I highly recommend the audiobooks they're amazing and I have a link down below where you can get a free audiobook I'm sorry I keep mentioning that but my Book Depository link was broken and I didn't know and like the income from that really helps me out so I'm sorry and also don't you want a free audiobook I'm just trying to help you I promise my next challenge is to read a new release from this month and I'm going with put in by Julie Murphy I have the arc of this for so long I haven't read it yet because I have been in kind of like just this weird slumpy thing it's just so hard to get into reading when I'm writing so much I don't want to be unintentionally influenced by what I'm reading I want to keep the flow of my writing there's just so many things and I'm like I really want to read but I also really want to write it so I'm just like ah dying but I'm finding that contemporaries are the best thing that I can read right now so hopefully this one will be much of the same for the other ones that I've read recently now this is a companion novel to dumplin by Julie Murphy but this one follows mili and I'm so excited for Millie to get her own story she was a great character and dumpling and the premise of this story just sounds so cute so essentially someone is literally looking in my window right now watching me film why are you looking in my house they also are really struggling to back up into their driveway they are on the lawn it is fine anyway is the premise of the story is that Millie finally is not going to fat camp this summer she's very excited about it and her mission is to kiss the boy she has a crush on I just think this is gonna be so cute and quick and fun and I can't wait and this is coming out on May 8th so it actually comes out a week from what I'm filming this next is a new release for the next month and I'm going to try and read the bird in the blade by Meghan Bannon I honestly don't remember what this book is about but I remember that when I read the synopsis I ended up pre-ordering it which I don't normally pre-order a lot of books that I hadn't read previous things by the author so clearly it did interest me a fair amount but I think this is the only arc that I have that's coming out in June and apparently I thought it sounded really cool it is a fantasy so I don't know how it's going to go for me since I have been struggling with those but fingers crossed that I will be able to get to it and it will be a successful fantasy ruining because they have so many fantasies especially high fantasies that I really want to read and the final challenge is to read a sequel so I'm going to read the novella a court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J Maas I don't have my copy i pre-ordered it and it's not in yet but it did come out today on the day that I'm filming this Sarah J Maas books always take me a very long time to read they are usually pretty hefty but this book is a novella so it's quite a bit smaller I don't know the exact page caliber I'm very interested to see how quickly I will be able to read it now you have seen Miley on the offbeat video I'm planning on doing something like that for this book so stay tuned for that if you haven't seen that video yet then stay tuned for the leo one and then you'll know what I'm talking about now next I have just a couple of random books that I would like to try and get to so first is 99 days by Katie can to go and I honestly want to get to this just because I really want to read nine days and nine nights by Katie can to go this came out also on the day that I'm filming this May first and I am just dying to read a European travel book I just love them so much especially now because tomorrow's May second and last year on May 2nd I left for my month-long trip to Europe so I'm just like the nostalgia is real I have such wanderlust right now I want to go away and just go and travel Europe again my sister and I are actually looking into planning a trip to the Netherlands in Germany I would have oh my god I would have so much fun I'm so excited I'm hoping that we will be able to do that but for now I need to live like vicariously through book characters and I honestly feel like I've read like all of the European travel books that there are and why I let me know if you know of one that I haven't read I've read I see London I see France I've read 13 little blue envelopes and didn't really like it I've read what was it a thousand Madonna's or something like that I didn't like that one either just check my Goodreads and you'll see the ones that I've read but I'm not sure where they go in this novel I just know that they go to Europe but it's a sequel so I have to read this one first or else I was just going to read this one but I'm hoping I'll be able to fly through this one so then I can fly in this one do you get it oh so funny so those are all the books that I am hoping to read and may we'll see how the month actually ends up going but let me know what is on your TBR for the month of May and if you enjoyed this video don't forget to subscribe I put out new videos every Monday and Thursday as well as bonus videos sometimes you can also follow me on all of my social media the links will be down below for you guys as well so thank you guys so much for watching today's video and I will see you guys in my next video byefavor in Italian and today I'm going to be talking about my may TBR I don't know how I feel about this shirt it's like more of a look than I was expecting and also my neck I just well I never have anything around my throat because it feels like it's choking me and like this TBR is probably going to be really quick in short because I don't really have a very big reading plans for me I do however have really big writing plans I'm hoping to finish my book in the next couple of months hopefully at the end of June I will have a finished novel ah I'm close to the end but we shall see I also can't believe that it's May at the end of the month I'm going to book on MBA which is crazy it doesn't even feel real yet because I've always wanted to go but it never been able to so the fact that this year I'm actually going I'm like ridiculously nervous but so excited to and I can't wait to meet everyone it's going to be so much fun let me know if you were going and oh my god I'm leaving on May 29th it's gonna be so many things and then when I get back from book on I'm going to be home for a few days and then I go off to California for a month so like this next little bit is gonna be crazy so I don't know how reading is going to go it's been really hair mist lately so I only have a few books to talk about today for my TBR so I'm going to start off with my 60b are challenges the first one being a classic and I actually don't know what classic I want to read this month I feel like since it's super nice outside it's really springy and everything I would like to read a springy classic but I've already read all of the springy classics I feel like there are at least the ones that I know I've read The Secret Garden already I've read Heidi I've just read all of the really fun ones I've obviously read Alice I don't know if you know that but like I have so I don't know what classic I want to read this month but let me know if you have a good suggestion for a happy fun springy classic for me the next challenge is to read a TBR vet and I am going with windfall by Jennifer E Smith I bought this book last June so it's been on my TBR for about a year now I do have books that I have been on my TBR for a longer but I feel like this will be the quickest one to get through it's not that I'm not interested in this book but I just picked it up I'm sorry I just looked at the cover and I did not think that said let luck find you I thought it was another uck word is very confused and alarmed by also curious anyways I picked this book up right when I came back from my month-long trip to Europe so there had been a ton of books that had come out and I didn't even know that this one was a thing but then I read the concept and I was very intrigued it's about this girl who buys a lottery ticket for her best friend who I think she actually has a crush on and then he ends up winning the lottery so I was like whew intriguing but I just never picked it up I wasn't a slump when I came back from Europe and then I just didn't want to read contemporaries but now I'm kind of on a contemporary cake so I feel like this would be the perfect time to give this a go next is a new release from last month so a new release from April and I am going with Iceland by Wendy's finale I have all of these books in paperback so I'm not gonna pick this one up for another year because hardcovers come out and the paperback comes out and year later much to the chagrin of many other customers that I talk to all the time I film right in front of my door and I could like hear my feet moving the floor but I thought it was someone outside so I opened the door and like what am I gonna say to the right in a person who broke into my house like hello how are you do you want to be in my youtube video now I'm really concerned that it's like a demon anyways I'm just gonna close the door and just never leave this room again I do have books in here though so we'll be fine I just don't have food but like who needs food when you have books anyways I'm actually already started listening to the audiobook for ozland it came out on April 24th I believe but it is the third book of the Everland trilogy so I think it's the finale I'm not actually sure if it's a trilogy I'm just kind of assuming it is but the first book was a retelling of Peter Pan the second book was a retelling you Alice in Wonderland in this third book is a retelling of obviously The Wizard of Oz I'm very excited because that's kind of like the golden trifecta of children's Leia it's three books that I've really loved and enjoyed but the series itself is kind of dark but they're really fun stories in their original form so I'm really interested to see how oz will come into play in this book so if you are going to read these books I highly recommend the audiobooks they're amazing and I have a link down below where you can get a free audiobook I'm sorry I keep mentioning that but my Book Depository link was broken and I didn't know and like the income from that really helps me out so I'm sorry and also don't you want a free audiobook I'm just trying to help you I promise my next challenge is to read a new release from this month and I'm going with put in by Julie Murphy I have the arc of this for so long I haven't read it yet because I have been in kind of like just this weird slumpy thing it's just so hard to get into reading when I'm writing so much I don't want to be unintentionally influenced by what I'm reading I want to keep the flow of my writing there's just so many things and I'm like I really want to read but I also really want to write it so I'm just like ah dying but I'm finding that contemporaries are the best thing that I can read right now so hopefully this one will be much of the same for the other ones that I've read recently now this is a companion novel to dumplin by Julie Murphy but this one follows mili and I'm so excited for Millie to get her own story she was a great character and dumpling and the premise of this story just sounds so cute so essentially someone is literally looking in my window right now watching me film why are you looking in my house they also are really struggling to back up into their driveway they are on the lawn it is fine anyway is the premise of the story is that Millie finally is not going to fat camp this summer she's very excited about it and her mission is to kiss the boy she has a crush on I just think this is gonna be so cute and quick and fun and I can't wait and this is coming out on May 8th so it actually comes out a week from what I'm filming this next is a new release for the next month and I'm going to try and read the bird in the blade by Meghan Bannon I honestly don't remember what this book is about but I remember that when I read the synopsis I ended up pre-ordering it which I don't normally pre-order a lot of books that I hadn't read previous things by the author so clearly it did interest me a fair amount but I think this is the only arc that I have that's coming out in June and apparently I thought it sounded really cool it is a fantasy so I don't know how it's going to go for me since I have been struggling with those but fingers crossed that I will be able to get to it and it will be a successful fantasy ruining because they have so many fantasies especially high fantasies that I really want to read and the final challenge is to read a sequel so I'm going to read the novella a court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J Maas I don't have my copy i pre-ordered it and it's not in yet but it did come out today on the day that I'm filming this Sarah J Maas books always take me a very long time to read they are usually pretty hefty but this book is a novella so it's quite a bit smaller I don't know the exact page caliber I'm very interested to see how quickly I will be able to read it now you have seen Miley on the offbeat video I'm planning on doing something like that for this book so stay tuned for that if you haven't seen that video yet then stay tuned for the leo one and then you'll know what I'm talking about now next I have just a couple of random books that I would like to try and get to so first is 99 days by Katie can to go and I honestly want to get to this just because I really want to read nine days and nine nights by Katie can to go this came out also on the day that I'm filming this May first and I am just dying to read a European travel book I just love them so much especially now because tomorrow's May second and last year on May 2nd I left for my month-long trip to Europe so I'm just like the nostalgia is real I have such wanderlust right now I want to go away and just go and travel Europe again my sister and I are actually looking into planning a trip to the Netherlands in Germany I would have oh my god I would have so much fun I'm so excited I'm hoping that we will be able to do that but for now I need to live like vicariously through book characters and I honestly feel like I've read like all of the European travel books that there are and why I let me know if you know of one that I haven't read I've read I see London I see France I've read 13 little blue envelopes and didn't really like it I've read what was it a thousand Madonna's or something like that I didn't like that one either just check my Goodreads and you'll see the ones that I've read but I'm not sure where they go in this novel I just know that they go to Europe but it's a sequel so I have to read this one first or else I was just going to read this one but I'm hoping I'll be able to fly through this one so then I can fly in this one do you get it oh so funny so those are all the books that I am hoping to read and may we'll see how the month actually ends up going but let me know what is on your TBR for the month of May and if you enjoyed this video don't forget to subscribe I put out new videos every Monday and Thursday as well as bonus videos sometimes you can also follow me on all of my social media the links will be down below for you guys as well so thank you guys so much for watching today's video and I will see you guys in my next video bye\n"