I successfully slowed down my reading pace in May, yay! Only three books added to my read list. May was kinda busy for me because it was still exams season. Then Ramadan came along and so I didn’t as much time to read as I did in the previous months. May felt like a cleanse for my reading addiction and I’m happy about it, honestly 🙂

Okay, so here are the three books I read in May:

1. Mistletoe and Murder by Robin Stevens

The next book from the Murder Most Unladylike Mystery series. In Murder and Mistletoe, Daisy and Hazel are on their Christmas break. They are visiting Daisy’s brother in Cambridge. But as usual, trouble seems to always be able to find them. A string of accidents happens to an heir just a few days before he turns 21, which is on Christmas. Our detectives race with time to find the culprit before the accidents turn into something fatal. Just like the other books in this series, Murder and Mistletoe is very fun to read. Both Daisy and Hazel have matured a bit more compared to themselves in the first book. There are also teenage crushes, which is very cute. Another thing I like about Robin Stevens is that she doesn’t shy away from writing about same sex relationships/crushes in her books, even though the setting is in the early 20th century, when same sex relationships were still a taboo and not accepted by the society. It’s quite refreshing. Like I mentioned in my previous Recent Reads post, I already have another book in the series, Creambuns and Crimes, but I haven’t got around to that. Soon!

2. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

I was very late to the Red Queen party, but here I am. I’ve read praises for this series from book bloggers I follow, so it had been sitting in my TBR list for quite a long time before I decided to start reading it. Red Queen is about a world divided by the colour of the people’s blood; there are the red people (commoners) and the silver people (people with superpowers, thus have higher class). Mare Barrow is a red, but in an incident, it is revealed that she has silver power. It surprises the king and queen because there has been no such thing happened before. She is taken under the crown’s wing, given a false silver identity, and betrothed to a prince. Things, of course, go south. Mare is divided between the two world; her old life, family, and friends, or her new life as a future princess. I got bored halfway through, because the pace is very slow, but I managed to finish it in May. The story is interesting, actually, despite its slowness. The twist is quite predictable, but still delivered in a good way. I already have the next book in the series, Glass Sword, and it’s next on my TBR list.

3. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Camille Parker returns to her hometown and stays in her mother’s house for a few days to cover the story of the murder of two young girls, whose teeth have both been removed by the murderer. She meets a lot of people from her past life there, including her teenage half-sister whom she hadn’t seen for years. Since the local police are not very helpful, Camille must go around town looking for clues by herself. But as the mystery unfolded, the past Camille has long forgotten about is starting to unfold too. Gillian Flynn sure knows how to write. Her description is very vivid and also gross and it made me shiver. I had to take a break while I was reading a part where a rape is being vividly described. But man, the story is so, so good. The twist is very unpredictable; it leaves me gaping but also satisfied. It’s the perfect ending for the story. You have to read it if you haven’t!

Part of the reason why I didn’t read many books last month is perhaps because I find it hard to finish Fallout by Gwenda Bond. I started reading in mid May and I haven’t finished it now. I don’t know why I read it very slowly. It’s quite good so far. I don’t know much about her character in the comic books, but Lois Lane in this book is smart and sassy, almost similar to Veronica Mars. Reading it has been a struggle for me, but I’m determined to finish it as soon as possible because I already have two books in queue (and I’ve been eyeing some other books to buy haha!)

See you in the next Recent Reads!

I’m changing the title of the monthly Books I Finished In… post into the shorter and catchier Recent Reads. So, here it is… Recent Reads: April.

My books purchase is under control, at least for now hahah! I only impulsively bought one book, the others were planned purchases. I’m limiting myself to read one book per week, so in April I finished these five books:

It’s a good thing that there are quite a lot of books in this series because I like it very much. I hope Robin Stevens is planning to keep writing and producing more and more books in this series, like Agatha Christie did with all her detectives and sleuths. In this book, the girls are back again in the Deepdean School. Someone is murdered and secrets of older students are out. The Detective Society has grown quite bigger than in the previous books, so Daisy and Hazel are not alone in solving these two cases. I must say that this book is kinda scary compared to the previous ones in the series. The victim is a student and two students also go missing, so the girls are actually involved instead of being the outsiders looking in. I like this book very much, maybe even more than the previous ones I’ve read.

In A Study in Charlotte, we are introduced to Charlotte Holmes and Jamie Watson, the direct descendants of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson who happen to be the same age and go to the same boarding school (though it’s a setup done by Jamie’s father). A student is murdered and the clues point to the two of them, so they have to solve the mystery while avoiding being arrested for the murder they didn’t do. Every book blogger I follow praises this book. Unfortunately, the bookshops in Bandung and Jakarta don’t have it so I had to order it online and wait patiently for it to arrive for almost a month (international shipping is so ugh!). It’s so worth the wait! Although it’s weird to read that Holmes and Watson are romantically involved (I’m not a JohnLock shipper, sorry…), I like the characters. I like Charlotte’s personality and Jamie’s rage (is that bad? Lol). I also like Jamie’s relationship with his estranged father and his new family. I’m currently waiting for the paperback version of the second book to be available in Book Depository.

Why would a rich children books author change her will to leave everything to her dying secretary instead of her two children? The reason might surprise you for a second and make you roll your eyes immediately after. It’s very silly. While I like the majority of the characters in A Study in Charlotte, I hate everyone in Closed Casket. Nobody is likable. The case itself is good and very Agatha Christie-ish, but the characters are awful. Yes, that’s including the Hercule Poirot.

Big Little Lies shows us how our action can change other people’s lives forever. It’s heartbreaking but also quite funny. With the HBO series finale getting praises everywhere on the internet, I became very curious about this book. I decided to read the book first before watching the show. I’ve been looking for adult books to read because every book I’ve read is YA and Big Little Lies won my heart right after I finished reading the very first page. I really like it! I’m definitely going to read more books by Liane Moriarty.

When someone kills themselves, we may never know and understand what drives them to do that. But before she committed suicide, Hannah recorded cassette tapes and set them to be sent around the thirteen people responsible for her actions after her death. This book was also bought by me because of the words about the Netflix show going around on the internet. Some people like it, others say it’s sending the wrong message. But I must say the book is very good and well written. It’s a quick read, I finished it in less than a day, but it left a huge hole in my heart. I cried halfway into reading it. It’s very heartbreaking. But I read somewhere that the show has several differences from the book. I haven’t seen it but I will when I get the time. It’s Netflix, so I’m probably going to finish the whole show in one seating.

Whoa, that’s still quite a lot of books, isn’t it? Haha… But I’m taking it veeeeeeryyyyy slow this month. I’m currently reading two books, Red Queen and the next installment in the Murder Most Unladylike Mystery series, Mistletoe and Murder. I started Red Queen in March but I’m still halfway through it. I started Mistletoe and Murder last week but I haven’t finished either.

What about you? What have you read lately? Give me book recommendations! 😉

My husband reminded me to start controlling my spending on books because I spent almost 1m for books alone last month! Isn’t that crazy? He keeps sending mixed signals, though, because he’s actually the devil behind it all. Whenever we are in the bookstore he’s all like “Just buy it!” every time I touch a book. I hate him! (Also I love him for that LOL)

So, anyway… Here are five books I read in March:

I normally loathe it when a good book gets its movie/TV cover, but this one literally caught my eyes right when I walked into the bookstore (they’re so damned smart at displaying!) I regret buying this book because as I read on I realised half way that I actually had read all the stories. Compulsive book shopping is not good, kids!

For Indonesian 90’s kids, Majalah Bobo is a part of our childhood. It’s a kids magazine with short stories, comics, science articles, etc. This book is a compilation of 20 detective stories taken from Majalah Bobo. I’ve been thinking about writing stories for children, so I read this book for inspirations. All of them are actually quite simple but I can see that children will get absorbed to the stories. I love all the stories!

Oh my god this series! I’m so so SO in love with these books. I was looking for A Study in Charlotte at the bookstore when I saw these colourful books on display (again, they’re so smart!) They didn’t have A Study in Charlotte so I picked one of these colourful books to read the synopsis on the back cover. Turns out, it’s a detective series too. It’s about two school girls who form a detective society and solve murders together. I bought the first one of the series (the blue one), took it home, and finished it in 6 days. Then I bought the second one (the green one) and finished it in 2 days! I also finished the third one (orange) in 2 days. I was obsessed, okay?

That is all for March. As for this month, I’ve already finished two books so far. I’m currently reading two books and yesterday two more books I ordered online had arrived on my doorstep. It’s gonna be a busy month!