May Day book round-up

The first of the month always seems to hold such potential reading-wise. As I did last month, I created a list of books I want to read in May but before I list those, a look back at what I managed to read and review in April. I had 12 books on my April determination list and I read 18. Of course, that doesn't mean I read all of the original 12. Sort of like Nick Hornby's lists in his three collections culled from his columns for Believer magazine, my lists rarely tally very neatly. Of my original 12, I did read 8, leaving 4 to be carried over to this month's list. I reviewed hardly anything at all so there's still a massive backlog on that front, not helped by the fact that I read so much this month (not that reading so much is a bad thing, mind you)! I also have bookmarks sitting dormant in 2 books I'd like to get back to and moving slowly through one book of essays which I'd also like to get back to on a more consistent basis.

Towards the end of the month I had a rather appalling bout of retail therapy and added stacks and stacks of books to my already overloaded shelves (yes, too many to list, as shameful as it is to admit that) but I have a rather large stack I am taking to the Habitat for Humanity bookstore and cafe when my bookclub meets there this month so maybe it'll negate my purchases a bit. Probably not since it'll be a minor miracle if I can leave there without more books of my own. In any case, my overly ambitious month of May is currently set to look like this:

Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead
Crazy for the Storm by Norman Ollestad
Godmother by Carolyn Turgeon
With Violets by Elizabeth Robards
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
Prague by Arthur Phillips
The Day My Butt Went Psycho by Andy Griffith
The Dogs Who Found Me by Ken Foster
Marriage: A Duet by Anne Taylor Fleming
Presumption by Julia Barrett
Instances of the Number Three by Salley Vickers
East of the Mountains by David Guterson
Divided Lives by Elsa Walsh
Polly by Freya North
The Golden Tulip by Rosalind Laker
44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith
Duke Most Wanted by Celeste Bradley
Sunlight on the Lawn by Beverley Nichols
The Secret Blog of Raisin Rodriguez by Judy Goldschmidt
Do-Over by Robin Hemley
Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
Angels of Destruction by Keith Donohue
Every Last Cuckoo by Kate Maloy

Yes, you counted correctly. There really are 24 books on that list. Not terribly likely, I know but as you've already discovered, I like a blueprint from which I can then cheerfully deviate, especially when review books come dropping into the mailbox. Any bets on how many books I'll have to carry over to next month? Maybe I should start a betting circle on how many and which ones. You'd all pay to play right? And hey, that would make me an official bookie. I'm kinda liking this idea! Of course, running an illegal betting operation would cut into my reading and reviewing time and heaven knows I'm already going to need Hermione's time turner to accomplish my self-imposed Herculean task for the month. Better get reading!