Best of Spring: Three Months in Review

Hi! Remember me? :) I know I've blogged before about how "I'm too busy" is really not an excuse, and I still agree with that. That being said, between a full-time job, a part-time job and a full load of graduate classes (a.k.a. four) for the past few months ... let's just say blogging has not been a priority for me. :) But, my full-time job ended last week and spring quarter ends next week, so I look forward to being more present on the blog over the summer! For now, here's a quick update on what's been going on with me this spring.

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Of course my most popular photo of the last three months has Jonathan in it ... and three of the four are about books. Should I just change my Instagram to a bookstagram already? ;) In all seriousness, we did get to take some pretty fun weekend trips this spring. From seeing Newsies in Hollywood (bottom right) to celebrating my little brother's college graduation to attending a wedding in Malibu to hiking in Aptos to wine tasting in Sonoma, there was only one weekend in all of April and May that we were home! (And that was this most recent weekend, when I wrote and scheduled this post. Woot!)

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Sadly, I haven't blogged anything outside my book challenge since February, so we'll skip this section for now....

On My Bookshelf

I used to simply list all the books I'd read in a month, but that doesn't seem necessary because you could just follow me on Goodreads to see that. Instead, I'm trying something new! I'll break the books down into whether or not I think you should read them (and if you've read any, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments).

You should definitely read this, even if it isn't your typical genre.

Euphoria, Lily King (historical fiction: 1930s Oceania)
Eleanor & Park, Rainbow Rowell (young adult)
Outlander, Diana Gabaldon (historical fiction/romance: 18th century Scotland)
All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr (historical fiction: 1940s France/Germany)

If you like <insert genre here>, this is a good read!

The Husband's Secret, Liane Moriarty (adult fiction/contemporary fiction)
The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins (mystery/thriller)
Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel (post-apocalyptic fiction; I honestly didn't care for it much myself, but I don't usually read this genre)
A Feast for Crows, George R.R. Martin (my least favorite Song of Ice and Fire book thus far, but c'mon—it's still ASoIaF!)
Everything I Never Told You, Celeste Ng (adult fiction/historical fiction: 1970s Ohio) 
Vanishing Girls, Lauren Oliver (young adult)
The Light in the Ruins, Chris Bohjalian (historical fiction: 1940s/50s Italy)

Meh. It wasn't a waste of time, but there are definitely better books out there.

Letter to a Christian Nation, Sam Harris (nonfiction)
The Impossible Knife of Memory, Laurie Halse Anderson (young adult)
Dragonfly in Amber, Diana Gabaldon (both Outlander sequels are in this category because they just didn't compare to the original—but I will finish the series! eventually ...)
Voyager, Diana Gabaldon
Brain on Fire, Susannah Cahalan (nonfiction/memoir)

Just put the book down, and walk away slowly.

Luckily, I haven't read any terrible books in the past few months!

Also, just to put my reading in perspective for you: I read three of these books during spring break, I listened to three on audiobook during my commute, and I've read five books since my second job ended last week. Which means it took me only two weeks to read eight books, but more than two months to read the other five. I just thought that was amusing. :)

How was your spring? What are you looking forward to this summer?