Welcome to May’s Monthly Minutes at Midnight!
Here’s the deal: I’ll share the books I’ve obtained, posts of interest from others, giveaways I have happening, and just general random shenanigans. You know I love a shenanigan. Also, covers all link to Goodreads, because I am awesome. As always, I link up with the Wrap Up Round Up, too!
The Books
For Review/From Publishers:
Nothing this month!
eARCs:
Huge thanks to the publishers for these lovelies! Less terrible than usual, yeah?
Purchased:
The Survivor Wants to Die at the End ♦ The Names ♦ Saga v12 ♦ My Friends ♦ Silver Elite
Won/Gifted/No Idea But It Showed Up at My House:
Shenanigans Since Last Time:
I read 9 books this month. Not great, but oof, this damn month.
Some really good books here, folks! Some less great ones too but hey, they can’t all be 5 stars!
Giveaways: Click Here, or on Sidebar
Blogosphere Bulletin
Here are some of the loveliest/most entertaining/super helpful/just plain interesting posts I found this month!
- Guys I am so sorry but I have to fail again. Check out the Discussion Linky for all the best stuff, I promise I will try to do better next month! (She says again for the second or third month in a row.)
Fancy & New Since Last I Saw You!
I love looking at pretty covers! So here are some new ones that I have fallen in love with since our last update!
Pretty covers are pretty.
Things we need to talk about at this juncture:
- May sucks. Okay honestly it wasn’t really that terrible the whole time, but it went out with a fucking bang. Our cat (Gus, who we got a few months ago, if you recall) had been sick off and on and couldn’t seem to get better. He had surgery, he had several rounds of meds, multiple vet visits, but it turned out that he was never going to get better-he had feline AIDS and the original test had been wrong. We are simply gutted, and we miss him so very much.
- Like I said though, it wasn’t awful until the end. Lena did track, Sam started basketball, they both did karate, I finished my penultimate class for my Master’s (sooo close to the end, yay!), we had a nice Mother’s Day, and so on. But we’re also really fucking fragile, because I feel like the loss just doesn’t stop.
- Three more days of school!! 🥳🥳🥳 I need this break more than you can imagine. Summer looks packed already, Sam has a bunch of camps, both basketball and karate, and Lena and I are heading to Philly for ALA at the end of the month, hope we see some of you there!
So sorry about Gus. ((HUGS)) I hope you and the kids have an amazing and relaxing summer filled with fun and sunshine.
Thank you so much! ♥♥
How dare you get approved for The Dead of Summer and Girl in the Creek? 😠 😉 No, I’m not envious in the slightest LOL.
So sorry about your cat! The poor thing didn’t even stand a chance. And you enjoyed his company for so little time. It’s not fair.
Your kids sure have a ton of energy! All those sports 😅. Glad you get to go to ALA with Lena – it’s nice that you get to share the bookish bug with her 😃.
I am sorry! It is probably just a rights thing, US versus not, that crap. I hope you get to read them soon!
Thank you ♥♥ No, he did not, it really broke our hearts. He was so very sweet and deserved so much more time. Definitely not fair.
Right!? Lena now has me going to the gym, too! I am exhausted and it’s only been a week! And they’re both doing karate and basketball! Oh, to have their energy!
Oh no poor Gus😭 And I’m so sorry for your family. But at least school is over so hopefully you have a break. I need to check out some of the books in this post that are new to me, I swear you always manage to find books I’m clueless about!
Thank you so much! And right back at you- I swear my TBR grows by leaps and bounds when I go to your blog 😂
I am so, so sorry you lost Gus. 🙁 It HAS been a lot of loss for you, and it’s extremely unfair. I wish I could give you all the hugs (and wine, and maybe a wreck room to vent).
Congrats on being so damned close to getting your Masters! That’s exciting as hell, and I am so, so, so very proud of you. All this upheavel and stress and constant time sinks and yet you’ve persisted like the badass you are. Tenacious S for the win!
Also, my ghasts are flabbered- look at how your kids have grown! Lena’s fully hit that stage where I can see her adult form in her face now. WOW! And Sam looks taller than just a few months ago. I’m sorry they’re also having to deal with more loss as such young ages, but I think having those team activities will help them navigate that, and all the myriad changes happening around them right now.
I hope break is everything you need it to be, and refills your cup so you feel as grounded and strong as you truly are. I also hope ALA is a blast! I wish I was joining you two for it (not that I have space for more books, but meeting more authors and finding ways to support libraries in these dark times feels important). Safe travels!
Thank you ♥♥ I wish we lived closer too- life truly is unfair!
And thank you! I am SO excited! ONE MORE class my goodness!
Dude right? Sam is taller than Lena now, which is insane! Lena will be 14 next week, how the heck is THAT possible?
I am actually in a 4 day training right now because I guess I hate myself, but hopefully this will be the last draining thing of summer? Cross your fingers, yeah? Well- ALA will probably be draining too but at least we can come and go as we please 😂 I hope you are doing okay too!
Aww, sorry about the cat. I hope you’re able to relax this summer!
Thank you!!!
Oh no! So sorry about Gus! That sucks that they didn’t catch the feline AIDS until after you’d tried all of those other things. :-(. You had some great books last month. Hope that June will be better for you.
https://lisalovesliterature.bookblog.io/2025/06/02/the-looooong-and-the-short-of-it-may-2025-wrap-up-post-and-looking-forward-to-june/
Thank you! Yeah the rescue had said he tested negative, and he hasn’t been near any cats since then. They think it must have been an error at their vet, but it was really heartbreaking! And then I felt bad for them, because who knows how many other cats were exposed because of that error. And thank you so much, I hope you are having a great month too!
Oh, I am so sorry about Gus. Losing our fur babies is devastating!
Thank you so much, you are right, it is awful!