Roundup: May

It’s the end of the month again! It’s time for a look at what went on at the Oaken Bookcase during May.

At the start of May I joined in with the Spring Fling Giveaway Hop and had more traffic to the blog in one week than I had in the previous two months, and I gave away a copy of The Immortal Rules. Do say hi in the comments if you’re new here, I’d love to hear from you!

The Bout of Books read-a-thon was on in the week of the 14-20 May, and I almost reached my goal by reading four and a half books. I didn’t get through as many of my library books as I hoped to, and I’m still trying to get them read now after re-borrowing them! I really enjoyed the read-a-thon and I’ll definitely be joining in with the next one.

I also posted two Five for Friday articles, the first about beautiful children’s books, and the second was five things I learned as a newbie book blogger.

Reviews for May:

• Frozen Prospects, Dean Murray (guest post by Anya, who has just moved to a self-hosted blog at www.onstarshipsanddragonwings.com, go check it out!)
• Dream Robbers, RC Scott
• Aurorarama, Jean-Christophe Valtat
• Insurgent (Divergent #2), Veronica Roth
• The Six, KB Hoyle
• Cinder, Marissa Meyer
• Talisman of El, Alecia Stone
• Birdie Down, Jim Graham
• Dark Kiss, Michelle Rowen
• Across the Universe, Beth Revis

My favourite? Cinder – it was just a great read in every way and I didn’t want it to end.

Coming in June

First up, I’ll be joining in with the Jubilee Giveaway Hop and giving away a choice of books in honour of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee! Check back tomorrow to enter.

While those lucky people in New York will be at the Book Expo of America next week, the rest of us can join in with Armchair BEA! There are plenty of giveaways and fun things going on next week.

Announcing Discover Australian Fantasy – July

The rest of June will mostly be spent in preparation for July – you see, I’m holding my first major feature. Inspired by the Australian National Year of Reading‘s theme for July, “Discover”, I’ll be reading, reviewing and showcasing a Fantasy books by Aussie authors in my Discover Australian Fantasy month. I have found so many awesome books to read while putting a list together for this that it might end up being a semi-annual thing. Anyway, stay tuned, it’s going to be lots of fun!

I’m still working out all the details, but if you’re a fantasy reader and you’re interested in joining in with a guest review or guest post, please get in touch.