Could it really be June already? Yes, obviously it is. So here’s my thoroughly exciting roundup of what went on at 12 Books Towers during May. Hang on to your hats.

Reading Life

I read 6 books this month, hurrah. So that’s 30 this year in total. 5 were by women and one by a man, 2 were by authors of colour and 4 by caucasians, 2 were non-fiction and 4 were fiction for children and young adults as per my comments from April Reads. It was a nice time.

Full list at the bottom of this post.

Writing Life

I’ve written a bit, but not as much as I might have liked. I started a short story about a cat (write what you know, yeah?) but didn’t make any submissions. I also thought about writing rather a lot, trying to get to the bottom of what my damn problem is. See this one blog post I managed to muster for more details on how that turned out.

Writer Life

May has been quite a busy old time, life wise. I had a week off work which featured much gardening, sleep, and a visit to St Andrews for my ten years together / 3 year wedding anniversary.

I watched the Eurovision Song Contest and enjoyed the silly tweets that ensued. I went to the launch of a poetry pamphlet (Curriculum Vitae by Roddy Shippin, available to buy at Lighthouse Books) and attended an exclusive Ambassador’s Reception at the Hidden Door Festival.

I decided to try going swimming, something I’ve not really done since I was about 14. So far I’ve been to 4 different pools and swum around 3,475 metres (or 139 lengths of a 25m pool) incredibly slowly. At the moment it takes me about 70 seconds to do one length. Other swimmers LOVE ME. Also, my Fitbit alleges I walked just over 140 miles in May, taking 317, 350 steps. Is that a good amount of steps? I have no idea. It averages out at very slightly over the government recommended 10,000 a day, so probably adequate at best.

I also had a couple of meals out with pals, visited two castles, had a fight with a lawnmower and, after ten years together, combined CD collections with my husband. Yes, we still have our CDs. Some of them are better than others. We decided we probably didn’t need to keep all three versions of the single version of Actually It’s Darkness so shout if you need one…

Books I listened to on Audible

Animal – Sara Pascoe

Books I read with my eyes

Flygirl – Sherri L. Smith

A Wrinkle in Time – Madeline L’Engle

Spark – Alice Broadway

Expecting – Chitra Ramaswamy

You’re A Bad Man, Mr Gum – Andy Stanton (re-read)