My Monthly Wrap-Up | May 2021

Hello ladies & gentlemen,

The month has come to an end and it’s time to do a quick wrap-up of what has been done.

Reading Breakdown.

Novels read: 2 ().
Comic books read: 18 (↑7).
Manga volumes read: 17 (↑7).

BOOK REVIEWS.

Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells.
Chaos by Iris Johansen.

COMIC BOOK REVIEWS.

Superman: The Last Son by Geoff Johns and Richard Donner.
Digital Mini Reviews | Light Reads to Get You Through the Day.
Hellsing (Vol. 1) by Kohta Hirano.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The IDW Collection (Vol. 1) by Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz.
Harrow County Omnibus (Vol. 2) by Cullen Bunn.
Hellblazer: Rise and Fall by Tom Taylor.

MOVIE REVIEWS.

Superman Extended TV Cut (1978).

VIDEO GAME REVIEWS.

Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered (2020).


TOP BOOK.

Fullmetal Alchemist (Vol. 1 to 9) by Hiromu Arakawa.

I decided to finally tackle this 26 volume manga this month (already 9 volumes in) since my girlfriend has been binging the hell out of both anime adaptations lately and I am really glad that I did! The series so far has been fantastic and never dropped in quality so far. It continues to brilliantly balance drama, comedy, and action in such an addictive way that it’s hard to not want to keep going! More on this series when I complete it! 😉

LEAST FAVOURITE BOOK.

Chaos by Iris Johansen.

My first and probably last book by Iris Johansen. I think I got a good idea of how and what she writes about and I’ll leave her to anyone who’s a fan of romantic suspense…

Check out my review of this novel for more on my thoughts.

TOP MOVIE.

Out of the 14 movies I watched in May, The Iron Giant (1999) was my favourite. This was one of the 12 movies that I have on my watchlist this year. I do remember bits and pieces of the movie as a kid but I don’t remember much of the story at all and, boy, was I pleasantly surprised by this movie in the end! A MUST-WATCH!

AMP EP 72 - The Iron Giant (1999) — THE ALIEN MOVIE PROJECT

Rating: 5 out of 5.

It’s a heart-wrenching masterpiece exposing America’s shameful xenophobia and obsessive militarism through an Iron Giant’s journey of self-discovery as he confronts the eternal debate of nature versus nurture through a beautiful bond with his innocent yet wise nine-year old friend.


CURRENTLY READING.

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The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman.

I’m almost done with this one and what a journey it has been so far! More on this one soon! 😉

PERSONAL LIFE.

May turned out exactly as I expected it to be and I couldn’t have asked for more. The first weeks were the most intense with the correction of assignments of the 60’ish students that I had. I can’t emphasize how dull it can get to repeatedly read through the same answers. Some people made it a bit more entertaining with creative answers but those who just wanted to be done with it clearly didn’t plan to do more than necessary to pass the class. I guess we can all relate to that feeling at some point in our lives!

Once those two weeks of correction were completed, I was able to maintain my reading habits, and even exceed my own expectations by reading more than what I achieved in April. Now I just need to squeeze a bit more reading time to get through more books (not just comics or manga heheh) in a month! But I doubt that’ll be for June with what I need to get done this summer.

The month of May did allow me to find a decent amount of stability in many facets of my life, helping me find a nice groove that I managed to maintain throughout the month. It was also reassuring to have finally gotten my first dose of the vaccine, giving me more and more the impression that life outdoors will be like in the good ol’ days. I mean, the government’s already out there promising that college/university students won’t have to respect social distancing measures as of Fall 2021! I’m just looking forward to the days where the pandemic will be a thing of the past, that people will have learned a thing or two, and that everyone will do better for a future we can all be happy about.

Excited Girl Happy GIF - ExcitedGirl Happy Yay - Discover & Share GIFs | Happy  gif, Cute little drawings, Cute love gif

Thank you all for checking out my monthly wrap-up and don’t forget to check out any posts that might interest you or that you might have missed out on!

Stay tuned for my Monthly Anticipation post coming out soon. 😉

So what’s going on with y’all? What have you discovered this month? What are your thoughts on the books/TV series/movies I’ve checked out?

Yours truly,

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32 thoughts on “My Monthly Wrap-Up | May 2021

  1. Fullmetal Alchemist? Count me in! 😄
    Glad to see you vaccinated (at least partly) and ready to roll, Lashaan! Also, I commiserate with you on correcting students’ papers! 😉

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Yes indeed! 😀 I’ve finished all 42 volumes of the original DB, and now a nice edition of DB and DBZ has already got to the top of my wish list! 😀

        Incidentally, a small post concerning DB will be coming up on our blog soon! I plan to make good use of my GR reviews 😉

        One Punch Man was a totally thumbs-down experience (very much in Nero’s style ;)); Yotsuba&! was much better, though still not as good as DB. DBS, at least the first few volumes, are a thorough disappointment. I’m waiting for Naruto’s first volumes now… 😉

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  2. It’s so true that getting vaccinated (I received my second dose less than a week ago) makes you feel ready – and eager – to take back your life with renewed optimism: those three jumping fluffy bird express my actual feelings perfectly! 😀

    Liked by 1 person

  3. I’m fully vaccinated and we aren’t even wearing masks at work anymore (we’re all vaccinated!) It’s so nice to start to get back to normal, and I look forward to doing many more things soon. Have a great month, Lashaan😁

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  4. I loved what I’ve seen of the first Fullmetal Alchemist anime series. I think I’ve watched most of it but I’m not sure. I suppose that means it’s time for a rewatch! I seem to also recall an entertaining live action movie. Never tried the manga, though. Perhaps one day. I’ve never seen The Iron Giant, I should check that out. Glad to hear life has been good for you this past month, Lashaan, and I hope it continues!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I’ve only heard praise for the anime through my high school days but somehow I missed the hype train for it, despite having been part of the other big title fandoms (Naruto, Bleach, Dragon Ball, etc.). I’m actually really glad to have decided to dive into the manga now. I saw the trailer for the live-action movie a while back but didn’t plan to check it out until I’ve read the manga. It’s definitely on my watchlist.

      I highly recommend The Iron Giant. I was surprised by all the underlying themes it tackled. The final minutes of the movie almost made me shed a tear too! Absolutely awesome movie. No wonder the character is so iconic!

      Hope you get around to doing a lot of fantastic things throughout June, Todd! Stay safe. 🙂

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  5. OMG!!! YOU’RE READING FULLMETAL!!! 😀 I LOVE THAT SHOW/MANGA!!
    Shout out to your GF for putting you on it.

    Glad you got your vaccine! And ditto on looking forward to when the pandemic is a thing of the past.
    In the mean time… FULLMETAL!!!

    Liked by 1 person

  6. I feel like I’m missing out on the Fullmetal Alchemist experience. I’ve heard so many amazing things about the series, I need to watch/read it. Confession, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Iron Giant. I can just see myself crying over the film. Also, super impressed you managed to fit in 14 movies, especially when you had to correct 60+ assignments. If it weren’t for my weekly buddy watch I probably would have been stuck browsing through my endless watchlist instead of actively watching haha. Here’s hoping that we’re leading to some brighter days with the vaccine rollout and the end of the pandemic hopefully in sight.
    Have a lovely June. 😀

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I’m with you there, throughout high school, I had friends rave about it but somehow I missed that train! But, clearly, it’s never too late. 😉 I’m having a blast now and I’m so glad to have plunged into this series! 😀 I’m convinced some of the last minutes of the movie will tear you up! I know it almost did on my end!!! 😮 Hahahah I hope you get to make the most of your month of June, Lois! Safe stay and have fun! 😀

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  7. Woaaahhh Lashaan. You don’t ever slow down, do ya? 😉 60+ assignments, 14 movies and reading and reviewing books at the same time too omg…how do you do it? And yay to your first dose of vaccine! I’m now fully vaccinated, but am still wearing my mask 🙂 gotta still protect others 😉 Happy June, btw! 😀

    Liked by 1 person

  8. I guess reading through the same answers gets boring at some point Lashaan! And I can’t wait for social distances to be abandonned!

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Congrats on getting your first vaccine dose! I definitely felt a bit of relief when I got mine and now that I’m fully vaccinated I am a bit more comfortable going outside, but I still wear a mask. It’s just nice that restaurants are open and bookstores and everything. I hope you have a great June!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I can’t wait for the second dose and feel like the pandemic is truly behind me going forward. Oh man, perusing aisles of bookshelves is going to be a heavenly experience when I enter my bookstore soon! Have an awesome month of June, Kal! 😀

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  10. Yaaay can’t wait to read your thoughts on FMA, though I think I should also re-watch the anime + read and finish the mangas…! Happy to read that you have gotten your first dose of the vaccine too! I also can’t wait to put this pandemic in the past! Hope this month of June is treating you well!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hahaha with your sister having completed both animes, I think it’s only a matter of time before you end up doing the same too. You just have to find time in your busy schedule to do so. 😛 I can’t wait to share my thoughts on the manga too (a bit over halfway done with it myself). 😀 Stay safe!

      Liked by 1 person

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