MAY 2024 WRAP UP // A LETTER FROM COCO

hello, hello dear friends! happy june! i hope your may was lovely, and treated you well. 

may was a very busy month for me! it was accompanied by seeing some dear friends from out of town, attending some concerts, traveling, and of course, getting sick again. while i was traveling (and having what was, undoubtedly, the travel day from hell), i decided to spend some time doodling, so this month’s wrap up will look a little different. 

this month, i read 8 books. it seems like my reading momentum i started the year out with has waned, and i’m averaging about 8 books a month now — which is fine; taking a step back from pressuring myself to read all the time is, ultimately a good thing.

here’s a list of everything i’ve read this month: 

1. this summer will be different by carley fortune (arc)
2. the viscount who loved me by julia quinn (reread)
3. romancing mister bridgerton by julia quinn (reread)
4. the iliad by homer (narrated by audra mcdonald)(audiobook)
5. a novel love story by ashley poston (arc)
6. when he was wicked by julia quinn (reread)
7. a banh mi for two by trinity nguyen (arc)
8. the secret garden by frances hodgson burnett (audiobook)

this month, my favorite reads were the iliad, and a banh mi for two, although i did also really enjoy both this summer will be different and a novel love story. overall, may was a pretty good reading month for me in terms of enjoyment. aside from catching up on arcs, and hopefully making more progress with my gatsby annotations, i don’t think i have a specific june TBR! 

i got to see both lizzy mcalpine and holly humberstone in concert — i’ve loved holly humberstone for a while now, and she was a big reason why i went to lollapalooza last year, so getting to see her headline tour was incredibly special! aside from listening to a lot of lizzy and holly, i’ve also been looping billie eilish’s new album, hit me hard and soft, as well as my musical theater playlist. 

other things i’ve been loving lately:

• playing hometown tourist: i’ve lived in seattle for quite some time now, and didn’t know that the seattle aquarium is home to the first otter in the world to be diagnosed with asthma. walking around pike place through the wonderstruck lens of a friend who was falling in love with my city was very, very special.
• exploring different little drinks: may was a month of drink exploration and trying new things. ube milk tea from dough zone, brown sugar cinnamon latte from oddfellows, maple lavender latte from pike street coffee, tous les jours’ tiramisu latte … it’s been a good month for fun little drinks!
• challengers: i finally went to watch challengers, and absolutely loved it. i want to watch it again, and again.  this leterboxd review lives in my mind rent free.
• time loops: i’ve always been a time loop girlie, but more specifically, have spent a lot of time asking those around me about time loops this month — what would you do if you were in a time loop? how would you spend your time? would you tell anyone? if so, who? 
• creating little puzzles for my friends: custom strands, custom wordles, and connections — you name it. i’ve been an avid wordle/strands/connections girlie (although now i mostly stick to strands), and have started making my friends their own puzzles based on inside jokes, common interests, or other things.