My Month Is Booked: May 2025

Welcome to the My Month is Booked linkup! :] I just came back from Ireland yesterday so this post is technically scheduled into the future from 1 week ago. I may be including some of my reads from last month into the next one since I didn’t get a chance to update this!

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Sunrise on the Reaping, by Suzanne Collins – If you’ve never read the series, it’s set in a dystopian North America where the Capitol keeps its 12 different districts in line by forcing them to send 1 boy and 1 girl between the ages of 12-18 to participate in the annual Hunger Games — a fight to the death on live TV. SOTR is written in the POV of Haymitch + his experience in the 50th Hunger Games/2nd Quarter Quell, where double the amount of children are “reaped” for the games.

I read the Hunger Games trilogy over a decade ago and loved it, although it did send me into a wave of melancholy. SOTR read as more juvenile than the books from Katniss’ point of view, but I do feel that fits because Haymitch is only 16 + didn’t have to mature as quickly/basically be caretaker of the family starting at the age of 11 like Katniss did. Hearing him so young, in love, and full of hope for life and knowing what happens by the time we get to the original trilogy definitely sent me back into a wave of sadness + made me want to read the whole series again (and also watch the movies because this one is now slated for a movie in November 2026!). The chilling power of propaganda is very much highlighted in this book.

I feel like prequels are often hit or miss (more likely miss), but this was amazingly well done. If you’ve already read the original trilogy, you already know (roughly) what goes down in the book, but you’ll still find yourself rooting for/getting attached to multiple characters and wanting to cry when it goes the way you knew it would. I loved how the author connected so many things from the trilogy + the other prequel (The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes).

Expiration Dates, by Rebecca Serle – This was quick/short read (listen) about Daphne Bell, a woman who receives a slip of paper with a name and a number on it for every relationship she will be in. The number is the exact amount of time they will be together. One day, she receives a piece of paper with just a name and no number — is this “The One”/her happily ever after?

I’m still kinda on a magical realism kick right now and really liked the idea of this, but I feel like the execution fell flat. The story flitted back and forth her past and present relationships + felt somewhat disjointed. I would’ve enjoyed more character development than hearing about what each character wore, what restaurant they went to eat at, and what streets/areas in LA it’s close to. That being said, there were some heartwarming moments + I liked the overall message of the story (to live life to the fullest!).

The Top Five Regrets of the Dying, by Bronnie Ware – This read more as a partial memoir for pieces of the author’s life while she was working as a palliative caregiver. I will admit that I felt I had to force myself to finish it for the sake of finishing it, but the overall lessons are important. If you don’t mind “spoilers,” here they are:

Regret 1: I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
Regret 2: I wish I hadn’t worked so much.
Regret 3: I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
Regret 4: I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
Regret 5: I wish that I had let myself be happier.

The Lost Village, by Camilla Sten – A documentary filmmaker, Alice, brings in a small crew of friends to a remote village where, in 1959, her grandmother’s entire family disappeared with the village’s population of 900. The only two people left — a woman stoned to death in the town center + an abandoned newborn baby — leave questions she wants answered. But not long after they set up camp, people go missing and equipment is destroyed, and Alice comes to the realization that they are not alone.

This flits between present day and 1959 + the author does very well with instilling a constant state of dread in this book. I feel like I would’ve enjoyed it more though if the characters had been more well developed and the ending left me wanting (didn’t feel very believable and seemed somewhat simplistic after such a buildup).

Into the Drowning Deep, by Mira Grant – After reading the Lost Village, I wanted to read a more satisfying thriller. This one is perhaps a little too satisfying, but remarkably well written. A crew travels to the Mariana Trench to film a mockumentary in ancient mythical sea creatures. No trace of them is ever found again, but the footage left behind is, to put it very lightly, troubling. This is set 7 years later, after a new crew is assembled to go back to find out what happened.

If you’re into deep sea horror and feeling an overwhelming sense of dread throughout, the author does this very, very well. I loved how in-depth she went into the science aspect, to the point where you could almost believe these creatures actually could exist. (I sincerely hope they don’t. 😅) The ending felt really abrupt, but overall I really enjoyed this despite it not being something I’d usually pick up. I will likely be reading everything else she’s written!

• What did you read last month?
• Any absolute favorites that you’d recommend for me to read too?