Monthly Wrap-Up – May 2025

In today’s monthly wrap-up post, I recap the books from my May TBR that I picked up over the course of last month.

Whilst I didn’t get to all the books on my reading list, I still had a great time with interesting non-fictions and epic fantasies. They’re very different genres, but I’ve read a variety this month.

Shall we take a look at what I read?

Books Read

The Poppy War

When I shared my May TBR I had just started The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang.

I really enjoyed The Poppy War and I’m delighted I’ve now started this series. Given I have completing series as a resolution for this year, it gives me every freedom to binge-read the remaining two books in the series!

As much as I loved it, it did take me longer to read than I anticipated. The plot is quite dense, and the history the narrative is based on is not something I’m familiar with. As a result, I think I ended up taking my time mostly to enjoy the world-building and take time to understand what was going on.

Now that I’ve got this far though, I think I’ve set myself up in good stead for the remainder of the series!

Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World

Picking up where I left off in my April monthly wrap-up post, I’ve continued listening to Crashed throughout most of May.

I initially wasn’t sure what I made of the book because it had a lot of political discourse throughout the first part. Although this did ease a little, I came to see why this was an important part of the narrative. I got used to this style throughout the course of the book.

Whilst I picked up Crashed in order to learn more about the 2007 to 2008 financial crisis, in truth it is covered far more than that. It argues why the subsequent eurozone recessions and bailouts are inherently linked to the American markets that caused the initial crises in 2007-2008.

I confess this isn’t going to be a book for everybody. It’s only because of my working background that I have an interest in the subject. However, if this sort of thing is your cup of tea, Crashed was an enjoyable listen and I’ll recommend it.

Ultra-Processed People

Another non-fiction I read in May is a book called Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken.

Honestly, Ultra-Processed People was an eye-opener. I had a suspicion it would make me re-think my perception of food, and I wasn’t wrong. One of the greatest traps with ultra-processed food (UPF) is that we don’t look or understand what’s in it. Things that seem harmless are cast in a different light once you know why they’re there.

Not only does Ultra-Processed People discuss what’s in food, but also the impact it’s having on people. UPF is no stranger in UK markets, but how its introduction into new Latin American markets has impacted society should be ringing alarms to everyone.

Again, Ultra-Processed People was a really informative read and I really wish more people could get their hands on a copy.

A Day of Fallen Night

Before the end of the month, I managed to listen to about 11 hours of A Day of Fallen Night. When you consider the audiobook is around 39 hours long, it doesn’t seem like massive progress. However, it works out about 34% or just shy of 300 pages. That’s a shorter book!

This book is one of two books I’m carrying forward from this monthly wrap-up post. So far, I’ve enjoyed the story unravel and learn about the history of the world in which The Priory of the Orange Tree is set. Taking place five centuries before that book, there are plenty of ties to that main book that add familiarity to the book whilst also standing alone.

A Day of Fallen Night is one of the first books I’ll be finishing in June and it will carry forward onto my June TBR.

Sunrise on the Reaping

At the end of the month, I had started and read about a third of Sunrise on the Reaping. It’s fair to say I enjoyed this book; I binge-read the remainder of the book on the first day of the month.

As such, it won’t feature on my June TBR because it’s already finished. However, what I can say is that this book lived up to my expectations of the series. Also, it means I’m now fully caught up on the series until or if another book comes out 🥳

Haymitch is quite a complex character even from the first series. What I love about Sunrise on the Reaping is that it unveils what happened to Haymitch. It explains what happened to make him into the rough character he starts out as in The Hunger Games. From a historical point of view, the world-building opportunity it filled in was perfect. If you love the main series, it’s a great way to enjoy the world again without re-reading.

Summary

May was a good month of reading overall. Although some books took longer for me to finish, a last-minute binge-read saved the day!

Thanks for reading today’s monthly wrap-up post. What have you read recently? Do you have any recommendations for me?

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