Tuesday, June 1, 2021

What We Read in May

Happy Tuesday! I came down with yet another cold last night so am dragging a bit today. This is my 3rd cold since early April plus I had the stomach flu. Ugh. This one major downside to people being out and about more! It doesn't help that my immune system is suppressed by several drugs I'm on, so it takes me longer than everyone else in my house to get over these bugs. Womp womp. 

But on a positive note - books! I finished 9 books in May and really enjoyed most of them!

Mom's reads:

This first pic features my favorite books of the month. Between Two Kingdoms is a memoir about the author's battle against cancer in her early 20s and then adjusting to life after cancer. This was my best read of the month and was so well written!! Group was another memoir I enjoyed. The author shares her experience with group therapy. I'm impressed by how honest and vulnerable the author was. Felix Ever After was my book club book for May - it's a YA novel about a transgendered teen. Everyone liked it and we had a great discussion. Gilead was a re-read for me. I read it when it was a new release and didn't love it as I think I was too young to appreciate that style of writing (it's very much character-driven with no plot). Long Bright River was a darker mystery about a police detective's search for her younger sister who struggles with addiction. 



This next batch of books ranged from pretty good to just ok. Mergers and Acquisitions was my least favorite read in May. Her tone rubbed me the wrong way at times. 


The Boys' Reading:

I didn't get many reading pics of the boys this month! Below, Will is sort of holding onto a baby faces book. He really pays attention to books when you read them. His favorite bedtime book is "Barnyard Dance" by Sandra Boynton! 


I picked up some library books for Paul when I grabbed a hold last week and our favorite was "I Found a Kitty." It is a really cute book about a dog who finds a kitten and tries to find a home for it. I requested the author's other book, "Can I Be Your Dog?" since this was such a hit with Paul! We also really enjoyed a book called "Daddies Do" which seems like the perfect read with Father's Day coming up!

What was the best book you read this month?

7 comments:

Sam said...

I'm reading The Secret History right now, which is pretty dark. It reminds me a bit of The Likeness by Tana French. I'm also listening to City of Girls on audio. I'm so excited a library near us is opened up again, and I'm going to take my daughter to browse for the first time this afternoon.

Grateful Kae said...

I finished The Giver of Stars which I just loved, and also for non-fiction read Digital Minimalism. I love stuff like that so I really enjoyed it. I have listened to/ read a bunch already about decreasing screen time, phone use, etc. so the actual concepts weren't really that new, but he made some good points that I found thought provoking. It was a pretty quick, easy read, too. I read more fiction than usual during late winter/ early spring, so I was really craving non-fiction. I think overall I like non-fiction best, so I needed to mix some back in. I'm now sticking on the Cal trend and just started Deep Work! I recently took Ethan to browse the library for the first time since reopening and he was pretty excited!

Jeanie said...

Gilead is on my pile. I've had it for at least 15 years.

San said...

9 books is impressive. Thanks for the recommendations. I am intrigued to read Gilead and Group. More books for my list! :)

Stephany said...

The 3 stars you gave to Anxious People affirms my decision to abandon it. Everyone says it's worth it for the end, but I just found all the characters so unlikable at the beginning that I just couldn't stomach another 200 or so pages of them!

The best book I read in May was probably A Night Divided by Jennifer Nielsen. It taught me so much about Germany after WWII and the era of the Berlin Wall. So much I didn't know! I also really enjoyed I'll Be There for You, which was all about Friends. So fun!

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

I am really enjoying the book that I am almost done, called "Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness". It is full of info I haven't read in any other book - very original and inspiring. It makes me want to add a lot more colour to our home, which we are in the process of doing.

Kamala Karthikeyan said...

Oh, thanks for the review on anxious people, I was wondering whether to get it next. Is "a man called ove" by the same author better?