The 19 Books I Read in May
I’m always surprised that I read at ALL during birthday month, when there are so many festivities to be had! But this month stepped things up as I tried to catch up on the Goodreads goal that was seriously slacking… but overall, not a ton of great reads this month.
Some stats:
• 2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ reads.
• 8 books by Black authors.
• 4 library books.
• 6 were gifted from publishers.
• 3 nonfiction, 16 fiction, 19 total.
Here are the 19 books I read in May:
Absolutely Normal Chaos
by Sharon Creech
review:
sharon creech wrote SO MANY of the books seared into my mind from childhood 🙌🏼 like, it’s bizarre how my 29 year old brain remembered so much of the story reading it again two decades later!!! i think i’m officially on a mission to read her whole backlist now…
Dating You Hating You
by Christina Lauren
review:
making my way through the Christina Lauren back catalog and this one was a fun read for a sunny afternoon on my patio ☀️
it had major Hating Game vibes (but not quite as magical) and had a fun Hollywood setting with dueling talent agents and steamy chemistry 🔥
Love at First Like
by Hannah Orenstein
review:
there was very little i liked about this book, tbh 😬 the whole plot was built on lies and deceit to keep up instagram appearances and make money, nothing was believable, the characters (except for Raj, who got the majorly short end of the stick) were all so one dimensional and unlikeable… i was not a fan.
The Last Thing He Told Me
by Laura Dave
review:
when a book is a @bookofthemonth pick and then a @reesesbookclub pick, you go in with high expectations…
and it just didn’t wow me. 😭 i flewwww through the first half and was so hooked but the back half just didn’t deliver for me. the motivations and back story and reasoning for the major plot points wasn’t there, and i think it could have (should have) been a lot juicier and more convincing. 🤷🏼♀️ i liked it but gah it was so close to being so good!
Everything After
by Jill Santopolo
review:
This book felt like the movie Begin Again (Keira Knightley and Adam Levine), with one woman’s two loves and two choices of how her life will play out. One is the safer, more traditional way/man, one is the wild card/more free spirited path, but the struggle at the heart of this story didn’t feel that compelling to me. I didn’t really love the characters or find the relationships that engaging. I loooooved The Light We Lost by Santopolo so I was bummed to not love this one that much,
Killer Content
by Olivia Blacke
review:
killer content this was… not. BUT. it is a book and i finished it after almost a week of not reading at all so we are calling THAT a win even if this social media murder mystery was totally shallow, not very fun, and overall pretty uninteresting.
Rock the Boat
by Beck Dorey-Stein
★★★☆☆ // amazon
review:
thanks to @randomhouse for this one! ✨ this was a good summer read but quite honestly i already forgot what happened in the story… my brain is so fried, you all, books and me are STRUGGLING rn. it’s not the books, it’s me!!! 😭
The Final Revival of Opal &. Nev
by Dawnie Walton
★★★☆☆ // amazon
review:
it’s like daisy jones and the six, except for it didn’t hook me as much, it was a lot slower, there were deeper themes of race and allyship and activism, one of the leading characters was super one dimensional, the character development wasn’t as rich, and i still wanted to hear the music these fictional characters would have made!
How Far You Have Come: Musings on Beauty and Courage
by Morgan Harper Nichols
★★★★★ // amazon
review:
@morganharpernichols has such a WAY of weaving words and heart and soul together, and it’s beauuuuutiful. i loved this collection of poetry and art based on her travels across the country, and found it so relevant and rich. she’s just such a talent and i’m so grateful for the gifts she’s given us. 😍
Furia
by Yamile Saied Mendez
★★★★☆ // amazon
review:
i thoroughly enjoyed this one (FINALLY) — a strong female lead, breaking stereotypes, Argentinian culture and soccer, young love and big dreams… so good! 🔥
In Real Life: An English-Spanish Novel in Poems
by Leticia Sala
★★★★☆ // amazon
review:
this book was a completely unique one for me— it was a fictional story written entirely in poetry, both in spanish and english. i found it so intriguing and really fun to read! here for books that go outside the box 🙌🏼
The Office of Historical Corrections
by Danielle Evans
★★☆☆☆ // amazon
review:
this book taught me i don’t like short stories. i think i already knew this but it had been a while and there was a lot of good buzz around this one so i tried but… nope. i just can’t do it. these stories felt somber and depressing to me and just when i would settle into one, it would end. it’s not the book, it’s me! 🥴
Arsenic and Adobo
by Mia P. Manansala
★★★☆☆ // amazon
review:
this was a fun one, full of filipino culture and food and family dynamics, with a murder mystery unraveling in a small town with lots of small businesses at the core of the plot. it was a delight and would make great summer reading! i just wanted more from the lila/dr jae/amir love triangle than i got 🧐
Bloomability
by Sharon Creech
★★★☆☆ // amazon
review:
on a sharon creech kick — the nostalgia!!! — and this one unlocked memories i forgot i had. she writes middle grade/preteen stories so well, it’s so fun to revisit these stories and remember reading this back in the day!
Notes from Your Therapist
by Allyson Dinneen
★★★★☆ // amazon
review:
if you’re in therapy and ever wondered the types of things your therapist is thinking/feeling/experiencing, I think you’ll love this one — it’s a photo book with a few essays woven throughout, and it’s moving, poignant, sentimental, and encouraging
A Most Beautiful Thing: The True Story of America's First All-Black High School Rowing Team
by Arshay Cooper
★★★★★ // amazon
review:
this book was SO good 🙌🏼 loved this almost Friday Night Lights-esque memoir of a group of Black teenagers discovering rowing and finding their lives transformed as a result. it was told so well, layering the sport with the boys’ stories and adding in insights about race, class, and life in Chicago. also it 100% made me want to get on a rowing machine to try my hand at things!
Niksen: Embracing the Dutch Art of Doing Nothing
by Olga Mecking
★★☆☆☆ // amazon
review:
i’ve read the books on hygge and lagom and now, on niksen, and really, i’ve just come to the conclusion that europeans (and particularly scandinavians) have life figured out. 🙌🏼
(this book wasn’t great though)
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
by Erika L. Sanchez
★★★☆☆ // amazon
review:
this book was horribly depressing and super cynical and not very enjoyable to read? but it won a lot of awards and had strong voice (albeit a selfish, immature, angsty one)?
The Hunting Wives
by May Cobb
★★☆☆☆ // amazon
review:
If you like stories of snobby, high society women without much personality who cheat on their husbands and shoot guns and have inappropriate affairs with the high school children of their friends… this one is for you…
but, like, it’s bizarre and uncomfortable to read and there’s a lot of murder because these people are genuinely messed up?
