Best Books of May
As I say every month, I’m shamelessly stealing this idea from Jessica Lahey. She has a recurring monthly date where she reviews all the books she read that month. Book reviews are important for authors, and I want to get better about doing this.
So. I’m going to review them here and also online, but I’m going to do it a little differently. I’m only going to review the stuff I really liked. I don’t see a reason to spend my time writing about something I didn’t love; it’s just using up more of my energy. So only positive reviews.
These are the books I liked (or mostly liked) from May.
Every Last Fear (Alex Finlay): I chose this book because the author is from D.C. The book is not set in D.C., so it made zero difference. (Note to self: setting is probably more important than author’s location.) I guessed the ending pretty early on, but I still enjoyed getting to that end. It was a quick read.
The Bookshop on the Corner (Jenny Colgan): This book made me happy every minute while I was reading it. Isn’t that so rare? Where you feel good just from reading someone else’s words? But I did—I felt happy reading this book.
Defekt (Nino Cipri): This is the second book in the LitenVerse (Finna was the first), and the author performed a rare feat: a second book even better than the first. It was a weird, wonderful follow-up to Finna, making me love the first book even more. If you like the idea of a Scandinavian Narnia in a fake IKEA, this book is for you.
Eliza Starts a Rumour (Jane Rosen): I loved this book right up until the ending, which feels awful to say because the ending was the point of the book. But the ending felt… not part of the first 80% of this book. And I’m not sure I would recommend it to others because I think some would find it very upsetting. So why am I putting it here? Because I liked the author’s writing a lot, and I would give her future books a read. But go into this one with a massive heads up.
The Woman in the Window (A. J. Finn): I was promised more twists. This book did not deliver because you can see the twists coming from super far away. But it was such a quick, engaging read. I tore through it in a night or two. It lacks thriller depth and creativity, but it has thriller pacing perfection.
Bruno, Chief of Police (Martin Walker): This is my favourite new series. (Well, new to me. The books have been around for a while.) I feel like I’m in a small town in France while reading it. As the chief of police in a small town with very little crime, the main character is more often taking care of his chickens, playing tennis, or chatting with the local townspeople. It mentally transports me, which is high praise during the pandemic while we can’t travel.
What did you read last month?
5 comments
I felt the same about The Woman in the Window. I liked it but the twists were not especially twisty. I am currently reading Local Woman Missing which, so far, is delivering much more in that respect. I can’t fully recommend it yet because I haven’t finished and – as we all learned from Gone Girl – sloppy details at the end can mar an otherwise great story.
I read 9 (!) books in May, which is pretty good for me, especially lately! They’re all reviewed on my blog (and on Goodreads):
* “What’s Not Said” by Valerie Taylor (NoMo/Gateway Women book club pick). I’ll admit, this is not one I would have picked myself. The heroine is a middle-aged childless woman (the one thing I did appreciate about it) who has decided to leave her husband and move in with her hot young lover… only to have her husband wind up in the hospital with kidney disease the night before she was going to serve him with divorce papers. None of the main characters were especially likeable, and the plot had some unbelievable soap opera-ish twists.
* “Sorrow and Bliss” by Meg Mason. This was probably the best book I read in May. Mental illness, childlessness and family drama, with a lot of British wit & humour on the side.
* “Us” by David Nicholls. I enjoyed this one tremendously too — thank you for the recommendation, Mel! — about a middle-aged man trying desperately to hold his marriage and family together as they take a “grand tour” around Europe before sending their son off to college in the fall. The TV version starts on PBS this weekend. 🙂
* Three novels by D.E. Stevenson (a favourite mid-20th century Scottish author of mine from growing up): “Katherine’s Marriage” (a group read with my DES online fan group), “Summerhills” (in advance of our current group read), and “Still Glides the Stream” (the one we’ll be reading together next).
* “The Windsor Knot” by S.J. Bennett. This one was a whole lot of fun — a murder at Windsor Castle, with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II playing detective! 🙂
* “Before and After” by Alison Wilson. I picked this one up after watching the drama “Mrs. Wilson” on PBS. It’s an amazing story, but let’s just say that in this case, the TV show tells it better.
* “Chronicles of Avonlea” by L.M. Montgomery (with my LMM Readathon group on Facebook).
My current reads: “Emily of New Moon” by L.M. Montgomery (which the Facebook group will be reading & discussing together over the summer), and “Anxious People” by Fredrik Backman (for another online book club I’m in).
I look forward to this post every month. Here are some good books I read in May (this was a REALLY good reading month for me):
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys. Definitely not a light read but compelling with good character development and an interesting narrative.
I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown. This was a hard read in places because of its content but very readable and well worth the time spent.
Blood Moon: A Captive’s Tale by Ruth Hull Chatlien. Full disclosure, the author is a distant cousin on my mother’s side. I enjoyed this book, which is based on true events and tells the story of a young mother’s capture by Sioux in 1862 Minnesota.
The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths. This book is about an archaeologist and her involvement in a murder investigation, but it’s so much more. So excited that this book is the first of a series about the main character and can’t wait to read more.
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan. This book had been on my TBR list for years, and my only regret is that I waited this long to read it! Great story, interesting characters.
Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes. This is the story of a young widow and a washed-up major league pitcher starting their lives over in small town Maine. It’s a love story but so much more as well. An interest and ultimately uplifting book.
Serena by Ron Rash. This book is another that sat on my shelf unread for years. Wonderful story-telling and the title character is a unique and strong woman, esp. for the time period (1920s rural North Carolina).
The Almost Sisters by Joshilyn Jackson. This was a 3.5-star read for me, bumped up to 4 stars on Goodreads due to the author’s reading of the audiobook, which I enjoyed. I liked the main character/narrator a lot and enjoyed the other characters and story as well.
I’m reading The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw right now, and it is pretty fantastic. It’s a short collection of short stories, and I loved 2 of the 5-6 that I’ve read so far and liked the rest. I just won a copy of Seven Days in June by Tia Williams, so I can’t wait to read that!
I just started the Inspector Bruno series as well :D!
I’m also reading Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell (loving it) and The Designated Mourner by Wallace Shawn right now…