All My May Reading

This a another big book post but I want to catch up on my reading posts somewhat quickly so the following is everything I read in May.

This book was so good. Abby Jimenez just never lets me down.

While I really loved Olive Kitteridge by this same author, I found this book boring. I had high expectations for it so I was a little disappointed.

I read this book because an Instagram friend was raving about it. While it was interesting, and I enjoyed that it was about languages, it was also too fantastical for me. It was also very long. If you're into fantasy which revolves around languages, than read it, but otherwise, I would skip it. (It just hit me, as I was writing this, that Dave would probably really enjoy this book!).

This was a book which I discovered through Sharon Says So on Instagram. Do you all follow her? I find she often has great book recommendations, however I thought this one was just okay. I was disappointed because I've found some of my favourite historical non-fiction through her so I had high expectations.

I really enjoyed this book. It is written in two timelines -- present-ish day and the 1600s. I enjoyed the story set in the 1600s more but that might have been because it was filled with historical figures of English literature, which is what I studied. Anyways, I thought this was a great story with an interesting premise.

Another Elin Hilderbrand novel -- I wanted to finish this series, even though I read it in reverse order. I'm almost done reading her books now.

I read this book because one of my book club members read it for another book club she's a part of and she really disliked it. I thought it was okay but not great. It's the story of Madeleine Astor who lost her husband on the Titanic. I had heard of her but I don't think I'd realized how great their age difference was (she was 18, he was 47) and, for me, that kept me from fully engaging with the story; there was always a bit of an "ick" factor.

 This was another book that I saw on a couple of "must read" lists so I picked it up. I thought it was okay but I didn't love it. It was fairly long and I think by the time I picked it up, I just needed a less epic novel.

This was our book club book for May. I thought it raised some interesting points, and it made me look at a few things (how I eat, how I talk to my kids about food) differently, but I thought it was a little too depressing in that it clearly explained the issues but, I felt, it didn't offer a lot of hopeful solutions.

I clearly needed a little light reading and JD Robb rarely fails to entertain me :)

I was expecting this book to be really good as I've enjoyed Jenoff's novels in the past. However, it left me feeling a little flat. I just couldn't get into the story or care about any of the characters.

I am doing a re-read of some of Jimenez' books and the first time I read this book, I cried so much I gave myself a headache. This time, while I enjoyed it, it didn't affect me in the same way, although I did shed a few tears.

I loved this book. This is one of those books where I envy anyone who hasn't yet read it because you're in for a treat. It was just a really good book and I want to read more from this author -- in fact, I hope she writes a sequel. I just want more!

I was re-reading this series and this was the last one in my re-read. I can't even remember what this particular story was about but I know these are a fun series of regency romances :)

Yes, I gave Laurie Gilmore another chance. Yes, it was just okay.

I don't remember where I found out abut this book (maybe I should start keeping track of where my recommendations come from!), but I really enjoyed it. I just really liked the story of Marilyn and Ada and I didn't want it to end.

So this is what I read in the month of May -- there were some really good books and some that I was just "ho hum" about. Have you read any of these? Which did you enjoy? 

May total: 16

2025 total: 85