In May, I visited family in Phoenix, and Mr. CG and I went to a Washington Spirit game, a rosé tasting, and celebrated the Memorial Day weekend with our closest friends. I worked on my garden, though the weather’s gone from ridiculously hot to ridiculously cold – and we have to replace our fence so there isn’t too much point planting things. I’m close to wrapping up my first year of teaching, which has been enormously rewarding, though I’m not sure yet what I’ll be doing next year.
This month I attended a bunch of events at my favorite local bookstore, Old Town Books. I went to a summer reading guide event, a book club discussion for All the World Can Hold, and a discussion with Annie Hartnett, author of The Road to Tender Hearts.
I’m also looking at how I can use Instagram more to support the blog, with some new graphics (not my strong point!) or possibly even video. I’d love to hear from any of you with suggestions! That’s a summer project, since I’ll have some time off.
Here’s what I read in May:
- The Running Man by Stephen King
- Brigands and Breadknives by Travis Baldree
- Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
- The Girl with a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean
- Walk by Courtney Conley and Milica McDowell
- Here We Go Again by Alison Cochrun
- All the World Can Hold by Jung Yun
- Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz
- Go Gentle by Maria Semple
- The Giver by Lois Lowry
- How to Be Okay When Nothing is Okay by Jenny Lawson
My favorite reads:
All the World Can Hold: I loved this book about three people who take a cruise to the Bahamas right after September 11, 2001 (none of them want to be there). The three narrators span different generations; one is right out of graduate school, one is married and celebrating the 80th birthday of her mother, and one is a semi-retired actor. September 11 provides an interesting backdrop to these characters’ issues, putting their lives in a new perspective. Juxtaposed with that, the cruise is a “reunion cruise” for a show modeled after the 80’s The Love Boat. Some readers won’t have any connection to that, but I thoroughly enjoyed all the references. Will these characters all have their problems fixed by the end of the cruise? Tune in and see.
The Girl With a Thousand Faces: I loved this book so much. It’s a blend of Chinese mythology, history, and horror, in a story that’s really about betrayal and forgiveness. Sunyi Dean is now a must-read author for me. Please read my review for more details.
Disappointing reads:
I didn’t finish Dear Monica Lewinsky. I wanted to like it, but found the main character annoying and the story plodding.
I wanted to love Brigands and Breadknives but it was just okay for me. The humor was great, but the story and the character issues felt repetitive (but that cover is fantastic).
I had mixed feelings about Vera Wong. This book is laugh-out-loud funny, and I appreciated that it had heart and humor without being too heavy. The main thing that detracted was that its 60-year-old MC was written more like an 80 year old, and Sutanto went back and forth between having her be a doddering old lady and ridiculously all-knowing. I wanted less extremes and more character development.
On the blog:
I reviewed The Girl With a Thousand Faces, Go Gentle, Walk, and How to Be Okay When Nothing is Okay, and I wrote about favorite books by my favorite authors and my 20 Books of Summer reading list.
Books for challenges:
- Nonfiction: Walk, How to Be Okay
- Speccy Fiction: Automatic Noodle, The Girl With a Thousand Faces, The Giver, Brigands and Breadknives, The Running Man
- Backlist: Here We Go Again, Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers
What I’m reading in June:
You can find my 20 Books of Summer list here. I’m currently reading Mother Tongue, Funny Story, and I’m just starting Station Eternity. I’ll be reading Villa Coco next.
That’s my May wrap-up. In June we have a trip to Croatia and Slovenia that I’m very excited about. I hope you’re enjoying the summer and reading something good!
