What I Read in May 2022
I did not expect to read 9 this month! I read all of the books I planned to read in May and more! Several of these are worth taking the time to read so be sure to read through my reviews and then shop the post at the end.
Here’s my May reading breakdown:
5 audiobooks
3 physical books
1 kindle book
Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman
Goodreads Synopsis:
Call Me by Your Name is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his parents' cliff-side mansion on the Italian Riviera. Unprepared for the consequences of their attraction, at first each feigns indifference. But during the restless summer weeks that follow, unrelenting buried currents of obsession and fear, fascination and desire, intensify their passion as they test the charged ground between them. What grows from the depths of their spirits is a romance of scarcely six weeks' duration and an experience that marks them for a lifetime. For what the two discover on the Riviera and during a sultry evening in Rome is the one thing both already fear they may never truly find again: total intimacy.
The psychological maneuvers that accompany attraction have seldom been more shrewdly captured than in André Aciman's frank, unsentimental, heartrending elegy to human passion.
Call Me by Your Name is clear-eyed, bare-knuckled, and ultimately unforgettable.
My Thoughts:
"Speaking abstractly was the only way of being honest with him."
I feel like I'm the last person to read this book but Oh. My. Gosh. This novel is absolutely beautiful. The prose reads like poetry. So much more than just a coming-of-age novel, Call Me By Your Name is an exploration of teenage desire and memory. I was simultaneously filled with hope for Elio and doubts about his future, especially with Oliver. Aciman really captures the longing you feel as a teenager... longing for the future and longing for someone else. Elio is constantly reading into subtleties in his interactions with Oliver, and in that way, he's somewhat unreliable as a narrator (especially since we are hearing the story as a retrospective of his life now that he's an adult). The way the author writes about the space between and overthinking everything with such accuracy made me feel emotional and nostalgic. His descriptions of passion, the Italian beaches, and what it's like to be a young student are vivid and dreamy. Reading this book I just kept thinking about how much of our identity is wrapped up in how we think others perceive us. I already want to read this book again but might settle for watching the movie next so I can compare.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Goodreads Synopsis:
What would you change if you could go back in time?
In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time.
In Before the Coffee Gets Cold, we meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the café’s time-travelling offer, in order to: confront the man who left them, receive a letter from their husband whose memory has been taken by early onset Alzheimer's, to see their sister one last time, and to meet the daughter they never got the chance to know.
But the journey into the past does not come without risks: customers must sit in a particular seat, they cannot leave the café, and finally, they must return to the present before the coffee gets cold .
Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s beautiful, moving story explores the age-old question: what would you change if you could travel back in time? More importantly, who would you want to meet, maybe for one last time?
My Thoughts:
I read The Midnight Library earlier this year and it shares very similar themes of death, loss, and regret with Before the Coffee Gets Cold. Each of the four storylines felt repetitive because of the way the cafe rules were stated over and over again. The tactic created a clear rhythm to set the stage for the novel but ultimately I found it a bit tedious to read. The cafe setting was cozy but felt too neatly boxed in. I would have enjoyed getting to experience a little more scenery or world-building, even through more flashbacks. I did enjoy the time-travel elements and an introduction to some of the Japanese culture and rituals. It wasn't my favorite book but I'm still glad I took the time to read it. Overall, I felt a lot of empathy towards the characters and I thought it was a good study of how we can overcome difficulties in life with the support of family and friends.
Starry-Eyed Love by Helena Hunting
Goodreads Synopsis:
Having just broken up with her boyfriend, London Spark is not in the mood to be hit on. Especially not when she’s out celebrating her single status with her sisters. So when a very attractive man pays for their drinks and then slips her his number, she passes it right back to him with a ‘thanks, but no thanks’. As the business administrator for their family’s event hotel, the Spark House, London has more important things to worry about, like bringing in new clientele.
As luck would have it, a multi-million-dollar company calls a few months later asking for a meeting to discuss a potential partnership, and London is eager to prove to her sisters, and herself, that she can land this deal. Just when she thinks she has nailed her presentation, the company’s CEO, Jackson Holt, walks in and inserts himself into the meeting. Not only that, but he also happens to be the same guy she turned down at the bar a few months ago.
As they begin to spend more time together, their working relationship blossoms into something more. It isn’t until their professional entanglements are finally over, that London and Jackson are finally ready to take the next step in their relationship. But between Jackson’s secretive past and London’s struggle with her sisters, London must question where she really stands - not just with Jackson, but with the Spark House, too.
My Thoughts:
What a fun romance!
I adored London and Jackson's slow-burn romance. As much as they wanted to keep their relationship professional, they couldn't seem to keep their hands off of each other! The real steam didn't show up until after the first half of the book, though.
There was some surprising depth to this story. The main characters shared a lot of formative life experiences including grief and the sacrifices that come with running a successful business. I liked that they had a flirty friendship and felt like they could talk through their problems with each other. The plot had layers of drama - siblings, work, and romantic relationships were strained. Communication was a huge theme in this story!
My only criticism is that the ending felt a little rushed and the story didn't feel resolved until reading the epilogue.
Even though this book can be read as a standalone, I want to go back and read the first Spark House book now!
I won a copy of this book from St. Martin's and Helena Hunting on Goodreads. All thoughts are my own.
The Right Thing to Do by LoveBitca8
Goodreads Synopsis:
Hermione felt the pounding in her ears again. She would see him for the first time since the Great Hall, gaunt and stricken at the Slytherin table with his mother clutching his arm. She hadn't meant to look for him. Not in the corridors, not beneath the white sheets of the fallen, not on the way to the Chamber of Secrets with Ron, but she was a stupid girl.
My Thoughts:
Evidently I really like Fan Fiction. This was my first foray into the Dramione (Draco/Hermione) universe and I can definitely tell you I’ll be reading the rest of the Rights and Wrongs series.
I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston
Goodreads Synopsis:
Chloe Green is so close to winning. After her moms moved her from SoCal to Alabama for high school, she’s spent the past four years dodging gossipy classmates and a puritanical administration at Willowgrove Christian Academy. The thing that’s kept her going: winning valedictorian. Her only rival: prom queen Shara Wheeler, the principal’s perfect progeny.
But a month before graduation, Shara kisses Chloe and vanishes.
On a furious hunt for answers, Chloe discovers she’s not the only one Shara kissed. There’s also Smith, Shara’s longtime quarterback sweetheart, and Rory, Shara’s bad boy neighbor with a crush. The three have nothing in common except Shara and the annoyingly cryptic notes she left behind, but together they must untangle Shara’s trail of clues and find her. It’ll be worth it, if Chloe can drag Shara back before graduation to beat her fair-and-square.
Thrown into an unlikely alliance, chasing a ghost through parties, break-ins, puzzles, and secrets revealed on monogrammed stationery, Chloe starts to suspect there might be more to this small town than she thought. And maybe—probably not, but maybe—more to Shara, too.
Fierce, funny, and frank, Casey McQuiston's I Kissed Shara Wheeler is about breaking the rules, getting messy, and finding love in unexpected places.
My Thoughts:
I feel conflicted about rating and reviewing this book because I don't think I'm the target audience. Casey McQuiston's foray into YA in my mind is decidedly geared toward high school students. Ultimately for me, it was a little too similar to Paper Towns by John Greene. The writing defies genres...part mystery, part YA romance, part queer coming-of-age story. The romance really kicked in when the characters started communicating their feelings better in the last 25% or so of the book. There's a scene where Smith gets bored of trying to find all Shara's clues and it happened at about the same point I considered giving up on this book. I'm glad I didn't. There were some really important conversations that happened between the characters and I hope this book gets into the hands of the people that need to read it most. Smith's discussion with Chloe about the definition of non-binary was particularly tender, and something only Casey could have written so beautifully and tactfully. As always, there's great representation in this story. It's disappointing that Chloe was so boring yet it's through her POV we hear the story. I also appreciated the content warning at the beginning about elements of this story's setting in the Bible belt. This wasn't my favorite book, but it's one I might recommend to the right person.
Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney
Goodreads Synopsis:
Frances is twenty-one years old, cool-headed and observant. A student in Dublin and an aspiring writer, at night she performs spoken word with her best friend Bobbi, who used to be her girlfriend. When they are interviewed and then befriended by Melissa, a well-known journalist who is married to Nick, an actor, they enter a world of beautiful houses, raucous dinner parties and holidays in Provence, beginning a complex ménage-à-quatre. But when Frances and Nick get unexpectedly closer, the sharply witty and emotion-averse Frances is forced to honestly confront her own vulnerabilities for the first time.
My Thoughts:
(Review from my original read) I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy this book going into it because 1. the reviews are all over the place and 2. the first few chapters had me questioning if I could overlook the unique lack of punctuation and short, often choppy and jarring sentence structure. I'm glad I kept reading. Once I got into a flow and started to read larger chunks, the story became more enticing and easier to devour. Sally Rooney is really, really good at writing unlovable characters that seduce you regardless of their flaws. She writes in a way that feels real. Maybe you can't relate personally to the people in her stories, but you know someone like them in real life. They all have a conflicting sense of surety and doubt about themselves. The way the characters grapple with their own morality and intelligence is endearing. They all have a certain self-awareness of their weaknesses but frustratingly, it doesn't help them communicate honestly with each other in the moment. Conversations with Friends is an honest look at the questionable decisions we justify for ourselves and dealing with the unsavory emotions that follow. Frances, Bobbi, Melissa, and Nick have to lose themselves and each other to figure out what they value in life. It's messy but their stories are forever intertwined.
One Night on the Island by Josie Silver
Goodreads Synopsis:
Spending her thirtieth birthday alone is the last thing that dating columnist Cleo wanted, but she is going on a self-coupling quasi-sabbatical--at the insistence of her boss--in the name of re-energizing herself and adding a new perspective to her column. The remote Irish island she's booked is a far cry from London, but at least it's a chance to hunker down in a luxury cabin and indulge in some quiet, solitary self-care while she figures out her next steps in her love life and her career.
Mac is also looking forward to some time to himself. With his life in Boston deteriorating in ways he can't bring himself to acknowledge, his soul searching has brought him to the same Irish island in search of his roots and some clarity. Unfortunately, a mix-up with the bookings means both solitude seekers have reserved the same one-bedroom hideaway on exactly the same dates.
Instantly at odds with each other, Cleo and Mac don't know how they're going to manage until the next weekly ferry arrives. But as the days go by, they no longer seem to mind each other's company quite as much as they thought they would...
Written with Josie Silver's signature warmth, charm and insights into the human heart, One Night on the Island explores the meaning of home, the joys of escape and how the things we think we want are never the things we really need.
My Thoughts:
This is the love story of a lifetime! When Cleo packs up her bags and heads to a remote island to "self-couple" for her 30th birthday, she finds more than she sets out for - she discovers herself, love in unexpected places, and the quirkiest group of ladies to befriend. One Night on the Island is so much more than an enemies-to-lovers romance. It reads like a women's fiction novel for the first half until it turns into an epic love story. Josie Silver's books are meant to be read slowly and savored. All of the relationships in the book are sweet. The dialogue between the characters is so incredibly heartfelt, human, and raw. I got swept up in the scenery of the island. Despite the rain, the setting of the cottage itself was as welcoming as the island community. Was this book perfect? No. But it gave me all the warm and cozy vibes I've been in search of lately. It left me feeling hopeful!
How to Talk so Little Kids Will Listen by Joanna Faber
Goodreads Synopsis:
For over thirty-five years, parents have turned to How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk for its respectful and effective solutions to the unending challenges of raising children. Now, in response to growing demand, Adele’s daughter, Joanna Faber, along with Julie King, tailor How to Talk’s powerful communication skills to children ages two to seven.
Faber and King, each a parenting expert in her own right, share their wisdom accumulated over years of conducting How To Talk workshops with parents and a broad variety of professionals. With a lively combination of storytelling, cartoons, and fly-on-the-wall discussions from their workshops, they provide concrete tools and tips that will transform your relationship with the young kids in your life.
What do you do with a little kid who…won’t brush her teeth…screams in his car seat…pinches the baby...refuses to eat vegetables…throws books in the library...runs rampant in the supermarket? Organized according to common challenges and conflicts, this book is an essential emergency first-aid manual of communication strategies, including a chapter that addresses the special needs of children with sensory processing and autism spectrum disorders.
This user-friendly guide will empower parents and caregivers of young children to forge rewarding, joyful relationships with terrible two-year-olds, truculent three-year-olds, ferocious four-year-olds, foolhardy five-year-olds, self-centered six-year-olds, and the occasional semi-civilized seven-year-old. And, it will help little kids grow into self-reliant big kids who are cooperative and connected to their parents, teachers, siblings, and peers.
My Thoughts:
Like every other toddler/preschool mom, I struggle with how to actually get my kid to listen. I tend to be skeptical of parenting books that promise results. I feel like we’ve tried just about everything. I decided to listen to this audiobook from the library at work anyways.
How to Talk so Little Kids Will Listen is broken into two sections: The Essential Toolbox and The Tools in Action. After the author introduces the tools, there are plenty of real-life accounts that help demonstrate how to put the tools into action. I found some of the personal anecdotes a bit redundant and annoying to get through (I’m a busy mom… just give me the refrigerator cheat sheet) but they truly help drive the point home and show how you can use new techniques to communicate with your kids. The catchphrase that stuck with me the most from the book is using “the problem is” to explain something vs. the word “but”.
The main takeaway is to be sure to acknowledge and name your little kids’ feelings! It's not a perfect method, and won't always work, but the technique is worth a shot.
The Maidens by Alex Michaelides
Goodreads Synopsis:
Edward Fosca is a murderer. Of this Mariana is certain. But Fosca is untouchable. A handsome and charismatic Greek Tragedy professor at Cambridge University, Fosca is adored by staff and students alike—particularly by the members of a secret society of female students known as The Maidens.
Mariana Andros is a brilliant but troubled group therapist who becomes fixated on The Maidens when one member, a friend of Mariana’s niece Zoe, is found murdered in Cambridge.
Mariana, who was once herself a student at the university, quickly suspects that behind the idyllic beauty of the spires and turrets, and beneath the ancient traditions, lies something sinister. And she becomes convinced that, despite his alibi, Edward Fosca is guilty of the murder. But why would the professor target one of his students? And why does he keep returning to the rites of Persephone, the maiden, and her journey to the underworld?
When another body is found, Mariana’s obsession with proving Fosca’s guilt spirals out of control, threatening to destroy her credibility as well as her closest relationships. But Mariana is determined to stop this killer, even if it costs her everything—including her own life.
My Thoughts:
The Maidens follows Mariana Andros, a group therapist (who is dealing with her own past trauma), as she investigates the murder of her niece's friend on the campus of her Alma Mater. I love a good campus novel and was intrigued by the premise of dark academia vibes meets psychological thriller. I had pretty high expectations for the book after seeing lots of rave reviews but after reading it I’m not sure I’d recommend it.
Things I liked:
college campus setting
short chapters
alternating (and unreliable) narrators
references to Greek literature/mythology
Things I disliked:
lack of character development
pacing
For a thriller, this book didn’t keep me engaged. There were many times (especially in the beginning) that I might have put it down and marked it as DNF. It was definitely a case of the description sounding super interesting and then the storytelling itself falling flat. The Maidens had a lot of potential but ultimately there were too many plot holes, unnecessary and undeveloped characters (hello, a million red herrings), and an unconvincing reveal. I wasn’t surprised by the killer, but the motive took me off guard. The last few chapters of the book made the reading worth my time.