Have you read Theo of Golden??? I want to live in this book. It touched my soul. It makes me want to be a better person. I can’t say enough about how it is just sitting on my heart all day every day. Honestly, I think we should all read it. It will just make us happy for those moments.
Regeneration sounds fascinating, that’s one I haven’t heard of before. I read Things in Nature Merely Grow this month, which is heartbreaking. Currently working through another memoir, In The Days of My Youth… by Tom Junod
I read 9 books in May but my favorite is probably the one I just finished: The Songs of Betty Baach by Glenn Taylor. It came out in 2023 and it’s very lyrical and also like listening to a grandmother tell a story. It’s quite timely and feels a bit like it should be required reading. It won the Juniper Prize for Fiction from the UMass Press.
Oh, I totally agree with you ... settling my mind from the shit-show and relaxing. I, too, don't know how I read so many books. However, I think it was emotional and brain preservation. What a various array of topics. The List, (the stunningly beautiful book about Michele Obama's clothing, style and staff), Between Two Kingdoms (Suleika Jaouad) , We Solve Murders (Richard Osman), The Carpool Detectives (Chuck Hogan), Little Monsters (Adrienne Brodeur), Deconstructing (Karla Kamstra) and Devotions (Mary Oliver). Whew ! On to June reading.
I just finished Go Gentle and really enjoyed it, but I can understand why it isn't for everyone. I found the section about the disintegration of a marriage around the time of the 2016 election to have interesting things to say about what it felt like to be a woman in America during that time. That was my favorite part of the book. During May I also really enjoyed It's Only Drowning by a former Obama staffer. It's about how he learned to surf during the pandemic and how it drew him closer to his brother-in-law (also a surfer) with whom had had little else in common. And Gisele Pelicot's A Hymn to Life was fascinating!!
May was a good reading month for me! I completed Still Life (Sarah Winman), Last Night in Brooklyn (Xochitl Gonzales) and Bel Canto (Ann Patchett), and really enjoyed them all. The first two are really voice-y which I love.
I was too busy in May to do much of anything, so my number of books was down a lot, but I finished the second book of On the Calculation of Volume. I don't know what these books are about really and thought I would stop after book II and then damn it, there's a cliff hanger, so I guess I'm going on to book III.
I started and stopped Theo of Golden. I'm partially through Heart the Lover and I like that. Also enjoying What We Can Know and Homecoming. Absolutely still LOVING War and Peace. Very excited to begin Marilyn and Her Books.
I read Regeneration years ago and loved it. Craiglochart is now a university campus (Edinburgh Napier) and they hold their post graduation events there. My daughter graduated from Napier and I nipped out of the party to visit the War Poets. Very moving.
Hey Sarah, one more! I feel like you have mentioned this but if you haven’t read it you must! We The People by Jill Lepore is a fascinating history of the creation of the Constitution, followed by so many side stories about how they handled amendments, interpretation, conventions, race, women’s suffrage, all the things. It feels incredibly timely, even though the conflicts and stories are 200 years old (much of what I have read so far is in the pre-Civil-War 1800’s). I’m only about 1/3 of the way, but it’s pretty clear that she will be able to make some VERY strong connections to our times.
I read more books in May than I thought I would get to. Crying in H Mart, Yesteryear, American Fantasy, Christine from Sister Wives memoir, and one book in the Louise Penny beloved series. Probably had the most feelings about Yesteryear, had to know what all the fuss was about.
Hi! It's me! I live under a rock. I had seen the cover of Strangers and saw some comments about it on some groups I'm in, but had no idea what it was about or anything about the author until I read your blurb here. I think I'll check it out!
I loved Maria Simple’s first two books, but Go Gentle was a bit too madcap and confusing, and I don’t think she actually understands Stoic philosophy at all.
Have you read Theo of Golden??? I want to live in this book. It touched my soul. It makes me want to be a better person. I can’t say enough about how it is just sitting on my heart all day every day. Honestly, I think we should all read it. It will just make us happy for those moments.
No I've heard mixed reviews 😬
I hope you give it a chance. It is a very different book but I also think that’s why it sits with you. Just thinking about it makes me smile.
Regeneration sounds fascinating, that’s one I haven’t heard of before. I read Things in Nature Merely Grow this month, which is heartbreaking. Currently working through another memoir, In The Days of My Youth… by Tom Junod
I read 9 books in May but my favorite is probably the one I just finished: The Songs of Betty Baach by Glenn Taylor. It came out in 2023 and it’s very lyrical and also like listening to a grandmother tell a story. It’s quite timely and feels a bit like it should be required reading. It won the Juniper Prize for Fiction from the UMass Press.
Oh, I totally agree with you ... settling my mind from the shit-show and relaxing. I, too, don't know how I read so many books. However, I think it was emotional and brain preservation. What a various array of topics. The List, (the stunningly beautiful book about Michele Obama's clothing, style and staff), Between Two Kingdoms (Suleika Jaouad) , We Solve Murders (Richard Osman), The Carpool Detectives (Chuck Hogan), Little Monsters (Adrienne Brodeur), Deconstructing (Karla Kamstra) and Devotions (Mary Oliver). Whew ! On to June reading.
I loved Strangers!!!
I just finished Go Gentle and really enjoyed it, but I can understand why it isn't for everyone. I found the section about the disintegration of a marriage around the time of the 2016 election to have interesting things to say about what it felt like to be a woman in America during that time. That was my favorite part of the book. During May I also really enjoyed It's Only Drowning by a former Obama staffer. It's about how he learned to surf during the pandemic and how it drew him closer to his brother-in-law (also a surfer) with whom had had little else in common. And Gisele Pelicot's A Hymn to Life was fascinating!!
May was a good reading month for me! I completed Still Life (Sarah Winman), Last Night in Brooklyn (Xochitl Gonzales) and Bel Canto (Ann Patchett), and really enjoyed them all. The first two are really voice-y which I love.
I was too busy in May to do much of anything, so my number of books was down a lot, but I finished the second book of On the Calculation of Volume. I don't know what these books are about really and thought I would stop after book II and then damn it, there's a cliff hanger, so I guess I'm going on to book III.
I started and stopped Theo of Golden. I'm partially through Heart the Lover and I like that. Also enjoying What We Can Know and Homecoming. Absolutely still LOVING War and Peace. Very excited to begin Marilyn and Her Books.
I read Regeneration years ago and loved it. Craiglochart is now a university campus (Edinburgh Napier) and they hold their post graduation events there. My daughter graduated from Napier and I nipped out of the party to visit the War Poets. Very moving.
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne Brontë
Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver
The Widows of Malabar Hill, Sujata Massey
The Killing Time, Elly Griffiths
The Fair Botanists, Sara Sheridan
The Cromarty Library Circle, Shona Maclean
Careless People, Sarah Wynn-Williams
Ordinary Saints, Niamh Ni Mhaoileion
Hey Sarah, one more! I feel like you have mentioned this but if you haven’t read it you must! We The People by Jill Lepore is a fascinating history of the creation of the Constitution, followed by so many side stories about how they handled amendments, interpretation, conventions, race, women’s suffrage, all the things. It feels incredibly timely, even though the conflicts and stories are 200 years old (much of what I have read so far is in the pre-Civil-War 1800’s). I’m only about 1/3 of the way, but it’s pretty clear that she will be able to make some VERY strong connections to our times.
I read more books in May than I thought I would get to. Crying in H Mart, Yesteryear, American Fantasy, Christine from Sister Wives memoir, and one book in the Louise Penny beloved series. Probably had the most feelings about Yesteryear, had to know what all the fuss was about.
Hi! It's me! I live under a rock. I had seen the cover of Strangers and saw some comments about it on some groups I'm in, but had no idea what it was about or anything about the author until I read your blurb here. I think I'll check it out!
Clear your calendar!
I loved Maria Simple’s first two books, but Go Gentle was a bit too madcap and confusing, and I don’t think she actually understands Stoic philosophy at all.
I just finished Culpability by Bruce Holsinger, Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke and Strangers by Belle Burden. All amazing in different ways!