In May I read seven books. This is exactly the amount I set myself up to read, though the ultimate list is not the same as the one I set out in the beginning of the month
I wanted to read:
- How to talk so kids will listen and listen so kids will talk by Adele Faber
- Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets by J.K. Rowling
- The final empire by Brandon Sanderson
- Mutiny on the Bounty by John Boyne
- Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
- My year of rest and relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
- Wondersmith by Jessica Townsend
The last two I didn’t get to finish in May, but I started both. The first is the book for my book club, but the meeting isn’t until the end of the month, so I still have some time. Wondersmith is my read aloud with my oldest son. We read one chapter on most evenings but not all. The book has 29 chapters, so finishing it in one month was a stretch to begin with. We will continue on in June.
I did however finish 7 in total since I had two books on my April TBR (To be read) list that I wasn’t done with and I finished them in the first couple of days.
- Books I still had to finish from my April TBR
Circe is a book about the goddess Circe and her exile on the island Aiaia. It is written in the most lyrical style, which gives you that perfect Greek myth vibe. I loved it so completely.
An American Marriage is about the wrongful imprisonment of Roy, a year after his wedding to Celestial. It’s written from three different perspectives: Ruy’s, Celestial’s and Andre’s, Celestial’s best friend and later on her lover. I didn’t dislike it, I just felt very little connection to the characters. This could be because I am not very familiar with the topic, which in light of recent events I should probably work on. - Books from my reading list
How to talk so kids will listen and listen so kids will talk is a classic in non fiction about parent-child communication. I found this book extremely helpful and practical. I went into it thinking I knew what to expect but it was so much more hands on advice than I gave it credit for. It containes a lot of examples of different situations and every chapter has a ‘questions asked’ part to it. The only downside of reading it is that I constantly catch myself doing it ‘wrong’ now, where as in the past I didn’t realise how uneffective some of my strategies were. - Books from challenges
Harry Potter and the Chamber of secrets probably doesn’t need a synopsis, but here you have it anyway. It’s about Harry Potter’s second year at Hogwarts school for Witchcraft and Wizardry during which he finds out there is a secret chamber somewhere in the castle containing the monster of Slytherin, which has been opened by its heir. It was with some reluctance that I promised my oldest son to (re)read the Harry Potter books, but this book, even more than the first one, really has been redeemed in my opinion. Growing up I was probably the only person of my generation not completelyy enchanted (pun intended) by the Potter universe, but this book had me laughing out loud at times and on the edge of my seat at others.
The final empire is the first book in the Mistborn trilogy. After reading Elantris in February and unexpectingly falling in love with fantasy, I felt more confident starting a series by the same autor. This one was even better. The magic system in which people can swallow and then burn different metals to gain certain powers, was so cool in my opinion. I loved the story of a band of bandits wanting to overthrow a thousand year old dictatorship and thereby free the ‘skaa’ or slaves. It had everything: cool friendships, action, politics, an (unexpected) romance. I tip my hat to Sanderson for converting me to fantasy. - Books from Book Bingo
Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe: I did not enjoy this one. It was rather boring throughout and oftentimes straight up cringeworthy. In the beginning I really liked the character of Dante especially, but as the book progressed neither him nor Aristoteles gained much depth. As long as it was talking about them becoming friends I still found it kind of cute, but I could not get into the evolution of their relationship to becoming a romance. It felt very out of the blue and forced just to make it an LGBTQ+ YA (Young Adult) novel.
Mutiny on the Bounty is a book by the same autor as The boy in the striped pajamas which I LOVED when I read it as an eighteen year old. I was very curious to read a historical fiction by the same hand set in the 18th century. I enjoyed it at times but the writing style wasn’t really my thing. It’s the story of a 14 year old boy who is given the opportunity to serve on a ship instead of going to prison after being caught as a petty thief. I think the writing is very believably the words of a 14 year old boy uneducated boy, so cuddos to the autor for that. Unfortunately that doesn’t make it very enticing or engaging.
So that’s it. Those are all the books I read in May 2020.
Books & Babies 