April was a stressful month, and May turned into kind of a mess of a month too. While I can think of a couple specific events that threw me off my game or caused some consternation, I can’t quite account for how grumpy the month made me and how happy I am to put it in the past. Two slumpy months in a row? Boo.
Despite general malaise, I did get a fair amount of reading done. And it was a strangely even mix of books: four fiction, four nonfiction, and four comics. Here’s the list:
- Johansen, Erika: The Invasion of the Tearling (fiction)
- Tamaki, Jillian and Mariko: This One Summer (comic)
- Gee, Allen: My Chinese-America (essays)
- Koerner, Brendan: The Skies Belong to Us (nonfiction)
- Riordan, Rick: The Red Pyramid (young adult)
- Stevenson, Noelle: Nimona (comic)
- Soule, Charles: She-Hulk, Vol. 1: Law and Disorder (comic)
- Soule, Charles: She-Hulk, Vol. 2: Disorderly Conduct (comic)
- Atkinson, Kate: A God in Ruins (fiction)
- Finkel, David: Thank You for Your Service (nonfiction)
- McDermid, Val: Northanger Abbey (fiction)
- Krakauer, Jon: Missoula (nonfiction)
If I had to pick a favorite in each genre, I’d go with A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson, Thank You for Your Service by David Finkel and Nimona by Noelle Stevenson. The Skies Belong to Us was a close second for nonfiction – a total page-turner, but it lost a little momentum at the end. And both volumes of She-Hulk were delightful in premise, but had some hiccups in execution (confusing panels and at least one issue of really ugly drawings).
Thanks for those who offered up suggestions on how to work through a review-writing slump. I’m going to take a suggestion from Bryan (Still Unfinished) to do a few posts on my reading highlights for the last couple of months, probably split into comics, fiction and nonfiction, then see where my blogging mojo takes me next. The nice thing about this space is that I can keep it focused on what I like to do which, for the moment, is reading and writing about books without formal reviews.
A Look to June
Hooray, summer. I am so excited. We’re heading to the cabin for a long weekend with friends mid-month, so I’m sure I will spend time agonizing about which beach reads to bring… then ignore them entirely in favor of day drinking and swimming. I’m hoping to make some progress with my summer reading list, as well as a book that just came from the library this week, In the Woods by Tana French.
I also just came across this summer reading guide from the Los Angeles Times that is very impressive. I haven’t dug into it very far yet, but the nonfiction list is great – so many titles I didn’t recognize! I’m on a book buying hiatus in June (sob!), but will be saving many of these titles for July and August.
I guess what I most want for this month is to bring the joy and the fun back into my life and, by extension, my reading life. I’m don’t quite know what that means, but I’m excited to see where a spirit of openness takes me in June…. I’ve turned into such a hippie!
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Ooo, a lot of really interesting things on this list. I just ordered Nimona, and I can’t wait to start.
I think you’ll like it!
Everyone’s loving Nimona!
Here’s hoping that June is a more fun month for you and your aim of openness sounds perfect. Enjoy!
When it comes down to it, you should always choose day drinking and swimming. 🙂
It’s hardly even a choice 🙂 The best is to start the day with reading, transition into day drinking/swimming, then end the day by the campfire. Perfection.
Thank You For Your Service!!! So glad you liked it! It’s one of my all-time favorite nonfictions and I haven’t heard that much about it in the blogger world. Maybe you can change that 🙂
I hadn’t heard much about it either, which is surprising given all the major awards in won in the last few years.
Thx for the heads up on the LA Times summer book list. Some interesting books coming
I hope June turns out to be a good month for you.
April and May were messy, chaotic months for me, too, and like you, I’m hoping to leave the chaos behind! What was My Chinese-America like?
I had mixed feelings on that one. Some of the essays, particularly those on race, were quite good. Others on masculinity and aging didn’t resonate with me.
What a great reading month, despite everything. Hope your June is amazing!
How did you like Northanger Abbey? I can’t tell if it would be fun or not.
I was mixed on it, probably 3/5 stars. I thought parts were really fun, but the dialogue didn’t feel authentic in a way that was a little distracting to me. I ended up wishing I’d just read the original instead.
Your cabin weekend sounds lovely! And I mean, you can read any time, but you’ve got to take advantage of the opportunity for day drinking and swimming when you can!
Exactly! I’m not sure how warm the lake is going to be just yet, but I’m sure we’ll be in the water a good chunk of the weekend 🙂