May 2022 Reads

I think I broke my own record for number of books started and stopped this month. Between exciting personal events like the launch of my first virtual discussion groups to endless bad news in the world, my attention span for reading truly suffered.

Fortunately, recommendations from friends, buddy read deadlines and book clubs kept me reading and I ended the month having read a couple of really good books.

Details below!

Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak- I read this during a Read with Toni read along. I did like this one but I definitely enjoyed the discussion more than the story. This book features an inanimate narrator and while this is not a show stopper for me (hello Book Thief- one of my all time favorites), it just didn’t quite work for me here. I also somehow missed the twist at the end until the discussion so there was that…

Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak- I really, really wanted to like this book and I did, until I didn’t. The premise is amazing and the twist, while totally crazy, was really well done but for some reason, I just can’t really recommend this book.

The Sweet Hereafter by Russell Banks- This book was published ages ago yet somehow, until it came up during a discussion in my Exploring Why Stories Matter group, I had never heard of it. And now- it will be on my all time favorites list. The writing was great, the story completed hooked me from the very beginning and it is highly discussable. In other words, it checks all my boxes!

The Song of a Captive Bird by Jasmin Darznik- I read this book with a few on-line bookish friends and was again so grateful for group reads. I had not heard of this book or the Iranian poet, Forough Farrokhzad, who is the main character in this work of historical fiction. After finishing, I was compelled to learn more about both the poet and Iran which I consider the mark of great historical fiction.

Mercy Street by Jennifer Haigh- We are reading Mercy Street in my first Read Along for… virtual group so I am not going to say much about it here. More to come on this one for sure and it is not too late to join us if you woudl like to discuss this book with a group of thoughtful readers. Follow this link to register- I’d love to have you!