I wouldn’t normally do two posts in a row, but I really want to share all of the books I read in May 2024 - and with 16 books, it took two posts to share them with you! Like I said in my last post, you’re welcome to friend me on Goodreads if you’d like to see my reading in real time! * denotes one of my favorite books I’ve read this year that made its way onto my (ever-increasingly long) best books of 2024 list; ~ denotes that it is a children’s book.
*The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore:
Five stars. One of the unexpected highlights of this month; I picked it up from the library on a whim, and it was likely my favorite book of the month. It’s not a rom com in the traditional sense, but it is a love story—a love story to literature, and to friendship, and to the people that a good book brings together and the healing that those people can do when we open ourselves up to them. All the characters in this book are so very real and their dynamic with each other—of a misfits book club of people who couldn’t be more different but all bring something important to teach the others—is exquisite. They are all uniquely broken, and each wise in a different way that heals something in the other book club members. I was crying by the end, because it is just one of those perfect books that is so incredibly satisfying and you’re so sad it’s over, but your life has genuinely been bettered by you reading it. If you only read one book I suggest this year, you likely couldn’t go wrong with it being this one.
~*Bitsy Bat: School Star by Kaz Windness:
Five stars; an absolutely adorable book about a bat who tries to fit in at school, but learns that it’s ok to be different. A great children’s book about autism, using adorably illustrated animal creatures, by an autistic author. Definitely a great addition to any disability-affirming children’s library!
When in Rome by Sarah Adams:
Four stars. This is actually Adams’ first book in the When in Rome rom-com series about four siblings living in the tiny town of Rome, Kentucky; Practice Makes Perfect, which was one of my favorite April reads, is actually the second book in the series, but by the time I realized that, I was already hooked. This was a lovely trip back to Rome, but it didn’t quite live up to Practice Makes Perfect to me - maybe if I would have read them in the right order I would have liked this one better, who knows. Noah is the only brother with three sisters, and after his parents’ death he’s been the one to hold the family together and has no intentions of changing after finally returning to the town and taking over his grandmother’s pie shop: until runaway pop star Amelia comes and disrupts his entire world. This was still a very sweet romantic comedy, and Noah and Amelia definitely have great chemistry. I also love Noah’s—and later Amelia’s—dynamic with his sisters, especially Annie, who I had already fallen in love with after Practice Makes Perfect. I look forward to reading the next sister’s story when her book comes out (in the right order this time).
*Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett:
This is up tied with The Lonely Hearts Book Club as my front runner for my favorite book I read in May. Emily Wilde is an antisocial, begrudging fairy expert who, through our first book, goes on magical journeys through the fairy realms and starts falling for her coworker, an exiled fairy prince. This excellent second novel continues their adventures. Emily is such a great protagonist—I definitely feel an affinity with her, and love reading about a brilliant female academic, even if her specialty is in the fantastical realm. It’s a magical book that never felt too high fantasy for me to follow, and I’m absolutely heartbroken that the third book doesn’t come out until January.
Arsenic & Adobo by Mia P. Manansala:
Four stars. I had gotten kind of romcommed out by the end of the month, and I wanted something equally easy to read but with a distinctly different tone: and this cozy mystery about Filipino-American baker Lila and her family nicely fit the bill. I love Lila’s web of aunties, rivals, and family members, and her little dog too! There’s nothing super complex about this lighthearted whodunnit, but sometimes those books are exactly what you need! I felt very entertained and drawn into Lila’s world, and I can’t wait to read the next one.
So, that wraps up what I read in May; stay tuned for the rest of the 52 books I’ve read so far this year (hopefully I’ll share that sometime in June!) and for my June reads! Thank you so much again for reading this next installment of my blog; the next post will likely be something totally different—some thoughts about my school and career journey and how I got into the college disability access field nearly exactly five years ago!