What I Read: May

May was a very busy month. Our last day of school at the preschool was the 18th and then I subbed at the public schools every day except Wednesday, when they were in distance learning, after that. Some days I'd get the chance to read during the teacher's planning time but there were days when they didn't have a planning time because there weren't enough subs to cover a specials teacher who was out or there was an event during their plan time. There were also teachers who didn't leave sub plans so I'd spend their planning time, planning out what I'd do for the day. The last week of school I figured not many teachers would be out so I made a to-do list of all the things I wanted to get done that week, but I ended up subbing every day. It was an especially crazy week! One day I was scheduled to sub a full day for a teacher who was in quarantine but then she got back her Covid test results and they were negative so she was back at work but they forgot to cancel the sub job. So I showed up to find her there. I was able to pick up a half-day job at a different school and decided instead of going home to do chores, I'd take the morning for myself. I picked up coffee and a bagel at Panera with a gift card from teacher appreciation week at the preschool and took it to a park where I ate breakfast, read my book, and then took a little walk on their walking path. It was a wonderful morning and put me in a great mood to tackle subbing that afternoon!

 Books:

• The First Ladies of the United States by National Portrait Gallery- This was an impulse choice from a library visit. It was interesting to read the little blurbs about each first lady and see the portraits in the book. Many of the facts I already knew, but there were some that surprised me. I really enjoyed this and it was a short, easy read.
  

• A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness- A friend was so excited for me to read this, she ordered it and had it sent to me. I was really excited to read it but just couldn't get into it. The first half of the book I found myself just counting down the pages until the end. It finally grabbed my attention in the 2nd half and I really enjoyed it after that. It was the first book in a trilogy and I think I'll like the other books more. I have the 2nd book on hold as an audiobook.

• A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner- This book went back and forth between a survivor of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and a survivor of the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center Towers. I loved how she interwove their stories and I had never thought of the similarities of those tragedies until they were linked in this story. It was a very touching story. I think since I lived during the time of the September 11th attacks, that story really hit me and there were a couple points when I was sobbing while reading her story. I liked how she wove the characters together with the scarf.
  

• Maybe Now by Colleen Hoover- After I read Maybe Not as an ebook, I was excited there was another book in the series and it would again focus more on Sydney and Ridge's characters but also give a view into Maggie's life post-break up with Ridge. The book was just too gooey and sappy for me, with people just forgiving each other and understanding without tension. I didn't really like it and just finished it to see what happened with the characters.

• The Illuminated Adventures of Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo- I read this aloud with Carter. Elise listened in some days and other days wanted to go off and do something else. I found it at Goodwill and remembered my co-teacher during multiage read it to the class as a read aloud one year. I only heard parts of it because I'd be busy with other things but thought Carter would like it. While we were reading it, I subbed in a class where the teacher had pulled up a movie based on the book for the kids to watch for inside recess. I had no idea it was a movie and was super excited to watch it with the kids when we finished the book. They both loved it.
  
  
  

eBooks:

• A Very Punchable Face by Colin Jost- I'm not an SNL fan and really only ever watch clips of it on Youtube. I rarely watch a full episode, usually just when someone I really like is hosting. My mom recommended this one to me and I wasn't really sure who Colin Jost was but recognized the name. Later I realized I recognized his name from the opening credits of SNL. The book was good but I took forever to get through it because I was enjoying my regular books so much, I rarely read my ebook. My favorite chapter was about his mom's experience on September 11th. It was a super emotional chapter, but so well written and gave the perspective of firefighters.
  
  
  

• Maybe Not by Colleen Hoover- I don't remember how I stumbled across this book but I read Maybe Someday a while back and really liked it. I saw there were a couple more books in the series and was super excited to read them. I enjoyed this one, but it was just okay, not nearly as good as the first book. It was fun to see inside the relationship of 2 of the minor characters from the first book.

• How to Walk Away by Katherine Center- I've loved all her books so I was excited for this one. The main character is in a plane crash and suffers a spinal cord injury. There were aspects of her recovery that reminded me of Jeremy's accident and I could relate to that. It was really good, but probably my least favorite of her books. I like that it's always a happy ending, but realistically happy and not over the top.
  
  
  

Audiobooks:

• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot- This book was so good. There were so many parts where my mind was just blown. I don't know how I had never heard of HeLa cells before. It's so amazing everything scientists have been able to learn and discover, thanks to her cells. It's also shocking the poverty her family has lived in while some people make millions of dollars off their wife/mom's cells. Something definitely isn't right there. I recently saw this was made into a movie with Oprah playing Henrietta's daughter. I'm excited to watch it!

• One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London- A friend from my book club recommended this book and I really enjoyed it. The main character is a plus-sized fashion blogger and ends up on a show like the Bachelorette where she has men vying for her attention. It was cute and I liked that it brought up the issue that we see overweight men with beautiful wives portrayed on tv all the time, but the opposite is just unthinkable to people. 
  
  
  

• A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum- This was a tough one, especially the sections that went into the life of the main character's mother.

• The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart- I saw this while scrolling through Libby and it looked interesting. There were parts that were just so sad when she talked about losing her mom and sisters, but I really enjoyed it. I thought it might be something I'd read aloud with the kids if it was good but I'd say it's more of a middle school novel.
  
  
  

• Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas- This was the story of Maverick Carter, the father of Starr Carter from The Hate U Give. I liked that it gave a different perspective to the story as well as the background leading up to Starr's story.