What I Read: May

May was a big month for reading. Once homeschooling ended there was more free time with the kids playing together where I could read some more. I've really enjoyed getting through more books and had lots of great reads this month!

Books:

• A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini- This one was for sale at the library. I was excited because I really liked The Kite Runner by Hosseini. This one was set in Afghanistan and focused on the lives of 2 women which was obviously pretty depressing at multiple points. It was wonderfully written. I loved the book and the issues he was able to highlight. The book ended with the Taliban being forced from Afghanistan which was sad knowing Isis was still to come.
  

• Untamed by P.C. and Kristin Cast- This was book #4 in the House of Night series. I am really enjoying these! I like how they incorporate Cherokee beliefs into the vampire beliefs and how well they are able to meld the two together. This was the first book that ended as a cliff hanger where I really wanted to read the next book right when I finished this one.

• Hunted by P.C. and Kristin Cast- I still enjoyed this one but I think reading 2 of those books in a row got me a little tired of the whole stretching a month out to make it into an entire book and then having all the action happen at the end of the book. After this one I was ready to take a break from the series for a while.
  

• Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy- This was a beast and it took me over 2 weeks to get through it. There were points where I got really into the book and then he'd have the characters go off on a tangent about farming. I'd get really into it again and then there'd be a long interlude about politics. I'm sure there was a reason and he was making important points, but I could have happily cut out hundreds of pages of this book and felt the book was the better for it. I didn't dislike the book but I didn't really like it much either. I just got through it. And now I know there's no way in the world I'd ever make it through War and Peace, haha!

• The Early Stories of Tuman Capote by Truman Capote- I picked this one up a while back from the sale rack at the library. I loved In Cold Blood and Capote's writing style in that book so much, I'd been wanting to read more of his work. When I saw this I was quite excited. I didn't have super high expectations since it was his early work and they were all short stories, but I still enjoyed them. I love the way he writes and even when he was young, these were quite good! 

eBooks:

• Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid- This was one that was hard to put down and was a quick read. I felt like the chapters just flew by. I enjoyed this one so much that I read it instead of my regular book so I could finish it. I had to know what happened next. It raised some interesting topics that made me wish it was a book club book so I'd have people to discuss it with. I had listed it as a choice when I was that month's host but it wasn't the book chosen when we voted.
  

• The Garden of Small Beginnings by Abbi Waxman- My mom recommended this one and I had just finished Such a Fun Age so I downloaded it as an ebook. It was so cute. I liked that in between each chapter there was a little section of a gardening book. I learned some interesting things about gardening and plants.

• Julia Child: The Last Interview and Other Conversations by Julia Child- I was looking for a short ebook to read while I waited on one I had on hold to come in. I saw this and I love Julia Child so I thought I'd check it out. I read My Life in France by Julia Child a while back so most of what I knew about her was her time in France and what came after. I liked that these interviews went into her life before moving to France a lot more so I learned more about her life beforehand and her time in the OSS.

• The Swallows by Lisa Lutz- I loved the Spellman Series by Lutz. When I saw this one, I got really excited thinking maybe it was the next book in the series but from the younger sister's perspective. I read a bit more about it and realized it wasn't but still thought I'd try it. It started out so good and I loved it. Then it got a little weird and dark, but I still liked it, just not as much as her Spellman Series.
  

• In Five Years by Rebecca Serle- I saw this on a book list and recognized the author's name. I realized it was because she was the author of The Dinner List. That book started out so good and then slowly lost it's appeal for me, but I liked it and thought I'd try this one. I didn't have high expectations when this one immediately drew me in and I couldn't stop reading. It ended up making me ugly cry and as I was ugly crying while reading this on my phone when an email notification popped up that the Boston Marathon was going virtual so that was a bit rough. I really enjoyed this book but I hate books that make me cry that hard, so I wouldn't recommend it to others. Although I was on my period when I read it so that may have contributed to the crying as I cry easier at that time of the month. Maybe I wouldn't have cried as hard otherwise, I don't know. I do know this one was more of an emotional suck that I would have liked with everything going on in the world right now!

Audiobooks:

• I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella- This book was pretty far fetched but just darn adorable. It was one of my favorites of hers I've read in a while.

• Shit My Dad Says by Justin Halpern- Oh my goodness, I loved this book. It had me laughing so hard even when out for a run. People driving by probably thought I was weird laughing while running. It lifted my spirits so much to listen to a book that made me laugh, I decided my next audiobook needed to be a comedy as well.
  

• Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life by Steve Martin- After how much I enjoyed Shit My Dad Says I was determined to find a comedic audiobook. I couldn't find any that I had on my reading list and finally came across this one. It was read by Martin himself and I love his voice so I enjoyed that, but it just wasn't all that funny. I think I laughed while listening to it maybe 2 or 3 times, so not the comedic relief I was hoping for.

• An American Marriage by Tayari Jones- This one was very interesting. The perspective of the impact someone being imprisoned when innocent has on a family was important, especially with some of the racist events occurring in our country right now. This was sad and disappointing knowing it happens.
  

• Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell- I was ready for something funny again so I decided to go with Sarah Vowell. She's always a home run for me. The historical background of her books with the funny asides and her take on events is just gold. She had me giggling along with this one as well. I just love her and would love to go on a historical sight seeing vacation with her!

• On the Come Up by Angie Thomas- I listened to the audiobook of The Hate U Give and saw this book by the same author also had the same narrator. I felt like the narrator was really good and added to the book so I wanted to listen to this one as an audiobook as well. I didn't like it quite as much as her other book but it was also really good. I liked how it showed media tends to focus on certain aspects of a person's life in order to paint them into the specific character they want them to portray. I also liked that as an audiobook Bri's raps came to life.

• Wishtree by Katherine Applegate- I've been wanting to read this for a while after reading a snippet at the end of one of her other books I read, I think it was Crenshaw. I really wanted to read it, not listen to it as an audiobook but it was available as an audiobook so I went with that. It was a sweet book and I enjoyed the jokes in it as well. It's one I think Carter would enjoy.