What did you read in May?

[ufcasey]

What books did you finish reading in May, and how did you rate them out of 5 stars? Any stand out favorites you would recommend?

[travella]

5*
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

I would recommend The Tattooist of Auschwitz. Without getting into it too much, it's based on a true story about a horribly brutal time in history, but it's not overly graphic therefore it would work well for a wide range of readers.

4*
The Huntress by Kate Quinn

3*
Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier
The Lies We Told by Camilla Way

2*
The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff

[wesleycrusher]

-A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne - 5
-Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou - 5

-Prisoner: My 544 Days in an Iranian Prison—Solitary Confinement, a Sham Trial, High-Stakes Diplomacy, and the Extraordinary Efforts It Took to Get Me Out by Jason Rezaian - 4
-A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas - 4
-A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas - 4
-A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas - 4
-Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division by Peter Hook - 4
-Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History by Keith O'Brien - 4
-Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission by Hampton Sides - 4
-The Dark Heart: A True Story of Greed, Murder, and an Unlikely Investigator by Joakim Palmkvist - 4
-Carnegie's Maid by Marie Benedict - 4
-Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi - 4
-XL by Scott Brown - 4
-Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid - 4
-My Lobotomy by Howard Dully - 4
-How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us about Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence by Michael Pollan - 4
-Stardust (audio) by Neil Gaiman - 4
-A Sliver of Light: Three Americans Imprisoned in Iran by Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd, Joshua Fattal - 4

-Silent Melody by Mary Balogh - 3
-Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive by Stephanie Land - 3
-Breath of Magic by Teresa Medeiros - 3
-A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas - 3
-How Did You Get This Number (audio) by Sloane Crosley - 3

-Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge - 2
-Only Beloved by Mary Balogh - 2
-Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil, Gillian McCain - 2

[abs]

wesleycrusher, so many books!! I am impressed.

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell, 3.5*
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, 4*
After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid, 4.5*
Verity by Colleen Hoover, 0*

I started but did not finish The Lost Roses by Martha Hall Kelly. It was fine but I am not in a historical fiction kind of mood right now. I'll have to try again later.

The only real miss this month was Verity. I finished but I hate read the book. It was so bad. Predictable, overly morbid, and I just hated everything about it. I appreciate authors wanting to step out of their comfort zone but this did not do it for me at all.

[rainbowchip]

I only technically read one book in May.
Getting Hot With The Scot 3*
I won an ARC off goodreads. It was only OK. There are better Contemporary romances out there that I would recommend before this one.

I'm currently at 17 books for the year. 4 behind schedule.

[minzy]

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling - 4.5 stars
The Moment of Lift - How Empowering Women Changes the World - Melinda Gates - 4.5 stars
Silent Spring - Rachel Carson - 4.5 stars
Circe - Madeline Miller - 4 stars

I liked them all.  I'd recommend The Moment of Lift because she is talking about and doing great things for women and girls the world over.  However, I'm still annoyed she didn't talk at all about how "lifting" women reduces the effects of global warming.  It was a huge blind spot, in my opinion.  (Here's an example of the argument: Empowering Future Climate Heroes Through Female Education and Family Planning.)  It turns out that Melinda Gates was influenced strongly by her friend Hans Rosling, one of the authors of the book Factfulness: Ten Reasons Why We're Wrong About the World and Why Things are Better Than You Think.  That one also neglected to go too far into the effects of climate change, and one of his co-authors admitted they may update it to include a discussion on climate change in a future edition.  Anyway.  

[rootbeerfloat]

This Will Only Hurt a Little, Busy Phillips - 3*
The Winter of the Witch (Winternight Trilogy #3), Katherine Arden - 5*
Dumplin' (Dumplin' #1), Julie Murphy - 3*
Puddin' (Dumplin #2), Julie Murphy - 3*
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, Hank Green - 3*
On the Come Up, Angie Thomas - 4.5*

I started the month pretty far behind on my annual goal, but a bunch of easy YA books helped. I'd recommend The Winter of The Witch and On the Come Up.

[ufcasey]

Beard Science (Winston Brothers, #3) by Penny Reid  - 2 stars
The Long Way Home (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #10) by Louise Penny - 3 stars
Storm Cursed (Mercy Thompson, #11) by Patricia Briggs - 3.5 stars
What Happens in London (Bevelstoke, #2) by Julia Quinn - 3.5 stars
Circe by Madeline Miller - 4 stars
A Five-Minute Life by Emma Scott - 4 stars
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - 4 stars

[litskispeciality]

You ladies give me #readinggoals. Pretty good month for me:

Finished: To All the Boys I've Loved Before 3.5*'s - cute, easy read. Still need to watch the Netflix series

Read: November 9th by Colleen Hoover - 3.5 *'s, it's good, but less C Hoovery than her other stuff I've read.

Read: Tempting Fate by Jane Green 3 *'s, it's good, but could be better. Good for a light, fluffy read

I'm at 9/24 (technically 8.5 since I started my first one in Dec '18), have to have a really good June.

[meowmaps]

A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum 3*
The Other Americans by Laila Lalami 4* - I recommend this
The Dry by Jane Harper 3*
A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn 3*

30 down, 30 to go

[stephm0188]

Slow month for me.

Nine Perfect Strangers by Lianne Moriarty- 2*
Truly Madly Guilty by Lianne Moriarty- 4*
The Golden Child by Wendy James- 4*
Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell- 4*
When Life Gives You Lululemons by Lauren Weisberger- 3*
Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner- 3*
Daisy Jones and the Six- 5*

50/100 on the year.

[tacokick]

The Last Stone Mark Bowden **

The Last Romantics Tara Conklin ***

The Best We Could Do Thi Bui ****

The Suspect Fiona Barton **

Well-Read Black Girl Glory Edim ***

Pressure Cooker: Why Home Cooking Won't Solve Our Problems and What We Can Do About It Joslyn Brenton, Sarah Bowen, and Sinikka Elliott ****


The Better Sister Alafair Burke ***

If You Were Here Alafair Burke ***

Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley and me, Elizabeth E.L. Koningsburg ****

The Wife Alafair Burke ***

Long Gone Alafair Burke ***

I Was Their American Dream Malaka Gharib ****

Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive Stephanie Land ****

[Vespasia]

I really enjoyed everything I read this month. I actually rated all but one as 5 stars on Goodreads. 


A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic, #3) by VE Schwab
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
What the Eyes Don't See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City by Mona Hanna-Attisha
A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny
The Huntress by Kate Quinn

I'm 18/50 for the year and 3 books behind. Hoping to make up for it on vacation later this month. 

[dutchgirl678]

Some of these may have been read in April, but I haven't really reported in here before. I like reading other people's reviews and ratings to get ideas, so I figured I'd do the same.

The Threat - Andrew McCabe 4
Mrs Kennedy and Me - Clint Hill 4
The Princess Diarist - Carrie Fisher 3
The Owl Always Hunts at Night - Samuel Bjork 4.5
The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas 5

[Gato]

The Farm by Joanne Ramos ***
Inheritance by Dani Shapiro ****
Bowlaway by Elizabeth McCracken ***
Elsey Come Home ***1/2
An American Summer by Alex Kotlowitz *****

An American Summer was a real standout: such great reporting, so well-written, and such an important subject. D

I’ve read 24/50 books so far this year.

[mrspez07]

4*
Code Girls (audio book)

3*
The Wife Between Us
The Women in the Castle
Origin