What Are You Reading in May

I am just starting How To Build A Girl by Caitlin Moran and also reading The Killing Hour by Paul Cleave. I am a little disappointed with the Cleave book, as I loved The Cleaner, this one doesn't seem as clever or as polished as that one.

I finished In a Dark, Dark Wood, which I found disappointing, and I started Available Dark by Elizabeth Hand.

I just started Swing Time by Zadie Smith - it's definitely drawing me in.

Less than a hundred pages to go in Crime and Punishment! Ready to have that one done for my book club meeting this week so I can start something else.

I'm reading Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, a carryover from April.

I'm reading Faithful Place by Tana French and Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith. Never meant to read two mysteries at the same time because I get the plots and characters mixed together, but it's working fine this time. Both are fantastic!

I'm starting the month by finishing off The Bells of Burracombe by Lilian Harry and then I've got How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny to read for my Edgar award book.

I'm reading Anything's Possible , which is making me want to re read My Name is Lucy Barton.

@sturlington: Oh no! In a Dark, Dark Wood is my book club's selection for December; can you share what you didn't like?

>2 sturlington:
>9 DivaColumbus:

I too didn't like In a Dark, Dark Wood much.

Oh my!
nrmay: spoilers?

>9 DivaColumbus: I go into more detail in my review. I felt the characters were not well developed and their actions didn't seem believable. On the other hand, it is a quick read.

I'm starting American Rust today!

>11 DivaColumbus:
>12 sturlington:

I agree. The plot was really far-fetched and the characters weren't very interesting.

I do like psychological thrillers.
Two I really enjoyed recently are -
I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh. British setting, lots of twists!
The Girl Before by Rena Olsen. Harrowing!

Jumped right into Mrs. Jeffries Rights a Wrong as a palate cleanser between more serious books.

I've finally started A Suitable Boy! And halfway through the first page I could see why I'd loved it so much the first time I read it. I really need to reread more of my favorites, although this one will take a while to read - it's too large to take with me anywhere.

I'm also reading The Wicked Girls by Alex Marwood, which I'm really enjoying.

>16 RidgewayGirl: Kay, I am having the same trouble with A Suitable Boy it's sheer size means I can't carry it around with me which I would if I could as I am loving it. I have to be sitting at the kitchen table to read it, so it has become my "breakfast book".

>17 DeltaQueen50: It's certainly a book made for kindle reading!

Working on my TBR pile with the theme for May as mystery. Sitting in a lonely Barnes & Noble bag was Compulsion by Jonathan Kellerman. Compulsively, I finished it in 3 days (it would have been two, but I decided on Tuesday night that I needed to eat dinner).

Since I have other TBR mysteries on my shelf, I immediately started on Criminal by Karin Slaughter. I enjoy reading about Atlanta as the scene for detective fiction. I will probably not finish it in 3 days, but will finish in the next few weeks.

I'm still working my way through Anne of Green Gables, which I started last month. Also Delusions of Gender and Dear Fatty for CultureCAT and CATWoman challenges this month. I'm enjoying all of them.

I'm currently reading Last Words (suspense/thriller) and Shut Out (YA Contemporary). Sooner than later, I'm also planning on starting Unsportsmanlike Conduct: College Football and the Politics of Rape.

I started reading Murder in the South of France by Susan Kiernan-Lewis but I'm having trouble liking it. The characters just don't strike me as authentic. Think I might abandon it. It's the first in a series and I just can't see the main character solving any murders.

I'm enjoying reading Gene Luan Yang this month. I finished Boxers last week and I'm starting Saints today. I've underestimated graphic novels for most of my life-- such delightful reading!

I've started The Go-Between, by L.P. Hartley, and am making relatively quick work of it.

I am currently reading Equal of the Sun by Anita Amirrezvani, a historical fiction novel set in Iran during the sixteenth century. I am also reading The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler. Both of these are very good, but I am struggling a little trying to fit reading time into my schedule, as our moving day is getting closer.

I finished both Shut Out and Last Words. Last Words was great--the beginning of a thriller series that I'm already excited to continue with. Shut Out on the other hand? The more I've let it digest, the more disgusted I am with it. It was a fast read, but the more I think about it... well, the more I'm bothered with what it promotes, what it suggests is right/wrong, and where it places importance for teenagers. (Read: Live revolves around sex and boys, and Everyone either has a boyfriend or a casual hook-up, and that's normal.) So, I'm glad to be done with that one.

I've already picked up Tea Rose and Things We Lost in the Fire, though, because I couldn't handle going straight into nonfiction, and I'm enjoying both. Tea Rose is a historical fiction I've meant to read for ages, but put off because I accidentally read the second in the series first (and wanted to forget some of the giveaways), and the other is a short story collection with striking writing.

I finished Available Dark and started All Things Cease To Appear by Elizabeth Brundage.

I just finished The Black Moon, by Winston Graham, and have a heavy heart.

Really enjoyed Rules of Civility by Amor Towles. Now I'm on to Before We Visit the Goddess as well as finishing up Footnotes from the World's Greatest Bookstores.

I've finished Station Eleven and am starting something a bit lighter, Artistic License by Elle Pierson.

I just finished Postcards and have started Into The Water.

I'm reading Human Acts by Han Kang and it's both fascinating and raw. I've also started Blood at the Root by Patrick Phillips, so I'll have to balance things out with several comforting crime novels.

Apparently I only want to read light, fluffy things right now: I just finished a fun chick-lit novel, It's Not Me, It's You by Mhairi McFarlane, and I'm now starting a YA fantasy novel, The Book Jumper by Mechthild Gläser.

Finally got The Black Moon (Poldark #5) from the library. I was a little worried that I would not get it in time to read this month. Yay!

I abandoned All Things Cease to Appear, and I finished The River at Night and The Winter People. I'm now reading The Shadow Year.

Over the weekend, I read Connie Willis's delightful novella All Seated on the Ground and started A Useful Woman by Darcie Wilde.

Started reading The Way of All Flesh and am finding it to be unexpectedly humorous. Wish I was liking Georgia: A Novel of Georgia O'Keefe better but so far it just seems to be a lot about her love life, or at least what the author is assuming about the intimate details. Also have City of Women and Imagine Me Gone started.

I'm frantically trying to finish Just Mercy,which will wind up being 5 star perfection, before it has to go back to the library.

The new Dennis Lehane, Since We Fell is waiting for me also.

I've finished Criminal by Karin Slaughter and have started on my next TBR mystery challenge: Ashes to Ashes by Tami Hoag. It was in my late mother's hoard book collection so it definitely fits as a TBR! I'm kind of enjoying it so far.

Still on Throne of Jade for lunchtime or waiting time reading and am taking a bit of a break from Dickens, having just finished Bleak House.

On the bedside is The Worm Ouroborous, where the Witch King in Carce has just slaughtered the Demon soldiers of Demonland, all except for the mighty Lords Juss and Brandoch Daha. The imagination in this book is extraordinary though the language makes it perfect for a nighttime book.

I've finished The Bells of Burracombe by Lilian Harry and have started How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny.

Needing lighter reads... I'm reading Lick & Play (two romance books in one), and though I don't read all that much romance, I have to say I'm really enjoying it and plan to look up the other books in the series. I've also begun reading The Suicide Forest which, though not light, is far enough into the horror genre that it leaves real issues/seriousness behind, and I'm finding it to be a fast read also.

Just finished August Heat by Andrea Camilleri for my translations category.

It took a couple of tries before I warmed to Camilleri but I enjoyed this one and now I'm hooked. Inspector Montalbano doesn't always play by the rules, but he does have a heart. This was an intriguing mystery involving Italian building codes, and how to get around the rules. I just can't understand why he stays with his cold girlfriend, Livia. Translator Stephen Sartarelli added notes to explain some references that might be obscure to non-Italian readers.

I finished The Shadow Year, a nicely written coming-of-age story with a hint of the supernatural. I'm now reading Foxlowe, about a commune in an old, decrepit English manor house, and I have The Girls on deck.

Taking advantage of a quiet Sunday afternoon to put a significant dent in Last Rituals, by Yrsa Sigurdardottir, which is due back at the library on Tuesday. It is a nice fast read.

I've finished How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny and am going to start Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult.

Just finished West with the Night a memoir by Beryl Markham that outshone everything else this month.

I've just started Radio Congo: Signals of Hope from Africa's Deadliest War from the library, and also All Out War: The Full Story of How Brexit Sank Britain's Political Class, which I am struggling to put down, it's a brilliant read (even despite knowing how the car-crash ended, and it being full of politicians I can't stand!).

I'm plugging away at the Poldark series with The Black Moon. I do enjoy the books, but I find them very put-down-able.

I've finished Ashes to Ashes as part of my TBR pile with the theme of mystery for this month and was not impressed. Instead of continuing in this genre, when I really need a break from it, I'm picking up and re-reading All the President's Men. Like >47 Jackie_K: above, I am watching the car crash and want to remember the first time I was seeing this wreck.

I find that "President's Men" is one that I need to read carefully, going back to parts where interviews were made with the Bookkeeper or Sloan or Young to pick up names and the interactions between the individuals involved in the many parts of this series of events.

I just finished Ill Will by Dan Chaon, which has left me with a book hangover and a ton of questions. The Tournament of Books is hosting a summer reading program, and this is slated for discussion in July, so I'm hoping for some answers then.

I'm continuing on with Blood at the Root by Patrick Phillips, which is difficult to read, especially given that Forsyth county is just a few hours from my home. Lots to think about, but none of it comfortable or easy.

I'm wandering slowly through A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth, in no hurry and enjoying the writing and the setting.

I've got a stack of books waiting for me at the library, and will dive in as soon as I pick them up. Two are for that ToB summer reading mentioned above and the other two are LT finds.

Still reading The Black Moon by Winston Graham which is my lunch book. Really enjoying it.
Les Parisiennes by Anne Sebba is my late-night reading

Starting an audio of The Book of American Martyrs by Joyce Carol Oates today. This will be my first JCO. I was inspired by @RidgewayGirl to "read" this one.

> 50 Hi Kay: I'll be waiting to see what you think of Ill Will, I didn't love it. I was just a bit frustrated while reading it.

>51 VictoriaPL: Hi Victoria, The Black Moon sounds interesting.

I'm reading As Good as Gone, and enjoying it so far. I just finished reading Love Story With Murders, ah that Fiona, she is some character!

>52 lsh63: It is! I love the Poldark saga.

>51 VictoriaPL: I'm disavowing responsibility for suggesting A Book of American Martyrs as your first JCO, Victoria, but I am interested in your impressions. You're jumping right into the deep end with this one!

>54 RidgewayGirl: Oh, not that you recommend that I start with Martyrs, just that I was impressed with your review and so then chose it to start with. I am enjoying it so far!

>52 lsh63: Yay, Fiona Griffiths! I have the third book out from the library. She's my favourite series discovery this year.

I am reading Edith Pargeter's The Dragon at Noonday on the bus, and at home I am reading Simon Winchester's Pacific: Silicon Chips and Surfboards, Coral Reefs and Atom Bombs, Brutal Dictators, Fading Empires, and the Coming Collision of the World's Superpowers.

>55 VictoriaPL: Oh, whew. I'm always worried when you read a book I liked. You know why.

I have just finished Surprises in Burracombe for this month's RandomCat. My Mom also loves this series. Next up is Peace Like A River by Leif Enger and Monster Island by David Wellington.

I am about to dive into some graphic novels: This One Summer and the John Lewis March series. Can't wait!

I finished The Girls, which I liked. I started Pandemonium by Daryl Gregory and I have The Silent Land by Graham Joyce on deck.

>58 DeltaQueen50: I have a feeling you're going to like Peace Like a River. Curious to see what you think of Monster Island--should be quite a contrast, I'd imagine!

A long standing library request came in so I have put Peace Like A River aside for now and instead I am reading The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel.

I finished Swing Time by Zadie Smith for the May CATWoman last night. I also read and used A Peacock in the Land of Penguins (recommended by lkernagh) in a couple of diversity and inclusion moments - it really worked well!

I'm starting Judas Unchained, the second book in the Commonwealth Universe by Peter F. Hamilton, on my flight home tonight.

I went by the library today to see my sister and The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah jumped right into my bag. A few people have recommended it to me so I expect I will like it.

I was so taken with West with the night, Beryl Markham's fabulous autobiography that I followed up with Circling the Sun by Paula McLain. It was a big disappointment by comparison.

>63 dudes22: Betty, I loved The Nightingale - hope you enjoy it!

I'm finishing off the month with Past Crimes by Glen Erik Hamilton, the first in a suspense/mystery series comparable to the Jack Reacher books by Lee Child. And though it sort of has that feel, I'm halfway through, and I have to say--this is so much better. There's no doubt I'll be reading the rest of the series.

I've just finished Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult.

Just finished Heart of a stranger by Margaret Laurence a collection of essays written 1964-1975. Enjoyed it a lot.