May was an awesome reading month for me. Sometimes I have a hard time getting into and finishing books, but this month that was not the case. And two of these books surprised me in really wonderful ways.
Here is what I read this month:
The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson | 4 stars. I don't remember where I got the recommendation for this book, but I do remember that I was super excited to read it based on the cover. I just love how beautiful the cover is. I read this on my Kindle, so I couldn't enjoy the cover as much as I would have liked, however.
This book totally surprised me, not necessarily in a bad way but not always in good ways, either. It is not something I would normally read: half fantasy, half history, it kept me confused a bit at first. But I loved the historical setting (Grenada, 1941 and the Spanish Inquisition). The author's take on this time in history, from the perspective of the last concubine of the last Emirate of Muslim Spain, was so interesting and a topic I would have never dreamed up. I loved that part. The magical aspects were a bit strange at times, so I would say this book is definitely not for everyone, but it was such a nice change from what I've been reading.
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai | 5 stars. I had a hard time getting into this book and almost decided it wasn't for me in the first chapter. It starts out at a party with gay men in the 80s, and I thought it might be all about excess and superficial topics. Also, in the first chapter there were so many names and relationships I couldn't understand, I started thinking it would take too much mental work to keep track of it on my Kindle. When I met the character of Fiona in Chapter 2, however, I became invested in her story right away, and decided to stick with it just to hear how it panned out. Soon I was involved in all the stories, however, and started really rooting for all the characters. The book also delved into the AIDS crisis, something I haven't read much about, and I thought the author did such a good job of making everyone involved so humane and human. In the end, this is probably one of my favorite all -time books, even though (or maybe because) it wasn't an easy read.
The Last Romantics by Tara Conklin | 5 stars. I read Conklin's first book, The House Girl, and while I liked it well enough, it wasn't a book I devoured or couldn't stop thinking about. This book, however, was a completely different story. I got completely hooked on it from the first chapter, when we meet Fiona (another Fiona! What a funny coincidence) in the future (I think it was the year 2079), but the book isn't really about the future (although we get some interesting glimpses into where we might be headed). It's a family saga, principally about the love of four siblings and how they deal with each other as they grow up. It isn't super sad, and it isn't super happy and uplifting, and there are many things all of the characters do that make me mad (which is probably what made the story good), but I just loved following the story. The ending disappointed a bit - I wanted more closure, more of a sense of "what happened", but because the author didn't do so means the story will probably sit with me for a long while to come.
Sea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini | 5 stars. This was the May book for my Refugee reading Book Club. It's more of a poem set to a picture book, but it was powerful and beautifully illustrated (although hard to appreciate reading on my iPad, but at least I got the colors). Super short read, but a nice complement to many of the books we've been reading.
The Au Pair by Emma Rous | 4 stars. This was a fast moving thriller that I enjoyed just for the fun of following a plot and trying to figure out the mystery the author was presenting us. As thrillers go, I felt like it was pretty decent. I actually love a book I can just breeze through and don't want to put down.
I haven't read this many books in a month in a long time so this month I feel really good about my reading life!
