Looking Back: May Highlights

I didn't read a lot of books in May, but I was lucky in that most of what I read last month was good. I did discover lots of new books at BEA, and can't wait to share them with you. But in the meantime, a few recent favorites I've actually finished:

Something Must Be Done About Prince Edward County, by Kristen Green: Green's history of her hometown and her county's resistance to the desegregation of schools in the 1960s is a fascinating look at a period of history I admittedly knew little about. The book veers more towards memoir than I'd personally prefer in my histories, but overall, this was worth the read if you're at all interested in the history of the Civil Rights movement and/or racial politics in the United States.

Cuckoo's Calling, by Robert Galbraith: I'm late to the party on the Galbraith-actually-Rowling series of Cormoran Strike novels. If you, like me, are interested in thoughtful and engaging mysteries but have been on the fence about Rowling's work in the genre, I'd say this is worth the chance. Excellent on audio, too, if that's your jam.

California, by Edan Lepucki: I started this on audio but couldn't click with the narration, so switched to the e-book and was almost immediately swept away. Lepucki's dystopian novel is not at all what I expected, and I loved that about it. An interesting examination of self-dependence, family, friendship, and survival.

Sex Criminals Vol 2, by Matt Fraction: A comic about a librarian who can stop time with her orgasms, and her interesting new boyfriend, and the crazy sex they have, and what they do when they stop time for everyone else? I loved the first volume, and this second volume was not a disappointment.

June releases:

Re Jane by Patricia Park is a modern-day retelling of the Jane Eyre story, making Jane a Korean-American immigrant in Flushing, Queens. My full review of Re Jane.

Under the Bus: How Working Women Are Being Run Over by Caroline Fredrickson adds another (important and oft-ignored) layer to the lean-in/opt-out debate: that of working women whose economic circumstances dictate their decisions, rather than vice versa. My full review of Under the Bus.

And stay tuned for thoughts on The Star Side of Bird Hill, which I did finish this past weekend--I adored it.

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So far this year:

• I've read 51 books, of which 61% were by female authors.
• Of the books I've picked up, I count 17 (33%) as diverse books (by and/or about persons of color, different abilities, identifying as LGBTQ). 
• A mere 23% of the books I've read have been by non-US authors; that percent drops to 7% if counting non-North American or British authors.
• 11 of my books have fulfilled one of the categories of the Read Harder challenge.
• Still only 3 of the books I've finished have been from my TBR 2015 challenge list.
• My reading has been exceedingly frontlist heavy: only 6 books read were published before 2014 (only 5 before 2000, and absolutely none before 1900). Classics, I miss you!

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Recommended reading (here and elsewhere):

• The Shore is finally out! Shannon from River City Reading has been raving about this since she first read it; here's her review.

• Over in Readerly, I'm talking about fairy tale collections, old and new.

• Melody from Melody and Words went to Nepal to cover the earthquake recovery efforts there. She rounded up links to the articles she wrote about Nepal--what an amazing experience.

• Speaking of Melody, I got to meet her at BEA last week when we were on a panel together. Along with Emily from Books, the Universe and Everything, and Amanda Nelson from Book Riot, we talked about our top tips for engaging blog readers. Armchair BEA has a great summary of the panel for anyone interested!

• Jenn from Jenn's Bookshelves was interviewed on NPR about book clubs. Well worth the listen! (It's at the start of this segment, so don't be put off by the 20 minute length...).

• I wrote about taking on too much at one time, and needing to re-focus my energy in Never Half-Ass Two Things. 

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What were the best things you read this month?