May was full of reading highs (and one significant low), and I did a bunch of travel reading while on my recent trip to Italy. Finding three books within the 5-star range is a pretty great feeling; I also picked up a very disappointing new release from a favorite author for a book club I’ve joined. Let’s get into it!

Stats

Total books read: 11

2023 releases: 7

#readmyowndamnbooks: 5

Book of the Month picks: 1

Pride and Prejudice retellings: 2

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang (5 stars) – It’s unusual to find one 5-star book from an author within any given time period, but with Yellowface, R.F. Kuang has become the only author I can think of in recent memory that I’ve read two 5-star reads from within 2 months. Yellowface is sharp, satirical, and acerbic, and skewers racism, particularly the insidious kind, the publishing industry, and public discourse. While extremely clever, it also manages to be very readable and fast-paced. I also really appreciated the various nods and references to different aspects of the book world as well as winks to the discourse that surrounded her previous novel Babel. Highly, highly recommend.

Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke (5 stars) – A classic that took me far too long to actually pick up; I was prompted by finding the gorgeous new Penguin Clothbound Classics edition while I was in Rome. I found the reading beautiful, thought-provoking, and inspirational.

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross (4.5 stars) – I don’t read much YA anymore, but every now and then a synopsis hooks me. Divine Rivals was one of the books I read during my trip to Italy, and I ended up loving it. Rival journalists are competing with each other for a permanent job against the backdrop of a magical war between previously long-dormant gods; Iris is struggling to make ends meet with a brother off to war and an alcoholic mother, while her nemesis Roman chafes against the wishes of his strict nouveau riche family. The two form an unexpected connection through letters that Iris thinks she’s sending to her brother, but which are somehow delivered to Roman instead, and their competition and companionship fuels the plot. I found it a creative fantasy story with a retro feel and excellent character dynamics, and I’m looking forward to the sequel.

Just As You Are by Camille Kellogg (4 stars) – I read this book during a trip to Italy at the point where I was solo traveling, so I was very glad to have a book to be absorbed in. Just As You Are is a queer contemporary retelling of Pride & Prejudice set at the offices of Nether Fields, an online magazine that Liz (and Jane, and Lydia, and Katie/Kitty) works at, but which was recently bought by Bailey and Daria (Bingley & Darcy), two wealthy financiers, and much drama ensues. The writing is engaging and helped keep me going through a long initial travel day and also a good amount of wandering. It manages to be cute without being saccharine, and retells the story faithfully but with new breath.

The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennett by Bernie Su and Kate Rorick (4 stars) – If you’ve watched The Lizzie Bennett Diaries on YouTube, this is the perfect companion novel. (If you haven’t, and you’re a Pride & Prejudice fan, go watch them right now, you’re welcome.) This captures the tone of the web series perfectly while providing more context and scenes that weren’t on camera, while still reminding me of my favorite parts of the digital version. It was a very fun audiobook listen that pulled me away from a listening slump.

Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid by Thor Hanson (4 stars) – This nonfiction book had a much different focus than most works about climate change: it discusses adaptations and evolution by animals to climate change in real time. I found the writing engaging and interesting, although I don’t know that it was very memorable.

A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher (4 stars) – This was an interesting Southern Gothic horror audiobook I listened to during my Italy trip, and it did definitely creep me out enough that I had to stop listening to it at night. At times certain elements felt a bit disparate, but it was certainly creative, and I’ll continue to check out more from Kingfisher.

Everything for You by Chloe Liese (3.5 stars) – I dove back into Chloe Liese’s Bergman Brothers series in April, which convinced me to pick up another book in the series via audio while I was traveling. The Ted Lasso vibes are strong in this M/M romance featuring professional soccer players who drive each other crazy; it was an enjoyable read if not my favorite in the series.

Quietly Hostile by Samantha Irby (3.5 stars) – I always enjoy listening to Samantha Irby’s essay collections; they’re easy listens that often make me laugh. My library hold came in for this one earlier than expected, and it was an entertaining and propelling read.

Grim and Bear It by Juliette Cross (3.5 stars) – This was, unfortunately, the final book in Cross’s Savoie Sisters series, and, even more unfortunately, may have been my least favorite in the series. Don’t get me wrong, it was still a fun read, but it didn’t quite have the charm and relationship development as the rest of the series, possibly because they were trying to wrap things up with every character who had previously appeared in the series as well as the featured couple. Luckily, Cross recently announced that she’ll be developing a new series featuring the next generation of witches, vampires, werewolves, and Grims in the family, so we have that to look forward to.

Happy Place by Emily Henry (2 stars) – I was not only disappointed by this newest release from the author of my favorite romance of 2022, I was honestly offended by it. I don’t want to spoil the plot, but I’d warn readers that I found the message Henry sends with this one ends up feeling quite misogynistic, regardless of whether or not that was her intent. It was also her least-developed romance both emotionally and intellectually; I never felt that the reader was given any reason to root for the main couple beyond surface-level chemistry. This was the pick for my book club for May, and not one of us enjoyed it. I’d recommend that readers give one of her other books a re-read or pick up something from another author and skip this one (and that’s something I very rarely say).