Was May my best month yet?! Yes. Whew.
I had four 5-stars, one 4.5-stars, and two 4-star books. I was able to clear up my currently reading from reading for Double Booked and the 2025 SRG Cheatsheet. Some of those were kind of lightweight stinkers, but they are putting me even closer to have ZERO galleys on deck, which is my goal for 2026.
FINISHED
📱 + 🎧 Happy Land by Dolen Perkins-Valdez (2025) — ★4
Gorgeously told story that I wish had encompassed more generations.
📖 The Dead Friend Project by Joanna Wallace (2024) — ★5
A layer of brilliance lurks beneath the surface in this snarky sophomore book.
🎧 The Naming Song by Jedidiah Berry (2024) — ★4.5
Entirely confusing in the dreamiest way examining language, names, and identity.
🎧 The Mask Falling (The Bone Season, 4 | 2021) — ★4
Bit of an odd installment, but I’m hanging in there.
🎧 Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (2017) — ★5
Brilliant multigenerational novel fully living up to its hype.
🎧 Marble Hall Murders (Susan Ryeland, 3 | 2025) — ★5
Ryeland and Horowitz and Pünd and murder with a great send off.
📱 What If It’s You by Jilly Gagnon (2025) — ★2
Science info dump, complete with a Schrödinger’s cat reference, and boring.
📱 Fun for the Whole Family by Jennifer E. Smith (2025) — ★2.5
Golf commentary narrative about underdeveloped siblings.
📱 City of All Seasons by Oliver K. Langmead and Aliya Whiteley (2025) — ★2.5
Two MCs in two separate worlds written by two authors and still each lacked distinctive qualities beyond the weather.
🎧 The Pretender by Jo Harkin (2025) — ★5
Good God, how good is this? It’s like if Madeline Miller wrote a Hilary Mantel novel. Harkin’s talent is wide, varied, and apparently extraordinary.
📱 The Names by Florence Knapp (2025) ★3
It might think it’s a story about names, but it’s a story about an abuser.
DNFs
🎧 Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers (2024) — DNF at 15%
Nothing wrong with it, but I could see ahead to a 2.5 or 3 star rating and realized this author just isn’t for me.
📖 Hokey Pokey by Kate Mascarenhas (2022) — DNF at page 64
Again, I guess I have to concede on this author and just say her debut, The Psychology of Time Travel, was it for me.
CARRYING OVER TO NEXT MONTH
📖 Watchmen by Alan Moore
🎧 The Dark Mirror (The Bone Season, 5) by Samantha Shannon
📱 Awake in the Floating City by Susanna Kwan
Happy reading!
—C.
Threes one-sentence summaries are EXACTLY what I never knew I was looking for in a book review! Hooray for brevity!
I really want to get to The Dead Friend Project and Pachinko, and can’t wait to get back to The Pretender!