May Reading Edit

May reading wrapped, my favorite books of the month, plus my Weekly What

May 31, 2025

The last day of the month falling on the same day my newsletter publishes is tripping me up a bit. I am sharing my May reading wrap-up today, buuuut the month isn’t over yet! I typically prefer to finish my entire reading month and then reflect upon it—we’re just gonna roll with it this month.

I’m currently in the process of reading The Ancients, but I think I will finish it today so it’s on the list for May—review to come next week!

I read 20 books in May. Here’s a little breakdown of my reading month:

17 library/Libby borrows
2 gifted from publishers
1 book I own (Family Happiness)
Only 1 backlist title this month 😬
8 hybrid reads (print + audio), 6 audiobooks, 5 print, 1 ebook

May favorites:

Tell me:

What were your favorite May reads?

Reading

Family Happiness by Laurie Colwin. My second Colwin; I read Happy All the Time back in March. I find Colwin’s writing style intimate, approachable, witty, and with an air of the classic. I’d consider both Happy All the Time (about two NYC couples meeting and marrying) and Family Happiness (about a “perfect” upper middle class wife having a love affair) comedies of manners that read to me not unlike a modern riff on Jane Austen.

Family Happiness begins:
Polly Solo-Miller Demarest was the perfect flower of the Solo-Miller family. This family had everything: looks, brains, money, a strong, fortified sense of clan, and branches in Boston, Philadelphia, and New York, as well as London, just like a banking house.
It goes on to discuss the extended family and Polly’s positioning within it.
Does this not recall some of Jane Austen’s opening lines?! For example, Emma:
Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.
I like Jane Austen. I like Laurie Colwin. I intend to read more of both.
It’s a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan. Thanks to the publisher for providing a complimentary review copy. Since Nora Goes Off Script published in 2022 it has become an annual tradition for me to kick off summer reading on Memorial Day weekend with Annabel Monaghan.

Romance is an important part of my well-balanced summer reading diet and Annabel Mongahan is one of my favorite contemporary romance authors. She writes fun, engaging romances featuring more mature protagonists, a little more depth than I tend find in comparable stories, and, bonus, perfectly summery settings—I cannot possibly ask for more in my summer romance reading!
It’s a Love Story finds a former child actor famous for being the goofy sidekick turned infamous internet meme trying to make it as an adult in Hollywood behind the scenes in film production. She travels with her co-irker to his small, beachy Long Island hometown in hopes of reconnecting with her old co-star/traumatizing first kiss/present megastar to rope him into working on their project as a last ditch effort to get their film made. Surprises ensue and sparks fly.
While this was not my favorite Monaghan it did not disappoint!

Listening

Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson. *sigh* I have the impression this book is controversial in certain circles. I haven’t waded into the drama, but I can make an educated guess what the arguments are. As someone on the probably overly-informed side of politics I will say not much in this book is totally new information, though presented all together and through the lens of hindsight it’s pretty damning.

But that’s just it—this book was written and fleshed out after the 2024 election. It’s my opinion the people now going on record (or still anonymously on background) have a somewhat distorted view of events given they are offering opinions in hindsight. It’s easy and convenient to say you had concerns or thought a second run was a bad idea after an election is lost, or when you sense the political tides turning.

Biden is old; this is fact. We absolutely deserve a president at the peak of their capacity AND there’s a lot of gray area between peak capacity and unfit to serve and that’s where the problem lies. While I agree with the decline and the disaster I’m still not convinced there was a concerted cover-up as the title promises.

To me this whole situation seems like more of the same: people who can’t see the forest for the trees; people who want to hold onto power at all cost; people too scared to stick their necks out to say anything for fear they’ll be held responsible for real solutions; people who are fallible and working within a system of governance in real peril—it’s complicated. It’s important we confront facts and course correct; pretending this is an isolated incident without grappling with the broader context isn’t that.

The book itself is well laid out and, on balance, fair—again, given the shortcomings of gathering facts, opinions, and statements in hindsight.
Things in Nature Merely Grow by Yiyun Li. Some experiences are too immense or complex to be conveyed with words. I think losing your two children, both to suicide in their teens, is one of those things, but somehow Yiyun Li has penned a memoir sharing the vastness of that experience. A touching and insightful memoir of grief and loss.

Watching

Madmen, Season 3 (DVD!) We finished season 2 and started season 3 of our rewatch. This show is SO good.

Eating & Drinking

Revisited these Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos for the first time in a while. This is one of those recipes that just kind of fell by the wayside, but I’m glad they’re back in the mix. I served them with Cilantro Lime Crema for dipping and Black Bean and Corn Salad on the side (I halved the recipe and it was plenty.)
Beach Street Lemon Chicken Pasta is a new to us recipe. I quite enjoyed it, my family thought it was ok. If nothing else it used up a good bit of the parsley currently growing wild in my herb bed! I served it with roasted asparagus.
I mixed up a batch of granola to eat with greek yogurt (Two Good vanilla is my favorite) and the wealth of strawberries from our garden. This recipe is my starting point. I omit the flax (because I rarely have it on hand), ginger (my kids don’t like it), and brown sugar (doesn’t need it), and add ~1 cup of chopped nuts, usually almonds. I made a half batch this time which is a good amount for topping granola for a week or so in our house.
I impulse purchased Melted Ice Pop bubly when I spotted it on sale at Target and it was a very good impulse purchase indeed. As promised it tastes like a melted Bomb Pop in the very best way. If you see it you better get you some!

Links + Loves

So many great backlist titles on Book Riot’s The Best Beach Reads of All Time.
I am never not interested in a piece on indie bookstores. (AP)
There's more film and television for you to watch than ever before — good luck finding it. (Salon) In which my hate-love relationship with streaming is affirmed.
Real book recommendations based on those fake books that AI invented. (Lit Hub) Lemons and lemonade and all that.
I got this water bottle a few months ago to replace one I had for a very long time that was falling apart. It’s just the right size for on the go, fits in cup holders, and is fully leak proof for throwing in a bag. I like the design of the sip spout and the lid that keeps it fully covered and clean. I also like that it flips open to chug, which I never do, but this feature also allows for easy refilling without having to unscrew the top and juggle multiple pieces. It’s love!

That Bookish Life {Stacked}

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