May started out like April, and I thought "How will I ever read five books this month? It will be a miracle if I do!" because by May 10, I had only read two books, and I didn't even know what to read next. But, miracles DO happen, because amazingly, I read nine books this month after getting off to a slow start!
1. First up was The Fortune of Carmen Navarro (2011) by Jen Bryant. I think I just found it browsing in the stacks at the library. It is a retelling of Carmen--like you know, the opera. Only that is a retelling of Prosper Mérimée's novella. But Jen Bryant does provide an opera listening and viewing guide at the end, as the opera was very influential to her telling of the story. This Carmen works in a convenience store, but wants to be a singer. Her love interest, Ryan, really goes off the rails when he falls for Carmen. So this story is a tragedy, told from four points of view. It was really well told, I thought.
2. Secrets of a Charmed Life (2015) by Susan Meissner is the book we are reading for our book group--for July. I am well ahead! (Except for I have not read the book for June yet, so I am also well behind!) I was so irritated with the female protagonist that I could hardly stand to read the book! I mean, it was good, but she was so annoying. And then, I had to remind myself that she was 15. So, she was just acting her age--she had so much still to learn. Unfortunately, her choices made her have to learn some very hard things. And this in the middle of the blitz in London! This was actually a really good book. I am very glad I stuck with it. Even though I started it sometime in April, and didn't finish until May 10!!! (PS--spoiler alert: there are no secrets to a charmed life! Life is hard. Other people's lives may look charmed from the outside in, but from the inside out, life is hard for everyone.)
3. This was when I hit my "whatever will I read next?" stage. I had no clue!! But then, one of my interlibrary loans that I had been waiting for since IDK when arrived! The Shoebox Bible (2014) by Alan Bradley--hurray! I had been hoping to read something by him--I have read all of the Flavia deLuce books. This one is a memoir, and a thin but lovely book. Alan's mother writes scriptures, mostly from the four gospels, Psalms and Proverbs, on the backs of paper and cardboard, and keeps them in a shoebox. As the adult Alan goes through the box after his mother's death he learns to love her more. (He already loved her a lot!) And to understand her better. Alan's father had abandoned the family during the second world war because he was a radio man, and he just couldn't stand staying a civilian, so he signed up, and away he went--and never came back. Canadian Forces stationed him in Vancouver, far from their Ontario home, and he just stayed. Alan's mother would have taken him back at any time--she still loved him, and spent the rest of her life hoping for his return. They both died alone and lonely--he, too, never married again. He was not an alcoholic, not a bad guy--he just--didn't go back to his family. She raised the two daughters and one son alone. Very sweet and sad and loving and good story.
4. Before my ILL came, though, I was approaching a weekend and desperate for reading material, so I went upstairs to level five and nabbed a couple of books from the sorting shelves. This one, like #3, was very short and easy to read quickly. Dept. of Speculation (2014) by Jenny Offill is a book with a husband, a wife, and a child. They are unnamed. The story is told in short bursts of a line or two or a paragraph or two, seemingly random. It was sort of stream-of-consciousness, but it all made sense. The ups and downs of a marriage. Interesting way to tell a story.
5. The other book I grabbed was a collection of writing--short stories, personal essays, letters, poems--called The best American non-required reading 2019 (publication date obvs 2019) edited by Edan LePucki. I enjoyed the various choices made by the teens--mostly ages 17-19ish--from the US and Canada who made up the editorial board. There were things I liked and things I didn't, but the message was that something I may hate is another person's absolute favorite that really speaks to them. This book is, in itself, an advocate for "something for everyone." This series that I had not been aware of has been around since 2001, so there are plenty more if you want to read past publications! However, there are no more going forward--Houghton Mifflin Harcourt discontinued the series, so the one I read is the last.
6. That took me to only May 16, the actual middle day of the month, and already I had read five books! Clearly, I would read more than five for the month at this rate. Weeks ago I had ordered my niece Mary Mauck's third book Out of Time (2023), and it finally came! So I read this next. This has been my favorite of Mary's books. Cami is hiking with her baby girl on her back when she witnesses a murder in the woods, and is running for her life, driving for her life, just trying to stay alive. Her husband is not so lucky, since he is at home when the murderer comes after Cami there. This book was pretty good.
7. How did I find Counterfeit (2022) by Kirsten Chen? Online reference to it somewhere, I think. And then I checked our catalog, and we had it, so I checked it out. Ava, a stay at home mom who used to be a lawyer (but hated it) married to a doctor who is never home--how can she help but fall in with her old college roommate Winnie and her scheme. Her counterfeit handbag scheme that is.
8. Small Things Like These (2022) by Claire Keegan--I put a hold on this book months ago, when my friend Barbara recommended it to me. IDK what took so long--maybe they had to do all the processing, and did it v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y, but it arrived just on time since I needed a good book to read. I knew about the Irish Catholic homes for unwed mothers where babies were basically sold off because I read a biography about this a couple of years ago. This is a fiction account told from the point of view of a man, a successful coal merchant (not rich by any means, but his family gets by alright) who was himself an illegitimte child once upon a time. He is often choosing to do small things that make big differences. This is a short book, but a well-told story. Quite lovely.
9. I saw So-Called Normal (2021) by Mark Henick on the Science book display, so picked up this book and it was a gem. People in my family struggle with mental illness, and Mark's telling really helped me to understand how their thinking can get so twisted that they can literally not see the choices that may be so obvious to others. Mark's suicide is averted by a stranger, just talking to him, just being with him, while a spectator is yelling "Jump, you coward!" and that is when Mark starts to see a choice between being like one of these men or the other. It is still not smooth sailing for Mark, but he begins the healing process. Such a good book!
And that is how I made it to nine books this month--by reading these good books!
