May 2023 Reading Discussions

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Use this thread to share your reading and plans for May!

[Rachel]

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson is a quirky fantasy based on the Princess Bride, featuring a girl who braves dragons, pirates and the deadly 12 seas to try and rescue her Prince. Here is my review

[Pam]

Currently reading:
- The Alienist and Other Stories of the Nineteenth-Century by Machado de Assis
- Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante

Plan to read next:
- The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco (#32 Set in a UNESCO City of Literature)
- How Do You Live? by Genzaburo Yoshino (#20 Route of travel on the cover)

[Betty]

Right now I have some emotional stuff going on so I'll be reading light-hearted feel-good books and quickly DNFing any books that don't give me joy. Right now I'm reading The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden, and loving it! I'm not sure what prompt I'll use it for, but it could be used for several.
I want to listen to a Miranda James audio book for the interracial relationship or "books are important' prompt.

[Bana AZ]

I just finished Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano, and I think it could be my favorite of the month, even though it's still May 5. It's even a contender for my favorite of the year because I want to give it a million stars!

I loved the beautiful poetic way that Napolitano writes, though I know not all readers want this kind of writing style. It's also a heartbreaking family saga, which I love.

I used it for prompt 50, A second book that fits your favorite prompt - published in 2023.

Next I'll be finishing The Blade Itself, which I started I think more than a month ago, and after that I want to read Piranesi.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

This cover keeps attracting me to this book! Your review may make me pick it up.

Piranesi is so, so good. It was my book club's favorite a couple of years ago!

[Bana AZ]

Emily wrote: "This cover keeps attracting me to this book! Your review may make me pick it up.

Piranesi is so, so good. It was my book club's favorite a couple of years ago!"

Yesss pick it up, Emily!

Great to hear that about Piranesi. I hope I can finish The Blade Itself soon because I don't want to start a new book until I finish this first. Sometimes I like 'currently reading' many books at once, but I tend to let one book lag behind, sometimes for months. So now I just want to focus.

Oh wait, I'm also currently reading Dracula through the Daily Dracula email subscription. Anyone else doing that?

[Rachel]

The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf is a YA dystopian sci-fi by Indigenous Australian author Ambelin Kwaymullina of the Kalyku people of the Pilbara. Ashala faces interrogation as one of the Illegals, captured for possessing special gifts. She must survive the interrogation and save her tribe. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ here is my review

[Hannah]

Ana AZ wrote: "Emily wrote: "This cover keeps attracting me to this book! Your review may make me pick it up.

Piranesi is so, so good. It was my book club's favorite a couple of years ago!"

Yesss pick it up, Em..."

Yay, Dracula Daily!! I'm not reading it this year, but I did last year and loved it so much.

[Denise]

1. Tales From the Cafe
2. Roses, In the Mouth of a Lion
3. The Housemaid’s Secret
4. Meditations, Marcus Aurelius

May plans

[Pam]

I won a book bundle raffle from our local indie bookstore yesterday! One of the books is Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, which I hope to start this month! I’ve heard so many good reviews of it plus it won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, along w Trust by Herman Diaz.

[Chrissy]

I loved Demon Copperhead (and Trust as well). Enjoy!

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

I liked them both although Trust was a little too "meta" for me. I preferred his amazing In the Distance. Demon Copperhead is especially fun if you know David Copperfield. It's brilliant how Kingsolver uses so much from the original story and it's totally believable today. The only part that lagged for me was a section where she departed from the original. I listened to it and the audio was excellent, the accent contributed a lot.

[Pam]

Robin - I’ve never read David Copperfield. Do you recommend reading it first?? Or maybe afterwards? I read Hernan Diaz’s In the Distance earlier this year and really enjoyed it. I like his writing style!

[Jennifer W]

That's funny. In one of my other groups, I just posed the question that if a book is based on an older book, do people feel the need to read the original first? I am (completely) neurotic about this and I have to read the original first. This just came up for me because I discovered The Family Chao that I was so excited to listen to the audiobook, but then I saw it's based on The Brothers Karamazov, which I haven't read yet. Sigh....

[Pam]

I decided to read David Copperfield before or maybe at the same time as Demon Copperhead. So far, I like it! I’m waiting for my sister to get a copy of Demon so we can attempt a Buddy read.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

One option is to watch a movie of David Copperfield. There is one with an adorably young Daniel Radcliffe as David and Maggie Smith as his crotchety aunt. Both books are pretty long and it might be confusing to do them at the same time.
. Also it depends if you don't want spoilers. Some of the time in Demon Copperhead, I cringed because I knew that something bad was going to happen, but then again, I also knew he would basically come out ok.

The style of Trust is very different from that of In the Distance, though also very original.

[Sherri]

I watched the 1935 version of David Copperfield before reading Demon Copperfield. That helped a lot.

[Pam]

Thanks Robin and Sherrie for your comments! While I’m trying to decide what to do, I’m re-reading The Time Machine by H. G. Wells for a May book club read. It’s much shorter!

[Anastasia]

I keep seeing music play lists being suggested to listen to while reading. When I read I do not hear the world around me unless it is a 5 alarm fire.
Do you listen to a curated playlist while reading?

[NancyJ]

That’s a great idea to watch the movie of David Copperfield first. I don’t mind some spoilers on the big events. There is always a lot more in the book than the film, and I appreciate the writing more when I already know the story.

I love Barbara Kingsolver, but I hesitated to get this book because I think David Copperfield was the Dickens book that I really disliked. It was decades ago so I’m not sure, and my tastes have changed since than. Maybe it wasn’t the book I disliked, but it was the poverty and the callous society.

Spoilers actually helped me to appreciate Trust while I was reading it. The structure is brilliant, but it’s confusing. I read some reviews after I started, and I learned the big message that is revealed at the end. I enjoyed the book so much more because of this.

[NancyJ]

Anastasia wrote: "I keep seeing music play lists being suggested to listen to while reading. When I read I do not hear the world around me unless it is a 5 alarm fire.
Do you listen to a curated playlist while read..."

Wow, that sounds interesting. I’m not sure I would hear it either, but it might set the mood of the time and place. I would have liked it when I read Daisy Jones & The Six. Hoopla has the music soundtrack.

What other books have music playlists?

[Jennifer W]

Anastasia wrote: "I keep seeing music play lists being suggested to listen to while reading. When I read I do not hear the world around me unless it is a 5 alarm fire.
Do you listen to a curated playlist while read..."

It's funny, I used to be able to watch (listen) to baseball games while reading, but now I tune them out. I'll look up and 6 runs have scored and I have absolutely no idea how it happened! Yet when my daughter or boyfriend are watching their shows, I can't tune those out! I'll put on instrumental music and headphones so I can read while they watch.

[Milena]

NancyJ wrote: "Anastasia wrote: "I keep seeing music play lists being suggested to listen to while reading. When I read I do not hear the world around me unless it is a 5 alarm fire.
Do you listen to a curated p..."

You probably mean fiction, but I really enjoyed listening to the music from This Is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You on Spotify. Though not while reading. I would stop, listen to the song mentioned in the book, then go back to the book.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Anastasia wrote: "I keep seeing music play lists being suggested to listen to while reading. When I read I do not hear the world around me unless it is a 5 alarm fire.
Do you listen to a curated playlist while read..."

I might listen in between but while I'm reading I find it distracting.

[NancyJ]

Milena wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "Anastasia wrote: "I keep seeing music play lists being suggested to listen to while reading. When I read I do not hear the world around me unless it is a 5 alarm fire.
Do you listen..."

Great, I think that book is already on my tbr.

[NancyJ]

Robin P wrote: "Anastasia wrote: "I keep seeing music play lists being suggested to listen to while reading. When I read I do not hear the world around me unless it is a 5 alarm fire.
Do you listen to a curated p..."

When I was a student, I often had fast paced music on when I was writing papers. It kept my energy up. I couldn’t do it now though. I often have a song playing in my head already, especially after watching The Voice.

[Pam]

Well, I decided to read both David Copperfield and Demon Copperhead at the same time. My husband is reading Copperfield with me and my sister and aunt are doing a Buddy Read with me of Copperhead. I’m enjoying both of them! I’m falling behind on the buddy read so may need to focus more on that one. My sister’s husband is from eastern KY so that is an interesting connection for her since he’s told her stories from growing up in central Appalachia that are similar to the ones in this book.

[Rae]

I've unintentionally read quite a few books by AAPI authors during this AAPI Heritage month.

new graphic novel about a middle schooler going on a school trip to Europe. Good feel for middle school emotions. Interesting that this is shelved as kiddie lit since there's underage drinking, smoking, and sneaking out, which seems more YA.

Great book about a kid who is "forced" to visit her parents' home country Vietnam. She's a feisty character and it's fun to watch her perceptions change and grow.

Book in verse about a Pakistani immigrant to the USA. Realistic portrayal of entering a new culture and changing family relationships in a new country.

Hoping to get to by the end of the month.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Pam wrote: "Well, I decided to read both David Copperfield and Demon Copperhead at the same time. My husband is reading Copperfield with me and my sister and aunt are doing a Buddy Read with me of Copperhead. ..."

Wow, you will probably get a lot more out of Demon that way. There is a long section where he is in high school that diverges from the original and I thought that was the weakest part of the book. I did have fun as I went along, thinking, ok soon he is going to meet a girl/friend/enemy and they will be named something like . . . not exactly the same because the original names are too old-fashioned." Once I predicted exactly the name of the new character!

[Jennifer W]

Today I finished The Great Halifax Explosion: A World War I Story of Treachery, Tragedy, and Extraordinary Heroism for a book by an author with a popular name. It was a fascinating piece of history that I knew nothing about, but I feel like it could have been written or organized better. I would still recommend it, but be aware that there's a lot of people and places thrown around.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Jennifer W wrote: "Today I finished The Great Halifax Explosion: A World War I Story of Treachery, Tragedy, and Extraordinary Heroism for a book by an author with a popular name. It was a fascinating ..."

I got that recently, it must have been an ebook special. I learned about the event at the museum in Halifax that had a lot of info, including recordings from people who were children at the time.

[Jennifer W]

You might do better than I did with it, the places and people might be a little familiar. I'm pretty sure he included every person who stepped foot in Halifax that day....

I had never even heard of the explosion before this book, so in that it was definitely worth it.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

This month has been such a whirlwind for me -- one of the busiest times of my job is in May. I've only finished 5 books so far this month, but they have all been really great.

Romantic Comedy
Happy Place
What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma
Dark Matter
In the Lives of Puppets

I read two romantic comedy books at the same time (audio and print), then moved on to two science fiction books, and now I'm currently reading two historical fiction books at the same time (set in the same era!). I wonder when I will learn my lesson, or am I doomed to just always be confusing the characters in the books I'm reading lol

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

I try to read 2 different kinds of books at once to avoid confusion, but it doesn't always work. Once I had a historical mystery and a sci-fi and both had a woman giving birth in difficult circumstances. Just last week I had a fantasy romance and a sci-fi adventure and both involved the hero getting captured by an enemy and threatened and others trying to rescue him. I felt like I was reading the same trauma twice! Of course, I knew they would both work out as they are series where the hero continues to feature.

[Milena]

I also try to read very different books at the same time. But I am currently reading two books with a main character named Jess (not Jessica, specifically Jess).

[Jennifer W]

I remember being in 6th grade or so and trying to read 2 books where the main character and her best friend had the same names, but vice versa. That didn't last long! I quickly gave up and returned both books! lol I don't think I ever went back to read either book and I don't remember what they were.

[Rachel]

Set in Malaysia:
The Night Tiger is an historical fiction by Chinese Malaysian author Yangsze Choo set in Malaya in the 1930s. The book incorporates elements of magical realism, mythology, mystery and romance and includes weretigers, ghosts and 1930s dancehalls. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ here is my review

[Rachel]

Set in Ukraine.
Otherland: A Journey With My Daughter is a memoir by Maria Tumarkin who returns to her homeland Ukraine with her 12 year-old daughter after a twenty year absence and reconnects with friends, culture and the turbulent changes in post Soviet Russia and Ukraine. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ here is my review

[Jennifer W]

Finished The End of the Affair ugh... the most boring affair I've ever come across. I hate you, I love you, I don't believe in God, I do believe in God. zzzz The ending surprised me a bit, but it wasn't really worth reading 158 pages to get to those last 2.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Bahahaha that's the best review, Jennifer.

[Jennifer W]

Mercifully, it was a short book!

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Jennifer W wrote: "Finished The End of the Affair ugh... the most boring affair I've ever come across. I hate you, I love you, I don't believe in God, I do believe in God. zzzz The ending surprised me a ..."

I agree, luckily it was short.