May was a great reading month for me! I read 8 books and I’m on track to knock my goal of reading 75 books this year out of the water. My favorite book this month was Attachments, while my least favorite was French Lessons.

1. Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner – 4 stars

I am really enjoying Weiner’s books now. I read a couple of her books that I really didn’t like (I couldn’t make it through Best Friends Forever and Certain Girls made me the most upset any chick-lit book has ever made me), but decided to give her another chance since so many people love her books. I’m so glad I did! I really enjoyed this book and it was just one of those novels that made me happy. It followed the journey of four different woman, three of whom are new mothers and trying to navigate the world of new motherhood. It’s really a book about family – about the family you make with your husband, about in-laws, about your nuclear family and how everything changes after motherhood. At times, I felt she was a little over-the-top with the descriptions of new motherhood but then again, I’m still (very happily) childless so what do I know?

2. French Lessons by Ellen Sussman – 1 star

This book was just bad. I think (I hope?) it was one of those “Kindle Free Books” one day a long time ago, so I downloaded it and finally got around to reading it. The synopsis sounded pretty great. It involved the lives of three French tutors and their clients for the day, three Americans who are in Paris for three very different reasons. It followed them around during their day in Paris, but it felt more about the stories of these Americans than actually their experiences in Paris. There are many, many themes of infidelity that rubbed me the wrong way. (Sometimes, I don’t mind the way infidelity is written and sometimes, it makes me very angry! This book was the latter.) There didn’t really seem to be a plot and I kept waiting for something to happen.

I’m actually surprised I kept reading this book because I usually abandon books I don’t have to read if they don’t get interesting within 100 pages, but I kept trucking through this one because I did enjoy the writer’s use of language and imagery… I just wish there was a stronger plot to go with it.

3. Attachments by Rainbow Rowell – 5 stars

You guys. You guys. YOU GUYS. This book was the cutest thing I have ever read in my entire life. I had this silly, sappy smile on my face when I was reading it and I just loved it. The characters were so cute and funny and sweet. The plot was intriguing. And the ending made me so, so happy. I am such a fan of Rainbow Rowell. She’s quickly becoming one of my favorite authors!

4. It Happened One Autumn by Lisa Kleypas – 4 stars

I really enjoyed this novel! I read it during my cruise and it was the perfect romantic, light read that I crave on vacation. (Or, hell, most times of the year! Ha.) This one continued the story of the “Wallflowers” that I read last month, focusing on another girl and her love story. It was cute, it was playful, and probably around 60% in, it became one of those stories I couldn’t put down and just had to keep on reading until I finished it. I love books like that!

5. One Hundred Names by Cecelia Ahearn – 4 stars

My full review of this novel is here!

6. The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer – 3 stars

This book was long. So long. Almost 500 pages in tiny print and it felt like it took me forever to get through it. It followed the lives of six friends who met in the 70s at an artsy summer camp when they were teenagers. While I felt the book was well written and the characters were well-developed, I just didn’t feel like anything happened. I just felt like I read the book to get through it, not because I particularly enjoyed the novel and wanted to learn more about the characters.

7. The Heiresses by Sara Shepard – 5 stars

One of my favorite reads this month! You can read my full review here.

8. Seduction Under Fire by Melissa Cutler – 3 stars

I’ve really enjoyed all the Melissa Cutler books I’ve read, but this one was just okay. It’s one of her earlier novels, so I can really see how her writing has grown from this book to her later ones. The plot seemed to drag on and on and on, and I didn’t feel a real connection to the characters. (They weren’t very likable, either.) So, an okay read but not her best.

What was the best book you read in May?

I read 8 books in April, which brings my yearly total up to 27 books read. I’m ahead of my goal to read 75 books this year, and I am very happy about that! The best book I read this month was The Willpower Instinct and my least favorite book was Ciao, Bella.

1. The Trouble with Cowboys by Melissa Cutler (4 stars)

I have such an author crush on Melissa Cutler! I love the way she writes her romances, how real they feel, how authentic the characters are. It’s not as cheesy as many of the romances I read are (not that I totally mind that, but it’s nice when it feels less silly and more honest), and I find myself really investing in her novels. I’m so glad I discovered her and can’t wait to read more!

2. Summer Island by Kristin Hannah (4 stars)

Kristin Hannah is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors and this novel may be one of my favorites yet. It’s a mother-daughter story, about a woman who left her family when her daughters were younger (in high school) and is now a successful radio host in Seattle. Her daughters are grown, one is married with two children and the other is a struggling comic living in LA. While the married daughter has contact with her mother, the other doesn’t want anything to do with her. And then the mother breaks her leg in a car accident and needs help, so the younger daughter (reluctantly) steps in, and they return to their hometown and childhood home to rehabilitate – both physically and emotionally.

I love the way Hannah creates characters. Because they’re real and messy and raw and vulnerable. They aren’t very likable at times. But there was something authentic about that. I don’t think it’s always necessary to like the characters you read. I don’t think that’s the point sometimes. (Hi, Gone Girl.) I think it’s better when characters make me angry or upset or annoyed. They make me feel something. I think that’s the ultimate goal of writing: you want your readers to feel something strongly. Whether about a crazy plot twist or a character flaw or something. In the end, I wound up loving the characters as they turned a corner and stopped being so angry or so wimpy or so secretive. It was a beautiful novel.

3. Ciao, Bella by Ryan M. Phillips (3 stars)

I can’t remember when I got this book, but it was a while ago and it’s been sitting on my Kindle for a long time. I had high hopes for this story when it began because I could really identify with the main character (facing turning thirty, perpetually single, wanting so badly to have one of those love stories for the ages, a Christian who feels very far away from God…). And then her friends “surprise” her with a makeover on a hit talk show, she’s flown to LA to show off her new look, meets a very hot movie star and they begin to date. It was just… very unbelievable to me. And then the main character started making really dumb decisions and I started to really dislike her. And that really tanked the rest of the book for me. I still gave it 3 stars because it did hold my attention and I felt that the Christian themes were really well-done and not overly cheesy. But this one fell short of my hopes.

4. The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult (4 stars)

This book had been super hyped up for me (I had one friend who said it was the best book she’s ever read), so I went into it with a lot of expectations. It was a good book. Incredibly well-researched, emotional, and hard to read at times. It had a ton of different storylines intertwined, but it was never too difficult to keep track of who was narrating and what was happening. I won’t say I particularly enjoyed the novel because it was a very hard read, but it was well written and a good novel. I won’t say it’s my favorite (probably won’t crack my top ten this year, to be honest), but it was an interesting, engaging read and I give mad props to Picoult for tackling such a hard topic and really helping me understand the Holocaust in a deeper way.

5. Up at Butternut Lake by Mary McNear (3 stars)

A cute, light romance novel! You can read my full review of this book here.

6. Secrets of a Summer Night by Lisa Kleypas (4 stars)

This was a reread. I read it back in 2012, I believe, but it is the first book in a four-book series. I’ve never read the following three books, but I want to, so I reread the first book to familiarize myself with the characters again. It’s such a delightful novel! It was your typical romance novel, but there is something so sweet about the love story. It made me happy and gave me that excited feeling, every time I sat down to read it. I really love historical romance! I should read more of it.

7. Catch of the Day by Kristan Higgins (5 stars)

Another reread! I’m making my way through Kristan Higgins’s novels again because I love her books and they make me happy. 🙂 They fall into the genre of chick lit for me, and I would say that you would need to enjoy that genre to love her novels. I do think I like her novels more than a Sophie Kinsella novel, but they tend to be cutesy and a bit predictable. (Which I don’t mind!) I really loved this book and spent a weeknight parked on the couch finishing it up because I couldn’t put it down, even though there was a sad scene that made me cry. Sigh. All in all, another great novel from one of my faves!

8. The Willpower Instinct by Kelly McGonigal (5 stars)

I loved this book so much, I plan on doing an entire blog post around what I learned and how I want to apply it to my everyday life. I filled up seven single-spaced pages of a Word document while reading this book because it was filled with so much good information. McGonigal is a psychology professor who teaches a course on willpower and self-control, and she basically applies the lessons she teaches in that course in this book. So not only do you get to read about interesting studies and psychology theories, but you get to read about real-life examples of students who took her course and worked through her exercises. This book was super interesting to me (gah, the way the brain works is so amazing!), and I also loved McGonigal’s writing style. Very personable and witty! I wholly recommend this book!

Some interesting quotes from the book (a little teaser for my forthcoming post, perhaps?!):

• Whenever you are under stress, your brain is going to point you toward whatever it thinks will make you happy. Stress shifts the brain into a reward-seeking status. You end up craving whatever substance or activity your brain associates with the promise of reward, and you become convinced that the “reward” is the only way to feel better. (pg. 135)
• Self-criticism is consistently associated with less motivation and worse self-control. Self-compassion is associated with more motivation and better self-control. (pg. 148)
• When you try to push a thought away, and it keeps coming back to your mind, you are more likely to assume that it must be true. Because you are trying not to think about it, its reappearance seems even more meaningful. As a result, you’re more likely to believe it is true. (pg. 214)

Ooh, that’s just good stuff. I can’t wait to discuss it all in more detail!

What was your favorite read this month? Any thoughts on the willpower quotes?