May Reading Wrap-Up

Books Read

(5/6) Anatomy of an Alibi by Ashley Elston (★★★★☆ – audiobook, Spotify, 2026) – two women, one alibi, and one dead husband… an engaging thriller that kept me on my toes

(5/6) This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum (★★★★☆ – print, owned, Book of the Month, 2026) – thrillers about podcasts are becoming quite the trope these days, and I’m such a sucker for them

(5/7) The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore (★★☆☆☆ 1/2 – print, owned, indie bookstore, 2023) – a woman inherits a coffee shop and somehow makes the best coffee ever, even though she’s never been any sort of barista. k.

(5/14) Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America by Heather Cox Richardson (★★★★★ – audiobook, Libby, 2023) – a must-read for Heather Cox Richardson fans, all about how we have been slowly veering toward authoritarianism for a long time

(5/18) We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian (★★★★★ – e-book, Libby, 2023) – the sweetest m/m romance set in 1950s NYC, involving a reporter and the man who is will inherit the newspaper where he works

(5/23) James by Percival Everett (★★★★★ – print, owned, indie bookstore, 2024) – subversive, brilliantly written, and a new addition to my all-time favorites shelf

(5/26) The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn (★★★☆☆ – audiobook, Libby, 2024) – I should have read this in print because the audiobook narrators were terrible

(5/30) The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 4 by Beth Brower (★★★★★ – audiobook, Hoopla, 2021) – delightful, sweet, and full of heart… these novels make me so happy!

(5/30) Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood (★★★☆☆ 1/2 – print, owned, Target, 2025) – slow-burn romances are not my jam, and this one was super frustrating most of the time

(5/31) Murder Your Employer by Rupert Holmes (★★★☆☆ 1/2 – print, owned, indie bookstore, 2023) – the first half of this book was so good and the second half was so bad… such a disappointment!

Book Stats

• # of books read: 10
• # of pages read: 3,444
• Genre breakdown: romance (4), mystery/thriller (3), fiction (2), nonfiction (1)
• Format breakdown: print (5), audiobook (4), and ebook (1)
• Fastest read: The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion (4 days)
• Slowest read: James (15 days)
• Biggest reading day: May 22, 2026 (158 pages read, 2 hours of audiobook listening)
• Star average: 4

Superlatives

• The best book I read in May: James by Percival Everett
• My favorite romance in May: We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian
• The book I thought I would love more than I did: Murder Your Employer by Rupert Holmes
• The best audiobook experience: The Unselected Journals by Emma M. Lion, Vol. 4 by Beth Brower
• The book that felt like AI wrote it: Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore

Reading Miscellaneous

Unread Shelf Project | May prompt: A book that won an award: To be honest, I put this category on this list just so I had a reason to read James by Percival Everett, and didn’t let it languish on my bookshelf any longer. It was great and deserves all the accolades!

Where I traveled this month (in my books): In the United States, I visited California, Massachusetts, Louisiana, Ohio, Missouri, NYC, and Maryland. I also traveled down the Mississippi River with James and took a road trip along the East Coast. I took a summer trip to Italy for a destination wedding. And, of course, I spent some time in England with my beloved Emma M. Lion!

DNFs: I had two DNFs this month: Allow Me to Introduce Myself by Onyi Nwabineli and The Quiet Librarian by Allen Eskes. The first one I DNF-ed at 40 pages because I wasn’t enjoying the writing. This is more of a “me” thing, and I think I might enjoy it if I were in a different headspace. I DNF-ed The Quiet Librarian around 150 pages because I wasn’t enjoying myself and didn’t feel any connection to the characters. 

Something I learned from my reading: I learned some very clever ways of poisoning someone you want to kill, thanks to Murder Your Employer. Thankfully, I have an outsized fear of being in trouble with authority figures and a respect for human life, so I will not be applying this knowledge in any way.

What’s Coming Up in June

Here are some of the books I’m going to try to get around to reading in June:

• Good People by Patmeena Sabit – I’m reading this book right now! It’s excellent so far.
• The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan – I’m going to try this book as part of my annual goal to read four books from the Zero to Well Read podcast. During the episode, they mentioned that this book was written as short stories, but it wasn’t marketed that way. So I’m going to attempt to read one chapter/story a day and see if that makes the book more palatable to me.
• The Book Club of Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick – This is our book club pick for June. Feels appropriate for us!
• The Kiss Quotient by Helen Huang – I’m slowly rereading some of my most-favorite romances, and this is one I read and loved many years ago. I can’t wait to sit down with it again!

What was the best book you read in May?