I feel like every time I write one of these, I’m somehow stunned that another month has gone by.
I’ve been busy filling up my freelance client roster. Somehow I’ve made it happen, but man, getting used to this whole freelancing thing has been a trip. And don’t even say the word “taxes” or I may melt into a floor puddle.
If you’re a freelancer and you want to connect (and maybe tell me how you do your quarterly taxes because I really have no idea what I’m in for), please do! Here I am — connect with me on LinkedIn.
Alright, time for some May reads!
Cathy
Star Mother by Charlie N. Holmberg
A star has died and Ceris Wenden is chosen to mother the next star. She travels to the Sunโs extraterrestrial palace to conceive and give birth to her star – a process that usually kills the Star Mothers – but Ceris survives. The Sun sends her back to earth at her request only for Ceris to arrive and discover 700 years have passed. She sets out on a quest to find some of her distant relatives and is helped by a godling Ristriel.
I liked the world building in Star Mother – some sort of futuristic earth crossed with a medieval vibe. Itโs definitely sci-fi crossed with fantasy. The characters and the writing is this story were 10 out of 10 – so so good, so evocative, so full of feeling and wonderfully descriptive words. I enjoyed this story so much and could easily read it again and again.
This got 5 stars from me.
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Joli
I’m still in all audiobook mode but I think I’m feeling those real paper pages calling to me…hoping to get back to reading physical books soon. I feel the burnout lifting ๐
Cabin: Off the Grid Adventures with a Clueless Craftsman (Audiobook)
I wanted to hang out in the woods (in my brain) for a while, and this book totally succeeded in helping me do that. I will never have the desire nor the adventurous spirit needed to lovingly restore a one-room cabin way out in the woods, but I sure do like to listen to stories about it.
Patrick is an awesome narrator. He’s funny, undaunted by big challenges, and just comes across as a guy that’s super fun to be around. He’s also a great storyteller (which is a good thing to be if you’re going to write this kind of book).
I was entertained by all of the cabin adventures and mishaps, but also enjoyed some of Patrick’s musings on the concept of working so that we get to do the things we love afterwards.
I recommend picking this one up if you like cabin country, the concept of being alone in the woods, often-funny cabin restoration stories, or just need to escape to somewhere less populated for a while.
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Easy Beauty by Chloรฉ Cooper Jones (Audiobook)
Apparently May was memoir month for me! Easy Beauty is our book club book for June, and I’m really looking forward to hearing what my club thinks about it.
This one really put me on the fence. There’s a lot here to talk about in terms of beauty and the world’s obsession with it. Some of the stories she tells about things that have been said to her were just sickening, but I’m so glad she’s telling them.
I enjoyed hearing the stories about Jones’s life, including her adolescence, college, and motherhood stories. However, the book sort of wavers between two different styles: storytelling and philosophical musings on beauty.
Although both styles belong here, the philosophical parts felt a little bit long at times and lost me a little bit. I’m glad the author wrote it the way she wanted it to be, because it’s memoir and deals with tough stuff. I just felt like it went over my head a few times, but I lacked the time and energy to go back and listen again.
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Molly
Emily Wildeโs Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett
The Emily Wilde series has become a favorite of mine, and I think this book wrapped up the trilogy quite nicely. It brought the same cozy fantasy feel as the previous two books, wove the romance in perfectly, and featured Emilyโs trademark determination and fairy nerdery.
I do think this was my least favorite of the three books in the series. It lagged a little bit, and it sort of felt like the solution to the main conflict fell in Emilyโs lap a little bit. But overall, I was definitely happy with it.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads | Storygraph
Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie
Finishing series that Iโve started is one of my reading goals for this year, and May was definitely a big step towards that accomplishment. Ancillary Sword is the second book in Leckieโs Imperial Radch series, which I started a whole year and a half ago. The premise is very interesting, especially now when AI is becoming more and more prevalent in daily life.
This book also lagged quite a bit, and I didnโt feel like the writing was as strong as I remember it being in Ancillary Justice (so many comma splices!). It didnโt feel like there was a lot of progress in regards to the main conflict of the series, which was a little frustrating and made most of the book feel like a side quest.
However, the ending was fantastic โ super action-packed, emotional, with a big, important reveal from the main character. It definitely made reading the rest of the book worth it, and I still plan to read the third book before the end of the year.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads | Storygraph
The Lotus Empire by Tasha Suri
I finished off the month with the final installment in the Burning Kingdoms trilogy. Iโm not going to lie, it had been so long since I read the second book that I was a little fuzzy on the details, which made it hard to keep track of what was going on sometimes. By the middle I felt like I had a pretty good handle on things again, but the beginning was a bit of a bumpy ride.
There was not a single happy moment in this book until the last 30 pages or so. Everyone was miserable and had death looming over them for the other 400+ pages. Admittedly, thatโs not unrealistic when youโre fighting a war against gods who want to take over your world and kill literally everything, plus thereโs a fanatical priest who wants to burn you alive, plus youโre still trying to get over the fact that your secret girlfriend tried to kill you. Or, on the flipside, there are a bunch of gods threatening everyone you love and forcing you to become a human vessel for one of them, plus youโre trying to get over the fact that they made you stab your secret girlfriend who now hates you and wants you dead.
It was a pretty tumultuous reading experience, and I think a few more moments of light in the darkness might have helped it a bit, but I still ended up giving it 4 stars.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads | Storygraph
Renee
The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen by Isaac Blum
This YA novel is about a teenage boy, Hoodie Rosen, and his Orthodox Jewish community. The mayor and the other people in town feel like the Jewish community is taking over and itโs creating friction.
Hoodie meets and befriends a girl named Anna-Marie one day as heโs out walking around. The problem is that Anna-Marie is the mayorโs daughter. Her community isnโt happy with her spending time with him, and his community basically ex-communicates him.
The book looks at understanding those with different beliefs and bridging communities. It teaches the reader a lot about Orthodox Judaism and calls attention to the acts of antisemitism that are carried out in communities on an unfortunately regular basis, especially lately. Hoodie is a likable character with a strong and often funny voice. That levity balances out the heavier parts of the book nicely.
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The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton
This book can best be described as โgenre-bending.โ Itโs a little bit sci-fi. A little mystery. A little speculative. A little dystopian.
A group of people are living on a remote island, having survived the end of the world many years ago. When the fog rolled in and the world ended, the scientists on that island were able to put reinforcements in place, and now it runs as its own community where everyone works together for the betterment of the island. Their constant reminder is the fog in the distance.
When one of the elders is found murdered, it sets off a chain of events that brings the fog closer to the island. If the murder isnโt solved within the next two days, the fog will reach the island and everyone will die.
There were things about this book I liked a lot and things that I found a bit frustrating. I loved the imagination of it. I loved the mystery and the investigation and imaging these scenes and objects that couldnโt exist in the real world. But on the flip-side of that, I also felt like the world-building went on for a bit longer than it needed to. It felt like it took a long while to get to the meat of the story, and the slow burn didnโt work for me here.
I was also pretty distracted by the excessive number of typos I found, which made me feel like the book probably could have benefited from one more round of editing.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads | Storygraph
That’s it! That’s what we’ve been reading. What did you read in May? Anything awesome?
More About Me
- What We Read in May 2025 - June 10, 2025
- What We Read in April 2025 - May 12, 2025
- Review: The Stars and Smoke Duology by Marie Lu [Guest Review] - March 25, 2025
1 comment
I RECOMMEND A BOOK CALLED โPRINCESS OF DESIREโ, BY ANDREW PHILIP COLLINS. IT IS A VERY DETAILED AND IMPRESSIVE READING OF HOW A PERSON CHANGES THROUGHOUT THEIR LIFE.