May has been a record breaking month for me. I read a massive 14 books!! They covered a complete range from Home, which I admit I didn’t finish, to Wilderness which managed to secure one of my rare 5 stars. I managed to complete the Orange short list, and look forward to finding out who wins on Wednesday. Overall it was a very productive month!
Burnt Shadows – Kamila Shamsie
The Post-Birthday World– Lionel Shriver
2666– Roberto Bolaño. Part 1: The Part About the Critics
The Room of Lost Things – Stella Duffy
Molly Fox’s Birthday – Deirdre Madden
Home – Marilynne Robinson
The Wilderness – Samantha Harvey
Best Intentions – Emily Listfield
Half of a Yellow Sun– Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Gilead– Marilynne Robinson
Theory of War – Joan Brady
The Invention of Everything Else – Samantha Hunt
The Little Stranger – Sarah Waters
Midnight’s Children– Salman Rushdie
Audio Book
Salmon Fishing in the Yemon– Paul Torday
Reading plans for June
I actually hope to read less books in June, as my husband will hopefully be at home and not away on business. This means I can spend more time with him and go out in the evening with my friends sometimes.
I am currently half way through The Master and Margarita, Out and Outlander. It is unusual for me to have so many books on the go at once, but I can’t take The Master and Margarita in the bath with me (regular readers know I like to read in the bath every day!) and I accidentally read the first few pages of Out, then couldn’t stop!! It is really good – possibly a contender for 5 stars? All books are reasonably long, so it might be a few days before I finish one.
I am then going to continue working my way through the list of books recommended by you, stopping occasionally to read a new book or two!
I’ve also just received my copy of The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas from New Zealand. It won the Commonwealth Writers prize a few weeks ago and looks really good.
Did any of the books I read in May appeal to you?
Are you planning to read any of books I’ve mentioned in June?
I hope you had a great May, and wish you all the best for June!!
21 replies on “May Summary and June Reading Plans”
You read a bunch of books that are on my TBR list – Gilead (which I’m scared of, but I already own it, so I have to give it a shot! Also, I was so scared of 2666, and I’m quite enjoying it, which goes to show that it’s important to try things even if you aren’t confident they will be for you!), Half of a Yellow Sun, Midnight’s Children, and I really do need to read some Sarah Waters soon! No idea when I’ll get to any of them, but I’m glad you enjoyed most of the ones I’m going to tackle!
I hate having to-read list. Why I never get to read any of the books in it. 🙁
Nice titles you have there.
Steph – I think you get a great feeling of accomplishment finishing a book that scares you – even if you don’t enjoy it. Good luck with Gilead, and I’m sure you’ll love the rest.
Webster12 – Let me know if you read any of them – it would be great to hear your thoughts!
You are a reading machine Jackie! Jeez! I think of all that you read in May, I need to get my hands on The Wildnerness. And of course I have read The Post-Birthday World and you know that I loved it, loved it, loved it. I will be quite interested in your thoughts on your first installment of Outlander…
Sandy – I don’t think you’re going to be happy about my thoughts on Outlander – unless things change in the next half it is only going to get 3.5 / 5. Sorry!!
Wow!! That was a good reading month! I have been tempted to read The Slap a few times now but still haven’t got around to it so looking forward to hearing what you think.
14 books – that’s pretty amazing.
I’m reading Midnight’s Children at the moment. Only 200 pages in, but it looks promising, despite the fact that it’s sometimes tough to get into Rushdie’s writing.
*makes mental note to check out The Wilderness*
Seems like you’ve a great reading month, Jackie! Ooh, I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on Out! It’s so intense, isn’t it?
Wow, a lot of wonderful selections in May. Great job!
That’s a lot of pages, Jackie, well done!
The only one on your list I managed to read in May was Gilead and I know you didn’t think a lot of that one. Looking forward to June being a big reading month for me and hope you do get to go out more with hubby and friends and read less this summer. I can see Pimm’s on the lawn and picnic’s in the park….Have fun!
Wow! 14 books in one month! That is amazing!
I loved “Post-Birthday World” — one of my favorite reads of last year! Glad to see you liked it too.
And I just read and reviewed Best Intentions too — I’m going to have to check out your reviews of both of them!
And thanks for your input on Q&A … good to hear it sounds as promising as I think it will be!
I must read The Wilderness as you liked it so much, it will be interesting to see if it wins the Orange Prize.
As an Australian, I have to point out that Christos Tsiolkas is one of us! Definitely not a Kiwi.
I already put a book on my TBR thanks to a post of yours earlier. I read your Post-Birthday-review and decided to put the Kevin-book on my TBR, since I have never gotten around to read it, and people keep talking about it 🙂
Karen – The Slap looks even better now I have it in my hands. The blurb on the back is really appealing to me – I’m really looking forward to it.
uncertainprinciples – I look forward to seeing your comments on Midnight’s Children. It wasn’t the easiest book to read, but I’m really glad I’ve read it.
Melody – Thank you so much for recommending Out! It is really good. So good I sometimes walk round the house reading it, as I don’t want to break for a minute to get myself a drink! I’m going to be paying much more attention to your recommendations in future!
Kim – most of my reading is done in the evening, so I get to do the picnics in the park and sometimes pimms on the lawn anyway. I’m out with friends tonight so won’t get much reading done today!
Jenners – Yes, Q&A is brilliant. I’m off to read your other comments now.
Sarah – Yes, I know Tsiolkas is Australian, but those Kiwis are selling The Slap much cheaper to us Brits!!
Loise – I’m sure you’ll love Kevin. It really is good. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on it.
😀 I’m glad you’re enjoying it, Jackie! Happy reading!!
PS: Natsuo has another two books (Grotesque,/i> and Real World) which I haven’t read yet! I really look forward to reading them soon.
Melody – I’ve just read a few reviews on Amazon and it looks as though Grotesque is amazing, but Real World isn’t as good. I’ve added them both to my bookmooch wishlist anyway. I’m in no rush (I don’t like reading books by the same author too close together, but hopefully I’ll get a copy at some point)
You’re very prolific reader! Wow!
I have bought Molly Fox’s Birthday and The Wilderness right out of your high opinions of them. Even though I have always wanted to read Marilynne Robinson, I hold off to it!
Matthew – I didn’t have that high an opinion of Molly Fox, but lots of people seem to enjoy it. I guess there were a lot of good factors to it, but overall it was pretty average.
I loved Wilderness though. I look forward to hearing your opinion of it.
An entire Orange shortlist! That’s very impressive! I wish I could read as fast as you. I’m halfway through Burnt Shadows but it’s going super slow. I’m also reading Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Adichie (would like to read Half of a Yellow Sun soon or later).
Mee – You’re probably reading faster than me at the moment. I’m going through a busy non-reading patch. I think I only managed to read 50 pages in the last 2 days. Hopefully things will pick up again soon. I can see why Burnt Shadows might be slow going for you – especialy if you are in the middle section. I’m afraid it doesn’t really pick up, so you’ll have to decide whether to battle through, or just move onto Purple Hibiscus which is great.