May has been a productive reading month for me. It was dominated by the amazing doorstep that is The Street Sweeper, but many of my other reads were also outstanding. I’m making good progress with the 2012 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize Shortlist and will continue to read these in June, especially now the regional winners have been announced.
Book of the Month
In any other month of the year The Girl Who Fell From The Sky by Simon Mawer and Heft by Liz Moore would have been top of my list. They will both be favourites of 2012 and so deserve highlighting too:
Books reviewed in May:
The Street Sweeper by Elliot Perlman 
The Girl Who Fell From The Sky by Simon Mawer 
The Soldier’s Return by Melvyn Bragg 
Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin and Catherine Johnson
The Master and Margarita: The Graphic Novel
Love Virtually by Daniel Glattauer 
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce 
The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan
Plans for June
I hope to read most of these books:
Merchants of Culture by John B Thompson
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Little Princes by Conor Grennan
Half-Sick Of Shadows by David Logan
The Book of Answers by C.Y. Gopinath
The Watch by Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya
Have you enjoyed any of the books I’ve planned for June?
It is half term here in the UK so I’m going to take a short blogging break to spend some time with my family. I’ll be back to my computer in about a week – hopefully having read some amazing books.
Have a wonderful June!
29 replies on “May Summary and Plans for June”
Of your June goals, I’ve only read Oscar Wao, which I liked, but I liked the writing far more than the story. I’ll be curious to see how you fare with it!
nomadreader, I’ve heard very mixed responses to Wao so I look forward to finding out which side of the fence I fall.
my june plans are too read some books ready for Spanish language month in July ,all the best stu
Stu, I’ll save my Spanish reading for July, but I look forward to seeing which books you recommend.
I loved Wonder. For a middle grade reader, it really sucked me in, and you will probably finish it in a day. May was an excellent month for you!
Sandy, I finished Wonder yesterday – in one day! How well you know me 🙂
I just started listening to Heft. I’m loving it so far. I thougt the Half-Sick of Shadows book was the Flavia De Luce. It has almost the same title!
Jenners, The Flavia book is ‘I’m Half-Sick of Shadows’ It is confusing though. One day I’m going to read the wrong book because of a mix-up like that!
I don’t know Spanish, and I loved Oscar Wao. I mean really loved it – one of my all-time favourites. Edgy, funny, innovative.. just brilliant. As for The Book of Answers – prepare to be bewildered!
mark, It is good to know that it is possilbe to enjoy Wao without any knowledge of Spanish. I hope I love it as much as you did.
I’m really interesting in reading two of your top titles, The Streesweeper and Heft. They’re high on my list.
Weren’t you planning to read Purge before? I seem to remember telling you that I’m not quite sure you’ll enjoy it (as much as I did, at least). Dirt is an awful, very well-told story. It’s mesmerizing – you want to read on but the story is so sad and terrible. I think you’ll appreciate it.
Judith, I don’t think I’ve tried reading Purge before, but perhaps I did and forgot all about it? You may well have a far better memory than I do! Fingers crossed I’ll enjoy it more than you think I will 🙂
You had a pretty busy time in May and you achieved quite a lot. I am impressed. Looking forward to your review of the 2012 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize Shortlist. Celestine.
Reading Pleasure, I’m slowly making my way through the shortlist – I just wish that more were available here in the UK.
Kicking myself repeatedly for not accepting HEFT for review! Ack! I rarely kick but this one is getting lots of positive feedback.
I’ve only tried one of your June books and it didn’t work for me. Not telling which one. hehe
Andi, I’m betting it was Wao!! Lots of people hate that book. I hope I’m not one of them.
Sorry to hear you missed out on Heft. I frequently decline books that turn out to be amazing, but that is why libraries are so wonderful 🙂
I enjoyed Wonder by R.J. Palacio and was lucky enough to interview the author a couple of months back. I think you’ll find it a worth while read.
Nikki-ann, I’ll head over and look for your interview later. 🙂
You had a pretty good reading month in May! Wonder and The Street Sweeper are in my tbr stack. I can’t wait to read your thoughts on Osacr Wao. People either love it or hate it for the same reasons: the footnotes and the setting. It’s one of my favorites. Enjoy your vacation.
Vasilly, I do love reading books that divide opinion. Hopefully I’ll be on the positive side of the fence.
Oscar Wao is excellent. You’ll probably be fine with the Spanish. If you’re confused, pop it into google translate. And I think you will like Inkheart. It’s one of my favorite YA series. Dustfinger is one of my all-time favorite characters, especially in the second book.
Lauren, The Inkheart buzz seems to have died away now. Hopefully I’ll enjoy it enough to revive a bit 🙂
I loved Funke’s The Thief Lord. Inkheart is fun, too, but the best part is the quotations from an even better book at the beginning of many of the chapters–The Borribles, by Michael de Larrabeiti.
Jeanne, Sounds great! I hope I enjoy it as much as you did.
Perhaps this is not a helpful comment to you, but I really disliked The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Prizes be damned, I thought it was awful.
Inkheart was great, though, especially all the author quotes at the beginning of every chapter, and it prompted me to buy the rest of the series. Still unread, of course.
Amazed that you have every comment saved in your email; I think I delete my email too often for if that happened to me? The comments would be in unobtainable out in cyber space.
Bellezza, I’m not too worried about you hating Wao – lots of people do! Hopefully I won’t be one of them.
I probably should delete my email more often, but it is a bit like everything in my house – I just hate throwing things away. You never know when you might need something again. Unfortunately this just proves that. Lucky I kept it all.
Three of your favourites here are three of mine – The Street Sweeper, Heft, and The Girl who fell… are three of my favourite books of the year so far.
Of your June plans, I have only read Wonder, which I thought was a great book, and fairly quick to read.
Lindsay, It is great to find someone who shares a reading taste – I’m keeping a very close eye on your recommendations now 🙂
I can’t continue with The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz after the first chapter. Too many reference on Spanish words.
All the best for June!