In any month where I read more than about 14 books, something is up... usually some sort of stress or upset. That was definitely true of May. I read 17 books, quite nearly 18. Stress indeed! Outside of my first year of teaching, this last school year was probably the hardest and most stress-filled I've had. May is always the most frantic month, so I read as a form of escapism and I end up with these very high volume counts. It's funny to me that a season traditionally associated with new beginnings should become so full of stress for such a large percentage of the population. Perhaps that is appropriate though too.
All that aside, it was a good month of reading. I particularly liked Lobinoza by Romina Garber and The Firekeepers Daughter by Angeline Boulley. Two very different books that both came to me through TBR. Lobinoza is a sort of YA latin Harry Potter vibe. The Firekeeper's Daughter is a mystery or a thriller. It's billed as YA, but I don't really think it is. Just about the only thing they have in common is female minority protagonists, but they are both excellent reads worthy of a bit more time than I'm planning to spend here.
On the other side of it, I didn't much like We Run the Tides by Vendela Vida. Vida has an excellent writing style, however she made some choices in point of view, that just made the main character weird and oddly disconnected to me. I'm pushing my Samuelsson book off the list. I've been sitting on it partially done for about three months, it's time to put it aside. Additionally, I'm putting aside my first TBR book: Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour. I can tell it's a good book. I can also tell it's a book that is going to hit some buttons, which is good for me but I'm feeling a little raw right now. I will give it another try at the end of the summer.
