Monthly Musings: "May-cember"
Everything Barb read last month ✨
I recently learned (cough: watched a Reel) about the term “May-cember,” which refers to the hectic, end-of-the-school-year period in May being compared to the December holiday rush. I am certainly not a parent, but I will happily vouch for the month of May feeling like it was a million miles long. That’s probably why my reading month was short and sweet.
This time next week I’ll be on vacation, so I’m confident my June reading will be on the up and up.
See you then!
XO Barb
👽 Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino
★★★★
I heard about this book from NYT book critic Gilbert Cruz last year and was pleasantly surprised when a coworker picked this for our May book club; mostly because after a cat and mouse game with the NYPL for the better part of six months, this novel showed up as “Ready for pick-up” just when I needed it.
Bear with me on the plot: a young girl is born an alien to a Philadelphia family. As she grows up, she acclimates to family life, school, dating, the workforce, all while sending faxes of her Earth-side observations back to her home planet.
Objectively, Beautyland was one of the weirdest books I’ve read this year. You probably know by now that I don’t love reading for atmosphere, but once I stopped obsessing over the plot, I enjoyed the book for its emotional distance and, yes, its alienating narration.
🎞️ Set Piece by Lana Schwartz
★★★.5
I read another novella from our friends at 831! Set Piece is about an up-and-coming actor and a set designer who have a one-night-stand. They reunite five years later on a production that should be both of their big breaks, but only if they can figure out how to keep their feelings for each other under wraps.
This book scratched the itch I’ve had since devouring Big Fan last fall. Is this me realizing (in real-time) that the celebrity-normal person trope is kind of my thing?
✏️ Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
★★★★
I can’t help myself when it comes to new Emily Henry releases. Somehow I always find myself getting carried into a bookstore the first weekend it’s available and scooping it up for my collection. Publication days, and any hype associated with book releases, make me nostalgic for my childhood when my mom would take my sister and me to get midnight releases of Harry Potter.
With each new release, it’s definitely gotten harder for me to review her novels because 1. They all evoke a similar reading experience and 2. A lot of the plot details and characters have overlap. Fortunately, Great Big Beautiful Life felt conceptually different from the rest. In this novel, two writers, Alice and Hayden, relocate to a coastal Georgia town for the chance to ghost-write the memoir of a Hollywood starlet, Margaret, who vanished from the limelight. Spoiler alert! This is an enemies-to-lovers story.
I appreciated the setting change (most of Henry’s novels are set on Lake Michigan) and I genuinely enjoyed the plot twist in the last 100 pages; it was refreshing that the drama played out through Margaret, the subject of Alice and Hayden’s pending memoirs, and not just their relationship.
Every summer, I chase the feeling of finishing Beach Read for the first time.
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid - I, like a lot of people, was disappointed by Carrie Soto is Back, but the hype for Atmosphere has been high. If the Libby gods comply, this book will hit my loans right before my flight next week. Keep your fingers crossed!
Bring the House Down by Charlotte Runcie - I read “a must for fans of Good Material” in Madeline’s blurb for our summer reading list and immediately added it to mine.
This is a Love Story by Jessica Soffer - From what I’ve read online, this is a book that’s best to read in one (or a few) sittings. I know this title’s been on my TBR list for months, but I promise she’s also going to come with me on my trip.
The High Dive by Chelsea Fagan - I’ve had the ARC of Fagan’s second novel sitting on my coffee table, patiently waiting for her first beach trip. The time is nigh.
I can’t wait to read Beautyland 🛸
I completely missed the TJR Atmosphere release! Can't wait to read!