May Reading Round-Up

Have you read any of these?

May has been a slow reading month and I think that has much to do with how I started. Persuasion put me in a slump, and then The Secret Life of Wilkie Collins had so much information to take in that it was a slower read. Add to that exam season and working ridiculous hours, and you get less reading time.

Still, reading is not a competition and I am pleased with the books I have read this month. Have you read any of them?

Persuasion - Jane Austen ⭐️⭐️

For those who have followed me for a while, you know I read a classic every month. This time, it was back to Jane Austen for the last book she completed before her death.

This is my least favourite Austen. The characters are well-developed, but the story is predictable, especially if you’ve read several of her other novels. There are autobiographical elements in the book, particularly her obvious dislike of Bath.

This one didn’t hit the same as her other works.

The Secret Life of Wilkie Collins - William Clarke ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is part of a new reading series I’ve started. My sister bought me a book a month for my birthday, and this was the first I unwrapped.

The book reveals how many of Collins’s novels came about, and dives into his unconventional life. Collins left his fortune to two different women, both of whom he had intimate relationships with.

However, my favourite aspect of the book wasn’t that, but rather his friendship with Dickens.

There were a couple of characters in Dickens’s novels that I recognised as being based on friends of the pair. For fans of Collins’s or Dickens’s work, this is a brilliant read. But if you’re looking to learn more about the Victorian era, there are better books out there.

Sunrise on the Reaping - Suzanne Collins ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was hands down my favourite read of the month. It’s the prequel I’d been waiting for, a book for real fans, where little Easter eggs keep popping up.

We meet Katniss’s parents and finally get Haymitch’s backstory, which is horrifying.

My favourite Hunger Games instalment is Catching Fire, and this is closely related to that. It features many of your favourite characters and sits just behind it as a favourite, for me, in the series.

If you’ve ever watched, read, or even slightly liked the world of Panem, you have to dive into this one.

Tilly and the Lost Fairy Tales - Anna James ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is the latest book my daughter and I are reading together. It’s the second in the Pages & Co. series and has an Inkheart-type feel. Tilly is a bookwanderer and can read characters out of books, as well as read herself into them. Imagine having tea with Toad and Ratty on the riverbank.

We’ve fallen in love with this series. In this one, Tilly bookwanders into fairy tales. It’s so good that my little girl asked to go straight to the next book. That says it all.

12 Years a Slave - Solomon Northup ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The line on the first page got me, why isn’t this book as well known as Anne Frank’s Diary? The truth is, it’s about a subject no one wants to acknowledge.

This is an honest portrayal. It’s not sensationalised. It’s just the raw story of one man’s horrendous ordeal. This should be taught in schools. Everyone should read it.

If you’ve seen the film, they’re very close, but the book gives you a deeper emotional investment in Solomon’s story.

Current Read

I’m reading The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne, presently. I find myself increasingly drawn to fantasy lately, and this one comes highly recommended by the book community.

I’ve only just started it, but I’m loving it so far.

What was your favourite read of May?

Remember — read to learn. Read to escape. Read to smile.