May 2017 Reads: Awesome Books for Summer Edition

Yay! It’s the first, which means it’s time to share the books I read in the previous month. May might have been my best reading month of the year. With THREE five star reads, I’ve got lots of good stuff to share with you. YAY!

I have added a new piece of info to my recaps. After the title, I am including the way I read the book. I will also note if I got the book from the library or Book of the Month (BOTM). Links included are affiliate links.

If you use Goodreads to track books, you can follow me there. 

May 2017 Reads

Everything, Everything (paperback): In preparation for the release of the movie and meeting the author (read my interview here), I read this best-selling YA novel in one night. The book is all about a girl who has a disease that prevents her from going outside. She falls for the boy next door and makes a choice that changes her life. It’s a super quick, easy read that’s perfect for summer. It’s also on sale for just $6!
4 Stars

The Tumbling Turner Sisters (Audio): Fans of Water for Elephants will enjoy this book set in the 20s about four sisters, who to help their family make ends meet, create a tumbling act and go on the road performing. I listened to the book and enjoyed the different narrators. Right now the audible version is on sale for $4.49.
4 Stars

This is How It Always Is (Hardback): Stop reading right now and buy this book. Seriously. Best book I have read this year, maybe in several years. Utterly wonderful. I would give it 10 stars if I could. The book is about two parents and their five boys. It becomes evident at a very young age that their youngest believes he is a girl. In This is How it Always Is, the reader journeys with the family through the delicate and challenging choices they make, the tension between what should be a secret and what should be public and how things can unravel. It will make you think, it will make you cry, it will make you nod your head. I can’t stop telling people to read this book.
5 Stars

The Book of Unknown Americans (Paperback): I devoured this book in one-day and can’t stop thinking about it. An important read about what the immigrant experience is like for many people in America, the choices they are forced to make and the racism they face.
5 Stars

My Name is Lucy Barton (Hardback/Library): I got this book at the library after so many other respected readers continuing to talk about it. It reads like a memoir, but is the fictional story of a woman looking back on her life after spending an extended period in the hospital. I found the wisdom profound and wanted to underline lines in the book, which not something I ever want to do in fiction.
4 stars

The Sisters Chase (Hardback/BOTM): This is one of the June Book of the Month selects and I absolutely LOVED IT! I could not put it down and read it in one day, literally walking with my nose in the book. The Sisters Chase is about two sisters, Mary and Hannah Chase, who are left homeless after their mother dies and the incredible lengths the older sister goes to help them survive. I know I am being vague, but it is so twisty, it’s best for me to not share much. The book spans more than 25 years and is very satisfying. It doesn’t release until the end of June, so if you want to get your hands on it now, subscribe to Book of the Month for a 1-month membership for $10
5 Stars

Current Reads

My summer reading stack is a bit ambitious. Here is what I am currently reading.

• The Handmaid’s Tale (audible version with Claire Danes)
• A Different Beautiful (paperback): I am LOVING this book and the kindle version is $1.99 today. Go buy it!
• One Minute Mentoring (hardback)

What have you recently read? Any recommendations for summer?