May was a crazy month. Like, truly insane. I embarked on a major move, so – between packing, driving 1000 miles, unpacking, organizing the new apartment, and also finding a new job – there wasn’t too much spare time, especially during the first half of the month. I still managed to do some reading and baking, though – take a look below!
Books read:
Somehow, I finished three books amidst the craziness of May! The books were:
- Boom Town by Sam Anderson – 4 stars
- The Pisces by Melissa Broder – 4 stars
- An American Marriage by Tayari Jones – 4 stars
It’s hard to compare these books to each other, especially because Boom Town is so different (historical non-fiction) from The Pisces and An American Marriage (contemporary fiction). I liked each of these books for different reasons, but An American Marriage was probably my favorite. I haven’t posted about An American Marriage yet, but a more detailed review is coming soon!
Bakes inspired by the books:
I baked twice this month, with both of those bakes inspired by books. For Boom Town, I made a strawberry sprinkle cake; and for The Pisces, I baked matcha green tea donuts inspired by Lucy’s “doughnut incident” early on in the novel. I haven’t baked anything yet for An American Marriage, but will do that sometime this weekend.
Strawberry sprinkle cake inspired by Sam Anderson’s “Boom Town” Matcha green tea donuts with chocolate glaze, inspired by “The Pisces”
Books in progress/reading goals for next month:
I’m currently reading Milkman by Anna Burns (current progress: about one third of the way through). My impression, so far, is that this book is unlike anything I’ve read before, and I’m not quite sure if I like it. I also plan to read Normal People by Sally Rooney this month. I’ve heard so many great things about this novel – from reviewers I follow here to the employees at my local bookstore – so I’m really excited for that read. Normal People will likely be a quick read, but I haven’t yet decided what to read after that. Maybe more books from the Women’s Prize for Fiction Longlist? Or maybe just ANY other books from my exponentially-growing TBR list?
(some of the) blog posts that I loved:
- Troy at Pointless Overthinking wrote a short essay about the different types of questions that people ask, and why they are important.
- Rani Neutill wrote a Longreads essay about being a person-of-color in a mostly white writing class, and having their work criticized by a white man with a superiority complex.
- Emily Lackey also wrote an amazing Longreads essay, about her journey to self-acceptance and self-love.