8 Books I read in May 2022
I read a lot, I mean a lot (209 books so far this year). But this month, there are a few books that I read that really stood out to me and I thought I would share with you here. A mix of non-fiction and fiction (as well as two ARC’s), I hope you at least try a couple of these books and tell me what you thought of them yourself! The books here are in no particular order, but each is a book I enjoyed reading in May and want to share with others.
Consumed: The Need for Collective Change: Colonialism, Climate Change & Consumerism by Aja Barber
This book is a fantastic look at the world through the lens of fashion and its impact on the world. Aja brings other voices into this conversation and ties it all back to actionable steps the everyday consumer can take to lessen their own consumption and think about why they were consuming in the first place. This book is a great read, and blends the author's own experiences with fashion and consumerism with history and considerations for the global impact shopping has on the world. Highly recommend this book for anyone concerned or thinking about fast fashion and unsure where to start.
Financial Adulting: Everything You Need to Be a Financially Confident and Conscious Adult by Ashley Feinstein Gerstley
If you read one book on getting your finances together this year, read Financial Adulting. This book was a fantastic, absolutely fantastic read that provided concrete steps for getting your finances together, actually talked about intersectional issues with money and finances, and didn’t attempt to guilt trip me about finances if I didn’t understand. This book had chapters on almost anything, and I highlighted so much of the kindle edition I borrowed from the library I ended up just buying this book outright so that I could come back to it later for reference.
The Dragon’s Bride by Katee Robert
Katee Roberts is the queen of just good and spicy romance and this book does not disappoint in that aspect. The other thing she does so well is that she also provides characters that have lives, history, and emotional trauma they work to overcome that can be missing from some other works. This book embodies this concept entirely. It’s short, incredibly sweet, and definitely spicy. I can’t wait for the rest of the series to come out!
Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach
Mary Roach is known for her microhistory books, and this one is no different. I really enjoyed learning about how animals and humans coexist (or don’t) and the methods used to corral, control, or otherwise attempt to exterminate animals that get in the way of what humans want to be doing. This book starts with bears, and ends with birds and travels all around the globe, what a great book and I learned a ton with book.
Rifqa by Mohammed El-Kurd
Mohammed El-Kurd is a poet who grew up in Jordan but his family is from Palestine, he is a prominent Palestinian activist and has published several works. His most recent work, Rifqa is a beautiful series of poems dedicated and named after his grandmother, and traces the impacts of Israel settlement in Palestine. I read this book as part of the Noname Book Club for May/June and I am so glad I did. This book was short, but definitely impactful.
The Comfort Book by Matt Haig
I’ll be honest — I haven’t read The Midnight Library yet (it’s still on hold at my library), but when I saw Matt had published another book I jumped on it and I am glad I did. The Comfort Book was an incredibly (hate to say it but it’s true) comforting read. Honestly, some of the snippets I couldn’t relate to just because our circumstances are different, but overall, this book gave me a great new perspective on how to handle some events as they come and where to take comfort when I can.
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
I absolutely devoured this book. It was the perfect, absolutely perfect, blend of fantasy, coziness, and coffee shop mystery. I loved the characters, I loved the concept, and I found this entire book to be the warm hug I needed at the time. If you read a fiction book this month — I really recommend this one!
Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott (ARC)
Thistlefoot is a story of intergenerational trauma, magical realism, and facing yourself as you are, no matter how much you fear it. I definitely teared up multiple times while reading this book. This twist on the legend Baba Yaga was a great choice and honestly, I learned a lot myself about the historical Russian persecution of Jews in between the wars and about the power of stories in keeping memory alive. A fantastic read, with unique characters, the plot weaved throughout time and space effectively without taking anything away from the book as a whole. (Note- This book is an ARC and I received this copy from the publisher and NetGalley, this did not impact my review or thoughts on this book at all).
