Read:
Where the Light Fell – Philip Yancey (Convergent, 2021)
The Sentence – Louise Erdrich (Harper, 2021)
Severance – Ling Ma (Picador, 2018)
These Impossible Things – Salma El-Wardany (Grand Central Publishing, 2022)
The Son of the House – Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia (Dundurn Press, 2021)
Persuasion – Jane Austen (Everyman’s Library, 1992)
Howl’s Moving Castle – Diana Wynne Jones (Harper Collins, 2009)
Never the Wind – Francesco Dimitri (Titan Books, 2022)
Did Not Finish:
Here Goes Nothing – Steve Toltz
Currently Reading:
Next Sunday – Nancy Beach & Samantha Beach Kiley
Fleishman is in Trouble – Taffy Brodesser-Akner
2022 Goals:
Books Read: 41/80 (8 in May)
Books Reviewed: 35/41 (7 reviewed in May)
Translated Works: 3/10 (Nothing new this month.)
Books Owned: 6/20 (Nothing added here in April)
Books from the TBR pre-2020: 10/20 (One added in May: Severance (2019))
Current TBR: 231 (previously 231)
Thoughts:
I’m pretty pleased that I’m halfway to my goal of 80 books before making it halfway through the year. Every book I finished in May was enjoyed, I really don’t have any complaints. Stand-outs were probably When the Light Fell and The Sentence but I enjoyed aspects of everything I read this month. Later this week I have a post coming about the book I didn’t finish, with a focus on pandemic literature.
I read Persuasion as part of my somewhat ignored Virtuous Book Challenge and enjoyed it a lot more than I expected, as I’m not generally much of a Jane Austen fan. I’ll have a review coming next week for that.
What’s Next:
For the first time ever, I’ve decided to participate in Cathy at 746 Books annual 20 Books of Summer Challenge.
Reading 20 books in the summer (June, July, August) doesn’t seem like too much of a stretch as I’ve been averaging about 7 books per month so far this year. That said, summer is not traditionally my best reading season and I’m not always good at sticking to a set list of books to read. I like the casual attitude of this challenge though and the ability to swap titles out as desired.
I’ve divided my list up between ARCs, Library Books, and Owned Books. Here it is:
ARCS (Advance Reader Copies that I’ve already received, all with pubdates in the next few months)
An Island – Karen Jennings
1000 Coils of Fear – Olivia Wenzel
Joan – Katherine J. Chen
How to Fall out of Love Madly – Jana Casale
Ghost Eaters – Clay McLeod Chapman
Library (Books on my TBR that are available at my local library. Leaving 2 spots blank here because a lot will depend on hold times.)
City of Thieves – David Benioff
Fleishman is in Trouble – Taffy Brodesser-Akner
Five Tuesdays in Winter – Lily King
?
?
Owned Books: (Some are recently purchased, others have been hanging around for years. All books that are currently in my house.)
Life & Holiness – Thomas Merton
The Human Factor – Graham Greene
The Sympathizer – Viet Thanh Nguyen
Liturgy of the Ordinary – Tish Harrison
Pastoral – Nevil Shute
The Cocktail Party – T.S. Eliot
The Tiger’s Wife – Tea Obreht
The Breadwinner – Deborah Ellis
The Story of a Marriage – Andrew Sean Greer
The Baron in the Trees – Italo Calvino
Do you plan out your reading in great detail in advance or do you take a more go-with-the-flow approach?
Karissa Reads Books 
Thanks for taking part Karissa! Nice list. Is that the new Andrew Sean Greer? I loved Less. Happy reading and good luck!
Thanks! I’m looking forward to it! That’s an older book by Greer; I’ve never read him before.
Ooh, look forward to hearing about it. I’d like to read more by him,
[…] Karissa at Karrisa Reads Books […]
Persuasion is probably my favourite Austen at the moment, so I look forward to your review!
I typically am planning my reading very studiously, but lately I’ve been going with the flow. I think a big part of that is I changed from two reviews per week to one, which affected everything. I’m reading more books by men that don’t get reviewed, especially books from my personal TBR, and I also have a bunch of library books lately.
I can’t believe the Howl’s Moving Castle book is so new. I thought the film had been around for ages.
I think it can be nice to switch reading style up – go from super regimented to easy-flowing or vice versa.
I was surprised by how recent the movie was too. I kind of thought it came out when I was still in school but no. Have you seen it?
Seen it and love it. I absolutely love when Howl melts into a puddle because he’s in love with a girl, lol. I totally get it. Billy Crystal is great, and I love how Sophie is like “Oh, for Pete’s sake!” about everything and just keeps going. Then, as that witch has more mental decline, they care for her, which reminded me of a family with a member who has dementia. And the real villain is war. I mean, I just love all those touches.
Oh this sounds like it has some differences from the book! Sophie sounds the same though! I will have to watch it.
Best of luck on the reading challenge! It’s hard for me to stick to a list of books as well, but I’m going to give it a try. Enjoy!
Thanks! I’m not usually good at sticking to a list either but I’m going to give it a shot!
Looks like a nicely varied list! I’ve read precisely none of them, not even the Graham Greene who is one of my favourite authors as you probably know. Hope you find some great reads among them! And when you begin to feel stressed around the middle of July, just remember that all the best people fail at this challenge… 😉
ooo so happy to hear that you enjoyed Persuasion! its one of my favourites of Austen’s (though i love all her novels haha). also Five Tuesdays in Winter is one of my fav short story collections – super looking forward to hear what you think about it 😊
I had a feeling I would enjoy Persuasion so I’m glad it lived up to my expectations! I’m enjoying Five Tuesdays so far!