I know it’s been a while since I posted but it was my birthday and I decided to hit pause. To make up for lost time, I will publish two posts this weekend. I am finally sharing my reading recap for my May reads. This was a super exciting month for me because I finally discovered my latest favorite book. If you follow me on Instagram, you already know I could not shut up about this particular book. Everything was perfect! I also tried reading a poetry book (a first for me) and I have mixed feelings towards poetry as a literary genre for me to enjoy.
Below are the books I read in May 2023:
Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad ⭐⭐⭐⭐
This book took me back in 2018 when I had a breast cancer screening after my doctor felt a lump. I cried on the way to my appointment, during and after my appointment. Coming from that experience, this memoir was definitely very personal to me as I could relate to her feelings regarding anxiety and what was next for her when she started her tests!
It was so interesting hearing her thoughts when it comes to caregiving and how relationships do change after cancer diagnosis. Her boyfriend, Will, dropped everything to take care of her. She felt guilty about it but also mad when Will made other plans without her. Plans that would be challenging for her to attend because she is immunocompromised! There is also that feeling that Will left because she was diagnosed with cancer, it could be other things but it would always tie back to that!
When she meets Jon! Ahh I loved those chapters (always in my lover era) and her fear when it comes to getting into a new relationship knowing you have a chronic illness! I also loved the chapter about invisible illness and how people judged her for not standing up for an older person in the train! Sometimes disability is invisible!!!
HAHA the best part was when she did a half marathon after she got better! 😆♥️
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is easily the best book I have read so far this year. I now understand the hype and how Gabrielle Zevin’s book was Goodreads book of the year in 2022. First, the title is amazing and so catchy! I love how Zevin weaves in the title towards the end and how it relates to Marx’s character. I loved the Japanese reference in the cover, Under the Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai and how it was integrated into the story. I also loved the Emily Dickinson poem references because PVRIS, one of my favorite rock bands, has an album called all we know of heaven, and all we need of hell from an Emily Dickinson poem. I guess true masterpieces always reference Emily Dickinson.
The book revolves around two childhood friends, Sam and Sadie, who go on to start designing video games after reconnecting years later at a train station. Their first game becomes a hit and Marx (Sam’s college roommate) joins their partnership as a producer. After the trio sells their video game, the book explores their friendship over time. Their partnership reminded me of The Social Network because of their creative differences as they developed more games.
I fell in love with all the characters, especially Marx! I am absolutely in love with Marx! I promise you that you will fall in love with Marx. He may be a secondary character but without Max there would be no games. He is so charismatic and this quote by Marx warms my heart. “What is a game? Marx said. “It’s tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. It’s the possibility of infinite rebirth, infinite redemption. The idea that if you keep playing, you could win, no loss is permanent, because nothing is permanent, ever.”
Once you get to know Marx and his hobbies, you understand why the Macbeth reference is so important to him. I truly understand why the women always fell in love with him! I will my man my man my man Marx forever!!
The book also had so many memorable quotes like this one: “Sadie Miranda Green! You have died of dysentery!”
I hated Dov! No discussion needed.
I was worried that I would have to be an avid video game player to enjoy this book but the writing proved me wrong. The book is full of nostalgia and you feel like you are part of the trio discussing video game designs. The video game descriptions are so good and make you want to play the game. I now want to experience playing Solution and Ichigo. I loved how they also incorporated the music score and selection process behind the video games. This part reminded me of the song Ludens by BMTH, a song for the action game called Death Stranding.
The NPC Chapter is definitely the highlight of the book! This is the best chapter and you will need space to recover after finishing this chapter. I honestly need to read more of Gabrielle Zevin’s work because I fell in love with her storytelling. This book will forever be on top of my mind when anyone asks for a book recommendation! So many emotions felt throughout the book: anger, nostalgia, sadness and grief. I cannot wait for the screen adaptation.
I gave it a low 5 star because the Emily chapter was too long, a little bit confusing and underwhelming. In my opinion, I felt that the description of them playing the virtual game was unnecessary and interfered with the pacing of the novel. This could have been a paragraph!
Erotic Stories by Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal ⭐⭐⭐
I have a love hate relationship with Reese Book Club recommendations. I love some of their book recommendations and sometimes I really hate their recommendations. I have mixed feelings about With Erotic Stories by Punjabi Widows. Halfway through, I lost interest because it felt like the characters were trying to solve a murder mystery
Nikki, “a law school dropout, impulsively takes a job teaching a “creative writing” course at the community centre in the beating heart of London’s close-knit Punjabi community.” The miscommunication trope is major in this novel! The Sikh widows sign up expecting to learn basic English literacy, not creative writing. Nikki encourages them to use their imaginations to share exciting stories about their sexual experiences. I do not think the book is an erotic novel but the stories the widows shared were spicy (not complaining). 😅
This is a great book to learn about a different culture, their traditions and how different women interpret sexual intimacy in marriages. I also really loved the banter between the Sikh widows. The part where one of the widows plagiarised her erotic story from TV was so hilarious!! Some women described their erotic stories using euphemism that made me chuckle several times.
Set on You (The Influencer, #1) by Amy Lea ⭐⭐⭐
I would give this book a low 3 star. I did not hate it but also didn’t love it. I thought the dialogue was annoying and the romance did not capture my attention! Set on You is about Crystal, a curvy fitness influencer, who meets an annoying firefighter at her local gym. Their relationship starts after Scott steals her squat rack which upsets Crystal. Yeah, that is the plot. Honestly, I concluded that the gym romance is not my cup of tea.
This is a romance novel but it felt so meh because there was too much discussion on social media and fatphobia. Crystal’s constant mention of her obsession with lululemon was insufferable. The conflict could have been better! I do not understand why Crystal was mad that Scott did not mention that his grandfather is sick? I also do not get why she got mad at Scott for defending her against cyber bullying! I think Crystal and I have different ideas of what a conflict is. 🤷🏿♀️
For a very hyped up romance novel, the steamy scenes were mid. I am also VERY concerned about Scott and Crystal getting engaged knowing their grandparents’ relationship? 😀
Homie: Poems by Danez Smith
I rarely read poetry but Homie was gifted to me almost three years ago and I finally read it. Danez Smith is a Black queer poet so most of the poems centre Blackness and queerness. The first line is pretty funny, the book is actually titled Homie because they did not want non-Black people saying the actual title of the book which is My Nig.
Honestly speaking, I am not a fan of pop culture references because they tend to alienate readers and this is how I felt reading most of the poems. I am also not a fan of the constant use of lowercase letters in some poems, the recurring use of the N-word and the shape aesthetic used for some poems made it hard to understand and follow the poem. I thought it was underwhelming but maybe it’s me because I never read poetry.
This is a short book so you can finish the poetry collection in an hour.
My plan for this week is to finally read The Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson. Fun fact, she edited Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow