It’s time, once again, to chat about our favorite reads of the previous month.
JEREMY: David McCullough gets the nod for the second month in a row; after a few months, I finally finished his magisterial Truman. Great stuff. On the fiction side, I re-read Tolkien’s The Two Towers. As good as ever and LOTR as a whole remains one of my all-time favorites.
JANE: My wife was riveted by Caro Claire Burke’s Yesteryear. The reviews have been fairly mixed, but Jane thought it was well done from start to finish and she tore through this story of a time-traveling tradwife.
GRAHAM (almost 11 years old): Our eldest really enjoyed Project Nought by Chelsey Furedi, a debut graphic novel that includes a bit of time travel. Cool.
WILLA (8 years old): Ever since our family stayed in Moss Landing, California (near Monterey) for a vacation a couple years ago, the middle kiddo has been obsessed with otters. We saw dozens in the wild and it was awesome. So it was really fun to read Odder together; Katherine Applegate weaves together a really creative story and Moss Landing even makes an appearance. I highly recommended this one as a family read.
BO (5 years old): Towards the end of Bo’s school year, local Duluth illustrator Jordan Sundberg visited his class to read a new book she illustrated called Northwoods Lullaby (written by Mary Casanova). It’s beautifully done and Jordan is a talented, delightful human — we own a number of her prints. Grab a copy for any little ones in your life!
Your turn! What was your favorite May read?
Mine was a re-read, Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer. My favorite new read was The God of the Woods by Liz Moore, which surprised me since I didn't enjoy Long Bright River.
My favorites this month were The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances, which I described as "The Brave Little Toaster x There Will Come Soft Rains x Fahrenheit 451 = a sweet warm story about hope in an ever-mechanical future", and Stay for a Spell, a fantasy about a princess cursed to stay in a bookshop until she finds her heart's desire. I'm not a huge fantasy reader, but I really enjoyed the characters and the positivity abounding in this book. I also read Yesteryear in May and was intrigued and uncomfortable the entire time. I didn't love it, but it was fascinating.
I love Katherine Applegate and otters, so I added Odder to my list at the library!