Happy June! It’s one of my favorite months of the year because it means sunshine, flowers, and lots of porch time.
I like to take a vodka/soda out on the porch in the evenings and sit there like an old lady surveying my tiny kingdom. Sometimes I take a book, but mostly I sit there and space out, enjoying the birdsong and greeting passers-by.
Highly recommend this method of relaxation if you have a porch/patio/deck.
Here is my favorite flower that is currently blooming in my garden: coreopsis ‘nana’, aka “tickseed.”
My phone camera is awful, sorry.
And, one more—some free marigolds I obtained with purchase at an antique mall over the weekend.
I guess I’m into yellow right now.
Anyway, let’s get to the May books!
What Shannon Read in May
I read four books in May and the themes and settings varied widely.
Some Notes:
Rules of Civility
This was a re-read for me. I read it when it first came out and loved it. And earlier this month, I was in the mood for some fiction that I knew would draw me in. Also, I wanted glamor. I definitely got it with Rules of Civility.
Set in 1930s Manhattan, this is the story of Katey Kontent (what a great name), who, along with her good friend and roommate Eve, meets young and handsome banker Tinker Gray at a jazz bar on New Year’s Eve.
The three form a fast friendship until tragedy strikes. I won’t give the big event away, but suffice it to say that the incident changes everything in the threesome’s relationship.
The novel is an exploration of these relationships as well as the story of a pretty uniquely confident woman navigating the worlds of friendship, dating, and work, among other arenas. I loved the character of Katey and enjoyed seeing what she would get up to next—and how she would handle what came her way.
The setting of 1930s New York was super fun too.
Into the Wilderness
This had been on my TBR for a while and I finally got around to it. It’s a good option if you’re interested in some late 18th-century American history set in the west. I’m just going to say I truly enjoyed it and leave the Goodreads synopsis right here:
It is December of 1792. Elizabeth Middleton leaves her comfortable English estate to join her family in a remote New York mountain village. It is a place unlike any she has ever experienced. And she meets a man unlike any she has ever encountered – a white man dressed like a Native American, Nathanial Booner, known to the Mohawk people as Between-Two-Lives. Determined to provide schooling for all the children of the village, she soon finds herself locked in conflict with the local slave owners as well as her own family.
Interweaving the fate of the Mohawk Nation with the destiny of two lovers, Sara Donati’s compelling novel creates a complex, profound, passionate portrait of an emerging America.
How to Sell a Haunted House
I definitely thought this was going to be a ghosty book—I love ghosty books. But, to my surprise, there weren’t any ghosts haunting this house. I don’t want to give anything away, so I’ll just say there are some creepy dolls involved.
I know. I didn’t think I would like it either. But the writing was so good and the main character so relatable that I got sucked into the story.
Essentially, a woman’s parents die in a car accident and she returns home to work out the cleaning and selling of their house along with her estranged brother. Ok, tragic, but fairly relatable, right?
The creep factor enters as we learn more about the history of the family. The mother was a passionate puppeteer and the house is filled with her handmade puppets and dolls. As the story progresses, we learn just how “involved” these puppets and dolls were in the life of the family. Weirdly involved. And one in particular stole the spotlight.
It sounds so cheesy, but I really enjoyed the romp.
An Immense World
Finally, I read An Immense World, which is generally about the senses (smell, touch, hearing, balance, echo-location) that animals use to navigate the world.
This was a fascinating look into what it’s like to be some of the animals—as far as a human can tell—using one’s senses, so different from a human’s, to find food, shelter, and maintain relationships.
And that’s it for May!
I am so close to finishing the When Are You Reading? Challenge, but I can’t seem to land on a book set in the 1910s that interests me at all. I’ve been through so many. Let me know if you have any recommendations!
Happy June!
Pillow Fort 