Auntie's Annex: May Shelves
Gearing up for vacation, but gearing down on my reading. C'est la vie.
Hello and welcome to another episode of Auntie’s Annex. Are you ready to collapse exhausted into bed and crack the spine of whatever book you are trying to get through and then immediately only read one or two paragraphs before succumbing to slumber? Great! I am glad you are here.
May was a busy month, as my kids were botn 20 days apart, both in May (One Taurus/ one Gemini) and every year we throw them one combo birthday party in the park. This appeals to the lazy side of me. However, I can’t help but want to make their actual birthday day special for them too, as this appeals to the birthday-loving celebration side of me. So really, I have made this month into a THREE birthday affair. I’ll be talking to my personal assistant (that’s just me, talking to myself again) ASAP. Whatever, we love it all from birthday donuts to pool parties to cupcakes in the park.
It is heating up here in Texas so naturally we are leaving town for the glorious still-wearing-sweatshirt-weather of the PNW to visit with my family. My number one priority upon arrival is to harass help my mom about not having sign up for a library card so I can use it to check out books for me and the kids. Is it even a vacation if I am not reading? I also consider my sister’s shelves my own little free library (thanks in advance, Pants).
TOP PICK
NORTH WOODS by Daniel Mason
When two lovers run away from their township they build a house in a secluded clearing in the middle of nature, far from any inhabitants. This book follows the story of that house and all of its inhabitants. This book is sort of about a house. And it is sort of about apple trees. And it is sort of about humanity. And it is sort of a ghost story and also sort of a love story and also sort of a family drama. It is all the things. It is a poem, it is epistolary, it is a song, it is prose, it is a prolonged footnote. This book is a true delight that works for both my current divided attention span and my English Major roots. I want to own this book so it can live on my shelves and in my heart. I want to share it with all my reader friends. It is weird and haunting, lovely and strange. A masterpiece. I can already tell you this one will make my top 2024 list. READ THIS BOOK.
FROM THE STAX
NINE PERFECT STRANGERS by Liane Moriarty
When nine different arrive at Tranquillum House for their ten-day rejuvenation and wellness retreat, nobody seems to know exactly what they have signed up for. What occurs is beyond any of their dreams, or nightmares.
Has it been a month or two since I’ve read a Liane Moriarty? Time to pick one up then! I found this one less engaging than her other books — maybe because all the characters are so self-deprecating and hard to love, and because it flips between so many of them? Plus, there is a lot of trauma that is pushed aside and made light of next to the plot, which feels a bit insensitive. I felt confused about what the moral of the story is, or if there even is one.
HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN (#9) by Louise Penny
Armand Gamache is back in the town of Three Pines, partially investigating the disappearance of a woman, and partially trying to disappear himself.
A rollercoaster of suspense that had me wondering who to trust and what would happen next. We are back in Three Pines, back to familiar faces and scenes, and I am glad to be there. Louise Penny took me into the heart of corruption on the force, and tossed me this way and that like a boat lost at sea and I loved it. Jean Guy is a mess, Armand is in hiding, even the dead woman has her secrets. Reading this book with it’s secret plot reminded me of this bizarre real life story that lived in the recesses of my mind.
SUMMER DARLINGS by Brooke Lea Foster
When Heddy took a summer nanny job on the Island, she didn’t know what to expect. What she found was that the rich have their dirty little secrets too.
The first part read like a coming-of-age novel set in the 1950’s — a lot of hemming and hawing about which man she should chase to best secure her future — and that mindset was a bit hard to swallow even though it may be an accurate depiction of the time. But then! But then, the plot goes sideways. It was an ending I never saw coming, and I still don’t know how to believe it ended up there. It was a lot of build-up in one tone for a zag that took the book on an entirely different path. It left me wondering, what (if any) lesson did Heddy learn from her big summer on the island?
KING’S CAGE (#3) by Victoria Aveyard
Our Queen is back, sometimes powerless, sometimes learning more about her power. Sometimes she escapes, sometimes she tries to lead, and always there are battles.
I can’t speed read, but I gave it the old college try for this one. Skimmed the pages just to get through it because I have read the first two in this series, but was very uninspired by the plot. I wondered the whole read when I would get to the action that would finally pull me in. And then it never really happened. For those who liked the first two, this book will introduce some POV from side characters I didn’t expect, which has the potential to add some depth, but unfortunately, I don’t really care.
BEARTOWN by Fredrik Backman
“We are the Bears, the Bears from Beartown!” It is a locker room chant, but in Beartown, it is a lifestyle. Hockey is everything in this small town, and the entire fate of the town itself rests on the juniors winning the big finals game. Will the town smooth sail over the ice, or will the ice prove too thin and crack under the pressure?
I have never watched or read Friday Night Lights, but this book feels like the hockey version of Friday Night Lights. There is adult-fueled small-town drama, there is coming-of-age drama, there is love, there is betrayal, there are complications, and driving it all there is a fierce love of hockey. This was one of those books where I read passages aloud to my person because of how perfectly Backman captures the moment or the human or the feeling. His writing is very truncated, he cuts to the heart of the chase time and time again. He might be going for one-liners that are easily quoted, but I don’t mind. I made one of those cute “kindle” share quotes and sent it off via text to my friends because of how perfectly his phrasing hits home.
IT HAPPENED ONE SUMMER by Tessa Bailey
Piper is an it girl from LA and when she gets publically dumped by her boyfriend, she throws a huge party that gets shut down by the cops and lands her in jail and in trouble. Her punishment? She is banished to her deceased father’s small fishing village in Washington State to think about what she has done.
I think I read on someone’s substack that Tessa Bailey had a five-hour line of people waiting at a book signing and all I can say is…her? This is my first Tessa Bailey book and it absolutely was not for me. There are plenty of things that didn’t work for me with this book, like how I never liked either main character, or how the description of Piper felt VERY male-gaze offensive. BUT, the ultimate insult for me was when a major plot point was a typhoon hitting the coastal town. I grew up in Washington State and I was like “Hold up, WHAT? We don’t have typhoons, right?!?” I was right. We do not. I get it, this is book about dick, not weather, but still I want to know you did the work. And it turns out surly fishermen who speak mostly in grunts when they aren’t calling you Baby and telling you what to do just isn't my fantasy. Lastly, for the first half of this book I couldn’t stop thinking of that reality TV show, The Simple Life, where Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie tried to “rough it” on a farm. This was basically the same thing.
BOY MEETS BOY by David Levithan
Paul lives in a pretty idyllic town for being gay — he was outed by his kindergarten teacher, was voted class president in 3rd grade, and has full support from his quirky and loving parents. But not everyone in his life lives in his town or has it so easy. And, of course, falling in love is never easy, no matter how good you have it.
I picked this one up because I love John Green, and I had read (and loved) Will Grayson, Will Grayson, which is a book by both John Green and David Levithan, so when I saw this one on my Libby app I was excited to read it. I had not heard the buzz around it, had never heard of it. I also did not realize until I had finished reading it that this book was published in 2003, which makes it a freaking TRAIL BLAZER that deserves so much applause. And also, applause to us for making it to a point in life where this book feels more like one more many titles successfully telling a happy story with a gay protagonist instead of the only one.
ADULTING
Whenever I go to an Airbnb or stay with a friend, assume I am going to raid the bookshelf. I remember reading my first John Grisham on the beaches of Hawaii thanks to an Airbnb. If you had an Airbnb, what books would you want someone to discover thanks to your shelf?
I cannot wait to get my summer read on. I imagine my word count will slow down as my life picks up with social events, barbeques, and oceanside adventures. But can you even beat the feeling of a good lounge and read? Bring on the hammocks and the sweat-beaded summer drinks. I am ready.
Catch you next month for Auntie’s Annex, where I will have books from THE Auntie’s shelf. Happy reading y’all!
High praise for North Woods! Sounds fascinating. Thanks for the rec!
Yay for the PNW! I hope you can a great visit up here! No sweatshirts today, but it's supposed to rain all weekend...