may: 10, 11, & 12

i am a bit of a book hoarder, buying books that i mean to read but never do. i think some of it stems from a fear of being caught in a situation with nothing to read (what could be worse?!). happily, this month i read two that were already on my shelves (go me!). in may i read:

state of wonder, by ann patchett (okay, so my hoarding was made worse this spring when the library at school gave away a bunch of books that hadn't been checked out in a while, and this is one i grabbed there. it's the first book i've read by ann patchett, and i enjoyed it, though i wouldn't say that i LOVED it. i was interested and entertained, but not so much that i was spreading the gospel about this book.)

we are water, by wally lamb (i spread the gospel about this book. you should know about me: if i'm on vacation with you and i love the book i'm reading, i will talk about it all. the. time. i read the majority of this book over memorial day weekend at the bay with elizabeth, kate, maddy, jenny, and rachel. (look! i have friends in texas!) i adore wally lamb's books, and asked for this one for christmas (thanks, thomas!). this book didn't disappoint…it's the story of a divorce, initially told in alternating chapters by the husband and the wife, and then new narrators are added and new parts of the story come to light. it's a book that tells us about the present, but also flashes back to the past a lot. i love that in a book. i'd highly recommend it, though lamb's first two books (i know this much is true and she's come undone) are still his best.)

wild, by cheryl strayed (i listened to this audiobook and really enjoyed it. again - flashbacks to the author's past are interspersed with the present (her hiking the pacific crest trail), plus, it's a memoir. i love a good memoir. my dad hiked the pacific crest trail when he was in his 20s, so it was cool to learn more about it, and cheryl strayed has a really interesting story to tell. it made the miles to and from work go quickly - i'd recommend it! only complaint: she hiked the PCT in the 1990s, yet wrote this book in the 2010s. that makes me skeptical of her memories, since so much time elapsed. perhaps she kept a really detailed journal? she doesn't explain.)