may: 20 & 21

the ministry of time, by kaliane bradley (i enjoyed this sci-fi-ish romance-ish book about time travelers and their "bridges" to the modern world.  it helped that i had a little obsession a few years ago with the HMS erebus and the terror expeditions to find the northwest passage in 1845 - this plays a role in the plot.  i felt like this book was doing something different with its plot and the author had the chops to fill out the whole story line.  i enjoyed this!)

margo's got money troubles, by rufi thorpe (i read this over memorial day weekend while we were camping - i don't think i ever would have picked it up on my own (the plot revolves around a single mother getting on only fans to make money while building a relationship with her former-WWE-wrestler father) but a friend gave it to me and spoke highly of it.  i really enjoyed this and sped through it!  a well written beach read - the best kind.)

april: 17, 18 & 19

in april i read:

the life cycle of the common octopus, by emma knight (this was a read with jenna book recommendation and i've already almost forgotten what this book was about.  spoiler alert: it's not about octopi.  not rushing out to recommend this one to you, though i didn't dislike it.)

the heaven & earth grocery store, by james mcbride (i read this because we were considering it as a summer reading choice for the students at our school, and i liked it much more than i expected to - deacon king kong is the only other book by this author that i've read and i didn't love it.  this one was really compelling, the interwoven stories of a jewish community and a black community outside of philadelphia in the 1920s and 30s.  we did put it on the summer reading list, and i'm also going to lead a faculty book club on it now!  definitely recommend this one.)

the frozen river, by ariel lawhon (this was a book of the month club pick that i really enjoyed - historical fiction based on the real life story of a midwife (martha ballard) in maine in the 1700s.  i wrote a paper on birthing practices in an american history class in college and knew a lot about martha ballard already - she's a big deal because she wrote daily in a diary that survived her.  loved this fictionalized retelling of parts of her life, revolving around a murder.  would recommend this one!)