Today I'm sharing the best book I read in May.
Of the 9 books I read this month, I had three 5-star reads:
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Harry Potter à l'école des sorciers by J.K. Rowling
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
Two of these were rereads of favorites, so I'll make the new one my Best of the Bunch.
84, Charing Cross Road was insistently recommended by many people for a long time before I finally picked it up. I could not understand exactly how two decades of correspondence between a woman in New York and a bookshop in London could make for a compelling read, but now I understand. Hanff is a hoot! At the core of their exchange is always Hanff ordering books from the bookshop, but it's her sense of drama about the entire endeavor that makes it so delightful to read — begging for books she must have and acting scandalized by versions that are abridged or poorly translated. This book will undoubtedly appeal to fellow book lovers, but I would imagine it's enjoyable for those who aren't voracious readers as well because of the window it provides into an earlier time. The book is under 100 pages and made up entirely of letters and postcards that often don't fill a page, so you can get through it quickly. It's worth the read.
What is the best book you read this month? Let me know in comments, or write your own post and link up below!
Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: Castle of Wizardry and Disunity in Christ
Five years ago I was reading: Member of the Club, Predictably Irrational, and The Checklist Manifesto
Ten years ago I was reading: Metaphors We Live By
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