May Reading Wrap Up

May was a mess of a month. Frustrating hospital appointments, tensions at work and in personal relationships, and a health-threatening heatwave, it’s been a difficult time.

But I did find a new five-star read and had some lovely book-related experiences. Go reading!

The four books I read in May were worlds apart. I started with a mythological retelling, followed by a sapphic romance, then veered into a cosy fantasy, and ended with a high-tension sci-fi.

In and amongst the madness, I shared a lovely moment with my partner where we read the book club book at the same time, finishing the final pages with a fun, read-a-loud session together. I also had a wonderful evening staying up late reading the aforementioned five-star read until it’s tear-jerking end.

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Circe by Madeline Miller ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book had sat untouched on my bookshelf for a while. But I have enjoyed several mythology retellings recently, and so, when I asked a classics teacher I know for their recommendation and it was Circe, I knew it was time to pick it up.
Circe is a god, born into the house of Helios. But Circe has the voice of a mortal and doesn't fit into her family. Then she finds her power: witchcraft. And with it, threatens the gods. Circe is then exiled to the island of Aiaia where she hones her craft, meets passers-by (such as Hermes and Odysseus, as well as unwelcome guests) and her story really gets going from there.
This is another tale (like Aphrodite by Phoenicia Rogerson) which I admire from the off because of how much work it takes to curate the tales of a god together for a story such as this. I also found I clicked with the writing style and was drawn into the story.
I did very much enjoy this book, but I did find it hard to get super invested in the mc's life when the story is set over thousands of years, as with Greek gods. Circe's story did cause me to feel for her (and women generally - this is a feminist retelling), but with the characters and times surrounding her changing every few chapters, the five-star feeling didn't come.
I will also add that there are quite a few graphic scenes of violence and cruelty which fit into this sort of story, but the intensity took me by surprise.
Overall, Circe is a book I found interesting and I would definitely recommend to those who also enjoy this genre. I also appreciate the happy ending - I turned the final page in a good mood.

Get Over It, April Evans by Ashley Herring Blake ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I have been really conflicted over how to review this book because I really enjoyed it, but there are also some infuriating elements. I think, ultimately, I love a romance between creatives, particularly when their professional lives are also fleshed out, and this was no exception.
April and Daphne's lives are falling apart. April has just permanently closed her tattoo parlor and is struggling to pay her mortgage without renting out her house. Daphne has gone through a big break up, leaving her questioning who she is and where she belongs. Both of them end up becoming art instructors at a tourist summer camp, jobs which provide accommodation... by bunking in together. At first, they each think the other is intense and don't get along, but then, with the help of their art, they begin to fall for each other.
An added complication is that Daphne's ex (the one who just dumped her) is also April's ex-fiancèe from a few years ago, AND Daphne was the woman that this ex cheated on April with. This added layer felt unnecessarily messy, but the women also sort it out between them pretty quickly.
I liked how April and Daphne really observed each other - by the end, for example, Daphne could just tell that April was gazing at the stars and contemplating because of a pause in their conversation. I also liked the 'right person, wrong time' theme, and that Daphne is allowed to find herself before entering into another long-term relationship (Although, being romance novel, of course they get together at the end).
There are some spicy scenes, including an extended bedroom/play party scene or two in the second half. I enjoyed these for how they diverted from standard intimacy scripts, and well-written spice is something I associate with Ashley Herring Blake books.
This is the second book in the Clover Lake trilogy. The first book follows Ramona, April's best friend, who appears a lot in this book too, but treats April so poorly that I have no interest in reading that first one. But I do like the author and will continue to read her books.

The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong ⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is a cosy fantasy tale with low-stakes, quickly-resolved magical adventures and cute happy endings for everyone (including the troll-turned-nun).
Tao is a fortune teller travelling the country alone. That is until she meets some strangers along the way (Mash, Silt and Kina) that need her help. Together they go in search of a lost child and face up to their troubled pasts.
This isn't the sort of book I would pick up if it wasn't a book club book. The genre and writing style aren't really my thing, and the characters could be a little 2D at times. But once I leaned into what it was, I did enjoy the story.
The job of the travelling fortune teller reminds me of the travelling tea monk in Becky Chambers' A Psalm for The Wild-Built, although I didn't feel Leong's version here was as well executed. Unlike the tea monk, we don't see Tao's development in the role. The interactions she has with customers also felt rushed, lacked emotion, and she lied sometimes, which is just not interesting to me.
In fact, fortune tellers are clearly respected magical people in this world, but the first two "fortunes" our main character, Tao, tells are made up or based on facts she previously knew. It made me wonder if Tao - The Teller of Small Fortunes - was a fraud, and that's why they only tell small fortunes. But I was wrong, so I don't understand why those initial lies were included.
The parts of this book I did like were those with more depth. There's exploration of what it's like for Tao being an immigrant. The author is Chinese-American, so I like that they included this element into the character. I also liked the complicated relationship Tao has with her Ama due to their choice to move the family away from Shinara, assimilate into Eshtera, and cut ties from their heritage and culture.
We read this at book club for its ace rep. Tao does mention not ever wanting to get married early on, but other than that, the representation is more about the queer theme of found family.

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It took 9 pages for me to get hooked by this book. First, things go wrong in space during a shuttle mission in 1984. On page 16, one of the astronauts reports, "Houston, I think I am the only one left." Then we are transported back to 1980 when these astronauts are first selected as ASCANs and begin training. The book is then duel timeline, keeping up the suspense of the disaster in 1984, while filling in the story of the previous four years.
The majority of the book is following the past timeline and Joan becoming an astronaut, splitting her life between training and her niece, and falling in love with fellow ASCAN, Vanessa, before becoming the CAPCOM for the 1984 mission. She is the person in mission control who directly talks to the crew in space while Vanessa is up there and in trouble.
Joan's knowledge of space felt a little amateur. I've heard the author explain Joan's interest is based on what got her, a non-scientist, excited during the research stage, so this unrealistic part made sense.
But I absolutely love this book! I stayed up late to finish it and then cried into the final pages!
I loved the focus on being some of the first women astronauts, including whether they should be proving that women can be like the men and fit in, or show that women can be respected as themselves in the programme.
The relationship Joan has with her sister, Barbara, adds a lot to the story. They have never really got each other, and a big part of that is Joan's sexuality. It is during the book that Joan works out that she's gay. Joan is also like a second parent to Barbara's daughter. I loved having the male-dominated field storyline alongside one of motherhood. It also acted as a demonstration of a family with two mothers, which felt fitting beside NASA's no "sexual deviance" reality.
The lesbian love story explores this further as they have to keep their relationship a secret. They talk about the things they therefore miss as a couple, and the conversation in code at end was heartbreaking!
There is so much more in this book that had me interested, too, from the NASA insights to Joan's belief in God. I was gripped!