Required Reading 2013: MAY

While April had been a very busy and productive month for the book club – it’s our third anniversary so we had a month-long celebration filled with online and offline activities – I also couldn't help but breathe a huge sigh of relief that it's finally over. Many of us have devoted not a small amount of time for the April events that the beginning of a new month signaled a respite from all the fun, albeit exhausting, activities.

And so I welcome you with (tired but) open arms, May.

image from weheartit

The very ambitious reading list that I conjured for May proved itself to me: I only managed to read two out of the four titles that I picked, and I almost didn’t finish the April chunkster in time. Almost, but not quite.

• Gilead by Marilynne Robinson – Memories, Hope, Balm. 5/5

• Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke – Magicians, kings and ravens. 4/5

And so for the month of May, I have two Pulitzer winners carried over from April.

 ... Plus one classic, one magical realism, and one proudly Filipino detective story.

• Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri – carried over.

• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz – carried over.

• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald – I included this in a previous reading list and had actually begun reading it, but couldn’t get past the first chapter. I’m having another go at it because the movie is coming out soon.

• Smaller and Smaller Circles by F. H. Batacan – the book club’s book of the month.

• The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen – I loved Garden Spells last year, and I need something light and fluffy to join the mix, so here you go.

These are all slim volumes so just in case I’m able to finish reading them all before the month is over, I hope to pick up another book – one less title from the TBR pile.

Have a good May, everyone! 