The Best Books We Read Last Month
May 2024 Edition
It’s finally summer, folks. The kids are out of school. The pools are open. The summer reading lists are out in full force.
We are spending our time split between toiling away in our dark writing caves and ferrying children from one activity to the next. If we are lucky, we grab a few minutes to soak up the sun by the pool. But wherever we go, you can be sure we have a book in hand. If you are like us, the relaxed summer schedule means that you are busier than ever. So we thought we would start a new series where we share the best book we read last month. We are keeping it short and simple with one recommendation from each of us. Ain’t nobody got time for a long newsletter when the latest Emily Henry is out.
From Abby:
Hamnet: I am not sure that I would have picked this book up on my own. First off it is about the death of a child which is probably on the top of my “least favorite topics to read about” list. Second, it is about Shakespeare and while I love the Bard’s work, Shakespeare in Love may have ruined me—I absolutely hated that he was an adulterer in that film. This is funny, in retrospect, that a movie I saw when I was an opinionated teenager would forever taint the way I saw the famous playwright. However
, when we recorded her podcast episode, spoke so glowingly about the author Maggie O’Farrell’s work that I decided to give Hamnet a try. And I tried reading it, I really did. It just didn’t click for me. So I decided to give it one last chance and listened to it on audiobook. I am so glad I did because I FELL IN LOVE and started making up reasons to listen to it. The dogs need to go on a walk? I volunteered. Laundry needs to be folded? I was all over it. Maggie O’Farrell’s writing is like poetry. And like Shakespeare, I found this book was infinitely better when it was performed. Ell Potter’s narration was so perfectly done and really sold the story for me. I became engrossed in the world of Hamnet and his sister Judith as the black death tightens its grip on them. The love story between Shakespeare and his wife Agnes was beautiful, tragic, and yet also redemptive. And it is in that redemption that Maggie O’Farrell really shines. It is only an excellent author that can pull healing out of the ashes of tragedy.The moral of this story is two fold: #1 When someone you trust tells you that a book is amazing, believe them, even if it isn’t something you would normally pick up and #2 Sometimes trying a book in a different format can really unlock it for you.
From Marybeth:
How To Read A Book: This book tackled hard subjects like incarceration, forgiveness, guilt, and loss— but with that redemptive lift that I always like to have in a story. I found it utterly charming, the kind of book you’d want to read tucked away on a rainy day in the world’s cutest coffee shop. The best part about it was how it extolled the power of books and story to bring people together and break down barriers, which is something we are all about here at The Book Tide. Put it on your summer reading list if it isn’t there already!
From Ariel:
Kingdom of Ash: This is the final installment of Sarah J. Maas’ Throne of Glass series. I was raised by parents who had a deep fondness for Science Fiction and Fantasy novels. Most of the books they read to us as children were in one of those genres. And though I don’t write either, I often reach for them—Fantasy in particular—when I’m looking for escape. A good, sprawling Fantasy epic is comforting to me. So in January, I picked up the first book in this series and brought it with me on book tour. I couldn’t put it down! I bought the second book while still on the road and never looked back, gobbling up all eight tomes over the following months. And these books truly are tomes—they get longer and longer—with the last installment coming in around a thousand pages. Here’s my verdict: Sarah J. Maas is a genius. And I realize these might be fighting words, but Throne of Glass is better (in my opinion) than ACOTAR. There, I said it. Not one time did I accurately guess where the story was going. That happens so rarely that I am delighted when it does.
We want to hear from you. What was the best book you read last month?
I read "Once There Were Wolves" by Charlotte McConaghy in May. It had been on my TBR shelf for too long and was a worthy 5-star story. Hamnet was a big winner for me in the past.
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