Reader Round Up: May
May was a month of escapism as different stresses cropped up and reading is my escape goto having learned that finding frozen yogurt in the local groceries is frustrating and futile.
An eclectic batch indeed:
David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell⭐️⭐️⭐️
Malcolm Gladwell has proven his ability to combine an intriguing premise with research data, anecdotal examples, and an engaging style of bringing it all together. This method worked well for Blink, The Tipping Point, and Outliers. Not so much for David and Goliath.
One problem is how the premise is not fully defined, or tends to flex and morph into something a bit different as the book progresses.
True to Form by Elizabeth Berg
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
True to Form continues the story of Katie Nash, a 13 year old girl who has both little and everything going on in her life. With only one friend and a summer filled with jobs arranged by her emotionally distant father, Katie is fairly sure her summer of 1961 is going to be dreary.
While Katie’s summer is far different than she anticipated, she discovers new friendships, experiences new opportunities, and finds out making choices can be very serious—and can drastically change a person’s life.
Engaging and charismatic, Katie’s voice borders on being a bit too precocious for a young teen girl, yet there is much truth to Katie’s observations. This can be read as a stand alone.
Whose Waves These Are by Amanda Dykes
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
A small town in Maine is the setting for a novel that interconnects various stories of coping with loss. Switching from WWII and its aftermath, to present day, the author explores how people cope with losing someone they love, exploring emotions from guilt and sorrow to regret and restored faith, Dyke weaves in humor and poignant human drama to create an engaging inspirational romance with historical insight.
Jackaroo by Cynthia Voigt
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
One aspect of rereading books from long ago is rediscovering and reconnecting with the story. I only vaguely remembered the incident of finding Jackaroo’s costume, all else was like reading a new novel.
And what a wonderful story! Adventure, Middle Ages setting with villages, earls, and plenty of Robin Hood trope. Voigt crafts her story with full characters and descriptive imagery that rounds out a story not easily put down once started.
There are enough twists in the plot to prevent the usual stale tale script from forming, and the ending is definitely satisfying.
It will be a happy mission hunting down the other books in the series.
The Little Prince by Antoine de Exupery
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
The Little Prince is of those mesmerizing books containing a deep message as it twinkles and beguiles readers with its captivating prose and quaint renderings. For children it’s the magical tale of a prince who rules a planet and journeys to other worlds. For adults it’s an allegory of despondency–how life is not always as it seems to be, for we get caught up in our world of being grown up for having peeked behind the curtain, we sadly realize the truth behind the magic.
June and summer vaycay is welcome anticipation. What titles are you looking to read? I wouldn’t mind plumping up my “want-to-read” list now that it’s under a 100.
Pam Webb 
Good reminder for me to look for “True to Form” and the book that evidently came before this? I’ve enjoyed so many of Elizabeth Berg’s lovely books in the past, but sort of got away from them, somehow. She has a wonderful book about writing (“Escaping into the Open”), which has been quite helpful to me!
There are two previous books. I haven’t read them, but they would add more to Katie’s personality, yet this one did well as a stand-alone.
Good to know…thanks!
Jackaroo sounds like my kind of story!
Hope you find a copy!
I’m intrigued by Jackaroo, too. Gonna have to pick up a copy.
Aaaaand the “To Read Pile” gets a little taller.
Oh, you and the progeny could team read it. It’s quite the summer read.
I think I’ll take you up on that.
Complete with cape, of course. The sword is up to your discretionary parental decision making.