Books I Read in May

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
This was a cute premise for a romance novel, and it’s funny because I lived THIS EXACT SCENARIO in my 20s: I was a production assistant at an awesome boutique advertising agency that was merged with a lame big box corporate one and became a true nemesis with the other production assistant. The difference here is a merging of two publishing firms (though boutique vs big box still stands) and the other assistant at my firm was truly an absolute troll (no hard abs with a soft heart to be found) and I high tailed it outta there, finding another job ASAP! Alas, I wish I had the forethought and talent to turn it into an adorable and steamy love story... 

Evicted by Matthew Desmond
I put this book off for a long time, because it’s not particularly uplifting material. I didn’t always reach for it, and it took me a long time to finish, but it is such an essential read. Poverty is so much more complicated than it seems and Desmond deftly crafts personal stories, of those he lived among to do his research, to elucidate this crisis. 

The Current by Tim Johnston
 I first heard about The Current on the From the Front Porch podcast, and it's made the What Should I Read Next summer reading guide - I can certainly see why: I’m not usually a thriller fan, but this one had excellent character development and a mesmerizing ethereal tone. It can feel languid it parts, and my expectations going in were for something fast paced, so I had to adjust those expectations. I also felt like the end was a little ambiguous and I wanted to know MORE! Sequel perhaps?

Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane
Loved this one! Full review here.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling
My expectations were pretty high going into this book, as I think Mindy is pretty awesome and I'm just now getting into The Office. I know, I know. We tried getting into it last year but it just made me so uncomfortable and, honestly, angry. Perhaps it's because I'm a former HR professional, but Michael Scott freaking sucks in the first season. How am I supposed to enjoy a show where the main character is awful? The endearing side has yet to appear because he's not much better in season two, but we're seeing some bright spots and I want to know what all the fuss is about, so we're sticking with it. ANYWAY. It was fun to get some inside baseball on her career, the show and some of the inner workings of Hollywood. But the tone just felt... juvenile? I just hated all of her self depreciating talk of her body, food, dating, etc. It makes me curious to check out her more recent book to see if her tone has matured.

A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny
Ahhh, back in Three Pines! Well, not exactly with this one in the series, but it still has all the familiar sumptuousness of the first three books and, of course, the incomparable Inspector Gamache. I was happy to have timed this for some warm weather reading (before the inevitable June-uary hits Seattle) as it’s set at a secluded lake resort in the summer. I also serendipitously timed it for a rather stressful week around here, and these are such cozy and comfortably familiar reads. I feel as if this series gets better with each book. This was book four and number 15 (!) comes out later this year. I'm so glad I can keep working my way through them for years to come.