I swore I read more than three books in May, but when I went through my logs, I guess it was a slower month of reading. I think it's because one book that got rave reviews from like everyone else in the world, took me a long time to get through. I gave these five stars, four stars and three stars, respectively. 

Five Stars

Little One by Olivia Muenter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh man I couldn't put this book down. It was thriller-esque with dual timeline as we learn about Catharine's time growing up on a cult-like commune run by her father. We go back and forth from present day -- 10 years after she left the farm -- and when she was actively living there. There were times Catharine made me so mad and other times when I just felt bad for how brainwashed she was.

Four Stars

The Summer We Ran by Audrey Ingram
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was introduced to this book when I saw the author speak at the Gaithersburg BookFest. It tells the story of Tess and Grant, who met as teenagers when Tess's family was working for Grant's next door neighbor. Their romance was short but intense, and they're thrown back together 25 years later when they are both running for the governor of Virginia. The race drags up old secrets that were long buried, and the book is told in dual timelines -- present day and their early relationship.

Three Stars

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

For all the hype this book got, I felt so let down by the ending. What seemed like a fun/interesting/timely idea fell so flat for me. I got pulled into the book fairly early on and was so curious to what was going to happen to Natalie who was play acting as a trad-wife on Instagram. Despite being a horribly unlikeable character, I wanted to know what happened to her and the hint of mystery kept me going. But I definitely got lost in some of the timeline jumps and yea, the ending, felt not as creative as the rest of the book.

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 Oh boy, a bit delayed in getting April's books posted, but better late than never I suppose. It was a good month of reading. 

Five stars

Culpability by Bruce Holsinger
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Five stars because this book is still making me think about it after I've finished reading. The central question the book poses is who is culpable when AI is involved? Is it the algorithm? The humans? The book opens with a family of five in an autonomous car on the way to a lacrosse tournament. They get in a car crash and two people in the other car die. Who is at fault? This book was so good, even though I found a few of the main characters kind of insufferable and wanted to throw them right into the Chesapeake Bay where most of the story takes place.

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book! A book told entirely through letters and wow by the end did I feel like I was best friends with Sybil, the main character. She was fun and a little feisty and a little peculiar, and seeing life through her letters was just a really great way to read her story. Highly recommend!

Four stars

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked so much about this book -- the setting, the dual timelines the characters -- and in true Emily Henry fashion, it was a fun and fast read. What I didn't totally love was the budding relationship between the two writers competing to get a book deal. I loved the parts of their story focused on their interview and research for the book, but the two of them together as quickly as it seemed to happen, didn't feel quite as natural as some of the relationships in other Emily Henry books. Still a good, enjoyable read that I'd recommend.

Anatomy of an Alibi by Ashley Elston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved her first book so was really excited to read this one. I liked the premise of this one, but there were a few places where I thought things were a tiny bit predictable or a bit unrealistic. Still, it was good and enjoyable and I liked it!

Three stars

All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked this book and I wanted to know how it ended, but I don't think it needed to be almost 600 pages. I thought the first bit was fast paced and really good, and the I felt the same about the end chunk, but the middle just sort of plodded along, and I only stuck with it because I was really invested in finding out what happened at the end.

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After a slow reading month in February, I feel like I rebounded nicely in March -- falling back to one of my favorite genres -- thrillers and mystery -- with some really great books. 

Five Stars

Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a fun thriller with a completely deranged main character that I just could not put down. At the height of the covid housing crunch the main character is desperate to get out of her rental and find a real home so she and her husband can start a family. She's obsessed with one specific neighborhood and after losing out on countless houses has become a bit desperate. I love a book set in DC, so this one checked all the boxes for me.

Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh man this book sucked me in so quickly and kept me engaged the whole time. What a winding twisty saga, while at the same time a little bit thriller-y. I liked the back and forth timelines jumping between the trial scenes and the lead up to the crime, and I was just so invested in what finding out what would happen.

Four Stars

The Wedding People by Alison Espach
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book wasn't the light and fluffy read that I expected, and I mean that in the best possible way. It's dark at the start, which I wouldn't have guessed from the cover, but quickly becomes a book about human connection and what makes a strong friendship or relationship. I enjoyed spending time with this cast of strange and quirky characters and by the end of the book I was rooting for all of them.

Heart the Lover by Lily King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked this much better than Writers and Lovers and the ending really ripped my heart out. But I just want to know why the main character has such terrible taste in men? Like why did we spend two books with her terrible relationship choices? Needless to say, this felt less pretentious and I tore through it, and truly the ending, ugh it was heartbreaking.

The First Time I Saw Him by Laura Dave
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked this book, but I did struggle to remember a lot of the stuff from the first book that would have been helpful to remember here. So just a warning that before you pick up this book, you might want to refresh yourself on what happened in the first book. Despite all that, I still enjoyed this book and the wrinkles Hannah and Owen and Bailey face.

Three Stars

My Husband's Wife by Alice Feeney
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was good, but it felt a little similar to one of the other books of Alice Feeney's that I had read. When I started it I was like wait, have I read this already? The opening felt very similar. But the plot of the book was different, and I did enjoy the twisty turns even though parts did feel a little bit far fetched.

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