5 Great Books I Read in May '21

This has been a strange month because I have not only been on and off sick, but I have also regained access to therapy and I have read some pretty interesting stuff. If you don't know about me, my name is Annie and I love to read. I feel like reading should be an activity enjoyed by anyone and it doesn't matter wheter you read a comic book or a beach read, a rom-com or a thriller, a classic or even some ancient philosophy if you feel like. I believe that reading should always be enjoyed first and studied second or third.

With that said, I would like to show you the top five books I have been reading this month and will provide the list of everything I have read this month in the list below.

The Artful Dickens by John Mullan

This book is an instant classic. Written about one of the world's most memorable and prolific writers of child characters and Victorian social mobility, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading about all the intricacies of the different structural and linguistic styles used throughout the major novels. From "The Pickwick Papers" to "Dombey and Son", from "Oliver Twist" to "Great Expectations" and "David Copperfield" - this book really does take me back quite a few years.

Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura

When you think of Sci-Fi/Fantasy, you probably don't think of an entire world hidden inside a mirror in which multiple characters enter and yet exist in completely different realities in the same place. Well, include someone called "The Wolf Queen" and you basically have what is "Lonely Castle in the Mirror". An extended metaphor for the process of grieving, this book is one of the best things to come out of Japanese Literature since Yoko Ogawa and Haruki Murakami. You really have to have a heart to read this one.

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

When I first read that it was a 'feminist pick' then I skipped out on it because I am not usually fond of militant feminism. But I caved in and bought it because I had read the myths as a child. Ariadne's myth is concealed within the narratives of Theseus and the Minotaur and Daedalus and Icarus, two groups of incredibly questionable men. As a goddess herself, she wants to find out why these women throughout her life have been treated terribly from her own mother who is solemn and estranged all the way to the monstrous Medusa. When the Minotaur is born, Ariadne's entire life and fate are sealed.

The Red Prince: John of Gaunt by Helen Carr

I have always respected and revered Shakespeare but honestly, there are not really very many plays that come close to his "Richard II". In this play, the character of John of Gaunt - son of Edward III, is set as the man from which English Dynasties will be born following the conquering of the throne by his son, Henry IV. Honestly, I do not think that anyone would have done better to dispell myth and concentrate on what Shakespeare believed was real from Holinshed's Chronicles and what was actually real from historical fact. Helen Carr's book is a grand example that books about Medieval Political Icons can be interesting.

Keats by Lucasta Miller

John Keats is such an interesting figure that in his 20-something years of existence, he was able to create some of the greatest gothic romance poetry ever written. Poems such as "Ode to a Nightingale" and "Edymion" and even, yes one of my favourite poems of all time - "Bright Star" have become icons of his existence for almost 200 years after his death. This book explores nine of his greatest poems and how much of Keats' own life they actually have in them. Including intricate and personal stories of his life, this book is a well-researched masterpiece when it comes to portraying the romantic poet as a poetry god.

All of what I have read in May '21

*those marked in bold are also personal favourites of the month

The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste

The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner

Terminal Boredom by Izumi Suzuki

Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky

Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow

The New Me by Halle Butler

Homesick for Another World by Ottessa Moshfegh

Raising Demons by Shirley Jackson

Think, Write, Speak by Vladimir Nabokov

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat by Aubrey Gordon

Maxwell’s Demon by Steven Hall

Bunny by Mona Awad

Funeral in Berlin by Len Deighton

Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura

Later by Stephen King

Selected Poetry by Arthur Rimbaud

Mercies by Anne Sexton

The Medusa Frequency by Russell Hoban

Everything Like Before by Kjell Askildsen

You Should Have Left by Daniel Kehlmann

Two Girls, Fat and Thin by Mary Gaitskill

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

The Red Prince: John of Gaunt by Helen Carr

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton

Such Pretty Things by Lisa Heathfield

Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow by Alexander Radishchev

The Children God Forgot by Graham Masterton

Ex Libris by Michiko Kakutani

Keats by Lucasta Miller

Sixteen Horses by Greg Buchanan

Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin

Recollections of My Non-Existence by Rebecca Solnit

Experience by Martin Amis

Fremder by Russell Hoban

The Artful Dickens by John Mullan

The Survivors by Jane Harper

Pandora’s Jar by Natalie Haynes

Waterland by Graham Swift

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

Touring the Land of the Dead by Maki Kashimada

Albert and the Whale by Philip Hoare

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe

Brother, I’m Dying by Edwidge Danticat

Under a Dark Angel’s Eye by Patricia Highsmith

The Europeans by Orlando Figes

A Lonely Man by Chris Power

Burning Man by Frances Wilson