May and June 2025 reads
by Alana
For all of Alana’s book reviews, see this Reads page.
It’s been a weird few months for reading for me - lots of re-reads (which I rarely do), tiny books, and prize winner reads (two Booker nominees in this post) which I don’t normally keep up with.
Top three reads from this post:
Babel by R.F. Kuang: Still my current favourite book; my third time reading it. A love letter to friendship and revolution that interrogates social hierarchies in a way we could use a little more of these days.
The North Woods by Daniel Mason: Most interesting book I’ve read this year - a truly inventive form that blends epistolary novel, ghost story, noir mystery, and more to relate a tale where a green, lush, apple-rich world is the main character
A Pale View of the Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro: My experience of reading Ishiguro is often “what the heck is going on, am I even enjoying this?” and then I simply can’t stop thinking about his writing for days. This is his debut novel, but it carries the same weighty spareness and similiar themes (guilt, human, what makes a good person) as some of his other novels.
And because I’m not good at counting (as my Pilates students know), here’s an honourable mention:
East of Eden by John Steinbeck: Another reread from a favourite author. Steinbeck’s plot meanders in a way that somehow doesn’t try my patience. His stories are about nothing and everything at once, and I don’t get why I like them so much. If you also love this book, reach out so we can talk about it!
Was fun thinking of an image to paint for every book, and I had a chance to try out some new brushes, pens, and maybe even painting a person not-from-behind! Enjoy the reviews:
A Pale View of the Hills - Kazuo Ishiguro
Format: novel
One sentence summary:
A Japanese woman recounts a summer in her youth, quietly interrogating the choices she made growing up, supporting her neighbours, and becoming a mother in Nagasaki, not long after the bomb was dropped
When and Where:
1960s-80s (ish) Japan and America
Read if you:
Love Ishiguro: this debut novel isn’t as popular as Ishiguro’s later works, but it’s emblematic of his understated, powerfully human writing style
Like to puzzle out what’s true and what’s metaphor in a story
Enjoy an unreliable narrator
Books this reminded me of:
Fight Club by Chuck Palaniuk and Life of Pie by Yann Martel: very different books, but they each question the stories we tell ourselves to justify the choices we made
Made me feel:
Melancholic
Quote:
“It doesn’t matter how old someone is, it’s what they’ve experienced that counts. People can get to be a hundred and not experience a thing.”
Persuasion - Jane Austen
Format: novel
One sentence summary:
A regency England family drama about second love, the weight we give to others’ opinions, and the evolving definitions of gentlemen.
When and Where:
Bath, England
Read if you:
Root for the underdog (both Jane, a 27 year old spinster, and Colonel Wentworth, a soldier. Seriously, those are the underdogs!)
Love a good ball and the social critiques that inevitably follow
Enjoy a period drama
Books this reminded me of:
The Things We Leave Unfinished by Rebecca Yaros for discovering a past love
Made me feel:
Nostalgic for the amazing day I spent in Bath this year
Quote:
“My idea of good company...is the company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company.'
'You are mistaken,' said he gently, 'that is not good company, that is the best.”
The Memory Police - Yōko Ogawa
Format: novel
One sentence summary:
On a nameless island objects and ideas are disappearing, confiscated by the state, and those who remain discover what it means to be human in the absence of all their stuff.
Where and when:
unnamed island, pre-internet
Read if you:
Feel overwhelmed
Don’t need closure
Like stories within stories
Books this reminded me of:
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro also examines how shared memories build relationships and what happens to those relationships when memory fails
Made me feel:
Unsettled
Quote:
“I imagine you’d be uncomfortable, with your heart full of so many forgotten things?”
“No, that’s not really a problem. A heart has no shape, no limits. That’s why you can put almost any kind of thing in it. Why it can hold so much. It’s much like your memory in that sense.”
Babel - R.F. Kuang
Format: novel
One sentence summary:
Four friends from across the British empire study at Oxford and face the question: to fix a broken system, can you make change from within or do you have to blow it up and start again?
Where and when:
Eighteenth century Oxford and London, England; Canton Province, China
Read if you:
Love words
Want to start a revolution
Want to feel 1) what it's like to not belong to the status quo 2) the summative cost of microaggressions
Books this reminded me of:
Pachinko by Min Jee Lee - both depict how people can internalize the racist attitudes of their oppressors
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler - both use fantastical elements as an analogue to discuss systemic oppression
Made me feel:
Wrecked. One of my favourite books of all time. My third time reading it, and I never reread books. The protagonist's mixed-race identity crisis guts me more with every read.
Quote:
“That's just what translation is, I think. That's all speaking is. Listening to the other and trying to see past your own biases to glimpse what they're trying to say. Showing yourself to the world, and hoping someone else understands.”
Eleanor of Avignon - Elizabeth DeLozier
Format: novel
One sentence summary:
A young woman in 14th century France bucks convention and becomes assistant to the most famous physician in Europe just in time to weather the plague plague, witch hunts, and love across religious divides.
Where and when: Avignon, France, 1347 AD
Read if you:
Hate doing what you're told
Appreciate the history of medicine
Books this reminded me of:
Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue tackles Spanish flu with the same historical precision and human heart that DeLozier depicts the black plague
Made me feel:
Grateful for modern medicine
Quote:
“I see Death now as Baldoin, a wild and untamable thing, not a specter to be feared, not a mysterious enemy, but a piece of nature older than stones. Death was never the foe.
Fear is the foe. Hatred is the foe. Ignorance is the foe.”
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous - Ocean Vuong
Format: novel
One sentence summary:
poetic vignettes string together to tell the story of a boy growing into his identity as a first generation son of a Vietnam war survivor, mixed-race Asian American, and gay man in the Midwest.
Where and when:
Hartford, Connecticut and Saigon, Vietnam, contemporary
Read if you:
Don't need a linear narrative
Have lost someone to dementia/Alzheimer's
Want to unravel complicated relationships with national identity and belonging
Books this reminded me of:
The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai which also explores intergenerational impacts of fleeing the Vietnam War
Made me feel:
confused
Quote:
“In Vietnamese, the word for missing someone and remembering them is the same: nhớ. Sometimes, when you ask me over the phone, Có nhớ mẹ không? I flinch, thinking you meant, Do you remember me?”
“I miss you more than I remember you.”
Supercommunicators - Charles Duhigg
Format: nonfiction
One sentence summary:
a journalist interviews effective communicators - from NASA’s HR team to Netflix executives to CIA agents - to explain the magic behind those people who are so easy to talk to.
When and where:
contemporary, largely American interviewees
Read if you are:
In management
A bad listener
Trying to fix a relationship
Books this reminded me of:
Quiet The Power of Introverts by Susan Cain: both argue that the secret to being a good speaker is listening well
Made me feel:
Thoughtful about my own communication skills
Quote:
“The most effective communicators pause before they speak and ask themselves: Why am I opening my mouth? Unless we know what kind of discussion we’re hoping for—and what type of discussion our companions want—we’re at a disadvantage.”
Little Rot - Akwaeke Emezi
Format: novel
One sentence summary:
Sexual politics and crime unfold in New Lagos as a diverse cast of narrators try to survive life in a dog-eat-dog city.
When and where:
maybe near future? Lagos, Nigeria
Read if you:
Think the good guys never win (or believe the good guys don't exist)
Don't mind a ton of hate sex
Have a high tolerance for violence
Books this reminded me of:
Kindred by Octavia Butler - both assume the worst of humanity
Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey - both feature women wielding their sexuality as their primary access to power
Made me feel:
Depressed
Quote:
“She had tried explaining it so many times, but he was hung up on the woman she used to be, and she was disappointed in the man he still was.”
Land of Milk and Honey - C. Pam Zhang
Format: novel
One sentence summary: An Asian-American chef cooks haute cuisine for the ultra-rich in a secret science base that promises a solution to environmental collapse.
Where and when:
Italian alps in a near future earth
Read if you:
Don’t mind getting hungry
Get annoyed when someone suggests that being Chinese, Korean, Cambodian, Vietnamese etc is all the same
Appreciate sensual prose and don’t need traditional punctuation
Books this reminded me of:
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel with less magical realism but an equal appreciation for the provocative allure of good food
Made me feel:
Hungry!
Quote:
“Imagine Persephone for the first time in the absolute intoxication of dark, her senses stretching languid, the cave as moist as lover's breath. The feast, the chair, the plate, the fruit: red. Imagine a story whose moral is mute desire.”
Everything I Know about Love - Dolly Alderton
Format: memoir
One sentence summary:
Equal parts sweet, sad, and laugh-out-loud funny, Dolly candidly shares how she earned her stripes as a popular British dating columnist, recounting drunken nights out, firm female friendships, and the many valences of the word ‘love.’
Where and When:
London, New York
Read if you:
Wonder if you’ll ever find love
Are one of those people who ditches your friends the moment you start dating
Don’t mind laughing out loud unexpectedly in public places where you’re reading
Books this reminded me of:
Conversations on Love by Natasha Lunn, but with more humour (Lunn interviews Alderton for her book)
Made me feel:
Thoughtful about the many kinds of love I’m surrounded by
Quote:
“Nearly everything I know about love, I've learnt from my long-term friendships with women.”
We Solve Murders - Richard Osman
Format: novel
One sentence summary:
A bodyguard, her retiree father-in-law, and an octogenarian crime novelist team up to solve murder while dodging assassins, competing in pub quizzes, and generally stirring up mayhem.
Where and when:
small-town England, London, South Carolina, Dubai, Dublin and St Lucia; contemporary setting
Read if you:
Want to laugh out loud
Like snarky dialogue
Think you don’t need to talk about your grief (hah)
Books this reminded me of:
The Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good series by Helene Tursten - both feature elderly leads and dark comedy
Made me feel:
Guilty for laughing so much about murder
Quote:
“It’s funny across a lifetime, the people you pick up. There are friendships forged in fire that end up disappearing like smoke. And other casual nodding friendships which will stay with you for the rest of your life.”
North Woods - Daniel Mason
Format: novel
One sentence summary:
A ghost story told over centuries where the main character is a New England house, its residents, and the apple trees beyond its walls.
Where and when:
New England, 17th century to present day
Read if you:
Love biting into a fresh, crisp apple
Enjoy intergenerational stories
Want to learn more about bugs in unexpected ways
Books this reminded me of:
Greenwood by Michael Christie and Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr - they all explore linked stories foreward and backwards of time with strong or subtle focus on the climate crisis
Made me feel:
Wistful
Quote:
“And yet to have claimed that a warm spring morning walking over earth carpeted with apple blossoms was somehow the same, substantively, spiritually, as a cold winter noon spent pruning, or a harvest evening heavy with the smell of juice and hay—this would have betrayed an ignorance not only of country life, but of the thousand seasons—of frogsong, of thunderheads, of first thaws—that hid within the canonical Four.”
Re Jane - Patricia Park
Format: novel
One sentence summary:
A modern day retelling of Jane Eyre where Korean-American Jane searches for purpose in the boroughs of New York, the bustling streets of Seoul, and the homes and hearts of friends and lovers.
Where and when:
New York and Seoul, present day
Read if you:
Also struggle with identity as part of a diaspora
Feel pressured by your family to live a certain life
Are tired of the same old romance plots
Books this reminded me of:
Wandering Souls by Cecile Pin which follows a Vietnamese family fleeing war for the UK and squaring their guilt and identity with the culture of their new home
Made me feel:
Impulsive
Quote:
“Growing up, I often felt I would’ve been treated better if I were a hundred percent one or the other. If I were all Korean, I could have just blended in. If I were all white, I wouldn’t have been met with the same curious stares—What are you?—the same assumptions about my mother’s past. To be “almost” seemed to be worse than being not at all.
The Anxious Generation - Jonathan Haidt
Format: nonfiction
One sentence summary:
A leading social psychologist shares extensive research in answer the question of why kids these days are so darn anxious.
Where and when:
Haidt focuses on western research but includes analysis from data around the world
Read if you:
Are a parent deciding when to let your kid have a cellphone/a social media account
Wonder how social media is shaping our brains, mental health, and social dynamics
Can tolerate a reductive discussion of gender
Books this reminded me of:
The Shallows - What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr - Haidt’s book updates arguments set out by Carr, with a more precise focus on social media
Made me feel:
Hopeless
Quote:
“We are embodied creatures; children should learn how to manage their bodies in the physical world before they start spending large amounts of time in the virtual world.”
Tell Me Everything - Elizabeth Strout
Format: novel
One sentence summary:
A bunch of seniors visit each other’s houses, drink tea or beer, gossip, and solve a murder.
Where and when:
Maine, contemporary setting
Read if you:
Enjoy slice of life fiction - somewhere about 40% in I went from being so bored to being really invested in the small human stories of this novel
Books this reminded me of:
Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver - both explore the human condition against a backdrop of northeast America
Made me feel:
Patient
Quote:
“And yet, as is often the case, those of us who need love so badly at a particular moment can be off-putting to those who want to love us, and to those who do love us.”
Recommended by: Rosemary
Small Boat - Vincent Delacroix
Format: novella
One sentence summary:
An examination of morality in which a member of the French coastguard defends her logic in handling a distress call from a migrant vessel in peril
Setting:
the French coast and the English Channel
Read if you:
Feel numb to newspaper headlines
Are quick to criticize the actions of others
Don’t mind pondering your own morality
Books this reminded me of:
Not sure - I’ve read a ton of refugee stories, but never something so directly inspired by true events. Delecroix’s stream-of-consciousness novel is focused and unrelenting in a way that is more moralistic and powerful than other books I’ve read on this theme.
Made me feel:
Responsible
Quote:
“There is no shipwreck without spectators. Even when there’s no one, when it’s far out at sea, at night, without witnesses, even when there’s no living soul in sight for thousands of nautical miles, only waves and the viscous night, covering everything, swallowing everything; when there are no more eyes to see than arms to reach out, there are still spectators and the shore from which they are watching is never far away, even if, at the the same time, it is infinitely distant.”
A Small Place - Jamaica Kincaid
Format: novella
One sentence summary:
Jamaica Kincaid addresses this nonfiction powerhouse essay to colonial powers and their products like the white tourists who flock to places like Antigua, explaining how subjugation by the British has lasting effects on the nation today.
When and where:
Antigua
Read if you:
Ever felt guilty on your all-inclusive beach getaway
Think colonialism doesn’t matter today
Books this reminded me of:
A History of Burning by Janika Oza - Oza’s book uses fiction to explore many of the same things in an Indian family living in British-occupied Uganda as Idi Amin rises to power
Made me feel:
Grateful
Quote:
“Do you know why people like me are shy about being capitalists? Well, its because we, for as long as we have known you, were capital, like bales of cotton and sacks of sugar, and you were commanding, cruel capitalists, and the memory of this so strong, the experience so recent, that we can't quite bring ourselves to embrace this idea that you think so much of.”
East of Eden - John Steinbeck
Format: novel
One sentence summary:
Two brothers and the folks who love and hate them work hard, expound their feelings, and make questionable choices in 19th-20th century America.
When and where:
Connecticut farmland and the Salinas Value, California, 1860-1920ish.
Read if you:
Find beauty in quiet moments of human connection
Think some people are born evil
Can withstand the racist language and tropes common of the time period
Books this reminded me of:
Beloved by Toni Morrison - Steinbeck uses the same simple but incisive prose to convey horrible actions
For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway - both venerate love as the highest of human virtues
Made me feel:
Like there is nothing new under the sun
Quote:
“And this I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world. And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected. And this I must fight against: any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual. This is what I am and what I am about.”
A Leopard-Skin Hat - Anne Serre
Format: novella
One sentence summary:
a narrator mourns the suicide of his friend and reflects on the challenges of being a support to her as she struggled with mental health
When and where:
France, contemporary
Read if you:
Know how hard is to love someone through wild swings of mental illness
Are making peace with loss
Books this reminded me of:
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara - both depict magnetic pull and heartache of friendship
Made me feel:
disquiet
Quote:
“And yet, come to think of it, when they were strolling through those alley-ways - now that she had at last got up, had at last consented to go out - it was as if someone was accompanying her, following her, a kind of extension of herself. Yes, he thinks to himself, Fanny was trailing something behind her. It's coming to me now, how I always see this company with her.”
City of Golden Shadow - Tad Williams
Format: novel, first of four in the Otherland series
One sentence summary:
An intrepid computer science prof and her student investigate an illness that children catch when using the internet, uncovering a horrifying plot by the super rich and a simulated gameworld beyond their wildest imaginings.
Where and when:
Durban, South Africa; South Carolina, USA, Bogota, Columbia, the internet, and many many more - an incredibly global story
Read if you:
Love Cyberpunk 2077, the Matrix, William Gibson, or Blade Runner
Can’t get enough of the ‘help I’m stuck in a video game’ trope
Have patience for so much world-building - book one is almost all set up, but I promise it’s worth it for the rest of the series
Books this reminded me of:
Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons - the only other epic fantasy series that comes close to the scale and diversity of the Otherland series
Made me feel:
Impatient but engaged - rereading this massive series because I made a friend start it. Catching things I didn’t notice the first two times through and also cringing at some of the representation issues I’d missed when I was younger.
Quote:
“All people know the Greater Hunger...It is the hunger for warmth, for family, for connection to the stars and the earth and other living things..."
"For love?" Renie asked.
"Yes, I suppose that could be true.
