After a busy April, I thought May would be easier. I was wrong, and I’m still struggling with reading.

It’s fine. It just feels like everything is happening at once. Wouldn’t it be easier for it to happen one at time? Why doesn’t the world want to slow down? Why does it always seem to be speeding up?

I’m going to see Fredrik Backman speak this weekend, so I’m reading his latest book in anticipation of that. I want to swallow it whole so I can say something witty to him with the few minutes I’ll have as he signs my book. But there are sentences that are just stopping me in my tracks. There was a whole section that made me feel more alive as it talked about the greatest rebellion is to waste time and just be. Of all the things I want to do right now, it seems wasting time and just being are on the top of the list.

Let’s be honest: I’m not going to finish this book before I see him. I won’t say anything witty. I’ll be lucky if I can mutter, “Thank you.” Life is so fast-paced right now for no reason whatsoever, and thank God there is a person in it who is making me recognize that a great pause is what I need.

And with that, let’s get to reading.

Past

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles is one of my all-time favorite books. It’s so full of joy that I pull it out every time I need a bit of joy in my life. So I was delighted when my book club picked it out of the three choices I gave them. It had the right tone for where most of us seemed to be at that moment. But a sour taste was left in my mouth as one of the women kept saying she’d already read it. It’s not like that’s a crime. It was more about the way she said it. Well, we got to book club and she said she had read most of it, but also she just watched the miniseries. She then proceeded to try to dominate the discussion while solely referencing the miniseries. She kept doing this despite the fact that we all kept telling her it had nothing to do with the book. Someone even told her to stop referencing the miniseries at all. She didn’t care, and I think she lost a lot of the point of the novel. The discussion had to happen around this, and it just wasn’t what it could have been. That made me sad for the eager people who had just read it for the first time and loved it. Such a beautiful book that deserved better. Score: A+ 

There just wasn’t much I liked about Rabbit Moon by Jennifer Haigh, except that it was a fast read. It didn’t ask much of me and it didn’t give much in return. One of the women in my book club gave some good reasons as to why certain choices were made, like the very stereotypical characters and the abruptness of some parts. It just didn’t work though. Nothing about the book worked. But I didn’t have to trudge through it, so at least that worked for me. Score: C-

Present

Like I said above, I am reading Fredrik Backman’s latest, My Friends. I had put a hold on it with the library as soon as I could. And then the chance to meet him in Cincinnati came up. I immediately bought a ticket, and it just so happened the ticket came with a book. Well, I forgot to cancel the hold. And then it showed up for me at the library on its release day. I couldn’t help myself. I picked up the book even though I’d be receiving my own copy soon. It just wasn’t soon enough. So now I’m digging into this book and recognizing the pacing as well as other tell-tale signs of a Backman book. It’s an old friend despite being newly released. I’ve missed this friend so much.

What are you reading? What books are you looking forward to?