I’m going into the month with several good reads on my nightstand. A bit of mystery, fiction and poetry.

Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane. Set in 1974, Boston, this story details a mother’s frantic search for her daughter amidst the tension of desegregation of the schools. Not an easy read due to the language and violence but I really feel like I’m there.

A Line in the Sand by Kevin Powers. A former Iraqi interpreter is now living in Virginia and one morning on he finds a body along the beach. This discovery will set the course for him to finally find out what happened to his family. This is the May selection for my mystery book group.

The 6:41 to Paris by Jean-Philippe Blonde; translated by Alison Anderson. On a train ride to Paris, a man and a woman will find themselves seating next to one another, and they both know they once had an affair 30 years ago. Do they speak of it, do they acknowledge each other? Ooh the tension.

Dearly by Margaret Atwood. I wanted to continue reading more poetry after National Poetry Month so I had this collection waiting for me. I’ve read a lot of Margaret Atwood but none of her poetry and so far I’m really enjoying this.

So those are my current reads. I really need to focus on A Line in the Sand as I’m leading the book group discussion so I need to come up with questions.

How about you? Have you read any of these or do you have a good book you are currently reading?

Hi Friends – I hope you’ve had a great month. How is your spring going? I’ve enjoyed seeing so many wildflowers this month and I think our backyard is overrun by rock roses, which I do love, but we may need to do a bit of work out there before it becomes unbearably hot. Although we did hit 90 degrees on Monday and that’s way too hot and way too soon already.

When it comes to reading, it was a great month. I can’t believe I finished so many books although some were quite short but still. I read one poetry collection, I Hope This Finds You Well by Kate Baer, in honor of National Poetry Month. I really enjoyed it and highly recommend checking it out. Her poems are very accessible and I enjoy them.

I also finished, Flores and Miss Paula by Melissa Rivero, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman, Boulder by Eva Balthasar, The Guest List by Lucy Foley and My Brilliant Friend by Chiara Lagani (this is the graphic novel version of the novel by Elena Ferrante). My favorite was Lessons in Chemistry but overall I really enjoyed my reads.

On the personal front, I am just really struggling with motivation and/or energy. Which is why I’ve just had such a hard time finding the words to blog or blog visit, exercise or do much of anything. I am still participating in my Wanderlust yearlong artsy class so that is at least one creative thing I look forward to doing at least once a week. I was supposed to go to a bookbinding class but it got rescheduled to June so that was a bit of a bummer but something to look forward to, right?

Other things I’m looking forward to is a visit from one of my dear friends later this week and hopefully some time off too. Let me know if you have some tips on how you boost your energy. I think I’m relying way too much on caffeine. Anyway, I wish you a wonderful month ahead and filled with lots of great reads!