I gotta say, this whole “libraries are closed” thing is really starting to cramp my style. I’m not as excited about reading these days, simply because I don’t have near the selection of titles to choose from now that I’m limited to eBooks. (Disclaimer: I say this being fully aware that this is most definitely a first-world problem–I realize it’s really just a minor inconvenience). Nonetheless, I did muster my way through two more books this month.

Puddin‘ by Julie Murphy

A few summers ago, I read Dumplin‘ by this same author. I quite enjoyed it as a beach read, and ever since I’ve happily ventured into the Young Adult section when I need a “light” read. Like most everyone else, the past few months have been quite stressful for me, so I was in need of some fluffy literature. This book has a similar set of characters as Dumplin‘, but the protagonist this time is Millie (vs. Dumplin’s Willowdean). I liked the message in this book that sometimes the nice girls do win 🙂 I probably won’t remember this one for years to come, but it was a nice distraction from the world for a few days!

4/5 stars.

Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey

I kind of stumbled on this book when I was desperately searching for something to read in the Libby app. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m very interested in habits, rituals, and routines lately. This interest has only been magnified in this era of working from home, when we’re all much more in control of how to organize our days. This book is just a series of short biographies about artists’ work habits, from their preferred working hours to their favorite meals (ahem, and maybe combinations of amphetamines and liquor). There wasn’t really any synthesis in this book–it’s just a laundry list of artists/authors/writers and how they tackled the day, so I found that kind of disappointing. Nonetheless, there were plenty of factoids to appeal to my love of trivia and interesting quotes that I saved for the future. I liked this one from William James: “There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision, and for whom the lighting of every cigar, the drinking of every cup, and time of rising and going to bed every day, and the beginning of every bit of work, are subjects of express volitional deliberation.” Agreed!

3/5 stars.

What did you read in May?