Favorite book of the month!

Thursday, May 28, 2026

I realize it’s not quite over, but my May wrap up made sense to do today!

May was a weird reading month for me. In the past, I bet I hardly read in May at all. May was a crazy month for teachers, and any down time was spent in front of the mindless tv!

If you are looking for books, feel free to go back through my 2026 reads here: January Books, February Books, March Books, and April Books.

May was off to a bad reading start coming off the cute book Anne of a Different Island. I loved that book. If you are an Anne of Green Gables fan, you would like it.

Look at this list of DNF’s – Did Not Finish. Here is how I feel about DNF’s. I get all of my books from the library and life is too short to read a book you are not enjoying. Period.

This is so highly talked about and I might come back to it, but I just couldn’t get into it:

Too redundant and rated R:

Meh:

This one is so controversial. I just decided I wasn’t that interested:

I remembered why I don’t like Jane Green books – choppy and repetitive writing:

This was cute and cheesy. It was what I needed.

I really liked this book – It was cool to read about seventies families and family dynamics and I enjoyed the story:

This was hands down the best book of May and one of the top for 2026. I think This Book Made me Think of You is still my favorite.

Super far-fetched but charming most of the time. It is rated RRRR and the repetitiveness of the rated R content got old.

Southern cheesy but I’m here for it. I think I’ve only read a couple of her books so I will do a deep dive and see what else I can read:

Groceries:

I started to keep my monthly spending diary again but I just couldn’t keep up with it. I feel like I needed so many Amazon things like toiletries, summer supplies, stuff like that. So, my spending has been not great.

I don’t think I have set foot in my Kroger! I have only done pick ups! In addition, I have gone to Whole Foods maybe three times, Trader Joe’s once or twice, and Fresh Market once, and Paul’s Fruit Market once. We have hardly eaten out this month.

Drumroll….

$606

Go Amy! This is down about $200 from last month!

What have you read this month?

What about your groceries? May can be super expensive with Mother’s Day and end of school year festivities and gifts.

12 thoughts on “May Wrap Up – Books and Groceries”

  1. I just picked up Mile High, First-Time Caller, and a good 4 or 5 others yesterday. I’ve been very unmotivated to read lately and figure it’s the books I have that I’m just not feeling like reading right now. So I figured I’d see if I can find a good one to fall into. I DO NOT want to track my spending this month. I bought so much stuff for Alec, spent a bunch on vacation, and our grocery bill has exploded now that we’re back to being 5 people again eating nearly every meal at home.

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    1. I think you will like the beginning of Mile High. Let me know what you think and if you can finish it. I am in a rut! I only have 3 library books right now and none of them are making me want to read. I am hoping I have a fresh stack tomorrow – I should.
      Oh gosh – I would not want to, either. Some months are just like that.

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  2. I need to read more! My local library branch is very small so the selection is ugh. I need to get busy requesting a few and having them held. I have been reading my Amazon freebies and the one I am reading now is just okay.

    I usually finish books but my friend gave me a stack of ones she read and I have not enjoyed them so I DNF. I agree, life is too short for a book that doesm’t grab you!

    xo,

    Kellyann

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    1. You just have some good months and some not so good. Maybe you can request some of my books from Jan-May and then you will have more to pick up? Those Amazon freebies are nice but they never held my attention much.
      I just don’t feel bad about DNF.
      Is there another library branch where you could browse? I like to do that sometimes. Another thing you can do is snap photos of the Target book selection!

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  4. My spending on myself/family was quite low in May. I like to be generous with grad gifts so my gifts to grads (just two in May but more coming up in June) will render May and June not lite spending wise but the grad gifts are for good causes so I don’t feel too badly about that! I don’t finish books frequently. I know there are books out there that I’ll love and life is too short to spend time on the not great or even good ones!

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    1. You were too busy to shop! I agree on grad gifts – spending out.
      I agree about the books I try and don’t finish. I don’t have the guilt of having spent money on them so it’s no big deal!

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  5. I just started Mad Mabel. I love Sally Hepworth’s books! Also got The Widow by John Grisham. Wow, $600 for groceries for a month?!! How do you do it? I’m headed to the grocery today and will have to rethink my list. I make a menu for the week then the list but my bill per week is high. Ugh….Anyhoo, thanks for the reading tips! I love a good book–and I think the sun may come out today!

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    1. She is a great story teller! I hope you enjoy it, too. I tried to read The Widow but didn’t like the characters and didn’t give it a chance, really. It just wasn’t what I was in the mood for.
      This is not normal – it has been around $800. Kentucky is a low cost of living state and there are only two of us. I have been trying to buy seasonally and maybe I have bought less meat? I am trying to half some recipes so we don’t waste or I use half the sausage and freeze the rest.
      Yay for sun! We had some yesterday finally!

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