From contemporary fiction to a classic search for human meaning, here are the books I read and enjoyed in May.
After a break from reading and the internet in April, I came back with renewed energy in May and read some wonderful books.
Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy
I’ve read a few books by Arundhati Roy over the years, including her debut novel The God of Small Things and her more recent non-fiction book on Gandhi, and I was keen to read her new memoir. It’s a beautiful story about Roy’s complex relationship with her mother, who is abusive, manipulating and narcissistic but also a guide and inspiration to her. And despite it all, she loves her intensely.
A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar
I enjoyed this novel set in a near-future Kolkata that’s collapsing under the stress of climate change. A family snags sought-after climate visas to escape to the USA, but then their passports get stolen, and their lives intersect with that of Boomba, a young man whose struggles to survive in the city make him into a thief. There were a few plot points that felt unbelievable to me, but overall it was a good read.
A Very Short History of the Israel–Palestine Conflict by Ilan Pappe
This seems like an impossible assignment, to summarize such a complex history in just 160 pages. Yet Israeli historian Ilan Pappe absolutely nails it, giving a full and fair history of the Israel–Palestine conflict going back to its origins and British and Ottoman colonial times. It brings true clarity to what’s happening today, and I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to step outside of the present-day horror and get the full context of how we got here.
The Violence of Britishness by Nadya Ali
I’ve written on the blog about the UK’s insidious “Prevent” system and how it has tried to police the thoughts of British Muslims since 9/11. Nadya Ali’s book goes into a lot more detail and shows the damaging impact of counterterrorism policies and the UK’s hostile immigration policies more generally.
Natives of My Person by George Lamming
Barbadian writer George Lamming gives us a complex allegory of colonialism in this tale about a ship carrying a crew of settlers to a tropical island. Full review coming soon.
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
I originally read this so long ago that this rereading was almost like discovering the book anew. Hemingway packs so many themes into a short, simple tale about a man trying to catch a fish.
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
Austrian psychiatrist Viktor Frankl draws lessons from his own horrific memories of Auschwitz to tell us how to live. He says that those who survived the death camps were those who found meaning and had something to live for, while others who lost their sense of meaning didn’t last long. Then we get ideas on how to find meaning in our own, much more fortunate lives. It’s a beautiful book that I read years ago and would like to return to regularly, both for its distillation of the essence of human meaning and for its reminder that however bad things in the world seem right now, they are not even close to the horrors that Frankl lived through.
How was your reading month?
As usual, please let me know your thoughts on any of these books, or tell me what you’ve been reading and hopefully enjoying lately.
There are 10 comments
Sounds like you had some good books this past month! Hopefully June is great as well!
https://lisalovesliterature.bookblog.io/2026/06/01/the-looooong-and-the-short-of-it-may-2026-wrap-up-post-and-looking-forward-to-june/
Thanks, Lisa – you too!
Nice list! I have only read the last two. Definitely not my favorite by Hemingway.
https://wordsandpeace.com/2026/05/30/2026-may-wrap-up/
I think my favourite is A Farewell to Arms, but I did enjoy this one. What’s yours?
I didn’t like The God of Small Things but an Indian friend of mine has been raving about her latest book, maybe I should pick it up.
Other than that, I have only read The Old Man and the Sea. As an absolute Hemingway fan, I did love that one.
The Israel-Palestine book certainly sounds interesting. Will have to investigate.
My reading month was not that great since I was sick. I hope next month will be better.
https://momobookblog.blogspot.com/2012/11/roy-arundhati-god-of-small-things.html
https://momobookblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/hemingway-ernest-old-man-and-sea.html
Yes, I’d second that recommendation. The style is quite different from The God of Small Things, I guess partly because it’s memoir and partly because she’s spent another quarter of a century or so developing as a writer. So not liking that book wouldn’t preclude you from enjoying this one, I’d say.
Sorry to hear that you were sick. I was going to leave a comment on your blog, but it asked for a Google account, which I don’t use any more. I think I still have an old login, though, so will see if I can dig it up 🙂
I think Arundhati Roy is one of the greats. I’ve read The God of Small Things and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, and I rushed to buy and read this memoir of her and her mother’s relationship. I would rather have read a memoir about her as a writer, but I’m sure she had to get her problematic relationship with her mother out of the way first.
Me too! I didn’t read the description very carefully, so I didn’t realise it was so focused on her mother (I guess the title should have clued me in). Anyway, I liked the glimpses we got of her writing and other parts of her life, and maybe she’s leaving room for a future memoir more focused on her life as a writer.
We had to read The Old Man and The Sea in high school, which was liking watching paint dry for a seventeen year old suburban girl. Thank goodness I picked up Hemingway later, and came to love his work. One of my favorite works of his is Across The River and Into The Trees, although I rarely see it written about.
The only work I’ve completed reading by Arundhati Roy is The God of Small Things, which, like many excellent books for me, was difficult to get into and then a mad tear through the second half. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, sadly, was not that happy for me.
I love to see what you’re reading, though; the list is always inspiring.
Thanks for the recommendation, Meredith – I haven’t read Across The River and Into The Trees but will try it now. You’re right – it’s much less talked about than his other works. I can see why The Old Man and The Sea would have been tough going as required high-school reading 🙂