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Here it is, dear readers, May. 

Oh dear readers, as we mentioned in our post on The Bourbon Kings, in an ideal world, we have a monthly, in-person planning meeting for the blog.  What this has looked like (the three times we were able to have one) is notebooks, phones, and a laptop spread out after an amazing breakfast [Thank You to First Watch!] and copious amounts of coffee.  We love to catch up on life, books, and then dig into what we’re excited to share with you.  Attempting to do this through a screen isn’t the same, schedules are stranger than ever for us, but we’re still making it happen.  When we wrote about our March Madness plans, we didn’t think it would be the start of months of cancellations, adjustments, and struggles, yet here we are.  

Each reader needs different things during times like these, and I’m so grateful to those who thought Anne Shirley was what they needed and joined us online Friday for our first Virtual Book Club (more on that next week).  I’m also grateful for those who continue to read here and converse with us on social media.  We’re still here and we’re still reading, and we hope you are too, however you’ve had to make adjustments for today’s realities.  We discussed some of that last month, including comfort reads and how to access books during physical distancing (yes, I do hate the phrase “social distancing,” so I don’t use it much), and we’re happy to do more of that, or comment on specific titles or things you’d like more or less of in your books.  Please know that we are always happy to dig into a title with you to help you decide if it’s a book for you, for now or in the future, and we’ll keep spoilers to a minimum unless you request otherwise.  

So dear readers, we’re going to share some books with you this month, follow-up on #virtualbookclub, and let you behind the curtain of our reading lives a bit.  We have read (or re-read) all of May’s books during our local Safer At Home orders, so we can comment on how they affected us and why readers may want to read them now, or not.  If you’d like to read along with us and have concerns about the books before we post, shoot us a message on social media, or drop us a note in the comments. 

And, since you’re lovely, in addition to bringing you these titles, our reading plans include binging titles on Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited.  In case you missed the deal, they extended their offer for two months for free until June 30.  If anyone wants to join us, Ashley and I plan on reading some of the backlist of the Bluewater Billionaires authors and some Harry Potter, too.  There will definitely be other titles as well, but for now, that’s the plan.  We’ll let you know exactly what we read in the May Reading Life Review, or you can follow us on Goodreads here and here.  

About those May titles… yes, those.  I’m going to spoil slightly and let readers know the fiction titles do both include parts that are super sad.  They aren’t gratuitous and are 100% part of the life and times of the books, but they’re there.  If you need a good cry, they’ll help.  If you’re trying to avoid that, then maybe add those to the TBR for later.  If you want help seeing those coming, send us a message and we’ll advise.  

So, without further ado, our May titles are:

Yes, friends, TWO non-fiction titles in May!  Are you excited?  We’re excited. [Ashley is REALLY excited.]

Now, as we are looking to make sure we’re preparing for June, we need a favor, well two actually.

1.  What do YOU want to see us discuss here?  Is there a genre, a title, or a topic you’d like us to explore?  Do you need to see more people talking about your favorite book?  We’re dedicated readers who love to talk about books, so if you’re struggling to find folks to discuss books with, we want to be your people and we are open to your suggestions (except horror, that’s a no-go for us).  Let us know in the comments, via email, or on social media!  
2. This blog was born of our love to read books together and talk about them, from when we lived across the country rather than across town (even if we can’t see each other, still, ugh).  We read, and write about it, for the love of books and readers. We are so glad you’re here with us.  But, that love doesn’t pay the bills.  They are few and small, but they still exist.  If you click on one of our Amazon links before you make a purchase, we receive credit as an affiliate, which helps us pay our bills.  We’re all shopping online these days, so when you do so on Amazon, consider visiting us first, click on the title of a book to get to Amazon, then do your shopping as usual.  Help us stay around to talk more books with you!    

As we get farther into May, I’m looking forward to reading outside more to enjoy the warmer weather and all the green April’s showers brought us. [Ashley’s dying of seasonal allergies and is therefore determined to stay inside with Medusa and Nox as much as life allows.]  I’m also thinking about how to get more walks in so I can search out the delights of my neighborhood.  Perhaps I’ll find something similar to Anne’s White Way of Delight or Lake of Shining Waters. [Ashley misses the gym, where the treadmill is surrounded by air conditioned, filtered air and the weight machines allow her to lift/push/pull heavy.] More likely, I’ll be on my deck with my nose in a book. 

~Nikki (& Ashley)