Welcome to my May 2025 Favorite Books post! This monthly post is where I share the 5 star books I’ve read so far each month. You can see the first half of my May reading here and I will share the rest of my May reads next week. There is still time left this month so if I have any additional 5 star reads they will be shared in next week’s post as well. The Amazon links to the books I’ve read are affiliate links and if you use them and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission.
Title: The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits
Author: Jennifer Weiner
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: William Morrow, 4/8/25
Source: Pre-Ordered
Why I Read It: Love her books
My Rating: 5 Stars
I loved Jennifer Weiner’s newest book The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits. This is the story of sisters Zoe and Cassie – one who wanted to be on stage and one who did not, but had all the talent – and how now Zoe’s daughter Cherry wants to perform and sets out to find out what really happened between her mother and her aunt.
“Cassie and Zoe Grossberg were thrust into the spotlight as The Griffin Sisters, a pop duo that defined the aughts. Together, they skyrocketed to the top, gracing MTV, SNL, and the cover ofRolling Stone. Cassie, a musical genius who never felt at ease in her own skin, preferred to stay in the shadows. Zoe, full of confidence and craving fame, lived for the stage. But fame has a price, and after one turbulent year, the band abruptly broke up. Now, two decades later, the sisters couldn’t be further apart. Zoe is a suburban mom warning her daughter Cherry to avoid the spotlight, while Cassie has disappeared from public life entirely. But when Cherry begins unearthing the truth behind their breathtaking rise and infamous breakup, long-buried secrets surface, forcing all three women to confront their choices, their desires, and their complicated bonds.”
This book felt like Jennifer Weiner and I was glad her style remained even though she moved to a new publisher. I found the story to be sad but sweet and I liked how it ended.
Title: My Friends
Author: Fredrik Backman
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Audio, 5/6/25
Source: Audio Publisher
Why I Read It: Enjoy his books
My Rating: 5 Stars
I was very impatient to have access to My Friends by Fredrik Backman and I am so grateful I was able to listen to it. (I do need a print copy now though!) Marin Ireland did an amazing job with the narration on this one. To be honest, there isn’t much I can say about the plot of this one. It is about a famous painting, a young fan of the painting, and the story of how the painting came to be. Louisa is almost 18 and living in foster care when she goes to see this painting in person. She meets the artist and finds herself entrusted with the painting and in the company of Ted, one of the artist’s close friends. He tells her his story as they travel together towards the place the painting was created.
“Most people don’t even notice them—three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it’s just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an aspiring artist herself, knows otherwise, and she is determined to find out the story of these three enigmatic figures. Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant seaside town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their bruising home lives by spending long summer days on an abandoned pier, telling silly jokes, sharing secrets, and committing small acts of rebellion. These lost souls find in each other a reason to get up each morning, a reason to dream, a reason to love. Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be placed into eighteen-year-old Louisa’s care. She embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to learn how the painting came to be and to decide what to do with it. The closer she gets to the painting’s birthplace, the more nervous she becomes about what she’ll find. Louisa is proof that happy endings don’t always take the form we expect in this stunning testament to the transformative, timeless power of friendship and art.”
The story is about trauma and abuse, loss and friendship, art and talent. I loved it.
Title: Songs of Summer
Author: Jane L. Rosen
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Berkley, 5/20/25
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
Songs of Summer by Jane L Rosen is the third of her books set on Fire Island. I read her previous last year and I don’t think you need to read that one to appreciate this one. I loved this one! It is about Maggie, who is looking for her birth mom. She is dating her childhood best friend but ends up fake dating Matt in order to attend a wedding where her birth mom is the matron of honor. She and Matt connect over their love of music and their shared Jewish backgrounds, Maggie having just discovered hers. Maggie joins the festivities and gets to know the family she may become a part of.
“Maggie May Wheeler is living her best life—at thirty, she has big plans for her vintage record shop and is about to be engaged to her childhood best friend. But when she stumbles across a letter she wrote to her future self when she was thirteen, she realizes it may not be enough. The letter ignites a desire to find her birth mother and discover where she really belongs. Her search takes her to dreamy Fire Island, where her birth mother is a guest at a wedding. As Maggie spies on her biological family, she’s caught between diving into their chaotic lives and returning to her comfortable world. Things heat up when a charming local makes her an offer to crash the wedding as his date. Is it the island’s magic, the whirlwind of the weekend, or the thrill of a fake beau that has her rethinking everything? Swept away by every love song she hears, Maggie must figure out where her heart truly lies.”
I liked how this was a romance but also more, as there are multiple narrators and stories, plus a found family theme. Each chapter title was a song and I enjoyed connecting the songs to the events in that chapter. I really liked the various characters in this one!
Title: Wild and Wrangled
Author: Lyla Sage
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Dial Press, 4/15/25
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 5 Stars
Wild and Wrangled is the 4th book in the Rebel Blue Ranch series. I cheated and didn’t read the first three! I think that those who have read the previous books may not have loved this one as much as I did, so I’m kind of glad I read it out of order. It is about high school sweethearts Cam and Dusty. Cam is about to get married in order to secure her future for herself and her young daughter when she is left at the altar. Dusty has been living in town, actually on the grounds of Cam’s dream home, and the two of them begin to reconnect.
“Camille Ashwood had always loved a plan. Her latest was her best yet. She was going to get married so she could secure her daughter’s future, get her overbearing parents off her back, and finally start building her own life in small-town Meadowlark, Wyoming. Easy, right? But when her groom doesn’t show up to the wedding, Cam’s life is turned upside down—she doesn’t even have a place to live. That is until she finds out the house she’s loved since high school is available to rent. There’s only one problem: the neighbor. Dusty Tucker has spent nearly all of his adult life running. Running from what, though? More like who: Cam Ashwood. But ever since he returned home last year, the girl who was his first, well, everything has become a woman seemingly determined to keep him at arm’s length. And he was okay with that—at least, that’s what he kept telling himself. She was getting married, after all. But now she’s single and living next door. Dusty wants to show her that they can be friends, and that he can stay put. Despite her best attempts to stay far away from Dusty Tucker, Cam realizes that being close to him is like slipping into her favorite jeans. Easy. Comfortable. That is until past wounds start to open and feelings—both old and new—wreak havoc. Nearly ten years after they first met, Dusty and Cam begin to wonder if their first love can also be their last. And this time, will it be forever?”
I was frustrated by the argument that Dusty and Cam have that leads to the third act breakup, but luckily that didn’t last very long. I think this book may have been written to give readers a chance to reunite with beloved characters, but since I haven’t read those characters’ stories, I was happy enough with reading about Dusty and Cam.
Come back next week for the rest of my May reads!
Do you have a favorite book you’ve read this month?
