Today’s post covers the second half of the books I read in May 2025. I shared what I read in the first half of the month here. I shared my five star reads here. 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. If you’ve read any of these books or are interested in them, I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
Title: What Happens in Amsterdam
Author: Rachel Lynn Solomon
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Berkley, 5/6/25
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
The publisher sent me this book as a part of their influencer hug for underrepresented voices. I always appreciate the opportunity to read and review books with Jewish representation. It has mental health representation as well. This is about Dani, who moves to Amsterdam in hopes of finding out what she wants to do with her life. Instead, she finds Wouter, her ex boyfriend, who had been a foreign exchange student that stayed with her family in high school. The two enter a marriage of convenience and reignite the spark they had in the past.
“Dani Dorfman has somehow made it to her thirties without knowing what she wants to do with her life. So when an office romance ends poorly and gets her fired, she applies for a job in Amsterdam, idly dreaming of escaping the mess she’s created, but never imagining she’ll actually get it. Except she does. By the end of her first week in Amsterdam, she’s never felt more adrift or alone. Then she crashes her bike into her high school ex-boyfriend—and suddenly life is blooming with new opportunities. Wouter van Leeuwen was a Dutch exchange student Dani’s family hosted, a forbidden love that ended in a painful breakup. Years later, there’s still sizzling chemistry between them, and okay, maybe a little animosity. More importantly, Wouter needs to be married to inherit a gorgeous family home on a canal—and when Dani’s job falls apart, she needs a visa. As the marriage of convenience pushes them together in unexpected ways, Dani must decide whether her new life is yet another mistake—or if it’s worth taking a risk on a second chance.”
This was an easy to read romance and I enjoyed the Amsterdam setting as well as the theme about finding oneself after growing up with somewhat overbearing parents.
Title: The Most Fun We Ever Had
Author: Claire Lombardo
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 6/25/19
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Backlist
My Rating: 4 Stars
I received The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo from the publisher in 2021 and put it off due to its length, although most people say they loved it! I read it this month as part of my backlist book list. This family saga is about sisters Wendy, Violet, Liza, and Grace, as well as their mother Marilyn and father David. Each of the sisters has her issues and the family is greatly affected when Violet’s son Jonah, who was adopted 15 years ago, comes back into their lives.
“In this ‘rich, complex family saga’ (USA Today) full of long-buried family secrets, Marilyn Connolly and David Sorenson fall in love in the 1970s, blithely ignorant of all that awaits them. By 2016, they have four radically different daughters, each in a state of unrest. Wendy, widowed young, soothes herself with booze and younger men; Violet, a litigator turned stay-at-home-mom, battles anxiety and self-doubt; Liza, a neurotic and newly tenured professor, finds herself pregnant with a baby she’s not sure she wants by a man she’s not sure she loves; and Grace, the dawdling youngest daughter, begins living a lie that no one in her family even suspects. With the unexpected arrival of young Jonah Bendt—a child placed for adoption by one of the daughters fifteen years before—the Sorensons will be forced to reckon with the rich and varied tapestry of their past. As they grapple with years marred by adolescent angst, infidelity, and resentment, they also find the transcendent moments of joy that make everything else worthwhile.”
I did really enjoy the drama and reading about how this family came to be over time. However, it started to drag for me towards the end. This book has a ton of content that could be difficult to read, including about alcohol, birth trauma, pregnancy loss, and medical trauma.
Title: A Town With Half The Lights On
Author: Page Getz
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Tantor Media, 4/22/25
Source: Library Audio
Why I Read It: Sounded Good
My Rating: 4 Stars
The most random book I listened to this month was one I saw on Bookstagram – A Town With Half The Lights on by Page Getz. I saw that it takes place in Kansas, so I borrowed the audio from my library. Narrated by Hillary Huber, audio is a bit of a strange way to read a book made up of letters, emails, articles, etc, but I did enjoy it anyway. This is about Sid and his family who move to Goodnight, KS from NYC. The unique characters living there interact with him and his wife as they buy a local diner, as well as his daughter. There seem to be environmental issues in the town and mysteries are uncovered.
“Welcome to Goodnight, Kansas. Population: Many Kansans, three New Yorkers, and one chance to save the place they love most. With more wind chimes than residents, folks don’t move to Goodnight when their lives are going well. That’s why all eyes are on chef Sid Solvang and his family from the moment they turn down Emporia Road to the dilapidated Victorian they inherited. While Sid searches for work and a way back to Brooklyn, his daughter searches for answers to the cryptic messages her grandfather left behind to save both her family and the town. But then Sid makes an impulsive purchase: the fledgling May Day Diner, an iconic eatery under the threat of the wrecking ball. As the Solvangs search for their ticket out, they discover the truth of Goodnight: one of heart and tradition, of exploitation and greed, and neighbors you would do anything to save. And the Solvangs must navigate all of it―plus a wayward girl named Disco, a host of rambunctious alpacas, and the corrupt factory sustaining the town―in order to find their way back home…wherever that may be. Told through diary entries, emails, school notes, and an anonymous town paper of the Lady Whistledown variety, A Town with Half the Lights On is a tender testament to the notions that home isn’t just the place you live, family isn’t just your relatives, and it’s almost never easy to find the courage to do what’s right.”
Sid is Jewish and the Jewish representation based in Kansas was fun. I also enjoyed the way the family realized they could live and thrive outside of NY.
Title: The Truth Is In The Detours
Author: Mara Williams
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Lake Union, 8/12/25
Source: Traveling ARC
Why I Read It: Participated in Traveling ARC
My Rating: 3.5 Stars, Rounded up to 4
I was excited to receive a traveling ARC copy of The Truth is in the Detours by Mara Williams. It was so fun to mark the parts of the book I felt connected to with tabs and underlines! This book is about Ophelia, who reunites with her childhood best friend Beau after her father dies. When going through her father’s things, Ophelia discovers that her mother did not actually die, but gave up her parental rights. Beau is coincidentally writing a book about the lies people tell and Ophelia goes with him on a trip to interview people about their reasons. At the same time, Ophelia may want to find her mother.
“Ophelia Dahl has just buried her beloved father when she finds among his personal effects a blindsiding document. The mother Ophelia thought died thirty years ago isn’t dead after all―she abandoned her. But how could she, and where is she now? With some neighborly help, Ophelia’s going to find out. Beau Augustin is an acclaimed author and Ophelia’s childhood bestie turned teenage nemesis, still chafing after all these years. As luck would have it, Beau’s current project―family deceptions―is set to take him across the West Coast. Ophelia has a brilliant idea: Beau’s book. Her life. Win-win. In a Subaru filled with baggage, they hit the road. Despite detours, dead ends, and old grudges, Ophelia is desperate to unravel a lifetime of lies. And Beau’s research is a little more personal than he’s letting on. Mile by mile, they’re getting closer to their truths―and to each other―than they ever thought possible.”
I found the story about why her mother left to be interesting and the look at why people might keep lifelong secrets was a great addition to a typical friends to more story. Ophelia had a lot to improve in her life and reconnecting with Beau really seemed to help!
Title: The Last American Road Trip
Author: Sarah Kendzior
Genre: Non Fiction
Publisher: Flatiron, 4/1/25
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
This book is about the struggle of living in America today – loving the land but not loving the direction things are heading politically. Based in the St Louis area, the author shares her family’s trips to National Parks, caverns, World’s Largest sites, Route 66, and more. With her children being the same ages as my boys and visiting many places we have also been to, I really enjoyed reading about their travels.
“It is one thing to study the fall of democracy, another to have it hit your homeland — and yet another to raise children as it happens. The Last American Road Trip is one family’s journey to the most beautiful, fascinating, and bizarre places in the US during one of its most tumultuous eras. As Kendzior works as a journalist chronicling political turmoil, she becomes determined that her young children see America before it’s too late. So Kendzior, her husband, and the kids hit the road — again and again. Starting from Missouri, the family drives across America in every direction as cataclysmic events –- the rise of autocracy, political and technological chaos, and the pandemic –- reshape American life. They explore Route 66, national parks, historical sites, and Americana icons as Kendzior contemplates love for country in a broken heartland. Together, the family watches the landscape of the United States — physical, environmental, social, political — transform through the car window. Part memoir, part political history, The Last American Road Trip is one mother’s promise to her children that their country will be there for them in the future –- even though at times she struggles to believe it herself.”
While it may have seemed she was pessimistic at the time, the author basically predicted the pandemic in 2019. She also writes about mass violence and climate change, detailing the difficult events children today have already experienced. She points out the lack of memorials – instead of creating a memorial to those who died of COVID, we are told to move on. This book was very interesting and thought provoking.
Title: Anne of Manhattan
Author: Brina Starler
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Harper Audio, 6/1/21
Source: Publisher – Print, Library – Audio
Why I Read It: Backlist
My Rating: 4 Stars
As part of my backlist books list, I listened to the audio of Anne of Manhattan this month. This retelling of Anne of Green Gables puts Anne in present day NY in grad school. Gilbert joins her program and the two enjoy an enemies to lovers story line.
“After an idyllic girlhood in Avonlea, Long Island, Anne has packed up her trunk, said goodbye to her foster parents, Marilla and Matthew, and moved to the isle of Manhattan for grad school. Together with her best friend, Diana Barry, she’s ready to take on the world and find her voice as a writer. When her long-time archrival Gilbert Blythe shows up at Redmond College for their final year, Anne gets the shock of her life. Gil has been in California for the last five years—since he kissed her during a beach bonfire, and she ghosted him. Now the handsome brunette is flashing his dimples at her like he hasn’t a care in the world and she isn’t buying it. Paired with the same professor for their thesis, the two former competitors come to a grudging peace that turns into something so much deeper…and sexier than either intended. But when Gil seemingly betrays her to get ahead, Anne realizes she was right all along—she should never have trusted Gilbert Blythe. While Gil must prove to Anne that they’re meant to be together, she must come to terms with her old fears if she wants a happily-ever-after with the boy she’s always (secretly) loved.”
I enjoyed that Anne and Gilbert started a program to teach teens creative writing as part of their thesis work. This reminded me that my 6th grade teacher gave me a copy of Anne of Green Gables after learning that I enjoyed writing. I also enjoyed some of the flashbacks to Anne’s childhood and her present day relationship with Marilla and Matthew. This was a pretty fun take on the classic Anne story.
Title: All The Noise At Once
Author: DeAndra Davis
Genre: YA Contemporary
Publisher: Antheneum Books For Young Readers, 4/15/25
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
All The Noise At Once is about Aidan, who is Black and autistic and finally allowed to join the high school football team along side his brother Brandon. After a fight between the team members, Brandon is arrested.
“All Aiden has ever wanted to do was play football just like his star quarterback brother, Brandon. An overstimulation meltdown gets in the way of Aiden making the team during summer tryouts, but when the school year starts and a spot unexpectedly needs to be filled, he finally gets a chance to play the game he loves. However, not every player is happy about the new addition to the team, wary of how Aiden’s autism will present itself on game day. Tensions rise. A fight breaks out. Cops are called. Brandon interferes on behalf of his brother, but is arrested by the very same cops who, just hours earlier, were chanting his name from the bleachers. When he’s wrongly charged for felony assault on an officer, everything Brandon has worked for starts to slip away, and the brothers’ relationship is tested. As Brandon’s trial inches closer, Aiden is desperate to figure out what really happened that night. Can he clear his brother’s name in time?”
I thought it was frustrating that the reader doesn’t know what actually happened in the fight. Did Brandon actually assault a police officer, maybe because he was trying to protect his brother? Aiden and a supportive friend set out to find out and hopefully clear Brandon’s name. I found Aiden to be very self-aware, which is helpful to the reader to understand his feelings throughout the story.
Title: Meet Me At Wonderland
Author: Julia DeVillers
Genre: Middle Grade Rom Com
Publisher: Aladdin, 5/20/25
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
This middle grade rom com is such a cute intro to the genre for the younger reader. It is about a group of teens who work at Coco’s family owned amusement park. Coco meets Henry, a new employee, and the two like each other, but their families may be in competition over the future of the park.
“Fourteen-year-old Coco is Morty the Moose for the summer—the official mascot for her family’s business, Wonderland Adventure Park. Her first shift in the claustrophobic and stinky moose costume comes in the middle of a heatwave, and of course it’s when she emerges a sweaty mess that her manager introduces her to the new hire, Henry…the cutest boy Coco has ever seen. Henry can’t believe his parents are forcing him to work at this dorky theme park. He’d much rather be hanging with his friends and working on his soccer game, but recovery from a bad injury would have kept him sidelined anyway. Being deathly afraid of heights, Henry hopes he can at least do his job without going on any of the rides. After their first awkward meeting, Coco and Henry start to warm up to each other, and Coco confides in him about the park’s financial struggles. Soon, she thinks she like likes Henry…a lot. As the weeks go on, Henry’s dad starts asking oddly specific questions about his job, and Henry starts to suspect there’s more to his parents insisting on him working at the park than he thought. When a malfunctioning new ride leaves Henry and Coco stranded at the top, Henry’s worst nightmare comes true and secrets get revealed.”
While this was a cute read, I think Coco and Henry’s perspectives were written too similarly, as can be seen by some of the mistakes in the advanced version in which there are accidental switches in whose viewpoint we are in. I definitely think this book would be enjoyed by younger teen readers.
Title: Crash Landing
Author: Annie McQuaid
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Avon, 4/1/25
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 3.5 Stars, Rounded up to 4
What a way to get forced proximity between a couple – a place crash on a deserted island! This is about Piper, who dated Wyatt in high school and ran into him at the airport on the way to their friend’s destination wedding. The flight gets canceled so Piper agrees to go with Wyatt in a chartered plane flown by him. When it crashes, the two are forced to confront their shared past.
“Piper Adams is completely, totally, one hundred percent over Wyatt, the former love of her life. At least, that’s what she tells herself. After he broke her heart, she stopped taking risks and focused instead on building a perfect—and perfectly safe—life. But bumping into Wyatt at the airport on the way to her best friend’s destination wedding wasn’t part of the plan. Neither was a canceled flight nor Wyatt’s offer of a ride on the tiny plane he’s flying to attend the same event. Desperate to make it on time, she accepts his offer, but things go from awkward to full-blown nightmare when their plane crashes in the Caribbean, stranding Piper on a deserted island with the last person she ever wanted to see again. At first, rule-following Piper clashes with adventure-driven Wyatt, but as the days tick by, she can see the boy she once loved has grown into a man. A man who makes her laugh, knows his way around a fire, and is annoyingly hot shirtless. A man she could love again. As the chemistry still simmering between them boils over, Piper begins wishing Wyatt was more than just a survival partner. But for their love to survive a second chance, she’ll have to not only trust Wyatt again, but also learn to trust herself and find the courage to let go of her carefully curated life for the chance at something far greater—if they can survive the island long enough for rescue.”
I like a good survival story but this was pretty low stakes. It was cheesy at times and I thought the characters acted pretty much the same in the present as they did in high school. At least by the end Piper figured out what she wanted to do with her life – which wasn’t what her parents told her to do all those years ago!
Title: Mansion Beach
Author: Meg Mitchell Moore
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: William Morrow, 5/27/25
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
This Great Gatsby retelling is about Juliana, the Gatsby stand-in, and her next door neighbor Nicola, the Nick stand-in, as well as their various neighbors on Block Island. Nicola is cousins with David, the Daisy stand-in, who is married to Taylor, the Tom stand-in. David is secretly in love with Juliana, who throws extravagant parties. And someone dies.
“It’s the beginning of the summer, and Nicola Carr has just arrived on Block Island, RI, eager for a fresh start and some R&R. But her plans for a tranquil summer are derailed as the extravagant parties from the grand home next door pique her curiosity. She soon discovers the home belongs to Juliana George, an enigmatic entrepreneur with a past shrouded in mystery. Juliana George, CEO and founder of a hot fashion-tech company, is at the top of her game. She’s spending the summer on Block Island preparing for a major IPO. But she’s chasing her dreams in more ways than one. This summer she hopes to rekindle a flame with a man from her past—a man who has a surprising connection to her neighbor Nicola. Taylor Buchanan, the wife of Nicola’s cousin, is second-in-command of a real estate empire. Her life is exactly the way she planned it: she has the wealth, the family, the prestige, and the power. And there’s nothing she’ll let get in her way of Having It All. But when everything suddenly verges on the edge of collapse, she has no choice but to take matters into her own hands. As Nicola, Juliana, and Taylor’s summers unfold, the three women are set on a collision course that leads to inevitable self-discovery, unforgivable betrayal, an unavoidable love triangle—and, most unexpectedly, a dead body.”
While I enjoyed this retelling, I thought it would have been fun if it was written more like a thriller. At the same time, a rich person drama is a lot of fun as well!
Title: The Bookshop of Second Chances
Author: Jackie Fraser
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Random House Audio, 5/4/21
Source: Publisher – Print, Library – Audio
Why I Read It: Backlist
My Rating: 4 Stars
Another book from my backlist list, I listened to The Bookshop of Second Chances, which reminded me a bit of another book I read from my list, The Sweetshop of Dreams by Jenny Colgan. In this one, Thea inherits a home and heads to Scotland, where she meets Edward and begins working with him at his bookshop. She also gets involved with a feud that Edward has with his brother.
“Thea Mottram is having a bad month. She’s been let go from her office job with no notice—and to make matters even worse, her husband of nearly twenty years has decided to leave her for one of her friends. Bewildered and completely lost, Thea doesn’t know what to do. But when she learns that a distant great uncle in Scotland has passed away, leaving her his home and a hefty antique book collection, she decides to leave Sussex for a few weeks. Escaping to a small coastal town where no one knows her seems to be exactly what she needs. Almost instantly, Thea becomes enamored with the quaint cottage, comforted by its cozy rooms and lovely but neglected garden. The locals in nearby Baldochrie are just as warm, quirky, and inviting. The only person she can’t seem to win over is bookshop owner Edward Maltravers, to whom she hopes to sell her uncle’s book collection. His gruff attitude—fueled by an infamous, long-standing feud with his brother, a local lord—tests Thea’s patience. But bickering with Edward proves oddly refreshing and exciting, leading Thea to develop feelings she hasn’t experienced in a long time. As she follows a thrilling yet terrifying impulse to stay in Scotland indefinitely, Thea realizes that her new life may quickly become just as complicated as the one she was running from.”
This was a sweet type of romance featuring older characters and an interesting environment. I enjoyed the listening experience.
There you have it, the rest of my May reading! This post included 11 of the books I read in May. Eight of these books were in print and three were audio. Genres included rom com, contemporary, and non fiction. Nine were adult reads, 1 was YA, and 1 was middle grade.
Have you read any of these books or do you want to? What have you been reading lately?
