Books I’m Excited to Read in May

Read Along With Me

Today, I’m excited to share with you the books I’m looking forward to reading in March. These are the titles that will be appearing in my weekly book review posts throughout the month.

What books are on your list this month? I hope you’ll add your suggestions in the comments.

Submit Your Book

Are you an author, publicist, or publisher with a book in need of review? I’d like to work with you. To submit your book for review, please visit Contact Me and complete the form. I’ll review your request and respond within 48 hours. I’m also happy to work with authors on interviews. To set up an interview, please use the same form.


This page contains affiliate links. This means for any purchase made, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.


Join 5,500+ Followers

As a thank you for registering for our email list, you’ll receive free printable reading journal templates and a bonus 100 book reading list! Members of the email list also receive an exclusive discount code for my Etsy store: MapleStreetStudioHRS.

Geckos & Guns: THE PAKISTAN YEARS by Sharon Bazant

Geckos & Guns: The Pakistan Years is the latest installment of Sharon Bazant’s riveting travel memoirs. Following on the heels of her 2019, Nine Years in Bangkok: Lessons Learned, this new title Geckos & Guns tells of the time before Bangkok. It is a prequel that follows the first impulses of the Bazant family to break out of the mold, to leave their comfortable Canada home. With two teens in tow, they took a “hardship” posting for the United Nations in Islamabad. The book opens with Sharon and the kids joining Wayne in January 1991 and chronicles their five year stay there. Bazant brings her gift for detail to the story and paints a beautiful backdrop with her words.

Where Nine Years in Bangkok is a tale of Bazant’s personal soul journey, the focus of Geckos & Guns is the Bazant family’s time in Pakistan—a time of adjusting to new and different surroundings, of embracing cultural differences, and of recognizing imminent danger. In the five years the Bazant family spent in Pakistan, they learned to love the temperate climate and the stark beauty of the countryside, the spicy curries and the exotic weddings, but they also learned to negotiate constant power cuts, flash floods, trips into opium country, bombings, a family emergency and more.

Bazant says, “I see each one of us clearly—our ‘selves’ of the past. I think about our experiences, some awe-inspiring, some traumatic, and the decisions we made that forged our future paths. We were younger more optimistic versions of ourselves. Did we make mistakes? Yes. Did we take some wrong turns? Yes. Did some of this form our future selves? Yes. The big question is: Would I do things differently if given the chance? I don’t know. We all did the best we could at the time.”

My Jew-ish Story: NYU-Hunter Edition by NYU-Hunter Students; Penina Shtauber, editor

Judaism permeates lives in various ways, and yet, it connects us all the same. This is a collection of reflections on life, upon which our Jew-ish experiences have had some kind of impact, big or small, direct or tangential. Through gathering and sharing our stories, we hope to give you a glimpse into Jewish life through the eyes of college students living, learning, and being Jewish in 2021. A collection of short stories and poems by NYU and Hunter College students sharing their Jewish experience.

Advertisements

More For Your TBR Pile

Top Ten Reads of 2020

For auld lang syne, my dearFor auld lang syneWe’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yetFor days of auld lang syne As 2020 is quickly coming to a close (and not a moment too soon, am I right?!), I compiled a list of my top ten reads from the year. In no particular order, whether particularly…

18 Books with a Jewish Voice

With Hanukkah fast approaching, I’ve assembled a list of my most recommended books, with a Jewish voice, as a gift guide for the book lover in your life. This list contains a wide variety of genres, including mystery/thriller, romance, historical fiction, and non-fiction. Enjoy! This page contains affiliate links. This means for any purchase made,…

My Top Ten Most Recommended Books

If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you know I read about a book a week. I read a wide range of genres, traditionally published books, indie books. From novels to novellas, I’ll read just about anything. Which means people are always asking me for recommendations. But the question I find hard to answer…

10 Books for Your Summer Reading List

“Summertime and the living is easy” Trying to figure out your summer reading list for time spent by the pool? I’ve put together a list of 10 of my favorite reads to help get you started. These are in no particular order and all come from my Ultimate Reading List. Need more suggestions? New subscribers…

Join 5,500+ Followers

As a thank you for registering for our email list, you’ll receive free printable reading journal templates and a bonus 100 book reading list! Members of the email list also receive an exclusive discount code for my Etsy store: MapleStreetStudioHRS.

More From the Blog

A New Short Story by Author Heidi Slowinski
April Short Story Feature One of the highlights of my tenure as a member of Toastmasters was coordinating a Murder Mystery theme meeting. Keeping members engaged and motivated to continue working toward their goals can be a challenge. So in an effort to liven things up a bit, I worked with a few other members …
Latest Short Story Contest – Win a $25 Prize
Attention writers! This month's short story contest theme is: A Short Story Inspired by Your Career Entries must be received by midnight April 24th, cst. Selected stories will be featured during the month of October. Read on for further guidelines. Short Story Contest Guidelines Stories are to be 1,500 to 3,000 words. All genres welcome. …
New Books for Your Reading List – April 18, 2023
Read Along with Me This week, I'm looking forward to enjoying a pair of thrillers. The first is a spy thriller, The Man in the Corduroy Suit. Author James Wolff draws on his own experience working in the British government for this series. And my second selection, The Hand that Feeds You by Mercedes Rosende, …
Latest Short Story Contest – Win a $25 Prize
Attention writers! This month's short story contest theme is: A Short Story Inspired by Your Career Entries must be received by midnight April 24th, cst. Selected stories will be featured during the month of October. Read on for further guidelines. Short Story Contest Guidelines Stories are to be 1,500 to 3,000 words. All genres welcome. …

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: