Reviews of the 9 Books I Read in May 2026

1. Babel by R.F. Kuang

1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation―also known as Babel.

Babel is the world’s center for translation and, more importantly, magic. The unique magic system of silver working has made the British unparalleled in power, as its knowledge serves the Empire’s quest for colonization.

For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland.

My Rating: ★★★★★

This beast of a book has been sitting on my TBR for a long time, but since I was finally going to hear Rebecca Huang speak in person and have her sign my book, I thought I would read it before going to hear her speak and I am so glad that I did. Who knew a book about translation could be so good?!

I love academia-themed books anyway, so the Oxford setting was perfect already, but I loved that she wasn’t afraid to write about the British Empire, colonisation and using translation as power. Babel was incredible and I will be reading Katabasis soon, but not too soon because that’s another beast in itself.

2. Promised to the Mountain Man by Mariah O’Connor

Brooke Benton needs a break from the big city dating scene. Every guy she’s been out with lately has come with a huge red flag. There doesn’t seem to be a single decent guy left in the big city so when her BFF jokingly suggests creating a profile on a new Mountain Man dating app, Brooke does just that.

What adventures await Brooke in the small town in the big woods? She’s expecting a Valentine’s Day fling, but that’s not what brawny Milo Jones has in mind. The lumberjack has something far more permanent in mind, but can he convince the city girl that love is better with a mountain man?

My Rating: ★★

This was a free short story that I downloaded to my Kindle and I find it very hard to give a short story more than two or three stars as I don’t get attached to any of the characters or heavily invested in the story line. This didn’t actually go the way I thought it would which was a nice surprise.

When the mountain man dating app was mentioned, I didn’t know this meant that the female character was moving to a mountain town to meet a potential husband. I’ll let you read this for yourself to see how it turns out, but if you’re interested in an arranged-marriage trope this might be for you.

3. Mr Wrong Number by Lynn Painter

Bad luck has always followed Olivia Marshall…or maybe she’s just the screw-up her family thinks she is. But when a “What are you wearing?” text from a random wrong number turns into the hottest, most entertaining—albeit anonymous—relationship of her life, she thinks things might be on the upswing…

Colin Beck has always considered Olivia his best friend’s annoying little sister, but when she moves in with them after one of her worst runs of luck, he realizes she’s turned into an altogether different and sexier distraction. He’s sure he can keep his distance, until the moment he discovers she’s the irresistible Miss Misdial he’s been sort of sexting for weeks—and now he has to decide whether to turn the heat up or ghost her before things get messy.

My Rating: ★★★

I may have read these Lynn Painter books in the wrong order (I read The Love Wager last month which is actually part two), but I’m glad I did because I actually preferred The Love Wager more than Mr Wrong Number.

However, the banter was as good as I expected, laugh-out-loud funny in parts and I was constantly rooting for the two main characters. I’d recommend reading it, but know that you’re in for an even better treat when you read the second book in the series.

4. The Night We Met by Abby Jimenez

In everyone’s life, there’s a split-second decision that can change everything…

For Larissa, it came when choosing who to ride home with after a concert. That night, she had no idea she’d met the perfect man. She and Chris are great friends, co-parenting a slightly unhinged rescue Yorkie, sharing their favorite books, and judging bread. For the first time amid all her side hustles to scrape by, things finally feel easy.

But she didn’t choose Chris to drive her home all those months ago—she went with his best friend, and he became her boyfriend. All Chris wants is for Larissa to be happy. Standing by on the sidelines is slowly killing him, but making a move would destroy someone else.

My Rating: ★★★★

This has caused a little bit of a stir online because ultimately, our male main character falls in love with his best friend’s girlfriend. Is that unethical? Are they emotionally cheating the whole time? I mean, there were signs from the outset but she was definitely better suited to the best friend.

I really enjoyed this, just as much as the first in the series (Say You’ll Remember Me), but I will say it’s a very slow burn (mostly because the female main character is in a relationship already), but it’s worth the wait.

5. The First Time I Saw Him by Laura Dave

Five years after her husband, Owen, disappeared, Hannah Hall and her stepdaughter, Bailey, have settled into a new life in Southern California. Together, they’ve forged a relationship with Bailey’s grandfather Nicholas and are putting the past behind them.

But when Owen shows up at Hannah’s new exhibition, she knows that she and Bailey are in danger again.

Hannah and Bailey are forced to go on the run in a relentless race to keep their past from catching up with them.

My Rating: ★★★

I would say this was a sequel that probably wasn’t required. While it was still enjoyable to delve back into this underground world again, it was hard to remember the significance of the characters and the hidden identities/espionage etc. of these families.

The more I read it, the more unrealistic it became. We definitely could have left this with one book, but I don’t regret reading the second to finish it out.

6. Vigil by George Saunders

Not for the first time, Jill “Doll” Blaine finds herself hurtling toward earth, reconstituting as she falls, right down to her favorite black pumps. She plummets towards her newest charge, yet another soul she must usher into the afterlife, and lands headfirst in the circular drive of his ornate mansion.

She has performed this sacred duty 343 times since her own death. Her charges, as a rule, have been greatly comforted in their final moments. But this charge, she soon discovers, isn’t like the others.

The powerful K. J. Boone will not be consoled, because he has nothing to regret. He lived a big, bold, epic life, and the world is better for it. Isn’t it?

My Rating: ★★

Well this was a bore for me. Although it was super short in length, it took me a long time to get through it because most of the time I didn’t know what was going on or where we were.

I do understand that there were a lot of hidden messages within the book and that it focused mostly on climate change, but I didn’t enjoy it and I don’t think I’ll be rushing to read another George Saunders book any time soon.

7. My Husband’s Wife by Alice Feeney

Eden Fox, an artist on the brink of her big break, sets off for a run before her first exhibition. When she returns to the home she recently moved into, Spyglass, an enchanting old house in Hope Falls, nothing is as it should be. Her key doesn’t fit. A woman, eerily similar to her, answers the door. And her husband insists that the stranger is his wife.

Six months earlier, a reclusive Londoner called Birdy, reeling from a life-changing diagnosis, inherits Spyglass. This unexpected gift from a long-lost grandmother brings her to the pretty seaside village of Hope Falls.

But then Birdy stumbles upon a shadowy London clinic that claims to be able to predict a person’s date of death, including her own. Secrets start to unravel, and as the line between truth and lies blurs, Birdy feels compelled to right some old wrongs.

My Rating: ★★★

I finally read my first Alice Feeney book and while it was a gripping thriller with a lot of twists and turns and guessing throughout, I have so many questions for Alice Feeney herself.

There was a part of the story which was word-for-word a true Irish legend that actually happened in my hometown. I need to know if she knew about this story as it was an exact replica. Another part of the story was very similar to the theme of Adam Silvera’s book series, They Both Die At the End – having a ‘death day’ aka knowing the day that you’re going to die.

Was it just a coincidence for both ideas? I hope so.

8. New Beginnings by T.C Lynndale & Ericka Chestnutt

Genny didn’t plan to start the year in her hometown, preparing for a divorce from a man she never should have married. Ready to finally take back control of her life, the last thing she expects is for her high school sweetheart to walk back into her life and sweep her off her feet.

Thomas let the girl of his dreams get away years ago and has lived with regret ever since. When he runs into her while on the job, he’s determined not to let her get away again. He’ll do whatever it takes to win her back.

My Rating: ★★

If you pick this up, prepare for some in-your-face love bombing from our male main character. If there was a bingo card for this book, you’d complete it in the first ten pages as it’s full of every Deep South characteristic you can think of. And they repeat. A lot.

I’m not the biggest fan of mushy romances and this is exactly what this was. For a free Kindle book, it was fine, but I’m not rushing to read any other books in the series.

9. Fake Skating by Lynn Painter

Growing up, Dani couldn’t help but follow around the adorable son of her mom’s best friend. Funny, kind of nerdy, and a little soft, Alec was always down to hang with Dani when they were little. Until Dani moved away. Alec promised they’d stay in touch, except, they didn’t.

Flash forward and Dani is back in Minnesota for her senior year, she and her mom living with her grandfather. Dealing with the fallout of her parents’ devastating divorce, Dani wouldn’t mind a nerd-out with the cozy and comforting Alec. But teenage Alec is nothing like the kid Dani remembers. He’s a hockey star in a town where hockey players are worshiped as gods.

Dani is resolved to ice out her former best friend until an unlikely series of events brings them together, and forces them to fake being a couple. Once stuck together, the former childhood sweethearts begin to reconnect, unearth complicated family secrets, and face their true feelings towards each other.

My Rating: ★★★

I usually love Lynn Painter and the chemistry she creates between characters, but unfortunately this one fell a bit flat for me. I’m not usually a fan of fake dating tropes but she always writes them so incredibly well that I overlook that fact just to read her romance novels.

Fake Skating read a lot younger than her other work, falling firmly into the Young Adult category but I simply couldn’t get over the amount of italics used throughout the book. Every other paragraph had an italicised word which made the writing come across a lot younger and less enjoyable.