A selection of quotes and pictures to represent May’s reading:

commonplace book
noun
a book into which notable extracts from other works are copied for personal use.

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‘One must accept the fact that we have only one companion in this world, a companion who accompanies us from the cradle to the grave – our own self. Get on good terms with that companion – learn to live with yourself.’

A Daughter’s a Daughter by Mary Westmacott (1952)

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We regard our own memories as truths, when they are often just the stories we have told ourselves over time. They become the truth we live by, or with. They become our lives.

Written on the Dark by Guy Gavriel Kay (2025)

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Language, legend, music, dress, ways of making tools and of building, all belong together; if one goes, it means that the life pattern is broken, and the rest will follow.

The Crying of the Wind: Ireland by Ithell Colquhoun (1955)

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‘One of their company, a boy of fifteen, has been arrested for the girl’s murder. None of us believe he did it.’

Frances looks interested. ‘Why not?’

‘Because he loved her.’

‘Love does not preclude violence. Ask Master Shakespeare.’

Traitor’s Legacy by SJ Parris (2025)

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“But still, a tragedy without a tune is like a sun that doesn’t give off heat; dead and nothing will grow from it. When men go to war, they do it to music. When they set sail for better shores and row into the vast blue, they do it to music. Even our hearts beat to some rhythm. And the director who neglects it neglects what makes us men.”

Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon (2024)

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Father knew the value of getting on in life. ‘Education is the way to advancement,’ he often said, and while he was not rich, he had somehow found the fees of 8d a quarter to send Tom to the grammar school in Ipswich.

The Cardinal by Alison Weir (2025)

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Nothing was ever what you expected. That was the beauty and the terror of life.

White Corridor by Christopher Fowler (2007)

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Yet she had a story, I knew it, and I knew that telling it would help. The girls were encouraged to talk openly about their past lives in order to understand and emphasise with one another. Giving them words made life easier to bear and allowed them to move on.

The Surgeon’s House by Jody Cooksley (2025)

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Favourite books read in May:

A Daughter’s a Daughter and Written on the Dark

Authors read for the first time in May:

Ferdia Lennon, Ithell Colquhoun, Jody Cooksley

Places visited in my May reading:

England, the fictional kingdom of Ferrieres, Sicily, Ireland, France

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Reading notes: May was a better reading month for me than last month and I enjoyed everything I read. I’m still behind with reviews, but will try to post the outstanding ones in June. 20 Books of Summer begins tomorrow and the first book I’ll be reading is Jennie by Paul Gallico for Mallika’s upcoming cat-themed Reading the Meow event. I’m looking forward to working through the rest of my list – and in particular, seeing which books will fill the empty spaces I’ve left for reading at whim!

What did you read in May? Do you have any plans for June?