May is one of my favourite months of the year. Firstly, it’s peony season. Enough said. Plus, everything is gloriously green and the promise of summer is hovering on the horizon… It’s also my birthday month and so, as I embark on a new trip around the sun, I thought I’d refresh this blog series a little bit because it’s followed the same format ever since I first began joining in with #littleloves almost a decade ago.
I’ve let go of some sections and am trying to allow it to flow more freely. It’s got a subtly different new title. Mostly, it’ll still be the same – I will continue to share the books I read every month; music and TV/film might be a little more sporadic, and there will definitely be snippets of places I’ve been, things I’ve done and what’s been going on in my little corner of the world each month. Sometimes a tiny adjustment can make a big difference.
Here’s a little bit of life lately throughout May…
Peony season 🙂
BOOKS
May has been an intense and full-on month in pretty much every way possible. The girls are in the midst of exam season, there have been multiple birthday celebrations, and we’ve all been navigating a lot of changes happening at home. Despite this, it has been an excellent month for reading and somehow I managed to finish five whole books. I took a break from memoirs, and everything I read this month was fiction instead – I needed some escape. Some were easy reads, and some were more of a thought-provoking-and-heart-squeezing variety.
First up was ‘The Unfinished Business of Eadie Browne’ by Freya North. I’ve been reading this author’s novels for years so I knew I’d enjoy it. It switched back and forth in time: a present day car journey to attend a funeral, interspersed with stories of pivotal moments & memories from the main character’s life – growing up as a young child, through primary and secondary school, and onto university – which felt especially poignant as I prepare for my eldest daughter to make the same journey. Gradually the stories converge as they get closer in time, eventually merging. I liked this and found it interesting. I was also invested in the character – I really wanted her to be ok.
‘Anxious People’ by Fredrik Backman was next, and I loved it right from the dedication page at the front of the book, before the story even started. After reading ‘A Man Called Ove’ back in January, I wasn’t sure anything could compare and, in a way, I was right – this is a totally different book and yet it is 100% just as wonderful (though ‘Anxious People’ didn’t make me sob quite like ‘Ove’ did). I love the way Fredrik Backman writes and I’ve decided that I want to read his entire back catalogue of books. ‘Anxious People’ is relatable, funny and heartwarming, and the intricately interwoven connections between the characters are so well thought out – it’s incredibly cleverly written. It also contains so much wisdom inherent within it’s pages. One of my favourite books of the year so far, for sure. Please read it.
I has high hopes for ‘Us’ by David Nicholls, who also wrote ‘One Day’, which I adore. I thought I’d love this one too but it took me until I was halfway through to book to start to connect with the main character. After that, I got more into it, and it helped that the story took place in different locations in Europe that I’ve either travelled to or am desperate to visit. On reflection, it maybe wasn’t the best storyline to read during this particular season in my life. The ending was a little very close to home – it made me cry. I think for a book to be considered ‘good’ it needs to make you feel something or should resonate with you in some way, so I guess by that definition that it was a good book. Perhaps just the wrong timing for me right now. Or maybe it was actually the perfect timing – who knows? Either way, I’m glad I persevered with it – it’s no ‘One Day’ but I do still definitely want to read the author’s other books.
‘Turtles All The Way Down’ by John Green was a bit of a wildcard read. Ella and Lola have been slowly getting rid of books they no longer want (the piles on the landing outside my office are getting precariously high) and I snagged this one to read before we pass it on. John Green also wrote ‘The Fault In Our Stars’ which had me openly, snottily, sobbing on a train journey so I expected this one to be just as emotionally intense. I didn’t cry, but I did like the very honest depiction of OCD and intrusive thoughts that runs as a theme through the main plotline. I found it really interesting.
The final book I read this month was ‘Confess’ by Colleen Hoover. What I enjoy about her books is that they are so easy to read and I don’t really have to think about them. Generally they centre on impossibly attractive people in utterly improbable situations – it’s a form of escapism that takes me out of my world temporarily into an entirely different one. They’re less deep than a lot of the other books I read, even though they still tackle challenging issues and important topics.
All the books I read in May. ‘Anxious People’ was my favourite – please read it!
MUSIC
It’s also been a good music month. Ella and Mimi went to see Chase Atlantic in Manchester and then a week later Mimi went to see The Ks in Birmingham, the tickets for which were an early birthday present. Speaking of birthday presents, I was gifted the Stereophonics new album – ‘Make ’em Laugh, Make ’em Cry, Make ’em Wait’ – for my birthday and I have been thoroughly enjoying listening to that on repeat in my car. It’s so good. My favourite track is the final one on the album: ‘Feeling Of Falling We Crave’.
LIFE LATELY…
I turned forty-two at the start of May and so, to celebrate, I took myself on a little solo daytrip to London the day before my birthday to see the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at the Natural History Museum. I try and see the exhibition every year and it always exceeds my expectations – the quality of the images is insane. I spent a couple of hours there, absorbing the details of every photograph and reading all the information boards. A photography geek and proud of it! London was looking good in the sunshine so I enjoyed a wander down Oxford Street as well before heading over to Hampstead Heath for a walk in nature to balance out all the time I’d spent in the city.
The girls made a fuss of me on my actual birthday – they snuck downstairs after I’d gone to bed and set up the lounge with a giant balloon, a banner and a pile of presents & cards, just like I do for them. We got takeaway pizza for dinner and I felt very loved.
Me, aged 42. It felt important to document the start of another trip around the sun with some self portraits. I always feel utterly ridiculous taking them, but I’m always grateful that I do.
We celebrated another birthday towards the end of the month – Mimi turned seventeen! I still can’t quite believe it. We kept the celebrations relatively simple: presents; a cake; a family meal out; and a sleepover at her best friend’s house. She insisted that we all wore party hats, and was grateful for everything. I love this photo of her, she looks so happy.
Mimi opening some of her birthday gifts – I can’t believe she’s seventeen!
On the flip-side of the fun stuff that this month offered us, May is also exam season. Ella has been deeply entrenched in sitting her A levels; it’s been A level mocks and the first half of her A+ Criminology for Mimi; and Lola has had Year 10 GCSE practice mocks to contend with. It’s been pretty full-on and relentless for all of them – the revision, the actual exams, and still having to go to classes in between. Another month to go… The two years that Ella has been at college seems to have gone really fast – in two weeks time she’ll be done with it forever and we’ll be preparing to wave her off to university. Madness.
Lola hard at work (with Felix giving her some moral support)
Ella revising – she finds it easier if she listens to music whilst she works
There has also been dancing in the rain on the roof under a spectacular rainbow; a middle-of-the-night emergency rescue road trip (due to train issues – don’t worry, everyone is fine); a significant amount of emotional support in the form of tea, snacks, hugs and pep talks; and lots & lots of cute cat moments.
One of the most spectacular and unusual rainbows I’ve ever seen
Chapter five of 2025 is now closed and summer is almost upon us. Just one more month of exams to go and then a little road trip adventure to celebrate surviving them and to reward the girls for how hard they’ve all worked. I can’t wait.
I hope that you found plenty of joyful moments throughout May and that you’ve got lots to look forward to in June.
With love,
Chloe x
