It’s hard to believe that the month is ending today. May was such a whirlwind of stuff happening just second to second. I’m linking up with Leigh Kramer’s monthly What I’m Into Lately series – here are some of the things that I’ve enjoyed amidst the chaos:

MAY READING

This month I finished two books, though to be honest, the first one shouldn’t count because I finished it on July 1st – but it was fantastic, so I’ve definitely got to include it in the list!

***** A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle – Having finished this book, I cannot help but wonder how have I never read it before. Good friends of mine agree, it’s a classic that I was bound to love and I cannot tell you how many people have told me that this was one of their favorite books growing up! I’m so glad I finally picked up a copy and read it for myself. I instantly fell in love with this series and this family. It’s equal parts coming of age story / amazing science fiction time / space travel story. The writing style is timeless and charming in the way that it kind of makes it feel like a beloved grandparent is reading it to you. I can’t wait to read the rest of the series! – Full Review –
**** The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom (May Book Club) – I think this was a book that will stay with me for a long time. It was slow going at first and the subject matter often kept me up at night – maybe not the best night time reading because it’s a book you can’t help but dwell on. I became very attached to the characters after awhile which made the second half of the book fly in comparison to the first, as I became more and more concerned about how it would all end. Fascinating.

Right now I’m reading our June book club pick, The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, which won the Pulitzer Prize. It’s very long so I am starting it right away – I really just started reading it though so I haven’t quite formed an opinion on it yet.

MAY WATCHING

We finally finished catching up on season 3 of Veronica Mars and have now seen the movie as well, which we both loved. Now that the entire show and movie are behind us, we’re trying to catch up on our DVR and watch all the shows we’ve been ignoring all Spring. We finished the last season of Castle and Suburgatory and are slowly working our way through the rest. I also just started watching The Last Comic Standing and enjoyed the first show I watched which I think was the 3rd audition week or something.

We recently rented a ton of movies over Memorial Day weekend. We watched The Nut Job with the kids which they liked but we border-line hated. It’s definitely one of those movies that was only made for the kids watching. We also watched the Jungle Book with the kids and of course the whole family liked that one.

For grown up movies, we rented This is The End which was funny in a terrible kind of way. Anyone sensitive to language, crudeness, violence or generally pervy man jokes will want to skip it. I will never look at Michael Cera the same again! We also watched Anchorman 2 which is also somewhat pervy guy humor but MUCH tamer. If you liked the first one, you’ll probably like the sequel. I forgot how much I liked the cast of the movie – Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Steve Carrell, etc. Everyone did a great job. Lastly we watched Runner Runner with Ben Afflek and Justin Timberlake. It was a smart, fast movie with good acting and a compelling story but my husband and I both felt the ending left something to be desired.

MAY EATING

I made this molasses cake on Wednesday for our book club discussion of The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom. I used a recipe the author included in the book that she actually devised specifically for the book after trying a few. The recipe turned out fantastic and the house smelled amazingly of molasses, ginger, cloves and cinnamon for several days. Everyone at book club gave it a rave review so if you read the book and see the recipe, definitely give it a try!

I’ve also been weirdly obsessed with Brussels sprouts which makes me laugh. I have been surprised at how my taste buds have changed as I’ve gotten older and the foods that I love now that I wouldn’t have touched with a ten foot pole as a kid.

MAY BROWSING

Here are some links I would have shared in a Weekend Link Love this week:

This collection of videos of Dick Van Dyke dancing in Vine videos made my day.

I adored this post at Renegade Mothering: Hey, Hi. I want off your parenting team. I definitely want off of all of the teams!

21 Life-changing tweets from Maya Angelou. Clearly I have not been making the most of my own twitter account!

My mom got me hooked on this facebook game, Guess the Millennium – just a basic guessing game where you see a picture of some pop culture person, place or thing and have to guess what it is. Weirdly addictive!

What have you been into lately?