Books I’ve Read & Places I’ve Loved: May 2017
Originally published on June 01st, 2017
May has officially come to a close, and with it brings the end of my Junior year. Because this month was spent studying for finals and my written driving test, and the end of the school year in general, I wasn't able to read as much as I would have liked. Even so, I read a couple of great books and was able to visit some pretty special places as well.
BOOKS I'VE READ
Eighteen Years by Madisen Kuhn
I discovered this book a few months ago, and my original plan had been to buy it as a birthday present to myself this coming October (18th birthday, Eighteen Years, it makes sense...), but then I realized I have very little self control when it comes to books and bought it about five months early.
Whoops.
Still, this book is beautiful. It's poetry, so I read it very quickly, but it's still one of the most beautiful collections of poetry I own. It's very honest and vulnerable, and it was able to put words to the many things I've been feeling in the last month. I highly, highly, highly recommend reading this book or at least following the author on Instagram (@madisenkuhn).
The Essential Neruda edited by Mark Eisner
For my Spanish II class this semester, we had to do a project where we did at least two things that worked with Spanish vocabulary, reading Spanish, writing Spanish, or doing something related to Spanish culture. I chose to write a research paper and read this book of poetry. I've never included a book I've read for school in one of these, but I loved this so much I had to. Since this was the bilingual version, the left side was in the original Spanish and the right side was translated into English. What I found while reading it is that Spanish poetry has a way of expressing what I'm feeling better than English poetry. I'm really sure why, but it does. I'd definitely recommend reading poetry in another language to see if it has the same affect on you.
PLACES I'VE LOVED
My First Junior/Senior Banquet
Technically this picture was taken by my brother in my backyard before I left because all the pictures I got of the actual place are with other people and I wasn't sure if they'd be okay with having a picture of them up here. Still, the Junior/Senior banquet was one of my favorite parts of this month. I got to wear a dress that made me feel like Cinderella, take lots of my pictures with some of my favorite people, and just have a really great night before the craziness of finals started.
Hidden Falls, CA
The weekend before finals hit and graduation weekend, one of my best friends and I took a Saturday afternoon and went hiking. We talked about everything from current stresses to our future plans, and I think we definitely grew closer than we already had. Over the past month, I've had many good moments in days, but few good days. This day that I spent in nature with one of my favorite people was a good day.
May was a whirlwind. For me, it happened in a blink of an eye due to so much happening in such a short amount of time. Now that it's June, I hope you are all close to having a period of time where you can relax or at least breathe a little easier. Hopefully you can all have a month filled with good books, good people, and good memories.