MAY 2026: Best and Worst Books of the Month

Hello everyone. Welcome back to Bibliophilia Book Reviews. Today, I’ll be ranking the books I read in May. This month has been my slowest reading month of the year so far, but I did DNF some books. Here’s my list:

6. Zama by Antonio Di Benedetto (DNF)

How do you deal with loneliness when you’re stuck in a place you don’t want to be at? I wanted to like this book, but I couldn’t. The protagonist, Don Diego de Zama, is a Spanish colonial officer stuck in a stagnant post in Paraguay. He is waiting for a missive from the king that authorizes his transfer to Buenos Aires; however, that missive is a long time coming and Zama obsesses over it. He is also lonely, and this book has been described as “a profound meditation on existential loneliness,” often compared to Dostoyevsky. I don’t see it. In search of companionship, Zama just comes across as a lascivious and lecherous old man that wants to scratch an itch with every woman that comes his way. Maybe I didn’t get the point of this book, but I did not like it. The “meditation” on loneliness is in no way philosophical.

5. Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang (DNF)

This book has been my biggest disappointment of the year. When it first came out, it was an instant buy for me because I love the author’s debut novel The Sword of Kaigen, but this novel seems like it was written by a completely different person. It is a mix of the underdog/savior trope with a Mary Sue/unlikeable protagonist. It is also badly written (very telling) and in need of a good editor. Sorry, but this is one of the worst books I’ve read this year. 

4. 1453: The Holy War for Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West by Roger Crowley

This book is a narrative history that recounts the siege and fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453, led by Sultan Mehmed II, against the Byzantine Empire under Emperor Constantine XI. I know that it is in my lowest ranking spot of the books that I finished this month despite my love for history, but there were books I read this month that I liked more. This book is not bad; the author does a really good job at narrating this pivotal event in world history in such a way as to keep you from putting the book down, but it still wasn’t the best book I read this month. 

3. La princesa y el guerrero (The Princess and The Warrior) by Duncan Tonatiuh

This children’s book is a great introduction to Mexica (Aztec) mythology and folklore. It is the story of the two most famous volcanoes in Mexico City, the eponymous Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl. The illustrations in this book are also beautiful and they try to depict the Mexica’s physical features as faithfully as possible. I appreciated it that; it teaches children that every culture is unique in its own way. I highly recommend this book and will pick up any of this author’s other books if possible.

2. El tapiz amarillo (The Yellow Wallpaper) by Charlotte Perkins

Though short, this story is dense. It is a critique of the societal conventions imposed on women by a patriarchal control of their minds and bodies. I first heard about it on a short list of recommended books about women’s mental health and admit that I was surprised at how short it is when I first got it in the mail. However, it is worth the read. I highly recommend it.  

1. War on the Border: Villa, Pershing, the Texas Rangers and an American Invasion by Jeff Guinn

I’m an avid reader of books about the geopolitical relations between Mexico and the United States because I have experienced crossing the border countless times. And I know that border security at the Rio Grande is a contentious issue between the leaders of both these countries right now. Tension is still strained. But this tension has a history and many people don’t think to look back at why relations are at such a boiling point today. This book helped me understand it a little better. In the generations since both the United States and Mexico became independent countries, none of its citizens (myself included) have gotten an adequate education on Mexican-American relations despite the fact that Mexicans and Americans interact with one another on a daily basis today (and have been for decades), and that it is a constant in our lives. So, yes, I think that books like this one should be read by anyone living close to and who travels through the Mexican-American border frequently.

That is everything for today. Thank you for stopping by. I hope some of these books caught your interest and you pick them up too.