Quick Lit - April

The first two weeks of quarantine I found it hard to find the time and focus for reading.  We were thrown into the deep end of homeschooling and there was just so much news and things changing to digest.  The past two weeks things have been easier because we were adjusting to this new normal AND, mainly, only had two days of schoolwork to do (largely thanks to spring break).  I also got into the groove of reading e-books on my phone since, other than my library stocking up, that's the only way I can get new books for the time being.  I've read a few that way now and have my 5 holds constantly filled.  It's helping.

Still a decent amount of reading, I'm ahead of where I was last year at this time so that's good!  I'm taking every tiny win I can get right now!

I'm on Instagram here where I sometimes talk about books, Goodreads here which I keep very updated.

The Secret to Hummingbird Cake by Celeste Fletcher McHale
This is a Southern novel that did make me cry so that was good, I had a really sad scene if it doesn't bring me to tears.  However, there were also some questionable parts (27 year old men should never come up to 17 year old girls and tell them "I've been waiting for you to grow up" and then marry them before you are 18.  I don't know WHY that was a plot point).  And there were parts besides that.  2.5 Stars


Don't Overthink It: Make Easier Decisions, Stop Second-Guessing, and Bring More Joy to Your Life by Anne Bogel
I pre-ordered this and read it pretty soon after it arrived.  I really enjoyed it and thought about giving it a whole post but then Corona really hit and my brain turned to mush for awhile but I did really like this one.  It might still get a whole post. 4.75 Stars

Oh Danny Boy, In Dublin's Fair City, Tell Me Pretty Maiden by Rhys Bowen
More of Molly Murphy's antics.  She is still surviving in NYC in 1901-1902 mostly by dumb luck and others helping her out.  Dublin took place in Ireland and I really liked when she landed in Queenstown (now Cobh), where we went on our trip to Ireland.  I knew EXACTLY the church she was talking about at the top of a steep hill.  And she was also in Dublin (as you may have guessed from the title) and mentioned a few things we saw there like the Guiness factory and St. Patrick's Church.  I continue to enjoy these.  3.25 Stars

How Not to Hate Your Husband After Kids by Jancee Dunn
This was a reread and I instantly remembered why I enjoyed it so much the first time.  To clarify, I don't hate my husband but this was a lot about splitting household responsibilities and we've done that differently from my first reading to the second! Full post back here.  4 Stars


Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal
I heard this mentioned in so many places as a wonderful foodie book and since I live in the Midwest and like foodie books, I finally read it.  It's more a series of short stories, all with an overlapping character who appears in each one, sometimes more prominent than in others.  I was reading this as the news started to get crazy so it took me a little longer to get through than normal.  Recommend if you like foodie books and/or the Upper Midwest.  3.75 Stars

Grace, Not Perfection: Embracing Simplicity, Celebrating Joy by Emily Ley
Another reread that was very well, and unintentionally timed, for the beginning of quarantine.  I needed to remember to give myself A LOT of grace, especially in those early days.  Very glad I accidentally planned it that way! 4 Stars

Where the Fire Falls by Karen Barnett
This was the second in a series about the beginnings of the National Parks.  I really enjoyed the first, set at Mount Rainer, and had a harder time getting into this one about Yosemite.  Maybe because I haven't been there?  They are a nice palate cleanser for current set novels though. 3 Stars

The Map from Here to There by Emery Lord
This is YA that I picked up because I read the first in this series, about 5 years ago.  I remembered NOTHING about it.  Not one single thing.  So I was a little lost picking up this one and it took me a bit to find my bearings.  Teens in their senior year of high school, they are trying to pick colleges and deciding if they should pick based on their boyfriend/girlfriend of the time.  It was set in a fictional town around Indy though and I appreciated all the Indiana references that I understood! 3 Stars


The Whispers of War by Julia Kelly
Historical fiction set during World War II, following three friends who all live in London at the start of the war and whose lives all change in different ways by the end of it.  Like many books telling of that era, there is a flash forward component to a person living now or near now who is just slowly learning of some Grandparents' (usually) journey during the war.  I liked the three women in the WWII storyline and loved their devotion to each other during very turbulent times. If you want to read this probably depends on your level of fatigue with World War II novels. 3.50 Stars


Live Green by Jen Chillingsworth
I had to buy this through Kindle since my library had no copies of it - digital or paper.  Good thing I stockpile those Amazon "slow shipping" $1 credits like people have hoarded TP!  It had 52 tips for living more greenly.  Some of which we do, some of which I screenshot to reference in the future.  I appreciate small, doable tasks. 3.5 Stars 


In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
This was the first novel I had read on my phone in quite awhile so it took me a bit to get into it but then I enjoyed it.  A woman has a very vivid "flash forward" dream that goes to one specific hour, 5 years in her future.  In the current day she has just gotten engaged but in this dream she is living somewhere else and there is a different man in her life.  Then she wakes up and goes about her life, not knowing what that dream meant.  I've read quite a few "young professional in NYC" books and I enjoy a peak at that life since I'll never live it.  This wasn't amazing but I did quite enjoy it. 3.75 Stars

Open Book by Jessica Simpson
I heard a lot of very favorable reviews of this before I finally put this on my TBR but then was 55 on the library hold list before they closed indefinitely.  Luckily, I was able to get a "jump the line" loan through Libby and knock this out in a couple days before it was due back.  It completely held up to all the good reviews.  I was VERY interested in the pop music scene of the late 90s and early 00s and remember reading articles about Jessica Simpson's relationship with Nick Lachey.  I have had some of her music for 20 years!  I was in college when Newlyweds came out and faithfully watched at least a couple seasons of it.  I was most definitely the target audience for this book.  Jessica was very open with her own various struggles as well as her journey through the pop world and her marriage but not to the point of being salacious.  It's a very fine line to walk and I think this came out perfectly juicy without throwing many, if any, people under the bus.  There were hard things to read about but it was also a lot of fun. 4 Stars

Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren 
This is the third book I've read by this author duo and I was leery because I was 50/50 on liking the previous ones.  Luckily this fell on the really enjoyable side for me!  Two friends who slowly realize they have feelings for each other.  I MUCH prefer this trope to the "we like each other but we aren't ever going to talk to each other about it because we are afraid of getting hurt but we are going to keep having sex" trope.  This was fun and delightful. 4 Stars

The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver
This was the second book I've read in quarantine that had some sort of time travel/alt world going on.  Lydia's fiance died suddenly (not a spoiler, happens very early on) and she has a hard time coping with him all of a sudden being gone and them not getting to live their plans (getting married, having kids, etc.).  She finds that, with the help of some sleeping aids, she can visit him in her sleep, at what their life would be like at that point in time if he hadn't died.  I've read the "alt world after a tragedy" construct before (in The Life Intended, one of my favorite reads of 2015!) but still enjoyed it here.  I can't say I wouldn't want to do the same in her circumstance!  This was one of my handful of e-book reads this spring! 3.75 Stars

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
I, like many people, really enjoyed Station Eleven so I knew I'd be picking up this one, getting lucky with a "jump the line" e-book library hold!  It was similar to Station Eleven in that it jumped between characters and points in time to tell the interconnected story of an event - in this instance, a Ponzi scheme and some of it's many related players and victims.  It was more about the characters than the actual Ponzi scheme and so many of them were fascinating characters; I enjoyed seeing how their lives continued to overlap.  It's hard to describe but it was very good. 4.25 Stars

Books I Read to Luke (age 7)
"B" is for Betsy and Betsy and Billy by Carolyn Haywood
These are the first two books in the Betsy series that I read at least some of when I was a kid, thanks to being gifted two of for one of my birthdays (I still have them!).  They are OLD and definitely a little dated but mostly charming.  Betsy starts the series in 1st grade and progresses one year each book so we just finished 2nd grade with her.  I have 3rd grade too from the library but don't know how much further I'll go with Luke right now.  I own some of the later ones and I should have thought of at least making it to the ones I own before the library closed!  But regardless, I'm not sure I'll be reading to him about 5th graders just yet but I am looking forward to getting to the ones I remember reading. 3.5 Stars

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Luke and I have been going through library chapter books I stocked up on as well as chapter books from my childhood that I kept for my future kids.  This is one of those.  It was a much quicker story than I remember and I was shocked at some of the language (@$$ was in there a couple times!) but it was fun to share with Luke.  Especially since he has now visited the Empire State Building and Central Park (a few times!).  It also REALLY made me want a fresh peach! 3.5 Stars
 
The Best School Year Ever by Barbara Robinson
This is the second in the series but the third and final one we've read.  I remember my Mom reading my copy aloud to the family a few decades ago and I was looking forward to reading it to Luke.  He was familiar with the Herdmanns at this point but I don't think he got all the humor.  I'd start chuckling while reading and he'd ask what was so funny BUT he still enjoyed them and lamented it being the last book about the Herdmanns. 3.75 Stars

What have YOU been reading lately?