April was busy so I’m not entirely certain how I finished nine books but I am super happy that I did because I feel a reading SLUMP coming on! May is the month of all the things and, for me, reading often takes a backseat in the Spring. Here are my quick reviews for the month:
#1. Forever is the Worst Long Time by Camille Pagan (☆☆☆☆) My first read was four stars partially because I am a sucker for stories that span over a longer period of time (in this case I think around 20 years). I also love a book about not just love but friendship and family. This one covered all those things and more. The main characters, James and Lou, circle each other for years, ultimately creating a life full of the things they long for but perhaps not in any way they envisioned. James is the narrator so I appreciated the male perspective and, also, that he is writing the book for his daughter, Emerson. It was an emotional read and I appreciate the author’s realistic life take - we all have those things we put off - in James’ case, he spent a lifetime procrastinating with his writing while life twisted and turned around him. Pagan’s words are engaging. Recommend.
Read if you like: The JoJo Moyes Me Before You series
#2. The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh (☆☆) With the feminist dystopia label on this one, I expected… something completely different. Mostly, it is a story of parental abuse and, thus, not a read for me. It is told from the perspectives of three sisters - Lia, Grace and Sky, who are raised on an island alone with their parents. The father, aptly called King, disappears one day and the story spirals from there. If there was a feminist message or agenda, I didn’t get that vibe at all. Mostly all I could think about was someone, anyone, even the girls themselves getting out of that hell.
Read if you like: Ummm… maybe The Virgin Suicides (also not a fan of that one!)
#3. The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris (☆☆☆☆) This rating was perhaps a little more like 3.5 stars from me. I enjoyed this novel very much, and, perhaps giving it more love and acclaim once I learned the author based this novel from a man’s true story of survival, told to her in his old age and over a course of three years. It is a solid WW2 story of a man named Lale who survived for almost three years in concentration camps, mainly because he fell into the job of the camp’s tattooist, marking prisoner’s arms with numbers as they arrived. Lale’s story is a heartbreaking reminder of the wide array of people (he was a Slovakian Jew) that were imprisoned in concentration camps and the unjust deaths of so many. In the book, he uses the benefits of his tattooist position as often as he can, helping where he could and falling in love with a girl named Gita along the way. A few of the characters seem underdeveloped but overall a solid read that I could definitely see being made a movie.
Read if you like: The Nightengale by Kristin Hannah or Number the Stars by Lois Lowry or The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
#4. Paper Things by Jennifer Richard Jacobsen (☆☆☆☆☆) Please note this book is officially for ‘middle readers’. I picked it up at the library for my son, who is in 5th grade. He had little interest in it but I couldn’t put it down! It follows the love story of two siblings - Ari and Gage - who lost their father to war and their mother not long after. They are left in the care of a guardian, Jana, who provides shelter and structure but who Gage can not seem to connect with. Ari is 11 and faced with the tough choice of staying with Jana or venturing out into the world with what she knows, Gage. The book also highlights just how hard kids are struggling with poverty and homelessness just below the surface of ‘normal’ while at school. Ari has several friends and teachers that meet her where she is and offer her support with no judgement. While I felt a few parts were unrealistic or a stretch, this book tugged at my mama heartstrings in all the best ways.
Read if you like: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
#5. The Book of Essie by Meghan Maclean (☆☆☆☆) I really loved this book but should state there are definite trigger warnings re: abuse. The story follows seventeen year old Essie, the daughter of a preacher and one of the stars of a reality show about her family (ala Dugger-style). I was most fascinated with the relationships between Essie and the women in her life - her mother, her absent sister, and her brother’s wives and how she navigated them. Essie’s whole life has been viewed through cameras and when she discovers she is pregnant, things get… interesting. She enters a complicated friendship with a boy named Roark, who, of course, has secrets of his own. The pair of teens navigate a rocky road to escape the expectations of both their family and their religion.
Read if you like: The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
#6. The Age of Light by Whitney Scharer (☆) This novel is a hard no for me. Somehow I selected it as my Book of the Month pick and it sat untouched on my shelf for months. I finally decided to give it a go and I’m kind of sorry I did. HA! I did finish it, hoping there might be some redeeming qualities toward the end, but, alas no such luck! The protagonist, Lee Miller, moves to Paris to get away from the States and her modeling career and transition to a photographer. I think the transition from BEING art to MAKING art was supposed to satisfy some sort of feminist agenda, but, really Lee just shacks up with another man and allows his art to usurp her art for most of her life. Ultimately I feel like it fits better in the straight romance category and maybe romance fans will like it more than me.
Read if you like: (Man. It’s really hard to suggest similar reads of books I hated!) Ummmm books about Paris? Sorry, I have nothing!
#7. Lost and Wanted by Nell Freudenberger (☆☆☆) This was my April Book of the Month selection and I was feeling a little conflicted about it. The synopsis alludes to a book about the supernatural but, really, it’s a beautiful book about grief. The main character, Helen, is a physicist and a single mom to a little boy named Jack. She loses her childhood friend Charlie to complications from lupus and, though she and Charlie lived far apart and had not been close in recent years, she struggles to understand and accept her grief. Charlie’s partner and daughter forge a relationship with Helen and her son and they all struggle in the aftermath of losing Charlie. The book moves at a leisurely pace and beautifully weaves in Helen’s work as a scientist to help her cope.
Read if you like: Where’d Ya Go Bernadette by Maria Semple
#8. Five Feet Apart by Rachel Lippincott Welp. This is a book about kids with Cystic Fibrosis (soon to be a movie!) so it is just as saccharine and heartbreaking as you might expect! It follows the tale of Will and Stella, star crossed CF kids who love each other but must remain a certain distance apart so they don’t harm each other. It’s full of angst and sweet coming of age moments and is going to make a heartbreaker of a movie. It’s YA drama at it’s finest and I would have loved it as a teen. It also should be noted that it has some solid supporting cast and characters - another reason I think it will be great on the big screen.
Read if you like: The Fault in Our Stars or anything by John Green
#9. The Lilac Bus by Maeve Binchey (☆☆☆) I must confess that Maeve Binchey books are comfort reads for me and I picked this one up off my shelf because I was feeling a little burned out on reading. The Lilac Bus is almost like a collection of very, very loosely connected short stories. I’ve always loved the way Binchey weaves her characters together and this book is a very light version of her more lengthy prose. This particular book weaves together the stories of several characters who take a small bus home together from their big city lives in Dublin to their quiet hometown of Rathdoon. It definitely leaves you wanting to know more about each character, but, as a long time Binchey reader, it was just the right amount of comfort and character development for me.
Read if you like: Well, really, just read some more Meave Binchey please! Tara Road is one of my personal favorites.