What We Read in April

April felt like a better month of reading following the lackluster month of March. I finished 7 books. I'm back into my routine of going upstairs at 8:30 to read for an hour before bed. I've also had more access to books as my library is allowing contact-free curbside pick-up of books. They aren't allowing returns yet, so the inventory for buzzy new books is limited but I was able to get "Such a Fun Age" (very popular new release) which was a nice surprise!

Hits:

- Mrs. Kennedy and Me was a wonderful but heartbreaking read. I think you need some interest in the Kennedys to enjoy it, but I have always been fascinated by that family. I remember checking books out of library about JFK when I was in middle school and I've read a couple other Kennedy memoirs during my adult years.

- Such a Fun Age lived up to all of the hype. It's about the relationship between a family and their nanny, who is a person of color. At the start of the book, something has happened at the house that requires them to call the police so they call their nanny and ask her to take their preschool aged daughter out of the house. They got to a grocery store and attract the attention of security given the mixed race of the child/nanny. The story unfolds from there. It's about race, class, and the relationship between a parent and caregiver. I can see why this book has gotten so much attention.

- The Stationery Shop was another page turner. The book opens in 1950s Iran when the country is in the midst of a revolution. 2 young teens meet and fall in love. They decide to meet and get married secretly, but one of them doesn't show up at the meeting spot. 60 years later, they cross paths in Boston and learn what really happened that day. This is my book club's May book - I'm looking forward to discussing it with them (we are still meeting over Zoom).

Misses:

- Three Women was our April book club book. This book made for a really great book club discussion. Our April meeting will stand out as a meeting where we talked more about the book than we did about what is going on in our lives. But it was a pretty depressing read for me. It's about 3 women and their relationships. None of them are "happy" stories. It made me sad that women don't ask for more from relationships. I know these stories aren't indicative of all relationships but there was just a sense of desperation in the stories that made me uncomfortable and sad.

- American Spy was a book I was really looking forward to reading. The protagonist is an African American. She works for the FBI but gets recruited to be a spy in the late 1980s. I just felt like some of the decisions she made didn't make sense for a highly educated woman who worked for the FBI... I only stuck with it because it's a book club book for later this year. I'm trying to get better about abandoning books but I try not to abandon book club books unless I really hate it!

Paul's Reads:

Paul is still an avid little reader. He really liked the Llama Llama book and the Farm Block book he got in his Easter basket. He's been less interested in Little Owl's Day but maybe he will become interested in this later. He is still obsessed with the Little Pookie books and has some parts memorized which is really cute. Any book about farms or tractors is a hit with him. A friend of mine hosted an Usbourne book party recently so I ordered some new books for him. He has loved the other Usbourne books I bought for him in the past so hopefully this new batch is a hit!

What are you reading these days?