This is going to be a long reading wrap up because it’s covering two months and I happened to do a good amount of reading both months. I’ll plan to keep my mini-reviews extra mini and maybe do more full reviews on these books for future posts. Yes… I think that will work!
April:
I read seven books in April and I’m thrilled because it kicked off some good reading for May as well. Here are the books I read in April:
Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4) by Marissa Meyer
This series is the first fantasy type series I’ve ever read. I absolutely loved these books. I think Marissa Meyer is fantastic at writing young adult fantasy novels. I thought the spin on Disney stories was genius and the way she tied these characters into those Disney stories was very creative. Winter wasn’t my favorite of the four books, I think because Meyer had to tie everything together with this being the final book. However, I would absolutely recommend this series. I will do a more in depth write up on the series soon!
The Dutch Wife by Ellen Keith
This book was fantastic. I’m really into WWII books right now and this was such a unique storyline. I had no idea that brothels existed in the concentration camps. It opened my eyes to added horror that existed during that time. I’ve already recommended this book to a few people. I think because it is so different than other books of the same genre this is a must read for everyone.
Girls of Glass by Brianna Labuskes
My mom recommended this book to me. It touches on some difficult subject matter but the majority of the book it just a great who-done-it? I did NOT see the ending coming and I’m still shocked by who the bad guy turns out to be at the end. The characters are well developed and your heart just aches for all of them and what they’ve gone through as a family. I definitely recommend.
Spilled Milk by K.L. Randis
Man-o-man talk about difficult subjects. I didn’t really know what this book was about but it had pretty decent kindle reviews so I thought what the heck. I’m glad I read this because I really enjoyed it but it was really hard to get through certain parts of this book. This covers incest between a girl and her father and shows how she was able to overcome. It’s a heartwarming story in the end if you can get past the icky stuff.
The Things We Do for Love by Kristin Hannah
I will post a longer review of this book soon. I really enjoyed it but not as much as some of Hannah’s other books. The Nightingale is still my favorite book ever so maybe I hold her to a higher standard. I think this is certainly worth reading though. The two main characters are wonderfully developed and incredibly relatable.
I’m Fine and Neither Are You by Camile Pagan
This just turned out to be an ok read. I liked the story well enough. It’s unique and unlike anything else I’ve read so for that reason alone its worth reading. This wouldn’t top my recommendation list but it was a nice book to pass the time. It was easy to get into and stayed interesting throughout.
The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes
My sister recommended this book for me and I loved it. It’s a totally different take on war novels. I’ve read so many WWII books recently that my brain had a hard time recognizing this was actually WWI but that was more my brain’s fault than the author’s. I think this is a really unique story and again is so unlike anything I’ve ever read before.
May
For the month of May I read nine books. How is that even possible I feel like I need to go back and double check that… yep nine books! That’s my best month this year so far! So exciting! Here are my May reads:
The Selection by Kiera Cass
The Selection started out as just a free kindle book that I downloaded on my IPad. I thought it sounded playful and fun which is a direction I sometimes go if I feel I’m hitting a reading slump. I ended up loving this book. It’s a little cheesy and definitely a young adult book, written for teenage girls. But hey, my heart still yearns for books like this from time to time. It’s a fairytale type of becoming a princess novel that turned into a series. I did order the full series so I’ll report back as I read them!
Still Alice by Lisa Genova
I didn’t realize this was a book until I happened upon it on audible. I’m ashamed to say that because I give people such a hard time who assume something is just a movie and I wish I could slap myself. This was a great book! It was difficult to read at times and made me think about what I’d do if this situation happened to me. I loved the book but my only critique is that I didn’t like how the author read it on the audible option. She is monotone and uninteresting and I felt like she was just reading from a page instead of telling a story. So that was disappointing.
Misery by Stephen King
UGH this book. If you read my most recent post (tagged here) you will know of my struggle with Misery. I plan to do a more in depth breakdown of my thoughts because it was such a challenge for me to get through, but man this book had me disliking reading for a while. I did pick up after I published my latest blog so I was thankful for that. That being said, I do not recommend this as a first King book for anyone because I don’t think they will continue reading his books!
The President is Missing by Bill Clinton and James Patterson
This book also started out slow. I am working on a full review for this book too because I think it’s important to explain how much this book changed over time. By the middle of this book I was absolutely hooked. I recommended it to my family and friends and I think its a must read for the times we are in now.
The Calculus of Change by Jessie Hilb
This book is written by a woman I went to high school with so I think I’d have a little more interest in it than others. She writes about a girl in high school and she writes about the school in a way that reminds me so much of the school we attended. I’m sure she pulled from what she knows! The book was well written and was deeper than I anticipated but I didn’t like how quickly the book ended. The main character’s problems are stretched out throughout the novel and then all of a sudden they end and are tied up with a neat little bow. Endings like that drive me nuts.
Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T Sullivan
Such a cool take on WWII writing. I had no idea this book was a true story and wow it made the whole thing more incredible. The afterward is important to read because it ties much of the book together. I begged a friend to read this once I started because I NEEDED a friend to talk to about this! There are so many times I just wanted to start yelling but no one would know why! I recommend this book as a must read for 2019.
I am Watching You by Teresa Driscoll
This book was another free kindle read. I’m not knocking free kindle books because I have read a ton of really great ones! I just tend to think these books are advertised because they are less popular, not because they aren’t as good as others. This book had me wondering who did it the entire read. The author did an incredible job of pointing the finger at a number of possible culprits and I fell for it every time! The ending came together beautifully too! I would definitely recommend this.
Honeymoon in Paris by JoJo Moyes
This was more of a short story and I’m not sure if I should actually count it as a book, but Goodreads does so thats good enough for me! This story was just so so. It is a backstory on The Girl You Left Behind so I found it interesting but nothing to write home about.
What have You Done by Matthew Farrell
This book was dark but in a good way. I cruised through it because I had to know what would happen! Its a murder mystery that has you focusing on only one possible killer…. but the end will get ya! This is a book you could easily read in one sitting! It’s a perfect summer read.
Well if you made it through all of that you are a serious trooper! I will be posting some full reviews on some of these books shortly so stay tuned for that!
Erin