Yes, I am aware that it is June. I missed pretty much all of May in the blogging world, and as I sat down to write this post I considered putting all of my April + May reads in one post…but I knew that would get too long so I’ve decided to split them up!
I figure that since it’s books, my reviews will be the same whether it’s published right away or not!
But if you are looking for some current reads, don’t forget to check out my post from last week where I rounded up all of my favorite summer reading guides!
April Reading Review
Expiration Dates
Synopsis: Daphne Bell believes the universe has a plan for her. Every time she meets a new man, she receives a slip of paper with his name and a number on it—the exact amount of time they will be together. The papers told her she’d spend three days with Martin in Paris; five weeks with Noah in San Francisco; and three months with Hugo, her ex-boyfriend turned best friend. Daphne has been receiving the numbered papers for over twenty years, always wondering when there might be one without an expiration. Finally, the night of a blind date at her favorite Los Angeles restaurant, there’s only a name: Jake.
But as Jake and Daphne’s story unfolds, Daphne finds herself doubting the paper’s prediction, and wrestling with what it means to be both committed and truthful. Because Daphne knows things Jake doesn’t, information that—if he found out—would break his heart.
My Review: I was so excited for this one, because I LOVED the premise! One of my favorite books in the past few years is The Measure, and I felt like this had a similar story line. But, unfortunately, it fell flat for me. I didn’t like how the story turned out, I felt like some of the characters were too one-dimensional and I was honestly a little bit bored since the plot didn’t move along very much. Such a bummer!
Silent Cry: The True Story of Abuse and Betrayal of NFL Wife
Synopsis: Raised near New Orleans as one of six children, Dorothy Newton was surrounded by abuse and poverty as she grew up. But she became the first in her family to graduate from college and moved out of poverty. She then began to live out her dreams in Dallas of a better home and life when she married celebrity superstar football player Nate Newton. She had gone from poverty to the pinnacle of success. She was married to a handsome, successful, famous professional athlete, who was a three time Super Bowl Champion and six time Pro-Bowler for the Dallas Cowboys. But all that glittered was not gold. Before long the relationship turned abusive. She found herself living in the world she thought she had escaped in her years growing up. The world did not see her suffering behind closed doors—she was betrayed, treated abusively, threatened continually. Dorothy was trapped with no one to talk to and nowhere to run. In this book Dorothy shares her experiences of pain, loss, survival, hope, recovery, and victory. A gripping story throughout, A Silent Cry is a testament to Dorothy’s will to live and the peace that comes with hope in the God who sees and hears your tears—even when no one else does.
My Review: I have had this on my bookshelf for years, and I finally got around to picking it up. I really enjoyed Dorothy’s storytelling and the memoir was full of pain and beauty. It was not always easy to read, but I appreciate how she shared it all. One thing that I struggle with in the memoir genre is writing bad news about people who are still living. While I think that it’s so important that we listen to women who have abusive husbands, I also felt a little bit of ick that there is a whole book published that is basically slamming the man. She did it gracefully and full of truth, but it still felt like a bit too much. I don’t know what the line is there, because it’s not like he deserves a bunch of kindness and good will. At the same time, I don’t know that it’s the answer to just blast it all when he’s still alive and working. So, obviously, I felt conflicted about this book.
The Women
Synopsis: Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path. As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over-whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets―and becomes one of―the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost. But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.
My Review: I only gave this book three stars, so I wasn’t a huge fan…However, there were some things that I really liked about it: the way it informed me about the Vietnam war, and especially women serving during the war. I appreciated the well-developed characters who were experiencing PTSD. Basically, I felt like the historical side of this historical fiction really shone. The fiction part is what didn’t work for me. The main character, Frankie, endures major life upheaval like 999 thousand times. After a while, I just couldn’t sympathize with her anymore! I felt like her only character trait was being a victim and somehow everyone else in her life endured major trauma but she never gave anything to the relationships, but expected much in return. Kristen Hannah books are long, detailed, and usually lean on the side of depressing. This one went a little too far into the bleak and depressing and it just didn’t work for me.
Holes
Synopsis: Stanley Yelnats is under a curse. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnatses. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys’ detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the boys build character by spending all day, every day digging holes exactly five feet wide and five feet deep. There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. But there are an awful lot of holes. It doesn’t take long for Stanley to realize there’s more than character improvement going on at Camp Green Lake. The boys are digging holes because the warden is looking for something. But what could be buried under a dried-up lake? Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment
—and redemption.
My Review: I am slowly but surely working my way through the Newberry Medal books, and it had been a long time since I had read this one (or seen the movie!). It was delightful and a classic tale of adventure where good wins over evil. I read this one slowly (maybe one chapter a day), but really enjoyed it!
Love, Theoretically
Synopsis: The many lives of theoretical physicist Elsie Hannaway have finally caught up with her. By day, she’s an adjunct professor, toiling away at grading labs and teaching thermodynamics in the hopes of landing tenure. By other day, Elsie makes up for her non-existent paycheck by offering her services as a fake girlfriend, tapping into her expertly honed people-pleasing skills to embody whichever version of herself the client needs. Honestly, it’s a pretty sweet gig—until her carefully constructed Elsie-verse comes crashing down. Because Jack Smith, the annoyingly attractive and arrogant older brother of her favorite client, turns out to be the cold-hearted experimental physicist who ruined her mentor’s career and undermined the reputation of theorists everywhere. And he’s the same Jack Smith who rules over the physics department at MIT, standing right between Elsie and her dream job. Elsie is prepared for an all-out war of scholarly sabotage but…those long, penetrating looks? Not having to be anything other than her true self when she’s with him? Will falling into an experimentalist’s orbit finally tempt her to put her most guarded theories on love into practice?
My Review: I enjoyed this one, but to be honest it went in my head and now a few weeks later I could not even tell you what it is about. Which is perfect for a little brain break, but not one I would go around recommending to everyone!
Amazing Grace Adams
Synopsis: Grace Adams gave birth, blinked, and now suddenly she is forty-five, perimenopausal and stalled―the unhappiest age you can be, according to the Guardian. And today she’s really losing it. Stuck in traffic, she finally has had enough. To the astonishment of everyone, Grace gets out of her car and simply walks away. Grace sets off across London, armed with a £200 cake, to win back her estranged teenage daughter on her sixteenth birthday. Because today is the day she’ll remind her daughter that no matter how far we fall, we can always get back up again. Because Grace Adams used to be amazing. Her husband thought so. Her daughter thought so. Even Grace thought so. But everyone seems to have forgotten. Grace is about to remind them . . . and, most important, remind herself.
My Review: This book really surprised me! I thought it was going to be more of rom-com, and it was not that AT ALL. This is the story of a woman who is grieving…and who has become slightly unhinged. But as the story unfolds, we really fall in love with this character and understand *why* she is unhinged. I feel like it gave me more compassion towards people in general- you know the saying “be kind to everyone because everyone is fighting a battle no one can see?” This book sums up that quote perfectly. It was sad and dark in some places, but overall I closed the book feeling glad that I read it.
First Lie Wins
Synopsis: The identity comes first: Evie Porter. Once she’s given a name and location by her mysterious boss Mr. Smith, she learns everything there is to know about the town and the people in it. Then the mark: Ryan Sumner. The last piece of the puzzle is the job. Evie isn’t privy to Mr. Smith’s real identity, but she knows this job will be different. Ryan has gotten under her skin, and she’s starting to envision a different sort of life for herself. But Evie can’t make any mistakes–especially after what happened last time. Because the one thing she’s worked her entire life to keep clean, the one identity she could always go back to—her real identity—just walked right into this town. Evie Porter must stay one step ahead of her past while making sure there’s still a future in front of her. The stakes couldn’t be higher–but then, Evie has always liked a challenge…
My Review: I love this level of thriller! It was twisty, but not creepy. It kept me turning the pages, but didn’t keep me up at night. It kept me wondering what would happen but didn’t over-consume me mentally. It isn’t a top ten book, but I did enjoy this one!
Crucial Conversations
Synopsis: The book that revolutionized business communications has been updated for today’s workplace. Crucial Conversations provides powerful skills to ensure every conversation―especially difficult ones―leads to the results you want. Written in an engaging and witty style, it teaches readers how to be persuasive rather than abrasive, how to get back to productive dialogue when others blow up or clam up, and it offers powerful skills for mastering high-stakes conversations, regardless of the topic or person.
My Review: I read this one for personal development at work, and it was worth the read! I was taking notes the whole time. I think this is one of those books that everyone should read. It feels unfair that some people have read it and have the tools to handle a crucial conversation, while others don’t have that information- so I DO highly recommend this book to ANYONE who deals with people. So, all of us.
The Beautiful Mystery
Synopsis: When a peaceful monastery in Quâebec is shattered by the murder of their renowned choir director, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir try to find the killer in a cloistered community that has taken a vow of silence.
My Review: I’m just not loving the Louise Penny series as much as everyone says I should. I keep giving it one more try with the next book in the series, but I’m still not sold on it all. This one was fine…but in the grand scheme of my TBR, do I really want to keep reading books that are “just fine”? I don’t know…maybe I’ll give it one more try (lol).
Die With Zero
Synopsis: In short, Bill Perkins wants to rescue you from over-saving and under-living. Regardless of your age, Die with Zero will teach you Perkins’ plan for optimizing your life, stage by stage, so you’re fully engaged and enjoying what you’ve worked and saved for.
My Review: I still can’t decide if I agree with his theories and advice or not. But one thing is for sure…this book really made me think! His premise and advice is so original and so difference from anything else I’ve heard before. I did enjoy some of his points and Theo and I had a lot of discussions after listening to this one!
Did Not Finish
I Think You’re Wrong (But I’m Listening)
I tried, I really did! I have a lot of feelings about these ladies- I used to listen to their podcast but I had to stop in 2020 when I was struggling with a lot of “stuff” relating to Theo’s job. They talk about politics, and I just wasn’t in the best place to hear allll the different opinions. I read their second book, “Now What?” and actually really enjoyed that one, but this one was not keeping my attention at all. Instead of giving me ideas of how to relate or talk to someone who things differently from me, they spent the first 100 pages giving examples of people who think differently than them, and policies that they agree to disagree on. DNF for me.
Range
I also DNFed this one, since 100 pages in, I hadn’t gleaned any interesting applicable things for my life. I did like the general premise of the book: the most successful people are not the ones who study only in one field, but rather the ones who have a range of knowledge and skills. This book just felt like a classic “this meeting could have been an email” or rather “this book could have been an article”.
And that’s it for my April reads! May and June will also have some AMAZING books for me to share with you!