Happy….June?
Yep, it’s June. And in the chaos of my life the last few months I have not been able to keep up with regular blogging. It’s honestly fine with me, but there are some posts that I like to do on a regular basis so that I can look back on them- and my monthly reading recap is one of those!
So we are throwing it all the way back to April with this little recap. Thanks to The Storygraph and Goodreads, I can look back at what I read. Now the real test is to see if I remember the books well enough to leave a good review! Haha.
In April, I read 8 books. 4 fiction and 4 nonfiction! I had a wide range of ratings, including my lowest at 2 stars and my highest at 4.75 stars!
Here is what I read in April:
Building Material
My Review: I love a good memoir, especially a memoir about the behind the scenes in a certain job. Unfortunately, this book was not that. I found it crass, boring and I was not impressed with the man who is writing the story. He complains nonstop about his lot in life, but then writes endless pages about oogling women and drinking/sleeping the day/night away, and being disrespectful of every person he works with. Not impressed. I gave it 2 stars, and I probably should have DNFed. I wish I could hear more about the aspects of being a doorman, and all the people who lived in his building!
The Rhythm of Home
My Review: As I get into the stage of parenting older children, I am starting to enjoy and appreciate books on parenting teens and older kids. This book had some good little tidbits in it, and I enjoyed thinking about family rhythms that we value and have established over the years. It challenged me to think about what rhythms we want to establish, and that now is the best time to really put in the work to get those rhythms established. However, two months after reading this book I cannot recall what any of the family rhythms were…so it wasn’t a life-changing book, just a nice little read to get me thinking about family rhythms.
Hum If You Don’t Know the Words
My Review: This was our book club selection for April, and it is a book I probably wouldn’t have picked up if it wasn’t for book club! I am glad that I read it, though! This is a hard story to read- it takes place in South Africa during apartheid. One perspective is told from a black woman, and one perspective is told from a white child. Their stories come together and weave throughout the novel in intricate, beautiful, and painful ways. Again, this isn’t the kind of happy fiction that I want to read, but it’s the kind of fiction that we all probably should be reading here and there to stay educated and gain different perspectives in the world.
The Trumpeter of Krakow
My Review: Well, I’m still trucking along with my Newberry Medal books! So far this year I have read one each month. I actually enjoyed this one and found the story of the trumpeter endearing! There is a love story, a war, family and a treasure. Plus, I learned quite a bit of history by reading this one!
Let’s Call Her Barbie
My Review: This was my favorite book of April! I could not put this one down! This is the fictionalized story of the woman who “invented” Barbie. It takes us through the time before Barbie came out, the process to get Barbie out, how Barbie was a total flop at first, and then Barbie’s wild success. This story made me rethink all the toys that my kids play with- it made the story behind the toys so much more real! The inventor(s) of Barbie at first had wild success, and then with their success and money came greed and lewd behavior and they all basically self-destructed (including one person who committed suicide). It was sad to read, but also fascinating. What is the true measure of success? And what is the true cost? HIGHLY recommend this one if you like historical fiction!
National Geographic: Bucket List Family
My Review: I know that the Bucket List Family has had some backlash for how they monotenize every little thing that their kids/family does, but I still enjoy seeing all of their adventures! This book was a big “coffee table book” that told their story from the beginning, and then gave lots of tips and tricks on traveling around the world. I actually really enjoyed reading this, and loved all the photography!
The Omnivore’s Dilemma
My Review: I accidentally read the Young Readers version of this book, but I actually found it perfect for me! This book is all about how America essentially runs on corn, and big farms that profit greatly from using chemicals and pesticides. While most of the information wasn’t new to me, I did learn quite a bit and it gave me a lot of food for thought (almost quite literally, as it’s all about America’s food system!). I recommend this read to anyone who doesn’t know much about where your food comes from!
Famous Last Words
My Review: I listened to a podcast where this author was interviewed and was SO excited for this book. The basic plot is that a woman gets a call from the police that her husband has been involved in a hostage situation. They then tell her that her husband is the person who has taken the hostages. He then disappears and she is left wondering if she really knew her husband at all. I loved the premise and the first 1/4 of the book, but unfortunately it fell flat for me and I was left a little bit confused about what was happening and not overly invested in the ending.
And that is a wrap on my April reads! I will be back sometime next week to recap my May reads, and then hopefully I will be back on track as usual to recap my June reads at the end of this month. I’ve got so much blogging catching up to do!