May 4, 2021

April 2021 Wrap Up

I don't even know how to start this wrap up. In order to reach my goal, I should read at least 10 books per month. In April, I read 7. Did I mention I officially lowered my Goodreads goal to 100 books? I did. 150 was increasingly looking like it wasn't going to happen. I was about 13 books behind. Now, I have a nice cushion of 5 books ahead. Anyway, I did read a few books in April, so let's look at that list.

The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins - I found the audiobook for this on my phone, so I listened to it on trips back and forth to work after I started going to the library again. I finished it on April 1. It is a thriller retelling of Jane Eyre. It was pretty good. A little unbelievable in that Jane is a dog walker in a fancy neighborhood until she starts dating one of her clients and moves in with him.  

What We Talk About When We Talk About Books by Leah Price - I read most of this on my sister's couch. Now, I remember almost nothing about it. I was pleased with myself when I finished it because it was smarter than my brain could work out.

The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli - I promised one of my dancers I would read this in New Mexico. She was so excited when she asked if I read it and I could tell her I did. Lol. This is YA fantasy and it was very good. The main character never knew who she could trust.

The Castle School (for troubled girls) by Alyssa Sheinmel - This story had an interesting premise, but the execution was only ok. A girl's best friend dies of cancer and her parents send her to this boarding school where she will also get therapy. She is very angry and holds a lot of guilt for his death. She goes to this weird school and meets other girls and makes girl friends for the first time. It's supposed to be creepy, but it kind of fails.

Lumberjanes Vol. 10 by Shannon Watters - This is a fun YA graphic novel series about a bunch of girls at summer camp. In this volume, it's parents' day and the girls are getting their camp ready for visits from parents. But of course, some random paranormal stuff happens and they have to save the day.

Hell in the Heartland by Jax Miller - I am so glad I finally read this one. In fact, on the day I finished it, the news announced that there was more information and they were digging in some places in Picher, OK to look for the bodies of the missing girls.

Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance by Nikki Grimes - This is a fascinating book. Grimes takes poems from the Renaissance women and uses the Golden Shovel method to create a new poem. Basically, she takes a line or lines from their poem and places each word at the end of a line of her new poem. So each line of the new poem ends with the word from the original one. The hard part is making the new poem make sense. It was really cool.

So that's it. That's all the books I read in April. What did you read?