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April Reading Round-Up

I feel like I say this every month, but reading kept me sane during this busy month. It’s definitely what I do when I am worn out at the end of the day, and I’m thankful for the escape reading provides.

Here’s my reading round-up for April, with lots of good ones!

April Reading Round-Up

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson. Upset over their mother’s death, Benny and Byron are puzzled by what she leaves behind: a traditional Caribbean black cake from her family recipe, and an audio recording that they’re instructed to listen to—together. Like the cake recipe itself, this story mixes together history, culture, and tradition, with a heaping portion of family secrets stirred in. While I didn’t make this connection while I was reading it, the structure of the story—short chapters, multiple points of view, past and present timelines—feels like the waves of the ocean, which also plays such an important role in this book. I am impressed with the way Wilkerson was able to create such a moving, cohesive story with so many different elements. It never felt confusing or over-the-top, despite all the characters and timelines. My rating: 4.5/5 stars.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. Dr. Ryland Grace is a middle school science teacher who left academia after publishing a paper that wasn’t well received by the scientific community. That paper, and his obvious brilliance as a scientist, is what lead to him being among the crew of a last-chance mission to save the earth from the effects of a slowly dimming sun. However, when Grace wakes up, alone, on the craft, he doesn’t remember any of that, where he is, or why. He slowly gets his memory back and works to solve the puzzle of not only who he is, but what he’s been sent to space to accomplish. This book was incredibly compelling (I read it on 2 3-hour plane rides and didn’t put it down), very surprising, and for me the perfect mix of plot and character development. Although there is less snarky humor than in The Martian, this one also had me laughing aloud at times. This was quite the ride, and I loved it. My rating: 4.25/5 stars.

The Institute by Stephen King. Luke Ellis is 12 years old when his parents are murdered in the night and he is taken to a strange place with other children who have arrived unexpectedly as well. They learn that they are there because of their latent supernatural talents—telekinesis and telepathy—and that the Institute where they’ve been taken is trying to test and harness these powers for an unknown purpose. Other than these talents, the Institute doesn’t care much for what else these children have to offer, so they underestimate Luke’s intelligence as he tries to outsmart the guardians and save himself and his friends. This does NOT sound like a story I would typically pick up, but I’ve learned to just trust Stephen King, and I’m glad I did. While the idea of children getting kidnapped in the night and taken to this place is a scary thought, I felt that the scariness factor of this book was more psychological and less horror, and it didn’t give me nightmares. I listened to this on audio, and despite being pretty long I couldn’t get through it fast enough. My rating: 4.25/5 stars.

Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips. On a remote Russian peninsula, two young girls, sisters ages 8 and 11, go missing. The police investigation goes nowhere, and this story is the community’s response to the disappearance. It feels like a collection of short stories—with the missing girls as the central theme—rather than a novel, and we meet characters who are affected in different ways. It was haunting, quiet, reflective, moving, and mysterious. It had a strong sense of place; I felt fully immersed in that part of the world and its different cultures. I really liked this one. I will say that if you like a more tidy ending, this one may disappoint you. My rating: 3.75/5 stars.

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood. This is a follow-up to the modern classic The Handmaid’s Tale, set more than fifteen years later. Told from the perspective of three different women, we see the inner workings of the Republic of Gilead as well as an outsider’s view. There’s Agnes, daughter of a Commander in the Republic, trying to find her way in a world she doesn’t always understand. Then we hear from Aunt Lydia, one of Gilead’s founding women, and Daisy, who grows up in neighboring Canada but learns she has ties to Gilead as well. I listened to this on audio and I thought it was well done, with different narrators for the three different women. I loved The Handmaid’s Tale and I thought it was fascinating to revisit this dystopian world, especially to see the cracks forming in its foundation. However, this one didn’t captivate me the same way the first one did; while I liked it, I didn’t love it. I will say that I hate how timely this one feels in the current climate. Ugh. My rating: 3.5/5 stars.

The Bride Test by Helen Hoang. Khai knows there must be something wrong with him. After losing his cousin and best friend, he struggled to express his grief, and he fears his heart must be made of stone. His family thinks differently—they know his autism means he just processes emotions in a different way. His mother, tired of waiting for Khai to find a partner, travels to her native Vietnam to find one for him. She finds Esme, who is gorgeous and hard-working, and seems like the perfect match for Khai. But how can you convince someone to love you when they don’t think they’re capable of love? This was a quick read and a sweet story, but I loved Hoang’s first book, The Kiss Quotient, much more. My rating: 3.5/5 stars.

Birdie’s Billions by Edith Cohn. Birdie lives with her mom, who cleans houses to make ends meet. Money has always been tight, but they always get by, and they feel lucky to have each other. One day Birdie accidentally breaks something in one of the houses her mom cleans, which causes her to lose her job. Birdie prays for money to help her mom, so she is shocked when she finds a large sum of money hidden inside the walls of an old, abandoned house. But finding the money adds a lot of complication to Birdie’s once simple life, and while she has good intentions, she begins to drown in a sea of secrets and lies. I read this book aloud to Jona, and while Birdie’s frequent questionable decisions led to some great conversations, it was often frustrating to read! My rating: 3.25/5 stars.

Lie to Me by J. T. Ellison. Sutton and Ethan Montclair seem like the perfect couple. However, behind closed doors their marriage is suffering from secrets, betrayals, resentment, and jealousy. Both are successful writers, so when Sutton disappears, leaving a note behind telling Ethan not to look for her, a media frenzy results. Ethan is worried that something may have happened to Sutton, but the rest of the world blames Ethan for her disappearance. While the plot is fast-moving, I found it predictable—I knew pretty early on who was to blame, which I’m not usually all that good at considering I don’t read a ton of thrillers. I do think it was well done on audio, if you’re in the mood for a fun (if somewhat predictable) domestic thriller. My rating: 3.25/5 stars.

Creating a Tech-Healthy Family: Ten Must-Have Conversations to Help You Worry Less and Connect More with Your Kids by Andrea Davis. Technology is part of our lives as parents, and it’s part of our children’s lives as well. This book helps parents navigate conversations with their kids about technology. While it does help parents work with children to establish technology rules and procedures, it first helps families identify why having these conversations—and having policies around technology—is important. While I don’t plan to follow the discussion ideas word for word (the introduction “hook” activities for each conversation were a little much for me), I do plan to use this book to help me guide technology use in our house, especially as my kids get older. My rating: 4/5 stars.

Have you read anything good lately?

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