And so the slide begins….a few days late, but here’s my April Reading Log!

A Year at the French Farmhouse, by Gillian Harvey: Two Mugs

I liked this book for the obvious theme of the book: moving abroad to France! I met someone one who talked about spending a couple months in the South of France and ever since there, it’s been something I’d love to experience myself with Jeff. I loved that part of the story, but there were other story lines that I felt a bit annoyed by. There was a romance story line that was filled with OBVIOUS red flags (aka side characters saying “don’t”), and I really hate when those red flags are blatantly ignored by the main character. There was a separate story line regarding the main characters marriage and I just couldn’t wrap my finger around it – it felt like the author just needed the husband out of the way for above reference romance story line, but it felt forced. But for a free Amazon Prime read, I can’t complain!

Hooked: How Crafting Saved My Life, by Sutton Foster. Two Mugs

I adored picturing an actor sitting in their changing room (is that what they’re called?) and working on their latest crochet project! I loved the moments of candor and reality, but do sometimes wonder if the connections celebrities make in their memoirs are real or just made to fit the book (where you really thinking about that life event and how making this blanket relates to said life event, or were you just making a blanket?) I’m currently listening to Becoming by Michelle Obama and both women talk about the pressures of IVF and how much of that pressure, stress, and the physical demands rest on the woman. I know that seems obvious because duh, women make babies, but all the stress of attending the appointments, the shots, etc. etc. etc., the men don’t have to be there for all of that, not to mention the failure of those treatments is a lot of pressure to take on. Again, I love when the books I just happen to be reading/listening to at the same time are relatable to each other. Overall, it wasn’t a mind-shattering book, but it was entertaining. I also have watched most seasons of Younger, so it was great to get little peeks into that show.

I’m Glad My Mom Died, by Jennette McCurdy. Two Mugs

Another book that I liked but didn’t love. I’m learning to not be shocked by this with books that are hugely popular and I expect to love. Man did Jennette go through some shit. This book definitely made me so thankful for my childhood and my mom. Sometimes I wish my childhood had more of this or more of that, but I’m really thankful for all the things it didn’t have: a terrible mom, childhood trauma, expectations put on me at an early age, a parent with mental illness, parents that didn’t get a long, etc. I put on such pressures on myself on the childhood I want my kids to remember, but honestly, maybe the quiet and not-so-memorable childhoods are also great for raising well-adjusted adults.

I did really enjoy Jennette’s sense of humor, and really recognized my own writing style in hers. As someone with vague hopes of writing something someday, it was encouraging to see my writing style in print.

I don’t think it’s a spoiler to mention that Jennette talks a lot about her eating disorders, and as insightful as this book was to someone suffering through that (and I enjoy a book that provides me that insight), I’m not sure I needed to read how many times she binged after eating.

My favorite quote: “Fuck being a good sport, I’d rather be playing charades with Tom Hanks.” Amen to that.

Demon Copperfield, by Barbara Kingsolver. Three Mugs

This book had been on my TBR for a while, and it finally became available through Libby (see below for more on Libby). I will say that at 560 pages, I felt the length of this book, especially reading on my Kindle where you can see your completion percentage still hovering around 30% (that’s it?!!! Still???). BUT, it’s such an important book to read. This book reminded me so much of The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead: they discuss real topics that we’d rather not talk about, and that can be really difficult to read.

Demon Copperfield is a fictional first-person account of our foster care system and the opioid crisis in the Appalachian region. It was pretty mind blowing to read about how the opioid crisis started, spread, and completely decimated an entire generation in some towns/regions. The foster care system part is completely heartbreaking, and how there are adults that take advantage of that system is completely repulsive.

The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett, by Annie Lyons. Two Mugs

Right from the start, this book seemed very similar to A Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman (who just happens to be my favorite author). I mean, Eudora is in her eighties (I think), has a cat, is considering suicide (although the assisted type), and has a pregnant neighbor that is an important character. C’mon! This book also reminded me a little of The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window and Disappeared. But now that I think through it, I’m not sure why: Eudora’s flashbacks are just flashbacks to her life, and the 100-year-old-man has flashbacks that relate to important historical events, so, not sure why I made that connection, but there you are!

Regardless of the lack of originality in the plot, it was still a nice read and lighthearted enough compared to Demon Copperfield. The theme running throughout the book is mainly about assisted suicide and whether someone at that age should have the right to decide when it’s time.

Libby! I link all my book recommendations to Amazon (really hoping that those fifty cent commission’s will snowball someday so I can just stay home and read and write book reviews for a living), but I realized very soon after I increased my reading time, that I couldn’t afford to buy every book I wanted to read. I’ve been using the Libby app for a while now and love it. Here’s a little reel I posted recently on how to use it.

What are you reading lately?

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