April 2018 Reading Round-Up

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

This one was a hot bestseller last year and made the Reese Witherspoon book club so you know people are going to read it. But I guess I went with the hype and wanted to read it myself. And I get why it was such a hit. It's one of those beachy type reads but more engaging like What Alice Forgot. It gives you some things to think about, especially in terms of motherhood and what makes a good mother. Overall I enjoyed the book for what it was. There were some content that bothered me (teen sex, abortion and such) but the writing was good and I enjoyed some of the characters. A good general recommend if you're looking for a fast read that's interesting.

The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows

It's a story that is told from three perspectives: Layla, the senator's daughter who's job is to write the history of Macedonia, West Virginia, Jottie, the aunt who is still a spinster (lovely character), and Willa, a sharp twelve year old who is so observant and curious of her surroundings.

This is a slower type novel but enough that I always wanted to jump into it. It almost felt like lots happened and not a lot happened at the same time. A bit more of a character driven novel and as much as some characters aggravated me, I really loved the place and time setting of it all and it was always a treat to come back to.

The Professor and The Madman by Simon Winchester

This was for our book club. It's about William Minor who was in an insane asylum but at the same time was one of the great contributors of the Oxford Dictionary. At times I forgot it was a nonfiction read. Sometimes it seemed too crazy to believe. It wasn't one that had a lot to discuss. Interesting read but not one that I would highly recommend.

Roots and Sky: A Journey Home in Four Seasons by Christie Purifoy

Man, to be able to write like her...(sigh). I loved this. It's essays of the first year her family lived at Maplehurst. She is guided by religion in every aspect of her life and has some deep poignant thoughts that I had to book mark a lot. When I started her book, that night, Austin and I went on a picnic to a park near our house. He asked me, "when you see the view, what do you see?" (he was trying to do this as a personality type quiz to see if I would name emotions or just the obvious things like blue sky and green grass). Well, from reading this book, I was like, "longing, peace, stability" haha. All of the feelings and none of the actual, visible things you would see. You can probably guess that I'm more feeling oriented rather than logical. But it's because I was having Purifoy's words still in my head.

And check out her instagram. She takes the most beautiful photos of every day life.

Here's a few lines that I loved:

"Our lives are stories built of small moments. Ordinary experiences. It is too easy to forget that our days are adding up to something astonishing." pg 18

"Yet not even Adam and Eve were given the world. They were given each other. They were given one garden, as I have been given one garden. It has been a long time since the exile from Eden. I do not know but I long to know, if God still walks with us here." pg. 61

"This may be why I struggle against the idea of the now and the not yet. We only think in these terms when we are dissatisfied with our now...we are stuck in an imperfect reality we do not, in ourselves, have the power to change. The not yet no longer seems to be good news. It seems to taunt us, to tease us, to say what we have is not good enough. If we are always comparing our now with our not yet, then we will find it impossible to be glad in the day that God has given." pg. 72

Sully by Chelsey Sullenburger

What an incredible man! I vaguely remember the "miracle on the Hudson" back in 2009 when a plane had to emergency land on the Hudson River. We got more of the glimpse of the story when we watched the movie "Sully" and the magnitude of what happened that day. Now reading his back story, I'm even more amazed at Captain Sully. The hero that never wanted to be the hero. It wasn't just January 15, 2009 that he became a hero but really his life's mission was about helping people and he did that time and time again. It was the little decisions over a lifetime that helped him for those 3 minutes when he needed to decide how he was going to safely land this plane. It's a reminder that daily decisions are important for those unexpected circumstances.

I also loved how this story of the Hudson brought hope and renewal to so many people. After 9/11, the people of New York needed a plane story that they can feel good about it. It wasn't just Sully that made a difference that day but his co-pilot, flight attendants and all the passengers working together to make sure all 155 got out alive. It was a true act of heroism on all parts. Great read! I did this on audio and the last 2 chapters was Sully speaking himself and that was a neat thing to hear.

As Bright As Heaven by Susan Meissner

This one was just flat for me. In the first part, it goes back and forth between 4 characters (the mom and the three daughters) and despite the age difference, they all sounded the same. I had to flip back a few times to see who was actually the narrator in this chapter because I couldn't tell. I thought the 2nd half would be better with a different pace but there was still lack of character development and it just turned a bit sappy.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

This was my classic for the month. I had to do some digging later to find what themes people find most prevalent in the story. I was trying to wrap my head around why they require this for high school reading. There were some things that I noticed that would be good for discussion but it wasn't clicking as much as it does for other people. It was good. Nothing amazing to me though. But glad I finally read it.

I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhon

This is the third novel by Lawhon that I've read and I'll pretty much read anything she writes because I think she's a great storyteller. I picked up Flight of Dreams randomly at the library one time before a trip and finished in one day.

I feel like I need to give her major props for how she wrote this story about Anastasia. A lot of books go back and forth between time periods but she did it where she wrote the 'present day' period backwards and the 'past period' forwards. And then she converged them at the end. Hard to do I'm sure. But it did make it a bit confusing. And because I was getting snippets of scenes, I wasn't really invested in Anna, the main character, as much as I would have liked. A good read overall but not my favorite of hers.

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

This is another author who can write a really great story. She can take what could be surface level and give it more depth. I've only read one of her other novels, What Alice Forgot, and really liked that one. I would probably recommend that over this one generally. I'm still trying to decide how to rate books if they have content that would make me a little squeamish to recommend but still gives you something to think about (like Little Fires Everywhere). I'll admit I had a hard time putting this one down, but again, the content was a little more heavy than I would have liked.

Have you read any of these? What good books did you read this month?