April Reads

Happy Memorial Day, friends! It’s almost the end of May, and I’m just now rolling in with my April book report. But, better late than never right?! 😉 Do you read more or less during the summer months? My guess is with all that’s going on in our world, your normal reading habits are feeling not so normal right now. Or maybe that’s just me. Anyhow, I’m grateful, now more than ever, for books!

Maybe you’ll find one of these titles interesting enough to add it to your to-read-stack. But I’d only call one of them a “beach read”, and even it isn’t technically “beachy”. Although it’s definitely easy to finish in a weekend.

I stayed true to my 2020 reading goal, and knocked 4 books off my list last month!

The Testaments

If you’re a Handmaid’s Tale fan, regardless if you’ve read the book, I think you’ll enjoy The Testaments. It gives a lot more of Aunt Lydia’s back story, and as a reader, you almost like her by the end. Or at least, I found myself, sympathizing and understanding so much more. I did the Audible version, and I highly recommend it for anyone that has watched the series. Ann Dowd, the actress that plays the role of Aunt Lydia in the series, reads her part in the book which adds so much to the listening experience. I give it 4 1/2 stars, mostly because many characters still feel unresolved for me. I didn’t get the closure I wanted. But maybe that was the point?

Fleishman Is In Trouble

This was our @4readingwomen April Book Club pick. Are you reading along with my Instagram Book Club? The past two months we’ve had Zoom discussions, and it’s been so much fun to chat live about our book picks.

I can’t say I loved Fleishman Is In Trouble, but I did enjoy it. I went in thinking it was going to be about one thing, and it ended up being about so much. more. It surprised me, in a good way. And it’s been a while since I’ve been surprised by a storyline. There’s a lot to unpack with this story. And while I’d give it 3 stars, I do think it makes for a great discussion. So I’d recommend it as a book club pick.

It brings up so many themes worth exploring. Everything from how different adulthood is as compared to what your young, single self imagines it’s going to be like to the struggle of being a stay-at-home mom, or a working mom and the breadwinner of your family. And that really just scratches the surface of what this story covers.

The characters, well, I didn’t relate to any of them, and honestly, I didn’t like any of them. But I did appreciate the way this story made me reflect. It made me think. And isn’t that what makes any fiction good?

Hidden Valley Road

I still can’t believe this is a true story. Hidden Valley Road is a nonfiction book about an American family with twelve children, six of them diagnosed with schizophrenia. The oldest was born in 1945 and the youngest in 1965. The book not only explores the history of the Galvin family, uncovering the psychological breakdown, sudden shocking violence and hidden abuse, but it also dives deep into the science of schizophrenia, from the days of institutionalization, lobotomy and the schizophrenogenic mother to the search for genetic markers.

 It was truly fascinating. But what I found so incredible about this story is the way the author, Robert Kolker, packaged this nonfiction story in such a way that you as the reader feel like you’re reading a work of fiction. His telling is so compassionate.

The Mother-in-Law

It’s not technically a beach read, but it’s easy to finish in a weekend. One part who-done-it, one part family drama, it was hard to put down. This was my first novel by Sally Hepworth, and her writing reminds me a lot of Liane Moriarty. Her female characters have depth and layers.

If you guessed by the title that this book was about the complicated mother-in-law relationship, you’d be correct. But theres’ more to the story than that, and it keeps you guessing up until the end.

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What did you read last month? What’s in your to-read stack for the summer?