What I Read: April

This month was a nice turn around from the blah books I read in March. I only had 2 books that I thought were just okay and one I didn't like. Last month was pretty much the opposite. It was a good month for reading because I enjoyed the books I read so much!

Books:

• Still Foolin' 'Em: Where I've Been, Where I'm Going, and Where the Hell are My Keys? by Billy Crystal- My mom read this book and then gave it to me to read. I don't know that she expected it to take this long for me to get around to reading it, but she can thank the libraries being closed for me finally reading this! It was funny in some parts but not as funny as you would expect. He made some comments about parenthood that really rang true with me. I enjoyed this book but it took me a long time to get through it because I liked my ebook more so I didn't spend as much time reading this one.

• Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline- My mom loaned me this one. I noticed it had a lot of stars on Goodreads so I decided it would be one of my next reads. Then I posted a picture of my giant stack of books on Facebook and my aunt said I needed to read it next, so I did. It was really good. I liked that the book went back and forth between the past and current times. 

• My Dear Hamilton: A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie- I saw this book at Sam's Club at some point after I read America's First Daughter about Patsy Jefferson by the same authors. I was super excited to read it. I also have Hamilton by Ron Chernow, the author of the George Washington biography I loved, that I found at Goodwill. I decided to read this one first because I don't know as much about Alexander Hamilton so this book would be more exciting and interesting. Most of what I knew about Hamilton was from high school government class and biographies I've read about other founding fathers. It was the right choice because I absolutely loved this book. I enjoyed America's First Daughter but I knew basically everything that would happen in Patsy's life from the multiple biographies I read about her dad. This one was super exciting because I knew Hamilton had fought in the Revolutionary War, was an aide to Washington during the war, was the first Secretary of the Treasury, established the first bank, had an affair, and died in a duel but I didn't know the other big events that happened in Eliza's life. I really loved this book. I love historical fiction so much because you learn all the main important information while they fill in some of the gaps with fiction which helps the story flow.
  

• Betrayed by P.C. and Kristin Cast- This was the 2nd book in the House of Night series. A friend gave me quite a few books in this series because it's set in Tulsa and she thought I would enjoy them. The first book was decent and I enjoyed it but it didn't leave me really wanting to read the next book. I read it months ago and decided to read this one because I wanted a light, easy read. I enjoyed this one way more and wished I had the 3rd book when I finished it. I think my friend gave me books 1, 2, 4, and 7 which is a bit random. I would compare this series to a lesser version of Twilight. It's about vampires and the writing is not the best. At times the writing style is a bit distracting but the storyline is good and kept me reading. I think I like them a lot because I haven't read many vampire books so the storyline and the background is really interesting to me. If I'd read quite a few vampire books it likely wouldn't be as interesting because I'd be familiar with all the ideas behind vampires.

• The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom- When I saw this one at Goodwill I bought it because I love Albom's writing. Then, before I read this one, I read 2 others by him that I thought were meh so I wasn't as excited to read this. The story sounded a bit odd and very out there for the type of book he normally writes, so I wasn't sure. One night I couldn't decide which book to start next so I handed Ty 4 books from my stacks and he picked this one. I told him I was going to be mad at him if I didn't like it, just being silly. So as I was reading it and loving it, when I'd tell him how good it was, he'd say, "You're welcome." It was funny. I really did love this book. It was so interesting and different.
  

• Chosen by P.C. and Kristin Cast- This was the 3rd book in the House of Night series. I cleaned out my closet and found the rest of the House of Night books my friend gave me. It turns out I have the first 7 books! This was my favorite one so far. It was the first one that I would have immediately started reading the next book when I finished this one, if we'd been home. But I finished it when we were out camping so I decided to draw the series out longer and read a different book in between by the time we got home. The books are getting better and better, makes me wonder if they will continue to do so. Each book so far has been over the span of one month, so this series could potentially go on forever!

eBooks:

• The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher- This was our book club choice for May. I missed the meeting and didn't get to vote, but I liked Fisher's Wishful Drinking so I probably would have been interested in this one. It was described as a behind the scenes account of the making of Star Wars. I'm not a Star Wars fan, but I thought it would likely be interesting. It was awful. I was so surprised because I enjoyed Wishful Drinking so much. It was actually so bad, I spent most of the book feeling embarrassed for her that she chose to write it. I'm not one to quit a book, but I wouldn't have finished this one if it hadn't been our book for book club. That's how awful I thought it was.

• Mama's Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us about Ourselves by Frans de Waal- Jeremy had this on his Christmas list and we got it for him because I thought it sounded interesting. When I saw it was available on my library app I decided to read it. I really enjoyed it. He discussed some experiments I hadn't heard of before and I enjoyed reading about them.
  

Audiobooks:

• Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty- I was looking through my app to find an audiobook and saw this one was available. I was super excited because I felt like it was exactly what I needed. It was so good and I am still thinking about the characters after finishing the book. I loved this book and I love the way Moriarty writes. She used the same format for this one as she did Big Little Lies. The books started with a big event from the end of the book. Then throughout the book there were stories told by by-standers who witnessed different moments in the sisters' lives. It was so good and I loved it!
  

• Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple- When I was scrolling through my library app looking for an audiobook, this one caught my eye. I know I saw it on Goodreads either recommended for me or as being read by a friend. I loved it so much. It was so interesting as the story unfolded and I loved the perspective it was written from.

• The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan- I picked this one because it was available on my library app and the cover was really pretty. I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. I loved it! It was one of those where how everything fits together at the end is just magic. The narrator was wonderful and that made it even better. Plus it was one of those where they had a few different narrators which always enhances the story.
  

• Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane- This was such an interesting story. It was set up differently with it going back and forth from the point of view of different main characters in the story. I really liked it as an audiobook but I think as a regular book I may have felt a little frustrated by the jumps in time when you moved from one character's story to another. There were a lot of sad and heavy moments in the story so I liked that she ended the story with a very uplifting and happy moment.

• Alex and Eliza by Melissa de la Cruz- Back when I was still going to stores to shop I saw this one at Sam's Club. I read a book by de la Cruz a while back and liked it. The fact that it was about Alexander and Elizabeth Hamilton sparked my interest. After I finished reading My Dear Hamilton I saw this was available as an audiobook on one of my library apps so I decided to check it out. I was a bit disappointed in this book because I love historical fiction. This book wasn't really rooted very firmly in facts. She create an entire fictional engagement between Eliza and Henry Livingston that didn't exist. That wouldn't have been that big of a deal but it was a huge driving force of the book. This book didn't attempt at historical fiction, I'm sure she was just using Hamilton as a hot topic after the musical came out, but I would have preferred it had it been more accurate. I found out after I finished it that it was the first book in a trilogoy. I my read the other two books, we'll see.