This has not been a typical April. Since spring is being stubborn, we had a lot of cold yucky weather that kept us indoors, which means LOTS of time for reading! Some books were great, some books were not. And it was a huge mish-mash of of genres. Here are the six books I read this month.
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Bury Your Dead, Louise Penny
When I checked this out from the library, the librarian told me it was her FAVORITE Inspector Gamache novel, and oh my goodness. She was right. It was SO GOOD. I loved it. It was the perfect cozy mystery to be stuck indoors with this month. I’m still really enjoying this series.
The Mysterious Benedict Society, by Trenton Lee Stewart
This YA novel has been on my “want to read” list for some time, but I always forgot to look for it at the library. I enjoyed this one. The characters were appealing and well-developed.
It felt a bit long by the end, but overall was really good. There are a couple of other books in this series…I may or may not pick them up. Time will tell. 😉
Be Still My Soul, by Elisabeth Elliot
Since I am trying to work through some lovely anxiety issues (ahem), I was drawn to this book by Elisabeth Elliot. It’s very uncomplicated, and I love it for it’s simplicity.
I underlined a lot in this book. I don’t think it’s possible to read a book by Elisabeth Elliot and not glean and appreciate her wisdom.
A couple of my favorite passages:
“We know that He does not disregard the kind of person we are when He calls to us. Are you by nature impatient? He can transform your impatience into a holy boldness. (Think of Peter.) Are you timid? He can transform your fearfulness into a complete reliance on His strength. (Think of Timothy.) Are you an ordinary, unnoticed housewife? He can make you a Christ-bearer. (Think of Mary.)”
“Prayer enables our hearts to be established in a place of peace that can carry us through anything the day may bring.”
High Treason, by Diann Mills
I find myself drawn to these Christian suspense novels and feel let down by them so often. This series started out fine, but this book (#3 in the series) fell really flat for me. I didn’t love the plot line…it kind of plodded along.
I have a hard time with the writing style of this author; I feel like I have to constantly back up and reread sections to figure out what’s going on, especially when it’s lots of dialogue. It felt really choppy and hard to follow. I’m pretty sure I won’t seek out anything else by this author.
The Joy of Less, by Francine Jay
I was soooooo excited to grab this ebook for $1.99 recently, since I’ve had my eye on it for a while. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the idea of simplifying or downsizing their belongings.
We’d already tried many of the suggestions in this book at our house, but it’s always motivating for me to read on this topic because it seems there is always more to purge. If you’re interested in starting down the path of living with less and want to figure out what that might look like for your family (the path looks different for everyone!), this book is a great place to start.
Some passages I highlighted:
“More stuff takes more time and more effort to put away each night, whereas less stuff leaves more time for fun.”
“Decluttering is infinitely easier when you think of it as deciding what to keep, rather than deciding what to throw away.”
“It doesn’t matter is you own fifty, five hundred, or five thousand things – what matters is whether it’s just enough (and not too much) for you.”
I also really enjoyed her idea of using Modules. Very simple but very effective.
“Modules are particularly useful for organizing craft and hobby supplies. Instead of housing them in a common drawer or cabinet, separate the materials by activity: knitting, scrapbooking, painting, model building, jewelry making, et cetera. Assign each activity its own container: clear plastic storage bins work well, as do the heavy cardboard boxes in which reams of paper are sold. Deep, rectangular baskets will also do the trick. When you’re ready to engage in a particular hobby, simply retrieve its Module and unpack its supplies. When you’re finished, clean up is a cinch: put everything back in the container, and return it to its proper storage space.”
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
I know. I’m twenty years late to the Harry Potter party. I’ve just started reading them within the past few months, partly as a dare from a fellow mom friend. I’m enjoying them for the most part.
The last book I read (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) was by far my favorite so far, and I was tempted to quit the series after that one since I enjoyed it so much…but I’m pressing on. I’m probably not ever going to become a huge mega Harry Potter fan, but I can see why they are so popular. They’re entertaining and easy to read and really good stories.
So overall, it was a good month for reading. 🙂
What have you read recently?
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