I’m surprised I even read 5 books in April- honestly, it felt more like 2. There was a night I woke up at 2am and couldn’t get back to sleep at 5am and I just read and that was the most focused reading I did the whole month. I don’t know what it is about daytime reading that’s so distracting in a way that it isn’t at night? That’s something to think about another day!
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It’s Not all Downhill From Here- Terry McMillan
Terry McMillan of Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove back fame came out with a new book and even though I hadn’t actually read any of the 11 or so books she has, I jumped at this one. First of all, I don’t think I’m the correct audience for the book- she’s 68 and writing about 68 year olds living their best lives! But it was an easy read and I enjoyed getting a different perspective.
New Waves-Kevin Nguyen
This is a book about two unlikely friends in tech who steal data from the company they work for. When one of them dies, the other is faced with the reality that he didn’t really know his friend.
This is one of those books where the book is the prose and the plot is secondary. If you’ve read Sally Rooney for example, it’s the same sort of “day to day” writing style. It was alright, another easy read, but if you like plots more than prose, this isn’t for you.
Anna K: A Love Story- Jenny Lee
Only after I finished this, did I realise it was a retelling of Anna Karenina (which I never read). It’s kind of in that crazy rich asian style- wealthy teenagers and their antics. It was entertaining at times, but sometimes I skipped over the detailed descriptions of expensive things. Some parts of the story made absolutely no sense to me, but I guess the fact that it’s a retelling puts it in context and some storylines had to bend to fit the original story.
The Switch- Beth O’Leary
I really enjoyed Beth O’ Leary’s debut so I was excited to read this and I wasn’t disappointed. It’s the story of a burnt out consultant living in London and dealing with the grief of losing her sister and her grandma who is finding her stride after a divorce deciding to switch places for a month. It’s very wholesome and enjoyable, with the grandma bring the London neighbours closer together and rediscovering parts of herself and the consultant finally dealing with the grief of losing her sister.
Clap when you Land- Elizabeth Acevedo
After a plane crash, the secret of a man having two families is out and the families have to deal with his secret.
For some reason, because of the way it was written in verse, it was very hard for me to get into. The book is told from the perspective of his two daughters and I kept losing which daughter was which, I don’t think their voices were distinctive enough, at least at the beginning. It was good, but I didn’t leave it feeling like I really knew any of the characters.