…on the bookshelf – April…

At the beginning of March, I read two books in two days. The next visit to the library, I was sure to grab three books for myself. We had a trip away planned, which, as a homeschool excursion, had plenty of down time for me, and evenings I could read. There was also the increasing levels of pandemic concern, and I had a fair idea of what was coming, lockdown wise, and one would not want to be caught short in isolation with no books, would one?

While selecting my books, I scrolled through my “books to read” folder of saved items on instagram, specifically looking for light, fun reads. With the last two books I’d read being a little bit more intense, and the state of the world looking increasingly bleak, I was after a bit of escapism. I’m not sure the theory worked, to be honest, as I found most of this month’s selections rather hard going. Funny how I could power through a ghost story and a mind-altering social control story in a day each, but a fluffy romance and a mum-life satire took so much work!

Why Mummy Drinks, Gill Sims // 3 stars // I wanted to like this book. I should have liked this book. In parts, it was laugh out loud funny, and super relatable…but at the same time it relied a lot on the less pleasant parts of mum-culture that I find rather cringey. The glorification of drinking to the point of functional alcoholism, the under current of not particularly enjoying ones kids and calling them names… I don’t know. I get that it’s supposed to be fun and light-hearted, it just didn’t sit right with me.

The Sweet Spot, Stephanie Evanovich // 2 stars // I love me a good, fluffy, easy romance. This…wasn’t that. I found the main relationship bordered on creepy and stalking, with plenty of “I know what you want better than you do” sprinkled through out. It was also differnt plot-wise than what the blurb suggested.

The First Wife, Emily Barr // 4 stars // It took me a few chapters to get into this book, but once I did, I was hooked! Nothing about any of the characters was as it seemed, and it was rivetting to try and untangle who was what and why all the way to the end. Definitely not the light read I was expecting, but a good read none-the-less

Currently in progress:

The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, Holly Ringland // I am listening to this on audible and am absolutely loving it. I am addicted to audiobooks and listen almost every night while I crochet or knit after the children go to bed

The Light In The Hallway, Amanda Prowse // I have read some of Amanda’s books previously, and enjoy her character and relationshp building, so grabbed this one when it popped up on Kindle First. I’ve cried, I’ve laughed, I’ve got an hour left to go and plan to finish it tonight to see how it all turns out