Quick Lit: April 2016

#raisingreaders  #bookworm  #librarylove  :) 

My 2016 Goodreads goal is 36 books -- 3 books a month -- after not quite making that goal last year.

(This doesn't count the books I read to/with my kids -- I try to post a few times a month what my kids are reading too, click here to read those reviews)

I'm already at 20 books completed, so I'm ahead of schedule. But this month was my smallest stack yet, especially since one of the books was only 62 pages long...

When My Name Was Keoko by Linda Sue Park

This was the April YA pick for our online family book club. I mentioned in my Korea: Part Two post for the book club that I don't ever reach for books set in World War II. I really can't put my finger on why. Maybe subconsciously I don't like reading about modern war? (I like the Civil War and Revolutionary War...) Maybe I just like time periods that are older than 1900. I don't know!

Anyway, I REALLY enjoyed this book. Not only was it set in a different part of the world than we typically read about for WWII (set in Korea instead of Europe), but it was told from the perspective of children. There were hints throughout about some of the things the adults were going through, but only as seen through the eyes of middle-high school age kids. And some of the things they wrestled with were tough!!

I liked this one so much that I went ahead and reserved another WWII book from the library -- I'm picking up Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale today!

Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell

I've only read one other Rainbow Rowell book so far (Fangirl) and loved her fun, simple writing style. This is a short story she wrote specifically for World Book Day, all about a girl obsessed with Star Wars. It's a cute, fluffy read, and I ate it up because I love Star Wars too. :) I actually won this in a giveaway from Kate at Mom's Radius, and have already passed it on to a friend.

Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst

I'm not a big non-fiction reader, but am trying to start reading a chapter or two a day first thing in the morning. I came across this book during my Sugar Fast earlier this year, and it sounded like something that would interest me.

I know the idea of connecting food and God can make us roll our eyes. Does God really care about how fat or thin we are, is eating really a spiritual experience, etc? Yes there are verses in the Bible about things like our bodies being a temple, but this book goes so much deeper.

I was struck by so many things that I went ahead and bought a copy for myself (which is something I NEVER do - I'm a library gal through and through). I've already started re-reading it, one chapter every couple of days. And I'm trying to soak it in and apply it to my own situations and battles. I highly, highly recommend this to anyone who has ever had issues with food, weight, or self-control.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

I had tried to read this one last fall/winter when everyone was first hyped about it. But I gave up a few chapters in. When I saw in the MMD Reading Challenge that I needed a book I'd previously abandoned, this one automatically came to mind. I plugged away at it, and am still torn about it.

I enjoy post-apocalyptic stories, but most of the ones I've read have been YA series (Hunger Games, Divergent, Legend). I hope I never have to live in that kind of world, but I do like reading about how others survive. So in this story I really enjoyed the chapters that were "current", about the Traveling Symphony. But the flashbacks got a bit annoying after awhile. I know they were important for giving background about the people, but I originally abandoned the book because I got tired of hearing Arthur's story...

Maybe if the flashbacks would have included a year, or even some sort of "25 years before Year 0" at the beginning of each chapter I wouldn't have minded so much. But I always spent the first few paragraphs or even whole pages trying to figure out where the chapter fit in the overall timeline.

It was fun that the story was set in the Great Lakes (yay Michigan!). The writing itself was also pretty good, and if this author writes other novels I might check them out.

Linking up with Anne Bogel's May Quick Lit on the 15th.

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