April Books

Yes, I know I'm a little late...

One of my favorite things to do in the whole wide world is to talk about books. I love, love, love to hear about books people are reading - why they're reading it, do they like it or not and why, would they recommend it, and so on. And I love to talk about the books that I have read. If it's good I want everyone I know to read it. And if it's not so good, well then I don't want my my friends to waste their precious time reading it.

That's one of the reasons I love the blog world so much. There are people out there just like me! People who do not think it is a huge waste of time to make reading lists and to set reading goals and to share with each other about books. And even though I love reading "Book Blogs," I would still much rather sit across from you on the couch and goosh over a book than write it up in paragraphs. Partly because when I blog about a book I never really feel like I am really doing it justice.

So here's my solution. Instead of pulling teeth to write something eloquent about each and every book I read, I will instead do a monthly summary. Some books may get paragraphs, some may get sentences, and some may get bulleted lists. And no promises that any of them will qualify as eloquent!

So here goes April...

1.) Mommy Laughs: The Naked Truth About the First Year of Mommyhood by Jenny McCarthy (04/04)

Loved this one, but not quite as much as BabyLaughs. Still really funny, though! 

2.) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (04/08)

Loved it!! I'm on the waiting list for the sequel and I can hardly stand the wait!

3.) The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (04/13) audiobook

I loved his writing style. I enjoy audiobooks, but I want to actually read another one of his books just to appreciate the style. 

4.) Get Out of That Pit by Beth Moore (04/15)
Really great book! I won't say a lot here because I plan to do a separate post just for this one!

5.) Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz (04/15)

An enjoyable read. I think students in the intermediate and middle level grades would really enjoy it and learn a lot too. She definitely puts a lot of information in there, even though it's disguised in 

6.) Number the Stars (04/22)

I remembered reading this book in fifth grade, but I didn't remember much about it. Pretty much all I remembered was that it was about the Nazis, a young girl, and that it took place in Copenhagen. 

This is a quick read (like, only 2-3 sittings), but is still a really great book. It tells the story of two neighboring families, one Jewish and one not, and how one family risks it all to save the other. I also loved how it gave details of everyday life of people living in the Nazi occupied countries of WWII. For example, the book describes how the families deal with rations on food, leather, and electricity, the way they have to use bomb curtains at night, and how they deal with the presence of Nazi soldiers on their streets. 

Students in the intermediate grades would not only enjoy this book, but would learn a lot too. (Shoot, I learned some things! For example, did you know Denmark destroyed its own naval fleet just so the Germans couldn't use it?) Boys and girls can enjoy it, but I think girls will be more affected by the strong female lead characters. 

7.) The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (04/30)

Maybe it was because everyone talked so highly of this book, but for me, it just kind of fell flat. I mean, it was an okay book and all, just not this great book that I was expecting. 

The book follows a boy who, as a baby, somehow eludes a murderer by escaping to a graveyard. The inhabitants of the graveyard (yes, ghosts) agree to take him in and raise him. The concept is interesting, but still I was bored for about the first 2/3 of the book. The ending was suspenseful, but not really edge-of-your-seat, can't-put-it-down suspenseful. I have not read any of the Newbery Honor books from this year, but somehow I just don't think that this one is better than the Honors.