April 2018 Reading Wrap-Up

Overall, it was a good reading month.  Four of the books pictured above got solid five star ratings. One of the books, though, was just dreadful. 

Let's get the book I least enjoyed out of the way first.

I was so looking forward to this book. On the back cover there's a blurb comparing it favorably to the The Left Behind series, which I quite enjoyed when it read it back in the late 90s/early 2000s. 

Even better, this one took the story into space, which completely appeals to the science fiction and fantasy lover in me. 

Yes, this should have suited me very well.

Unfortunately, it was just not for me.  I had a lot of issues with the one dimensional representations in this book.  I also found the Christians in this book to be, well, not very Christ-like. 

My unfavorable impression of this book is disappointing because I have it's sequel sitting in my TBR pile and, despite the promising premise, I fear I will be disappointed once again if I dare to pick it up.

Okay, enough about that disappointing read.  On to the next book!

This was the only non-fiction book I read this month.  It wasn't even on my radar until it was selected as the university's Women's Commission Book Club pick.

This memoir is surprisingly candid.  The author allows herself to be vulnerable in admitting her shortcomings, many of which are borne out of mental illness.  Using her writing as a way to navigate her psychosis, she invites the reader into the life of a Native American woman caught between two worlds. 

I found this book to be an avenue into several different perspectives alien to my own.  Having read it, I feel I have some small glimmer of awareness of life as a Native American woman, as someone suffering from PTSD and bipolor disorder, and as a child of abuse. 

Interestingly enough, this author indicates that she's actually a fiction writer.  Having enjoyed her writing style as much as I did, I will actually be on the lookout for her first fictional publication.

This book made me ugly cry.   Not just a few tears and a discreet sniffle.  Oh, no.  I was sobbing by the end of this book.

Death narrates this story, which takes place in a German town during World War II, I expected there to be misery and loss.  Death even tries to prepare you for what's coming, but it doesn't matter.  Liesel's story will rip your heart out. 

I think there are two things this book does well besides the obvious storytelling.  First, I think it reminds us that not all Germans were willing participants in the atrocities committed by Hilter and his regime.  Secondly, I think it also does a fair job of highlighting the dangers of populism, something all too relevant to today's social and political climate.

In the mood for a scifi/horror?  Let me recommend this. 

As the title promises, this book is written much in the same vein as H.P. Lovecraft's stories. Set during the Jim Crow era of 1954 America, this story follows the adventures of a young black man and his family.  Pitted against supernatural powers and alien influences, Atticus, his father, uncle, and a few family friends still have to navigate the racial and socioeconomic problems of the day. 




Last but certainly not least, I read the conclusion of the Illuminae Files trilogy.  This YA science fiction threesome does not use standard narrative form to tell its tale.  Comprised of emails, text messages, instant messages, written reports of video analysis and audio recordings, the Illuminae Files are presented to a Galactic Tribunal in a legal suit against BeiTech Industries.  The charges leveled against this powerful corporation are many but the most damning is the accusation of planet-wide genocide.

In this final installment in the trilogy, the evidence, which has been gathered and prepared by a handful of teenagers, shares the fate of those who survived the initial attack on the planet as well as those who had managed to find their way onto one of the fleeing spaceships. 

This was such a fun read.


Okay...one last thing.  Here are the updated figures on my 2018 Reading Challenge:

In April I read: 

• 1 physical book purchased prior to 2018. 
• 2 Kindle books purchased prior to 2017. 
• total of five books toward my overall goal (that means two of these were purchased this year!)

As the Challenge Stands After April:

• Read 1 classic.
• Read 12 books from my physical TBR piles.

• Reread 1 series.  

• Read 15 Kindle books purchased prior to 2018. 

• Read 1 non-fiction book.

• Read 46 books total.