What I Read in April

Book Club

May 1

What a month for reading. I was able to finish SIX books. As I shared here, I’ve been working to reduce the amount of time I spend on social media and shockingly (HA HA) I have more time to read. Instead of mindlessly scrolling during lunch like I usually do, I would grab my book and read. If I had a short amount of time before I had to be somewhere (like 15-30 min) instead of going on social media to kill the time, I read. This is the first time I’ve truly limited my time on social media and overall I think it’s been a really good change. Check out the books I read this month below.

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Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

Hell Bent is the sequel to Ninth House, which I read earlier this year (read about it here) ***Spoilers ahead if you haven’t read the first book and plan to***

Alex Stern must find a way into Hell to save Darlington but she doesn’t have any support or help from Lethe and has been told if she attempts it she will be cast out of Yale. But Alex knows Darlington is still alive and she’s desperate to save him and his soul. She enlists Dawes to help along with Turner and her roommate Mercy. As they begin to plan their descent, Alex learns there are other monsters at work in New Haven and begins to wonder if they are connected to her trying to get into Hell. I enjoyed the book, the new and old characters we get to know better, and how all their paths become connected. The imagery was great and at times I felt like I was on the Yale campus with them. A great sequel!

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

This book was a delight to read and I loved that it opens with an entry by Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus, who is living in an aquarium on the Puget Sound. The book centers around Tova, a retiree who works nights at the aquarium and is a bit lonely and lost in life. Her son vanished/died in the Sound 30 years ago at the age of 18 and she recently lost her husband to cancer. Tova and Marcellus become allies (due to Marcellus’ penchant for escaping his tank and exploring the aquarium for food!) and the most unlikely of friendship unfolds. The story is about family, friends, and relationships you never knew you needed. It’s a feel good book that was quick and easy to read.

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

Time travel, life on the moon and other planets (colonies), the pandemic. I flew through this wonderful dystopian novel in two days. It’s an easy read that packs a punch. From Edwin in 1912, to Mirella and Vincent in 2020, to Olive in 2203, each have experienced the same moment of blackness in a wilderness setting, a violin playing and a whoosh sound and then ending right back where they are somewhat disoriented. Not really knowing what has happened and shaking it off to being tired, seeing things, a migraine. But something has happened,in the time line, and Gaspery-Jacques Roberts has been tasked to investigate it in the year 2401. Gaspery travels through time to investigate each of these instances and what he discovers will change his life forever, and have you questioning what is real, and when it feels like the end of the world is coming, home is where we want to be.

The London Seance Society by Sarah Penner

The London Séance Society is from the author of the Lost Apothecary (which I LOVED and you can read about here), so I had high expectations for this book and it delivered. The book takes place in 1873 London and Paris. Lenna Wicks is looking for answers to her sister’s murder and she has enlisted the help of a spiritualist. But not just any spiritualist, Vaudeline D’Allaire, acclaimed spiritualist known worldwide for conjuring the spirits of murder victims, also the teacher/mentor to her dead sister Evie. Lenna doesn’t believe in spirits or anything she can’t prove with science, but she’s desperate to find out what happened to her sister. When Vaudeline is called back to London to help solve the case of a friend, Lenna joins her as her understudy. Soon the two begin to realise that there is more to the story they were told, they learn of Evie’s involvement with the exclusive Men’s Club - The London Séance Society, and their lives may be in danger for what they are uncovering. The plot twists and suspense in this book keep you engaged until the very end.

image of book cover for Apples Never Fall

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

Liane Moriarty has a way with family dynamics. The way she captures the true essence of how a family interacts and interprets life from their own standpoint is on point. Apples Never Fall is about Stan and Joy and their four adult children. Stan and Joy have retired, sold the family business (A Tennis School), and suddenly find themselves at a loss with their time. One night a young woman shows up at their door injured with no place to go. Stan and Joy take her in help. They don’t know who she is, why she’s there, if she is who she says she is. Fast forward 6 months and Joy is missing, the house guest is no where to be found, and Stan is the prime suspect. His children are divided on if he is capable of such a thing. The book jumps between current day and 6 months earlier and shows how not everything is always what it seems. I was hooked from the beginning and loved the plot twists.

The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott

If you like the CIA/KGB and stories from the Cold War era, you’ll like this book. Set in the late 1950’s, Irina, a young Russian/American, working as a secretary in the typing pool for the CIA. She’s not the best typist, but she offers other skills and soon she’s pulled from the pool for other “assignments”. These small assignments ultimately prepare her for her biggest assignment yet, smuggling a copy of Doctor Zhivago back in the USSR, where its been banned from publishing. The book parallels the story of Doctor Zhivago being written by Boris Pasternak and the role his mistress, Olga, played. In training for this assignment, Irina meets Sally. Sally is a seasoned CIA operative who teaches Irina how to be a ghost, uncover secrets, and helps Irina discover her own secrets. These empowered women worked behind the scenes, risking their lives, for the chance of changing the world.