Mysteries, Love, and Tasting Stars

I’m excited to share the rest of my April reads today!  So, after I finished Eleanor & Park, I went ahead and drew another slip out of my TBR jar.  I think I only had two Rainbow Rowell books in there, and I pulled them both back to back?!?  So, yes, Landline.  I went online and checked to see if it was available at the library since I hadn’t seen it there when I went last time.  Sure enough, it was checked out.  So, I placed a hold on it and figured I’d just wait until it popped up.  Meanwhile, I decided that maybe I should actually read something I own.  So…I picked up a book I’d started (barely) and never finished.  Someone recommended the Aunt Dimity books to me a thousand years ago and I went on a quest to find them at used book stores and actually think I have most of them.  So, I thought this would be a quick, enjoyable read and I was not disappointed.

I read this in a little under a week.  Although the book was written in 1992, it’s really rather timeless.  This was the perfect cozy mystery for the rainy days we were having here – a great book to curl up with. I definitely recommend this read, and I’m definitely saving Beth’s oatmeal cookie recipe to try.  Plus, I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.

No word on Landline yet, so I headed back to the library to pick up a couple more books.  Since I seem to be reading them in about 3-5 days, I thought I was safe checking out three this time.  I can’t even begin to tell you what finding the library has done for me.  It’s like the library opened up this whole world for me that I’d forgotten existed.  It renewed my love of reading.  It awoke that voracious reader I used to be.  So, I went back to the library and here’s what I got…

I started with The Fault in Our Stars.  I pulled it first so that in case I didn’t like it I had two more choices.  So…this book.

I had really written this book off some time ago because what I knew of the plot was not something I really felt I had the emotional energy to deal with. After losing my dad to cancer, the last thing I really was interested in doing was reading about people with cancer.  Ultimately though, FOMO may have prompted me to pick it up at the library and give it a shot. I attempted to reserve judgment throughout the first third or so of the book and even posted that I wasn’t sure how I felt about the book yet.

John Green ensnared me with the language and the dialog between Hazel and Augustus. I loved the way they spoke and interacted. But, despite my best intentions to keep the characters at arm’s length and to keep my emotions firmly disengaged, I failed miserably. This book is so well-written and definitely worth the emotional investment.

“My thoughts are stars I can’t fathom into constellations.”

After being completely and utterly wrecked after reading The Fault in Our Stars, I decided that something lighter was in order.  I’d heard really good things about Jenny Han’s books, so when I stumbled upon them at the library I quickly added this one to my stack.  I’ve previously read a short story by Jenny Han from the book My True Love Gave to Me. I really enjoyed this book, and Han’s writing. It’s full of sweetness, teen angst, learning to venture out into the world, and the bonds of sisters. Looking forward to reading the next book.

In my next post I’ll share my May books, including Burned.

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