Welcome to April! I think we’re going to like this month. I spent March getting a lot of mindless reading done. Some of what I read was excellent. Some of what I read was trashy romance novels. I enjoyed almost all of it, and can’t wait to tell you about it.

Dear Martin by Nic Stone. This book is a great example of why it pays to have a friend that teaches high school. I never would have picked this up without her recommendation. It’s a young adult novel that tackles issues of racial injustice in 200 easy to read pages. I think this book should be required reading for high school students. You should read this book. I give this book five out of five stars.

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang. I picked up this book because it was a 2018 Book of the Month Club book of the year nominee. This book is about an executive with Asperger Syndrome in Silicon Valley who hires a male escort to teach her how to date. It is cute, sexy, and fun. This book was more graphic than I was expecting, so I won’t be lending it to any family members, but I would highly recommend they pick this book at the library. I give this book four out of five stars.

The Foxe and the Hound,  Hot Shot Doc and A Place in the Sun by RS Gray. These books are basically Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan movies in book form. You know how they are going to end, but that’s OK. When I need my mind to shut off I reach for one of these. They are totally interchangeable and do not warrant individual reviews. I give these books three out of five stars.

99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne. I picked this book up at the library because I enjoyed Thorne’s previous book, The Hating Game. 99 Percent Mine was long and boring. The characters were so flawed they were unlikable. I would not bother with this book. I give this book two out of five stars.

The Curse of the Boyfriend Sweater by Alanna Okun. This book was so bad I didn’t finish it. I suppose I shouldn’t have it in my list of finished books, but because many of you craft and knit, I feel compelled to tell you to avoid this book of essays on crafting. It was awful. Only read this if you need to punish yourself.

41 Reasons I’m Staying In: A Celebration of Introverts by Hallie Heald. This book is filled with illustrated reasons to stay home. It was basically my life in drawings. I give this book three out of five stars.

Once Upon A River by Diane Setterfield. I had no idea how much I had missed excellent storytelling until I picked this book up. The story is hard to describe – it’s about a the body of a child found in the river. She comes back to life. Three families think it is their child. The lives of the people in this story are woven together in a masterful tapestry. I give this book four out of five stars.

This month I’m hoping to get to the stack of books that has been on my nightstand for months. I have two library books checked out that I’ve been waiting for, so I need to read those first. This is the third time I’ve checked out This Is How It Always Is, I’m actually reading it (and enjoying it) this time. What have you been reading? Do you have any suggestions?