This past month was, in fact, not 30 days long. It was 684 days long, and I read 4 books. One of my saving graces of these reeeeeaaally long days is a kindle full of good books. This is definitely reading season!
My favorite part of quarantine life is the cozy evenings! It sucks to not be able to go anywhere and see friends, but I’m a homebody at my core, and staying in in the evenings with my family is one of my favorite things to do. There’s been zero pressure to go anywhere in the evenings, because it’s simply not allowed, so I’ve enjoyed lots of dinners and Netflix dates and lazy nights on the couch reading books. Milo goes to bed at 7, so that leaves a few hours of “me” time every evening. And ever since Nate’s car accident 2 weeks ago, it’s just been me, Milo, and my sister in the house. The quiet days and lack of activity is getting old, but the quiet evenings are still really fun for me.
So, if you’re a similar personality and you enjoy the evenings at home with your family, your pets, or just by yourself, here are 4 books that you can add to your kindle:
April Reads
1. Oona Out Of Order. Y’all, this one was SO much fun! It grabbed my attention quickly, it’s light enough to be a quick binge-read (I read it in 3 days), and it’s the perfect little quarantine book to read at night with a glass of wine. Oona Out Of Order about a woman who jumps to a different part of her life every year on her birthday. So, the night of her 21st birthday, she could be transported to her 56-year-old-self, or her 23-year-old self, or her 75-year-old self… You get the idea. She never knows where she’ll end up, who she’s married to, or what decisions she’s made in her early year that might have affected her later years. My favorite part of this book? How she ages normally internally, even though her exterior age is jumping around every year. I think it’s a great reminder that we’re only as old as we feel on the inside. 🙂 I’m not going to give away tons of details, but I can say that this book is a super fun, fast, feel-good read! |Find it on Amazon HERE|
2. The Glass Castle. This is one of my favorite memoirs that I’ve ever read. I finished the book and I just laid there for a while thinking about it… Such a fascinating story! If you enjoyed reading the memoir Educated, you’ll probably like this one, too. Remember how last month my monthly goal was to ask my 3 sisters to recommend a book to me? Well, I only got through 2 of them, and The Glass Castle is the last one I needed to finish. It’s about Jeanette’s poverty-stricken upbringing in a West Virginia coal mine town, and her relationship with her parents, who are both loving and completely dysfunctional. Her story is both sad and fascinating to read about. If you love reading good memoirs that instantly take you away to a life that is (most likely) very different from yours, read this book. Also, apparently it’s a movie too? Made in 2017. I need to watch that! |Find it on Amazon HERE|
3. Ask Again, Yes. OK HELLO!! This is my favorite book I’ve read all year. Maybe in the past two years? This story is SO good! Ask Again, Yes one of my favorite types of stories: a multi-generational tale that starts with two young cops in the NYPD, then follows their story, and their children’s stories, and so on. The characters became so real to me, I missed them when the book was over. Do you know what I mean?
I’ve seen this book all over the place for the past few month, but every time I read a synopsis I just wasn’t that intrigued. It turns out that it’s really hard to write a synopsis on this book, which is why they’re all so vague…haha. So, I’m just going to let you read the plot line on Google Books, and then tell you wholeheartedly that this book is one of my favorites, and I’ll be recommending it over and over. |Find it on Amazon HERE|
4. Julie and Julia. Kind of random, but the movie was recommended to me on Netflix. I watched the movie with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams back when it came out, but I hadn’t watched it in many years, so I turned it on as background noise one afternoon while I was nursing Milo. And after I finished it, I decided that it could be fun to go read the Julie and Julia book. It’s a bit different from the movie, because it doesn’t have any of the parts with Julia Child in France; the entire book reads like a series of journal entries from Julie Powell, and it’s all about her story. It’s just a fun one! Nothing life changing here, but it’s a good little audiobook if you enjoy food and good stories. |Find it on Amazon HERE|
I’m alway linking my recent reads on this page (you can also find it from my drop down menu at the top of my blog), so the next time you’re sitting around wondering what you should read next, check in here are browse through some of my recent reads! I always put a * next to the ones I really love, and there’s a quick link to go back to the monthly blog post in case you want more details.
One more thing: this is now my 5th year of reading books. I mean, of course I’ve been reading books my entire life, but for most of high school, college, and grad school, and a few years afterward, I didn’t read more than one or two books a year. I wanted to, but I just didn’t make it a priority. And then, one day, I decided to make a massive shift in my life and read 100 books in a year (you can see all 100 books that I read in 2016 here.) It was a crazy challenge and a little bit extreme, but it created a habit of reading. Now, even when I’m busy or tired, I prioritize reading books. I just find the time to do it.
I’m a completely different person than I was 5 years ago, and that’s because hundreds of books have impacted my life. There is SO much knowledge out there, and most of it can be absorbed through books. I’m going to be a reader for the rest of my life.
Have a happy day, friends!
