"I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library" - Jorge Luis Borges

Friday, May 1, 2020

April Wrap-Up: BOOKS - The Addiction AND The Cure

Only seven reads to report for the month, half of those books geared more toward kids (though, actually, some great reads there) - but to be fair, I did finish another on May 1st (Vickie Fee's latest cozy mystery, My Fair Latte, just missing the deadline), and am halfway through another I am trying hard not to DNF because it's just not ... good, but I want to finish it. So the reading's been there, somewhat, just a matter of finishing. And everything aside, reading remains the one thing keeping me sane. 
I couldn't understand it at first, but have now started becoming one of those people who - between the self-isolation and stay-at-home orders - are finding concentration difficult when it comes to curling up with a good book. Fortunately I read some goodies in April; Death of an American Beauty turned out to be a crackerjack of a historical mystery, set in Gilded Age New York City, while The Sun Down Motel came through nearly 100% on its promise of the kind of chills I'd been looking for in a book in some time. Raina Telgemeier took me on a warm yet sometimes harrowing journey of life as a teenager with braces (thankfully something I never had to go through) with her graphic novel Smile, and I both managed a trip to the beautiful country of India via a very cool kids book that was surprisingly chock-full of information but never boring (Tiny Travelers India Treasure Quest) as well as learned how to draw the characters of the latest Pixar hit Onward ... before going back to the Great Chicago Fire and one true-life family's escape from the blaze (complete with pet goat) in Fiery Night. Last but not least, I had the joy of reading (and re-reading) possibly the funniest, most snarky picture book for kids (that adults would love too) in My Best Friend, which I think belongs on every shelf no matter what your age.

REVIEWS TO COME, as always (still owe one for the awesome Night of the Living Ted from March, egad), and please click on the images here to enlarge, if necessary.
Sigh, no films again this year, but did catch the first episode of the BBC's "Dracula". Very well-done, but holding judgment until I've seen all three.

June HAS to be better, pandemic and all, right? Meanwhile, keep your May happy and healthy and safe! And hopefully always with a book nearby!

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