What I Read in April #ourgoodlifebooklist

As an avid reader and a part-time book blogger, I have wanted to do a wrap up of the books I have read each month.  April is a good time to do this, I think.  I mostly want to be outside, but April showers bring May flowers and all...

I am a hungry reader, meaning I consume a book every 2-3 days.  Some months I get little read, but the months that I travel I read a lot. Also, my daughter has flown the nest so I don't have small children about.  I do have a husband, who also reads, but not as much as me. He likes washers, bags, the outdoors, so while he and his friends are at play, I am usually reading a book.

In terms of how this post will be organized, I can assure you I will go through many changes, adding things, deleting things, tweaking it... I am very interested in what you might be interested in hearing about in the future.  Use that comment box!

The Amazon links below are affiliate links, which means that if you click them and purchase from them, I will get a small commission.

The 10 Books I read in April

1.  The Mother by Pearl Buck.  I try to read a classic each month.  I read The Good Earth by Pearl Buck when I was a junior in high school and I loved it. The Mother is the story of a Chinese woman, abandoned by her husband and how she deals with her shame. I loved it, the beauty of Pearl Buck's writing is all over this book.

2.  The Next Right Thing by Emily Freeman.  I adore self-help
 books and this one is about how to make choices.  Emily leads you through a process and for me, one that has all kinds of troubles making decisions, this book was a life changer.



3.  The Other Alcott by Elise Hooper  I had read Learning to See by Elise Hooper for one of my book clubs and I adored that book. So I went to find what else Elise Hooper had written and found this one. This is the story of May Alcott, who is Amy March in Little Women. Amy is the least liked sister of the Little Women series, and May, whom Amy is based, doesn't understand why her sister chose to portray her like that. Hooper write of the real May Alcott, and why she deserves as much attention as her famous sister.



4.  Christianity for the Rest of Us by Diana Butler Bass  This is a nonfiction book about how the neighborhood churches are fulfilling a need that the mega-churches cannot, a quaint, personalized approach to religion filled with neighbors, family, and friends. The book explores how these churches are surviving and excelling in today's culture.  This is the book choice of my Women's Circle: Connection, Conversation, and Community group.  We are part of a faith-based coffee shop and are using this text to find ways to serve our community even better!



5.  Soul Space by Xorin Balbes is about loving your home and shares how by showing us eight steps that walk us through a process. The book is filled with Q and As, photos, stories, and illustrations. I love how the book helps you love where you live at the moment.



6. The Abbey by James Martin  This is the book choice of another book club, Life, Love and Lattes, another of our coffee shop ministries. This book is about how we live our lives and the help we need to understand our paths. We are lead through this journey with Anne, a single woman who lost her teenaged son in an accident, Mark, a former architect now handyman at the Abbey and Fr. Paul, the Abbott. I really enjoyed this book and discussing it with the women of my book club.



7.  Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright  My favorite books are typically from the Young Adult section, and more specifically, the ones written in the 30s, 40s, and 50s. I love the settings, the simple life, and coming of age stories. This one is set in the 40s, and is about a young girl named Garnet. She finds a thimble one summer day, and then all kinds of good things happen for her family.  However, she learns that growing up isn't always as fun as you might think it will be.



8.  #IMomSoHard by Kristin Hensley and Jen Smedley  I discovered the videos of these two women a few years ago and I adore them. I pre-ordered the book when I found out that they had written one! The book was wonderful but I have to admit, once you love their quirky personalities, it is hard to read when you want to see them so bad!  Hilarious!



9. Learning to See by Elise Hooper  This was the book club selection for an online book club I am in called HastyBookList.  We meet once a month online via a Zoom link that is provided.  This is about Dorothea Lange, the photographer who took the icon photo of a woman during the Dust Bowl. It is a fictionalized account of her life based on the research of the author. I loved this book as well.



10.  Becoming by Michelle Obama  An interesting look at the life of Michelle Obama from a young child to becoming the wife of a President. The inside details of campaigning, her midwest upbringing and her beautiful family, Michelle tells how public service has impacted her and her family. Delightful and telling.

Book blog posts for the month of April

Three Great Beach Reads 

The Summer Retreat

Goodreads Goal Progress

27/50