On the bookshelf in April
The first book I read in April was After All by Heidi McLaughlin. Overall I enjoyed this one! There are deep wounds & secrets & as a school counselor, I LOVE figuring all of that stuff out & hearing different people’s point of view. It started out a little bit depressing, if I’m being totally honest, but was pretty happy & fairytale-y by the end. There were a couple of good surprises — one I was expecting & the other I wasn’t. I love surprises in books! In the end, I gave this one three out of five stars, which feels a little harsh. I just felt like it was a bit repetitive & like the book could’ve been a lot shorter overall if they would’ve cut some of that down. This one has a sequel so I started it next!
Until Then is the sequel to the book above. I gotta be honest, I liked this second book WAAAY more than I liked the first one! I was actually kind of dreading reading this one because I just didn’t love the first one, but I was pleasantly surprised. As a school counselor, it’s just kind of in my nature to be fascinated by human struggle & resilience. & even though I witness a lot of that on a daily basis with my job, I always find myself searching for that in the books that I read as well. Who is to say if that’s healthy or not lol but that’s besides the point. This second book focused on two people, Rennie Wallace & Graham Chamberlain, who are best friends of the two main characters in the first book. So going into it, you kind of know their story, but not necessarily all that their hearts have been through. I love a good romance novel, & this one was right up my alley because I got my love fix, but I also got my human struggle fix, too. I flew through this one much faster than I did the first one, but overall I liked them together & liked how the books kind of played off of one another. I don’t read series too often & I wouldn’t necessarily call this one a series since there are just two books, but I liked how they were connected.
This next book, Wishtree by Katherine Applegate, might just be my all time favorite book that I’ve ever read EVER! It’s a super sweet children’s book, so I finished it in two days. The narrator is a 200-year-old oak tree named Red. Red has been deemed the wishtree because every May people write down wishes & bring them to Red to tie onto the branches. Red is incredibly observant & has witnessed a lot of different things throughout its long life. The book very gently addresses racism & biases through an optimistic lens. I just loved how it was very subtly acknowledged & it was so humbling to see it all through Red’s perspective. My heart was broken, but it was also bursting at the seams at different parts in this book. I can not recommend it enough!
I’m thinking about doing a book club with this book with some of my middle schoolers, but honestly, I think everyone should read it, no matter the age! Truly, this book was wonderful & I can’t wait to share it with others.
As a school counselor, I loved all of the philosophical quotes & wise comments that Red said throughout the book. I’ll share a few of my favorites below!
“It is a great gift indeed to love who you are.”
“Besides, the more you listen, the more you learn.”
“Making others feel safe is a fine way to spend your days.”
“Hollows are proof that something bad can become something good with enough time and care and hope.”
Another book I read was The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth. The cover of this book makes it look like it’s super freaky & it’s really not that bad — even I could read it! If I’m being totally honest, I have a hard time reading psychological thrillers now that I’m living on my own. I can get myself super freaked out & I don’t need a scary book to help me do it lol. This one is more of a mystery, so I really enjoyed it. The main character’s mother-in-law dies & you have to try to figure out how & why. The book examines a lot of different family dynamics & relationships, which I loved. I appreciated the closure at the end of the book as well. That’s something that doesn’t always happen. I ended up giving this book five stars because I enjoyed it so much & was really happy to be able to read a mystery book without getting super freaked out!
The last book I read was The Dinner List by Rebecca Serle. Okay bear with me as I try to review this one…
I’m a very concrete thinker. I struggle with abstract thinking which then bleeds over to me struggling with fantasy reading. This story is about a young adult named Sabrina, who gets to invite anyone to her birthday dinner (dead or alive). There end up being five people that come to her dinner:
her best friend — Jessica
her fiancé — Tobias
an old professor — Conrad
her estranged father — Robert
Audrey Hepburn
Yeah, the Audrey Hepburn part really threw me off. The book’s chapters alternate between her life story once she met Tobias, and her birthday dinner party. I typically enjoy books that alternate back & forth so I did like that concept about this one. It keeps me engaged & wanting to know more about each part of the book.
Another thing I struggled with in this book was my relationship as the reader with the main character, Sabrina. There were moments in the book where I really personally felt connected to her — moments when she talks about feeling “stuck” or “behind” because her friend is already married & has a baby. But then there were moments when I felt like I was reading one of my middle school student’s diaries & I wanted to shake her. It was very back & forth & it left me in this weird in-between feeling as the reader, which I did not like.
I really loved the ending of the book. I absolutely love reading about self-discovery moments & the ending of this book was phenomenal in that category.
Overall I struggled more than I enjoyed myself while reading this book, so I gave it three out of five stars.
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