april book recap [100 words or less]

April was a very exciting month for reading! On top of the few physical books that I read, I also included a couple of children's books and even tried out Audible. 

In April, I read/listened to: 

The Woman in the Window
How to Stop Time
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
Then She Was Gone

The Woman in the Window

Anna Fox is (essentially) a stay-at-home wine drinker with a terrible fear of going outside. She's found a way to have everything done for her in order to avoid society, and keeps in the best contact that she can with family, friends, acquaintances, and doctors. One of her favorite hobbies is spying on her neighbors through her window and keeping up with them. It was all going well until one day, she sees something that she shouldn't have... Or did she? She does drink a lot of wine, and take a lot of prescription pills. Can she even trust herself to figure this one out?

Within the first few chapters, I decided this was 100% going to be a typical, semi-mediocre thriller. Very predictable and I truly thought I'd had it figured out. While some of my predictions rang true, this story threw a fun amount of twists and turns my way. I did thoroughly enjoy the book and not at any point did I want to put it down. I will say that some parts were so obvious as to where it was going that it got to the point where I wish they'd just speed up that specific story-line. The ending though, was worth it all! Very exciting read with a few good surprises. 

How to Stop Time

Tom Hazard lives in London... currently. He's lived all over the globe and has had many lives. Literally. He's centuries old thanks to a "disease" where his body ages much slower than the average human. Roughly, a ratio of 15:1 (for everyone fifteen years a human ages, he ages just one). He's sipped the finest ale with William Shakespeare, sailed across the seas with Captain Cook, and tried one of the very first Bloody Mary's in existence with Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. For such the impressive, and long life that he's lived, it's all in secrecy. For years he's wanted to give it up... Just go away, but late in the 1500's he promised his one true love something... He'd find their daughter. 

EEK! This is in my "Top 2" favorite books of 2018 so far. I have put so much thought into making sure I'm doing this book justice when I share my reviews... It absolutely deserves ALL the praise. 

It's transcending and absolutely timeless. I had to actively remind myself that it was fiction because the elegant and extraordinary writing was so believable that I found myself exactly where the author was placing the story. When I was done reading this, I spoke about the stories as if they were true. This book gave me a feeling that no book has ever given me before. I will always remember this novel.











Fantastic Mr. Fox

Mr and Mrs Fox live a lavish life for a family of foxes. They eat very well thanks to the mischievous, stealing efforts by Mr Fox. The three farmers he steals from, however, would like to put a stop to that. So they huff and they pu... just kidding. They team up and create a plan to get the fox and finally put an end to his stealing ways. There's just one problem, though... Mr. Fox is very clever. Can he outsmart these three farmers to protect his family and continue eating the finest (stolen) foods?

Ok, Ok, I know what you're thinking - this is a child's book. BUT, it's a children's book that I never read and always wanted to. I almost didn't post it, but I couldn't think of any good reason not to. I quickly read it within an hour after dinner one evening and I loved it so much. The writing is fun and for a children's book, it had an innocent way of keeping the reader on the edge of their seat and of course it came with a great underlying message. I'll be keeping this book for future use ;) 












The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Christopher is a 15 year old boy with autism, who lives with his father in a quaint neighborhood just outside of London. Going against his fathers many requests not too, Christopher likes to walk the streets in the middle of the night. He does it nearly every night and always enjoys them. But one night, during his walk, he finds a dog, Wellington, dead. Christopher then decides that he's going to write a murder mystery novel to find out who the suspect is. 

My opinions for this book are complicated... I loved Christopher's "writing", and the way the author really captured his story. It told a tantalizing and sometimes frustrating story of the journey that Christopher took which I can only assume is many people's reality. At the same time, I felt as though there were story-lines left out, or just dropped and never returned to.  I get that it's from the POV of a 15 year boy, but a part of me was left with many questions when I finished the book which I would've liked to have seen covered in the story. Overall though,it's a fascinating read with a fun dialogue.













Then She Was Gone

Laurel Mack lost her daughter 10 years ago. The police claimed that she, Ellie, ran away and was met with unfortunate circumstances. After finding Ellie's remains, Laurel tries to move on by rebuilding broken relationships, finding love, and trying to focus on getting her life back in order... Strangely enough, she meets a man who's daughter reminds her so much of Ellie that she just can't let it go. Is she going crazy thinking there's something there? Or... is there something there?

OK, I'm going to say something huge, and if you know me, then you'll truly understand the greatness of this statement... I enjoyed this book more than I did "Girl on the Train". Yep, I said it! I never thought I'd say that! This book was so incredibly fascinating and just when I thought it was slightly predictable, there would be a major twist that blew my mind. The writing was so perfectly imaginable which made it that much easier to follow along. There were a few instances where I wanted to grab Laurel by the collar and scream the obvious signs to her, but I remained patient... She is a clever woman and this is a clever book! If you're asking me... this is a must read.












WOW! I can't believe it's May already!! I am SO ready to sit on my front porch on those early weekend mornings and read with the sun. In the book, "Then She Was Gone", the mother explains the month of May like "the Friday night before summer" and I just thought that was an absolutely perfect way to describe it! So, TGIF, friends! 

Take care, and as always - let me know if you read, or have read anything worth while!