Reading is my oldest and favorite hobby.  I literally can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t love to curl up with a good book.  Here are my reads for April, 2017…

The Body in the Library (Miss Marple #3), by Agatha Christie – When Colonel and Mrs Bantry wake up to a house in confusion and the body of a young woman they’ve never seen before on the floor of their library, there is only one person who can sort out the mess – Mrs Bantry’s friend, Jane Marple.  Miss Marple applies her trademark knowledge of human nature to solve a particularly confusing crime.  One of the things I love about Christie is that she doesn’t conceal clues.  You have to be smart to sort out the correct clues and solve the puzzle, but you’ll never read a Christie sleuth declaring “I knew ___ was the murderer as soon as I discovered that [insert clue the reader is learning about for the first time here].”

A Circle of Quiet (The Crosswicks Journals #1), by Madeleine L’Engle – I’ve long been a fan of L’Engle’s work – remind me someday to tell you about the time I met her, when I was twelve, and she gave me writing advice – but my experience with her was pretty much restricted to her writing for children and young adults (the Time Quintet, the Austin Family series), aside from one Christmas compilation.  So I figured it was time to read L’Engle for adults.  A Circle of Quiet is indeed quiet, but lovely, ruminative, and containing so many gems.  I can’t wait to read the other three Crosswicks Journals books.

The Princess Diarist, by Carrie Fisher – Having always liked Star Wars, I was intrigued to read Fisher’s memoir of filming A New Hope.  I’ve never read any of her other memoirs, but this one has gotten great reviews, and like everyone else I was unabashedly curious about the relationship Fisher calls “Carrison.”  An affair between Fisher and Harrison Ford had long been speculated, but neither party confirmed it – until now.  Fisher takes the reader through her painfully awkward first encounters with Ford and shares every thought that was in her mind for the duration of the affair.  It was a fascinating – if sometimes confusing – read, which is par for the course with Fisher, I hear.

Does Jesus Really Love Me?: A Gay Christian’s Pilgrimage in Search of God in America, by Jeff Chu – I’d been meaning to read this book for awhile, because I thought it sounded interesting, but when it was given as an example for the “person of color goes on a spiritual journey” category in the 2017 Book Riot Challenge, I bumped it up to the top of my list.  It was a fascinating journey indeed – Chu travels the country speaking to everyone from the leaders of gay churches to “fallen” pastors and homophobic megachurch members, all in an effort to reconcile his strict Christian upbringing with his sexuality.  I did find myself wishing the book was just a little bit shorter, but I think that was more to do with the fact that I was exhausted and overwhelmed with work while reading it, and less to do with the book itself, which was comprehensive and excellent.

Emily’s Quest (Emily #3), by L.M. Montgomery – The final installment in Montgomery’s Emily Trilogy is one of her darkest books, not only in the trilogy but, I think, overall.  Emily is back home at New Moon after graduating from high school, and trying to make her way as a writer while her friends Ilse, Perry and Teddy are conquering the world.  She spends a lot of time lonely, gets engaged to a man she doesn’t love, and experiences some difficult losses.  I wrote about the book here, as my April contribution to Naomi‘s readalong.  The Emily Trilogy has long been, and still is, my favorite of Montgomery’s prolific writings.

Pachinko, by Min Jin Lee – Another one I read for the Book Riot Challenge (multiple points of view, all people of color), Pachinko follows three generations of a family of Korean expats in Japan before, during and after World War II.  At the heart of the story is Sunja, a young woman and only daughter who finds herself pregnant out of wedlock; Isak, a minister who marries her to save her from ruin and then falls in love with her; Hansu, Sunja’s wealthy lover, who watches her from afar during her marriage to Isak and reenters her life after Isak’s death; Yoseb and Kyunghee, Sunja’s brother- and sister-in-law; Noa and Mosazu, her sons; and Solomon, her grandson.  It’s a beautifully written tour-de-force and I did enjoy it – I just keep forgetting that multigenerational family sagas aren’t my favorite genre.

Hag-Seed (Hogarth Shakespeare), by Margaret Atwood – I absolutely LOVED Hag-Seed, Atwood’s take on The Tempest.  Felix Phillips is a washed-up theatre director.  Once lord of his realm of the Makeshiweg Theatre Festival, his second-in-command betrayed him and Felix found himself out on his ear, living in a hovel and mourning his daughter Miranda, alone (or is he?) for twelve years.  Then one day he takes over leadership of a literacy program at a local prison and begins teaching the inmates Shakespeare.  After a few seasons, he gets the idea for a spectacular revenge on his betrayers, aided by the Fletcher Correctional Players in their own rendition of The Tempest.  Hag-Seed was astonishingly creative (I’d expect nothing less from Atwood) and such good fun.  I haven’t even read The Tempest, but just being moderately familiar with the plot I was able to spot dozens of parallels – I can’t imagine how many more inside jokes I’d have caught if I knew the play well.  What a delight, and a great way to end a month’s reading.

April was rather a slow month in reading, as it turned out.  One audiobook (The Body in the Library) and six in print, for a total of seven – not exactly a high for me.  I was a little stressed out with work and family stuff, and both consumed a lot of attention this month and left me with diminished ability to focus on books.  As a result, a few of the choices this month took longer than usual and didn’t wow me as much as they probably would have if picked up in a better month.  But there were some highlights.  The Princess Diarist was gossipy and fun, Emily’s Quest a fitting end to my favorite series of books from childhood, and Hag-Seed a joy to read.  I’m hoping for a happier and more bookish May, but with some big work things on the horizon, that might be wishful thinking.  Still, you know I’ll share!