April Reads

Good progress was made on both of my reading goals for 2014 in April. My 1st goal is to read 130 books this year and a quick peek at my Goodreads tally shows that I'm right on track just in time to link up to the Bibliophile Files@sarah did it!.

My 2nd goal is to consolidate my book collection so that it fits comfortably in my large bookcase. I've done a bit of rearranging in our guestroom so that both bookcases are on the same wall.  The smaller one will be departing and I'm planning to replace it with either a chaise lounge or an overstuffed chair and ottoman for a most cozy reading corner. Depending upon what my husband is watching on TV there are nights where I'd welcome a quiet place to read. And I've also decided that each guest room (in my empty nest future) should have a purpose besides sitting empty waiting for guests!

Since I've also been using these shelves to accumulate some items for decorating this room perhaps they will look a bit spiffier next month. One of the main shelves has been emptied of books and is now storing some binders/keepsake boxes and the piles that used to be on top of the smaller bookcase have dwindled. 5 months in and I'm feeling A-OK about reaching both of these goals.

I have another 5 star read to recommend - Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese which I found to be fascinating both in story and in setting. Much of the book is set in Ethiopia which is a part of the world I know very little about. For me the book started a little slowly but I couldn't put it down after I was half way in.

And I enjoyed several 4 star reads too:

• Labor Day by Joyce Maynard
• Wave by Sonali Deraniyagula
• Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
• The Senator's Wife by Sue Miller (Re-Read)
• Plainsong by Kent Haruf (Re-Read)
• The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

Ordinarily for me movies based on books are trumped by the book about 95% of the time, but since The Silver Linings Playbook was so different from the movie I can't say that. I think they both are great! Because Sue Miller is one of my favorite authors I might be a little biased towards her books. I just find her women to be such real & interesting characters. Happy reading!