April Reading

I'm fairly proud of myself.

In a month where it seemed impossible to find a minute to myself, I read five books -- putting me back on top after the February debacle with The Lost Symbol.

Granted, I read very entertaining books that were cake walks to breeze through, but hey, five books is five books.

Taking my aunt's most excellent suggestion, I read the Flavia de Luce novels.

I loved them! I really did. I'm a little sad that he won't be having another book come out for the next year, but I suppose that is life.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
I am unsure if these are tween books, teenage fiction or just regular adult fiction. Regardless, they are so entertaining! A well-woven mystery, Bradley's wickedly brilliant heroine is the 11-year-old Flavia who lives in an aging manor in post-World War II England with her seemingly distant father and two evil sisters. She has a penchant for chemistry and goes about uncovering the mystery of finding a dead body in the family garden with humor and amazing resourcefulness (but not unrealistically so ... unless you have a hard time believing that an 11-year-old understands the complexes of chemistry).

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling
I quickly read this book in-between since it was on loan from the friend of a friend. It was decent and quick, but it didn't exactly have me rolling on the floor for the entire time -- not even half the time. Still, Kaling is humorous as she tells the story of her rise to becoming a writer and actor in The Office. It only took me two days to read -- and that with small children about. Like Kaling says in the beginning, if you're taking more time than that to read the book, you have bigger problems.

The Weed the Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley
The second novel in the Flavia de Luce series. Just as good as the first. The best part is (and he continues this with all the books) -- it doesn't feel like he's weaving the same mystery with just slightly different victims. Just as funny as the first, the second book has Flavia solving the death of a puppeteer -- a mystery that leads her to untangling another, older mystery of their town.

A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley
By this point, I did begin to think that Flavia was the new Jessica Fletcher -- meaning you don't want to go anywhere near her, as a murder appears to happen within her vicinity every other month or so. Still, another excellent novel. I like how Bradley also gives you brief glances and tantalizing bits of information about Flavia's family dynamic without giving you the whole bag too eagerly.

I Am Half-Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley
Do you need me to tell you that it was brilliant again? Because it was. Another 2 months (in Flavia time), another mysterious death. This time, Flavia is solving the mystery of a dead movie star in her family home -- all while trying to capture Santa Claus to prove his authenticity to her sisters in a very non-cheesy, non-Elf way).

There you have it.

April rocked. Don't hold your breath on May though -- I am a little nervous, seeing as I my exhaustion is catching up with me.