What I Read in April

An underwhelming month for reading.

April is living up to expectations and capping off with the most delightful rainy spring weather. Perfect for reading!

Alas, the first half of the month was busy with the usual chaos I’ve come to expect from my household (two birthdays, a first Communion, a week of solo parenting, and a days-long migraine)—and I’ll admit that in my limited time, I was quick to set aside books that weren’t working for me. Out of five books, I DNF-ed two (and should’ve passed on a third but didn’t).

Not the best reading month, but fingers crossed for a better May!

How to Stay Married by Harrison Scott Key

This highly rated comedic memoir tells the true story of how Key’s wife revealed she’d been having an affair for years and wanted a divorce . . . and how they made it work to stay together anyway.

Everyone else seems to have loved this. I so very much did NOT.

I think the comedic voice is supposed to be what makes this work, but I just didn’t find it funny. I abandoned it about a quarter of the way through and have no regrets.

The Unfortunate Side Effects of Magic and Heartbreak by Breanne Randall

I had this on hold as an ebook last fall and was never really able to get into it, so I decided to try again. In hindsight, the book’s failure to hook me and pull me in the first time around should’ve been a sign.

Billed as Practical Magic meets Gilmore Girls, this book promised a cozy, small-town romance with witchy overtones and a deep-rooted family tree. The idea seems great: Sadie can do magic just like everyone else in her family. She works at her grandma’s bakery infusing pastries with things like luck and happiness good memories (never misfortune, though she could if she wanted to). But that magic comes at a price: four heartbreaks. Which Sadie is quickly reminded of when her old flame comes back into town.

The characters were just . . . oddly flat. Halfway through, I didn’t care about any of them, and some of the actively annoyed me. There was also a weird evangelize-y overtone of Christianity to the whole thing, which usually puts me off of books. DNF.

Selling the Dream by Jane Marie

I’m a huge fan of Jane Marie’s podcast The Dream, particularly season one, which deep-dives the history of the multi-level marketing (MLM) industry in the US. So when I saw that she had a new book out, I was excited to read it.

I was expecting, at the very least, updated statistics and more personal stories surrounding the pitfalls of MLMs. What I got was season one of the podcast, packaged into book format in a drier, less compelling medium. Jane Marie really shines as a podcast host. If you’re interested in the topic, I’d recommend listening to the podcast and skipping this book.

Tldr; if you’ve listened to the podcast, you don’t need to read this book. I finished this one, but I shouldn’t have.

Begin Again by Emma Lord

I reached for this one as a palate cleanser from all those lackluster book picks, knowing that I had enjoyed Lord’s debut novel Tweet Cute. This YA (or perhaps NA since the characters are in college?) rom-com was just the type of fluff I needed to get back into reading after a busy three weeks. Predictable, cozy, and perfectly cute, Begin Again has a “found family” vibe that I really enjoyed.

God Walk: Moving at the Speed of Your Soul by Mark Buchanan

Buchanan makes the argument that other religions have a physical component to their spirituality (such as yoga in hinduism), and walking is Christianity’s physical spiritual practice. His premise is that “walking with God” should be more than just a metaphor, that the act of walking is a type of spiritual formation that can actually deepen our faith.

This wasn’t a groundbreaking book for me, but I did enjoy it. I’m someone who grew up walking with my family after dinner and who saw it modeled by my grandma. (She walked miles and miles nearly every day!) I already make an effort to walk rather than drive if my destination is less than a mile away and the weather isn’t horrendous (an idea I credit to Andy Crouch’s The Life We’re Looking For). And I have core memories of walking endless loops around the neighborhood with my oldest when she was a baby.

I guess walks have always been a bit of a spiritual practice for me, I just never named them as such. This was a short, simple book that’s worth picking up if the topic sounds intriguing to you.

And that, friends, is my sad reading log from April. I hope your spring reading is off to a better start than mine!