First Books of April
The beginning of April has been a bit of a mixed bag so far, but I am keeping my fingers crossed that it the month will be good overall. We finally finished remodeling one of the bedrooms so now we can focus on our next project in trying to get our house ready to sell. I am kind of dreading it though because it is our bedroom. The wiring needs redone, one of the windows leaks when there is a strong storm, and the walls need repainted. One of the reasons I am dreading it is because our bedroom kind of serves as a catchall, for things around the house that don't really have a home. We have a small house and not a lot of storage, so if I want to keep something and have no room for it it ends up in my bedroom. So, working on my room is going to involve dismantling and packing away a lot of stuff. Plus, for a while my husband and I will end up sleeping in the living room so he can replace some of the drywall. I know once it's done it will be awesome it will just be a pain in the butt in the meantime.
This weekend we went hiking on Saturday by a local river. The grass was still green, and the wildflowers were everywhere so it was all very beautiful. We did a lot of climbing as well as there is a ton of rocks along this trail, and we ended up climbing most of them. So that was a lot of fun and I am glad we got out and about as a family. I love this time of year as my jasmine plant is in full bloom so if I open up the windows and there is a light breeze my house smells heavenly. Look at this thing it is enormous it has grown so much since we planted it about a decade ago it has completely taken over one side of our trellis:
This week I've read,1 non-fiction, 1 mystery, and 2 sci-fi:
Not Your China Doll by Katie Gee Salisbury
Set against the glittering backdrop of Los Angeles during the gin-soaked Jazz Age and the rise of Hollywood, this debut book celebrates Anna May Wong, the first Asian American movie star, to bring an unsung heroine to light and reclaim her place in cinema history. ~Goodreads Description
Not Your China Doll is a well-written heavily researched biography about a charismatic, smart, and ultimately underutilized actress. Anna May Wong was a star who was meant to be a leading lady if the racist policies at the time had let her be. I loved getting to learn more about her life as before I only knew a few vague details about the amazing actress. While I read, I found myself getting angry as time and again Wong was passed over for leading roles and instead, it was given to a white actress in yellowface. The author did a great job of conveying the difficult tightrope Ms. Wong had to walk in order to act in a Hollywood which seemed to work against her at every turn. I also learned that she was a generous soul who raised money for China, the war effort, and many charities. Overall, this was a fantastic book that I would highly recommend!
A Fistful of Collars by Spencer Quinn
Another enjoyable Chet and Bernie mystery. Chet is a sweetheart who loves Bernie with all of his doggy heart, and it is adorable to have his pov for these books. I thought the mystery to be good if a bit overly complicated. Bernie and Suzy's relationship has started to irk me just a bit because it is such a roller coaster all the time. Quinn does an awesome job of writing these books and I can't wait for the next one!
Doctor Who: City of Death by Douglas Adams, James Goss, and David Fischer
Although I did enjoy this book and I am giving it a charitable four stars I was still disappointed. I honestly expected to like it a lot more than I did mainly because one of the authors was Douglas Adams. I usually love Adams' writing and his humor but, in this book, there were times when the jokes fell flat. Also, there were parts where I just wasn't having a good time, and sometimes the writing felt convoluted. Now it could be that Adams' was only one of three authors for this story, and that is a lot of people for one story idea. Having said all that overall, I did end up liking it and I am happy I read it. Having never seen the TV episode the book is based on makes me want to seek it out and watch it as it has been voted in the top ten DW episodes several times. City of Death sounds like it would be a chaotic yet fun story to watch.
True Blood by Patricia Waddell
This book was okay. Not bad but not great. The whole dreamscape idea was an interesting one. The characters were okay, but I didn't believe their chemistry together and their personalities were meh. True blood is the start of a series, but I don't see myself continuing.
Reading Challenges 2024:
Mount TBR: True Blood, City of Death
Cloak & Dagger: A Fistful of Collars
Let's Tour the United States: True Blood
How has your April been so far?
This weekend we went hiking on Saturday by a local river. The grass was still green, and the wildflowers were everywhere so it was all very beautiful. We did a lot of climbing as well as there is a ton of rocks along this trail, and we ended up climbing most of them. So that was a lot of fun and I am glad we got out and about as a family. I love this time of year as my jasmine plant is in full bloom so if I open up the windows and there is a light breeze my house smells heavenly. Look at this thing it is enormous it has grown so much since we planted it about a decade ago it has completely taken over one side of our trellis:
This week I've read,1 non-fiction, 1 mystery, and 2 sci-fi:
Not Your China Doll by Katie Gee Salisbury
Set against the glittering backdrop of Los Angeles during the gin-soaked Jazz Age and the rise of Hollywood, this debut book celebrates Anna May Wong, the first Asian American movie star, to bring an unsung heroine to light and reclaim her place in cinema history. ~Goodreads Description
Not Your China Doll is a well-written heavily researched biography about a charismatic, smart, and ultimately underutilized actress. Anna May Wong was a star who was meant to be a leading lady if the racist policies at the time had let her be. I loved getting to learn more about her life as before I only knew a few vague details about the amazing actress. While I read, I found myself getting angry as time and again Wong was passed over for leading roles and instead, it was given to a white actress in yellowface. The author did a great job of conveying the difficult tightrope Ms. Wong had to walk in order to act in a Hollywood which seemed to work against her at every turn. I also learned that she was a generous soul who raised money for China, the war effort, and many charities. Overall, this was a fantastic book that I would highly recommend!
A Fistful of Collars by Spencer Quinn
Another enjoyable Chet and Bernie mystery. Chet is a sweetheart who loves Bernie with all of his doggy heart, and it is adorable to have his pov for these books. I thought the mystery to be good if a bit overly complicated. Bernie and Suzy's relationship has started to irk me just a bit because it is such a roller coaster all the time. Quinn does an awesome job of writing these books and I can't wait for the next one!
Doctor Who: City of Death by Douglas Adams, James Goss, and David Fischer
Although I did enjoy this book and I am giving it a charitable four stars I was still disappointed. I honestly expected to like it a lot more than I did mainly because one of the authors was Douglas Adams. I usually love Adams' writing and his humor but, in this book, there were times when the jokes fell flat. Also, there were parts where I just wasn't having a good time, and sometimes the writing felt convoluted. Now it could be that Adams' was only one of three authors for this story, and that is a lot of people for one story idea. Having said all that overall, I did end up liking it and I am happy I read it. Having never seen the TV episode the book is based on makes me want to seek it out and watch it as it has been voted in the top ten DW episodes several times. City of Death sounds like it would be a chaotic yet fun story to watch.
True Blood by Patricia Waddell
This book was okay. Not bad but not great. The whole dreamscape idea was an interesting one. The characters were okay, but I didn't believe their chemistry together and their personalities were meh. True blood is the start of a series, but I don't see myself continuing.
Reading Challenges 2024:
Mount TBR: True Blood, City of Death
Cloak & Dagger: A Fistful of Collars
Let's Tour the United States: True Blood
How has your April been so far?