You guys, I was in a total reading slump in April. One nonfiction book on marriage and three children’s books, two of them audio. Sorry. I promise I picked it up in May (so far)!
The Proper Care and Feeding of Marriage by Dr. Laura Schlessinger
It’s about: The title kind of says it all, doesn’t it? But I just want to add, in case you don’t know who Dr. Laura is, that she is a trained family counselor with many years of experience who now has a radio show. Her fans are rabidly devoted and my husband is among them. I read this on his recommendation.
I thought: I find that I agree very much with almost everything she says, even though I don’t always think her tone is helpful. One big thing to take away from it is that the only thing you have control over is you – if your spouse is treating you badly, you might have something to do with it. If you want to bring about a change in your spouse, you probably need to change first. Anyway, this was a huge encouragement and made me want to do everything possible to ensure our marriage stays strong.
Rating: 4 of 5 stars.
The Golem’s Eye by Jonathan Stroud
It’s about: This is the second in the trilogy, and a mysterious force is destroying important parts of London. Nathaniel (our young upstart magician) and his demon Bartimaeus must travel to Prague to determine the cause behind the attacks. In the meantime, we get to know the commoner Kitty and her work with the resistance.
I thought: It wasn’t as good as the first book because Bartimaeus wasn’t in it as much. He’s the best. At first I didn’t know Kitty and thus didn’t care as much about her, but by the end I did. The deeper plot develops, and there is one seriously haunting scene. Overall a good setup for a (hopefully) strong finish.
Rating: 3 of 5 stars.
The Penultimate Peril by Lemony Snicket
It’s about: Okay, this is the twelfth book out of thirteen, so the plot is a little convoluted by this point and I’m not going to get into it. But it seemed like there was less action in this one than usual.
I thought: All of these books are similar, which is why it’s taking me forever to finish the series. I need a break in between them. However, they are also incredibly witty, informative, clever, etc., and at this point I am quite invested in the lives of the Baudelaire orphans. It was good.
Rating: 4 of 5 stars.
Ptolemy’s Gate by Jonathan Stroud
It’s about: Bartimaeus has been trapped on earth for years by Nathaniel and he has become weak and worn out. Nathaniel is an arrogant jerk, and Kitty is awesome, and she figures out some magical stuff and learns about Bartimaeus’s past, and there is war and some creepy demons, and lots of other good stuff.
I thought: Getting through the second book was totally worth it for this huge payoff. The end was especially perfect, and I’m a sucker for a good ending.
Rating: 5 of 5 stars.
On to some adult fiction now!