What I read in April

I would have made more progress if I hadn't been successful in finding Grey's Anatomy to download and catch up on.  I think I definitely would have finished at least 2 of my in progress books.  Oh well, all I have is time.

Rating scale:

1/5 - Hated it, didn't finish.
2/5 - Tolerated it on principle to finish.
3/5 - Eh, didn't love it, didn't hate it.  Had some good parts/kept me interested/finished it on principle.
4/5 - I liked it.
5/5 - I LURVED it and I'd read it again.



Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty 3/5
The story of Jessica's horrible, no good, very bad life as a middle class kid who is in high school and her best friend has moved away and then she becomes friends with the bad boy who fucks her over (not literally though, because what kind of young adult novel would advocate sex in high school!).  I struggled with this one.  All the teen angst.  Some parts were recognizable from my own childhood, but mostly I just wanted to slap this girl.  Just as I would have wanted to slap her in real life.  I don't have that kind of patience in me to deal with this much drama and angst.  I didn't when I was in high school.

TL;DR: So much teen angst your head will spin and you'll want to slap the main character more than all the side characters she hates, but especially if you're someone who isn't afraid to speak to up when shit isn't going your way.


Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng 3/5
The oldest, most perfect daughter dies and the family is trying to figure out how it happened.  I enjoyed this story because it was realistic.  It portrayed how disaster can make or break relationships and how you will never know everything about someone you love, no matter how good your intentions are... and that you should talk to your kids.

TL;DR: If you like a mystery story where the pieces are slowly revealed to you and you're willing to be wrong about some opinions you've formed, this book is for you.  Not too much drama, but enough to keep it interesting with a strong leading female character.


The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan 3/5
I didn't really enjoy this book.  Honestly, the best story was the one with the exterminator because his jokes (What do you get when you cross a centipede and a parrot? A walkie-talkie! bahahah).  She was a great writer, I'll give her that, but I really feel like the book is a play on your emotions because the introduction tells you about this woman's great life and then she died... then you read her short stories and you can tell she is talented.  My 2nd favorite story was one of the first few stories, either Cold Pastoral or Winter Break.  It was relationship oriented and with the current status of my own relationship, you can see how that hit home with me.

TL;DR: A collection of short stories by a very talented writer.  Skip the introduction and start at the first story for a less biased assessment.


Confessions of a Bad Bridesmaid by Jennifer Rae 4/5
I wanted something easy and mindless to breeze through and I downloaded this a few months ago in a downloading spree of Harlequin books.  I remember my Mom buying these when I was a kid and she'd read them in a few hours.. during which point, she'd ignore everyone and everything.  I also remember getting older and "acquiring" a few to read on my own and oh my! lol.  I remember keeping one with a particular sexy scene squirreled away so I could reread it when "the mood" struck me (very Their Eyes Were Watching God and the pear tree if you get that reference (if not, she masturbates under the tree and talk about SCANDAL when we discussed THAT in class)).

In this book the main character is from Australia (I think, some of the ex-pat stuff confused me) who lives in Britain and is attending the wedding of her best friend somewhere in Britain (forgive my lack of British geography knowledge).  This really handsome asshole is her ride to the house and of course they get together after some drama.  Really, it made me think about how I wanted to be treated like a lady dammit!  And also, can I get someone with a Scottish accent to read me bedtime stories?

TL;DR: A cheesy romance story (with limited sexy scenes, boo to no porn) that touched my stone-cold heart in all the right places and provided a few hours of reading reprieve from the other in progress books that are really painful for me.


In Progress:
Extremely Cloud and Incredibly Loud by Jonathan Safran Foer
The Martian by Andy Weir
One Plus One by Jojo Moyes
Second Helpings by Megan McCafferty

I am about halfway through season 11 of Grey's and hopefully I'll get it finished up soon so I can get back on my reading train.  Also, can we talk about the adorable company I get when I'm reading?

Philbo bed snuggles are very rare.

Meri has no qualms about making herself comfortable in Phil's vacant spot