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April 2018 Reads

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It’s the second Tuesday of the month which means that I’m sharing my April reads with Jana and Steph’s Show Us Your Books linkup.  It was a slow reading month for me.  I only read five books, but all but one were great reads.  Here are my April 2018 reads in least to most liked.

3 stars
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Soulful Simplicity  by Courtney Carver – This was my only non-fiction book of the month.  After being diagnosed with MS, Carver reassessed her life and decided to live a more minimalist life.  Her book gives tips and strategies on how to pursue minimalism.  I found it to be too autobiographical and the advice was pretty basic.  

4 stars

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The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth – This book is about Pleasant Court and three women, Essie, Ange and Fran, who live with their families there.  When Isabelle, a single woman, moves into the neighborhood the women are on high alert.  Each of the women, including Isabelle, are each dealing with their own struggles.  While it appears to the others that their lives are perfect they are indeed not.  The story line and writing style of this book reminded me of Liane Moriarty.  While Hepworth has become a recent favorite author, this book had a different writing style/feel than her other books that I’ve read.  It was still an enjoyable read for me though.

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The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah – Hannah has been a favorite author for awhile.   I found this book to start off slow.  At first, I was thinking this wasn’t my kind of read.  However, once I got about half-way through I got really invested into Leni’s life, rooting for her and her mom.

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The Other Mother by Carol Goodman – Daphne meets Laurel at a postpartum mother’s support group.  The two both have daughters named Chloe.  Soon Daphne starts dressing and looking like Laurel.  Their intense friendship has some drastic consequences. When I picked up this book, I realized that I had read one of Goodman’s books many years ago and wasn’t a big fan of it.  So, I wasn’t sure how much I’d enjoy this book.  However, I was pleasantly surprised to discover this was a decent suspense read.

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Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney – Amber wakes up in the hospital, unable to see or speak. However, she can hear everything going on around her.  As the story unfolds between the past, the week before her accident and the present, we discover what really happened.  I feel like I’ve read a couple of books recently where the wife was in an accident and can’t remember what happened prior to it and I wasn’t impressed.  This book though had lots of twists and I found it to be an enjoyable read.

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31 Comments

  1. I just finished The Great Alone and loved it! The Family Next Door sounds really interesting (I think it’s on my tbr), and The Other Mother sounds so creepy!

  2. I’ve never read anything by Sally Hepworth, but based on what you say I think I’d enjoy her. I’m adding this to my TBR now, and The Great Alone is also up there–hopefully I’ll get to it this summer!

  3. The whole coma/can’t remember thing has really become a trend. Like you, I still enjoyed Sometimes I Lie but I put a couple netgalley books on the back burner because the premise is too similar and grows stale quickly. I’ve been putting off reading The Great Alone but everyone seems to enjoy it. I might as well put my name on the hold list because it will probably take some time before it gets to me!

    • The Great Alone starts slow, but is worth continuing to read. Have to find some other type of suspense reads….I may possibly go back to some James Patterson.

  4. I’m on the holds list for Sometimes I Lie – I’ve been seeing it all over the place! Twisty books are great summer reads, and by the time my hold comes in, it’ll be full-on summer 😉

    I’ve not really read any Kristin Hannah (and in fact am one of probably 2 people who really didn’t like The Nightingale), but of course I’ve been seeing this new one all over the place too. It sounds intriguing enough to give it a try…

    • Yes, Sometimes I Lie will be a great summer read. I recommend you give Hannah a try. The Nightingale was super different than her other books. I think of her more as a contemporary fiction writer.

  5. Loved The Great Alone, mostly for the character of Alaska itself.
    I feel the same about the wife/accident scenario.
    I might have the Sally Hepworth on the book shelf downstairs. No wait that’s another book with houses in the title. LOL

  6. I am #3 on the waiting list for the Great Alone, and I’m #3 for 3 other highly recommended books too… I don’t know which one I will have to skip!

  7. glad you liked the great alone – i found it started really slowly as well, but i eventually got into it. i think someone else mentioned sometimes i lie today so i’ll have to check it out!

  8. I haven’t read any of these, but I’m glad you had all mostly good reads this past month. I do like a good suspense read, so some of these look intriguing!

    -Lauren

  9. I’m looking forward to The Family Next Door. I was able to meet Sally earlier this year at a book event. It was fun to hear her describe the book. Hoping to get the Great Alone read in May. Pam 🙂

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