April Reads

The Woman Destroyed
by Simone De Beauvoir
This is a collection of three short stories, each one an inner monologue of a women going through a time of personal crisis. De Beauvoir explores themes of motherhood, marriage, aging, career and how societal pressures and expectations affect the security and sanity of the woman who struggle with them. These stories were smart and relatable, but also sad and touching and ultimately human, not everyone gets a happy ending.

When You Find Out the World is Against You: And Other Funny Memories About Awful Moments
by Kelly Oxford
Kelly Oxford is hilarious, if only we could all rewrite our awful moments with as much humor as she does. I found this particularly relatable regarding moving to California and raising children in America and away from our shared Canadian culture and family. Her fears and anxieties were oddly comforting, at least I'm not alone.

Dead Girls Don't Wear Diamonds (Blackbird Sisters Mystery #2)
​by Nancy Martin
I randomly picked this up from a Little Library that is down the street from my house because I was desperate for something to read. I started off really not liking this book, I find this genre to be disturbingly comfortable with out dated gender stereotypes and across the board sexist bullshit. That being said, I felt oddly attached to the characters by the time I finished.

Shattered Mirror (Eve Duncan, #23)
​by Iris Johansen
This book was terrible, lazy garbage. I would have stopped reading it after the first few chapters if I wasn't totally OCD about finishing books. All of the characters speak in the same overly explanatory, unrealistic voice, including a five year old child. This is number 23 in a series and I can only imagine that its been going on for so long that the ghost writers have lost all persecutive on reality. The relationships, language, and events of this novel are so out of touch I was constantly pulled out of the story by my own incredulousness. Oh yeah, and the number of times a female character advises another female character to worry about how one of the male characters will feel/react to something is unconscionable.

Bone in the Throat
​by Anthony Bourdain
This was a great read, I’m always impressed by Bourdain's writing. This was like the Godfather meets top chef with a great balance between restaurant life and organized crime with just the right amount of blood. If you know anything about Bourdain, or read one of his other books you can really see that he draws from experiences in his own life to give some grit and realism to the story. 

When Life Gives You Lululemons (The Devil Wears Prada, #3)
by Lauren Weisburger
I started off being unimpressed and slightly disappointed by this book, granted its been a long time since I read “The Devil Wears Prada”, but it just didn’t seem to have the same spirit that drew me to the first book. Luckily, the story picks up quickly and supplies the strong female characters that I was expecting to see. This was a book that left me feeling totally satisfied at the end, and now I will definitely have to read the second one.

Rich People Problems (Crazy Rich Asians, #3)
by Kevin Kwan
​I read “Crazy Rich Asians” and loved it, so when I saw this book I grabbed it. Full disclosure, I haven't read the second book yet, but it didn't really matter too much. This was a nice conclusion to the original story, and it had all the great food and fashion details from the first book. Be prepared to add Singapore to you travel wish list.

I find I'm bouncing around a lot when I write these posts. Is it a review? Is it a recommendation? I need to come up with some sort of formula so that they are easier to write and more streamlined. I try to write each book up as I finish them so they are fresh in my mind, but that adds to the non-conformity of the post. If you'e managed to make it this far I would love to know what you like about these post or how I could make them better for you.

Happy Reading!