The Books I Read in April

It was a leaner month, and there were at least two books I abandoned before finishing.

Sing You Home, by Jodi Picoult

The central issue in this novel is whether a newly saved former alcoholic or his ex-wife, a newly married lesbian, will receive the embryos they had frozen before the breakdown of their marriage. Gay rights is an enormous part of the book, and I was highly skeptical about whether or not I'd even want to finish this book. It says a lot for Jodi's writing ability that I actually had a measure of sympathy for both sides. I do feel that she took an extreme and made it look like a generality as far as her portrayal of evangelical Christians went, but that is nothing new for her.

The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

Wow. The best book I've read so far this year. The writing style was amazing. I love the narrative voice and the lack of quotation marks (and character names). I loved the story of survival (but not survival at absolutely any cost), and I loved the portrayal of the father-son bond. It was incredible.

Dead and Gone, by Charlaine Harris

Fairy fight. That's pretty much all I remember. :P Lots of fairies and humans and vampires and werewolves died in this one.

Reliquary, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Re-read. I first read this one only two years ago, so it was still pretty fresh in my mind. This portrayed more of Pendergast's military background. He was all special ops commando in the subways of New York City, yet, when the final conflict happens, he is in his trademark black suit and armed with only his gun instead of in fatigues and armed to the teeth. Stripped down to the bare essentials, he's still unbelievably awesome.

Gideon's Sword, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

The guys debut their new series/new character, Gideon Crew. I don't like him very much. He wasn't very relatable as a main character. He didn't have many positive qualities, but he wasn't an anti-hero either. Overall, I wasn't so impressed, and the writers proved once again how little attention they've paid to how women actually act and speak. I love these authors when they keep to what they do best, describing the exploits of Special Agent Pendergast and not using any female POVs whatsoever. (There was, however, a really great backhoe fight at the end of this book. :P)

Fool Moon, by Jim Butcher

I don't have a whole lot to say about this one. I'm just re-reading the series very, very slowly, since I generally take the book and throw it in the reading basket in the bathroom. It's all about werewolves. Not my favorite in the series.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, by Aimee Bender

I first read this last September. Picked it up again because it was April's book club selection. It was interesting to re-read it with an eye toward eventually leading the discussion. On Rose's 9th birthday, she realizes that when she tastes food, she can detect the feelings of whoever prepared it.

Dead in the Family, by Charlaine Harris

More fairy intrigues and vampire drama. It's kind of sad that these plots are so interchangeable and forgettable when the characters are so striking.. I am now caught up in the series. The next book, Dead Reckoning, isn't available at the library yet.