April Book List

Saturday Night Widows: The Adventures of Six Friends Remaking Their Lives by Becky Aikman (5 stars)

I cannot say enough about this memoir - I've wanted to give it its own post. I only wish I had read it sooner. A few years after her husband died, journalist Becky Aikman gathered five other widows together to form an optimistic, forward-thinking support group - no Five Stages of Grief allowed. This is the story of their first year together, along with interesting research about grief, recovery, and relationships. The best way to describe my feelings about this book is that I want to give it a big hug. While I was divorced and not widowed, certain aspects of my situation have caused me to relate more to widows than other divorced women. Like Aikman, I've felt like a misfit among misfits as I've rebuilt my life. Reading these brave ladies' stories and being a virtual party to their conversations made me feel 100% less alone. It reassured and encouraged me SO MUCH, and I'm so thankful they were willing to share.

At Least You're In Tuscany by Jennifer Criswell (4 stars)
I reviewed this here.

Levitating Las Vegas by Jennifer Echols (3 stars)
I reviewed this here.

Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen(4 stars)
If you loved Anna Godbersen's Victorian Luxe series, you will love her new series set in the eleventh hour of the Roaring 20s. Cordelia and Letty, two best friends from small-town Ohio, run away to NYC in the summer of 1929. Though they expect to find their fortunes together, they're quickly separated. Letty becomes a cigarette girl in a speakeasy on her way to stardom. Cordelia finds her long-lost father (a wealthy gangster), and a new friend in the spoiled but lovable Astrid. Nothing goes as expected for any of the three girls. The prologue declares that by the end of the series, one of them will be married, one will be a star, and one will be dead. So I'm committed to the ride. :)

Books for April: 4
2013 year to date: 22

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Today is Niecy's first birthday! I can't believe she's already been with us a whole year! The world got better when she arrived in it. :)