April was quite a slow reading month for me, and because of that this post is rather late. I don't feel like I have a great variety to share this month, but I did enjoy most of the books I read, so that's something!
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Penderwicks On Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall- This is the second book in the Penderwick series (you can read my thought on the first one here). The mother of the Penderwick family died when her girls were young, and in this book Aunt Claire comes and basically forces their father to start dating again. The girls have a hard time with this, especially the oldest sister, Rosalind, and this is the story of how they come to terms with a new phase for their family. I loved the first book in this series and I loved this one just as much - all the characters are delightful, and the situations they find themselves in are charming. I especially like the development of Rosalind's character in this one as she struggles through her feelings about losing her mother, and the way she had to fill the motherly role in their family since then. I will say that Rosalind and the boy she likes decide in this book that they will date when they are 13, which is still a shockingly young age to me, but I still loved it.
Wundersmith by Jessica Townsend - I read the first book in this series (Nevermoor) last month, and overall thought it was quirky and fun, but this book took a darker turn for me. In this book Morrigan Crow starts classes at the Wunderous Society school, and as she gets to know her classmates, more is revealed about how the villain, Ezra Squall, is working in Nevermoor. I mentioned when I reviewed the first book that I was a little unsure about it because I like to be careful about the twisting of archetypes in children's fiction (ie. presenting traditionally evil creature as good, or vice versa) - well, that was much more of a feature of this book. There was a lot of ambiguity about who is good and who is evil in this book, some of the characters and situations are darker, and even some characters who I assume are supposed to be the good guys are really dark and creepy (like the headmistress of the school). There is also more references to sorcery and witchcraft in this book, which I like to avoid since the Bible is very clear that those things are detestable to God. So while the first book came off as more imaginative and quirky, this one was just...darker (how many times am I going to say darker in this review?). I won't be reading the next book.
The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot - Have you ever heard of HeLa cells? HeLa is am "immortal" human cell line that has been important in research for decades now. Well, it turns out the HeLa cells were taken from a woman named Henrietta Lacks, and this book digs into her story. It turns out neither Henrietta nor her family was ever formally informed on how her cells were being used until years later, and consent for research was never obtained. When her children did find out about their mother's cells, it ended up being very traumatizing for them, especially because a lot of the ways her cells have been used in animal/human experiments are very creepy. This book made me think about a lot of things that I never would have otherwise - such as the fact that your tissues and samples can be used in research without you ever knowing it. It brings up a lot of ethical conundrums about whether it is right for medical researchers to claim a right to use your tissues without informing you as the patient/donor. The whole thing was really fascinating, and also rather disturbing and sad. Once I started listening, I couldn't stop - the audiobook was really well done.
Back Over There by Richard Rubin - Rubin wrote one of my favorite book about WW1 so far (The Last Of The Doughboys), and in researching that book he traveled all over France to see the battlefields and memorials of World War One. In the process he met some really fascinating people in the French countryside, and find out more about how much World War One affects their lives even now. This book is a travel log of sorts of Rubin's trips to France. I found it particularly interesting to read about the attitude of the French people toward the American military - they are still so grateful for the role America played in ending that war. Really interesting, but I would recommend reading Last Of The Doughboys first.
I'll be back in a couple weeks with my May books, though I have a feeling it's going to be another slow reading month. What have you all been reading lately?
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