WellRead in April

I named my book cart “WellRead”. (Although we may rebrand to "Popcorn Reading" if Clint pursues his small dream of popping kettle corn.) I’m rarely the one to come up with a good pun, but I was pretty proud of “well read” considering the books are all used and well-loved. So in what I hope to be a monthly recap, here is what I read in April:

I bought this wallpaper for our entryway (apparently it’s intended for nurseries… oops), and it brought to my mind “Slow and Steady”. Then I realized it’s the story of the tortoise and the hare, not the fox and the hare--guess I need to freshen up on my Aesop. Either way, I thought it evoked John Mark Comer themes of rest.

1. The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer (4.5/5)

I LOVED John Mark Comer’s teaching and practical wisdom. At times, the book can feel a bit judgemental/cynical, but the tone is also probably necessary to drive home the point: why are we in such a hurry when Jesus was not? If you're more of an audio person, he also has a great, short podcast series called Fight Hustle, End Hurry.

2. The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin (3/5)

I read a raving review for this book, so I went in with high expectations. (I was hoping for Hunger Games level page-turning.) It fell relatively flat for me. I was not super tied to the characters. But when evaluated as an allegory, it’s an eye-opening story about classism, racism, sexism, and probably many more -isms that went over my head.

3. Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam (2/5)

Another book with deeper themes that I probably missed. An anti-climatic apocalypse story. It was definitely original, but I found it underwhelming. (And I usually love Jenna Bush Hager's picks.) An easy read, though at fewer than 150 pages! Movie with Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington comes out 2022.

4. Songs to Sing in the Night by Karen Nehman (4/5)

A study of Philippians. I can tend to feel skeptical of many bible studies--especially those geared toward women with frilly fonts and floral graphics, but I really enjoyed Karen’s topical teaching from Paul’s letter.

5. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (3/5)

Haha, yes. After reading Midnight Sun this fall (Twilight from Edward’s POV), my middle school Team Edward heart was rediscovered. I started listening to the series on library audio books while we packed our apartment and unpacked in our new house.

Tell me what you’re reading and I'll add it to my library queue! (Side note: the library is highly underrated. I think my library card is more valuable than my driver's license. And I love my driver's license, especially after not being medically cleared to drive for nine months.)