Currently & books read in April and May

Linking up with Jennifer for Currently. The prompts are Loving, Doing, Trying, Seeing, and Reading

Loving- seeing hard work pay off: Alyssa's grades for the second semester were so good! I'm proud of her for working hard in school. She loves to have fun but she gets her work done and studies hard as well. Here is a portion of her report card. The other classes she took last semester are dual college/ high school classes; her grades for those classes are listed in her college's transcript which I've not seen yet.

We just received the official notice that Abby made the President's list for last semester. Proud of her hard work! She ended up with perfect grades in all of her classes. Whuuut?? I studied hard in college (and was not one who partied, skipped classes, etc.) and had good grades but did not receive the kinds of grades that Abby is making. 

As for Jacob, well, we've received nary a word from him or his college about his last semester's grades but seeing as how he graduated and has an actual job/ career, I guess that's proof that he's a hard worker and his work in school paid off. 

Doing- I'm off on an adventure with Abby.  

Trying- to embrace change including some better habits. Day three of no pop!! And no sweets for the past three days either. The first few days are the hardest so I feel like I'm just about over the hump ;). These changes are not permanent but hoping to keep them for most of the summer at least. 

Seeing- many new things on our adventure!! I've most enjoyed seeing the beauty in nature.

Reading-

I was going to do a separate post for books read in April and May but since "Reading" is a topic, I just added what I had already written here:

Books read in April and May-

I have listed these books in the order in which I read them. Early April seems like months ago!! April and May were both more eventful than other months in recent memory; not sure why that would make the two months seem long but it does. The first book listed below I read on the beach when Alyssa and I were in Florida for spring break. Not exactly a beach read but I do book things differently than many so I guess it's not too shocking...

God's Not Dead: Evidence for God in an Age of Uncertainty by Rice Brooks- this is a non-fiction apologetics book about the evidence for God's existence. It uses science, philosophy and logic, all backed by Scripture to provide proof of God's existence. Or as close as proof as we're going to get on Earth short of God Himself appearing and/ or speaking audibly. Yes, believing in God still requires faith... but then so does a belief in any worldview regarding how the world came to be, man's purpose, and issues of morality and immortality. I liked this book quite a bit. I have never really struggled with my faith in God or a belief that the Bible is God's word. I've had seasons where I've walked more closely with the Lord than others but I have believed for as long as I can remember. I enjoyed this fact and logic based book to prove God's existence or at the very least, for those skeptical, to at least engage the mind in the possibility. 

The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Koerlitz- This is about triplets growing up in NYC- sons and daughter of a wealthy couple, the Oppenheimers. The triplets aren't close at all much to their mother's chagrin (money doesn't buy happiness is a theme) and when the triplets leave for college, their mother has a fourth child, the eponymous latecomer. One of the triplets betrays one of the other triplets, one of the triplets becomes a *gasp* conservative and it's the latecomer who tries to make sense of the odd family dynamics/ dysfunction. This is probably my least favorite of JHK's books. I like her writing immensely- she tells great stories with wonderful prose so even though it's not my favorite of hers, I still enjoyed it. 

I Like you Just Fine When You're Not Around by Ann Garvin- the main character Tig(!) encounters numerous problems in this just a little deeper than chick lit novel. Her mom has Alzheimer's, her irresponsible sister just had a baby and left the baby with Tig, Tig behaves extremely unprofessionally at her job (she's a therapist) and loses her job... oh, and her boyfriend breaks up with her in the outset of the book. Gradually, these problems work themselves out (as they have a tendency to do in such books...). There's even a bit of a plot twist to boot! This was an easy, quick read. 

Looking for Alaska by John Green- "Alaska" in this book refers to a person named Alaska, not the state (indeed, it would be odd for someone to look for a state whose location is readily known...). It's a John Green novel so you know (assuming you've read one of books- The Fault in Our Stars is probably his most well known book) that a teenager is going to die. That's just how his books go. No worries-  no spoilers here. There's teen romance true love, amazingly mature and brilliant teens (can't someone write a book about normal teens, lol?) and more. The plot centers around teens at a boarding school in Georgia (do such schools exist?) and their antics/ romance/ studies/ relationships, etc. It was an OK, kind of depressing read.

Exiles by Jane Harper- I'm a big fan of Jane Harper's and this one did not disappoint. Aaron Falk, a character in at least one other JH book, is a detective going to South Australia to attend the christening of his friend's baby. It's also the year anniversary of a mom's disappearance from the same small town that Falk is visiting. As Falk and the missing woman's daughter and family members wrestle with mystery of what happened to her, relationships and motives are examined. I thought this was really good even though the subject matter was sad (I had a feeling that there wasn't going to be a happy ending-  I'll not say whether I was right or wrong). 

The Other Language by Franceso Marciano- By the time I got around to reading this on my Kindle, I forgot that it was a short story collection and was disappointed when the first story ended but I didn't realize it and thought just the chapter was ending. I'm not a huge short story fan- I tend to love novels and an overarching, long story with a plot and subplots, not a short snippet of a novel which to me is sort of what a short story is. However, each story herein was so well written with beautiful prose; I couldn't help myself and loved the collection! It consists of nine short stories all centered around female protagonists in beautiful, overseas locales. 

Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier- This atmospheric book by Daphne Du Maurier did not disappoint even though it's not my favorite of her works (I agree with most readers and critics that Rebecca is her best). The location was dreary and the characters led depressing lives... The main character, Mary Yellen, arrived to live at Jamaica Inn with her aunt and uncle after Mary's mother and father died. Almost immediately, things seem very amiss at the Inn. Mary's uncle is mean and foreboding and her aunt cowers around him. Mary stumbles on evidence that that the inn is integral to a smuggling operation.  The story was written so well and so compellingly that even though I wasn't a fan of the setting, I still really liked it. 

Okay, for Now by Gary Schmidt- This is considered a YA book- indeed I read it because it was being read in the middle school language arts class where I subbed for a few days in a row. It's a companion book to The Wednesday Wars which I read last year in the school year when the 6th graders for whom I was subbing read it. Doug S. was a minor character in Wednesday's Wars but in Okay, for Now, he's the main character. He's from a poor family and he's poorly behaved- your typical difficult student in a school setting. His dad drinks too much, his older brother bullies him and his other brother is off fighting in Vietnam. Doug changes over the course of the book when a few people in the new town he's moved to see beneath his rough exterior. Doug also discovers art. His love of Audubon pictures of birds that he finds in the town's library sets the stage for bird paintings to be used symbolically throughout the book. I liked this book pretty well. It was a quick read.

Matched by Ally Condie This is another book that I read due to subbing in middle school. The students were reading this dystopian book that the first one in a series. I'm not a fan all genres of books including science fiction (I gave Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury the old college try when one of my favorite teachers in high school praised the works of these men) and for a long time didn't like dystopian books. Events in recent history have changed my view. Dystopian books are generally set in the future where the current way we live in a republic has been replaced by totalitarianism or something equally as bad: personal liberty/ freedom do not exist. While it used to seemed preposterous to me that such a scenario would ever happen in the US, recent calls to repress speech, assembly, and movement of those whose opinions go against the current ruling class and seemingly two tiered justice system have made it seem entirely possible a way of life currently only found in a dystopian book could, in fact, someday be the reality. Based on that, I think that reading dystopian books is a worthwhile (if scary) endeavor. In Matched, people who wish to marry get matched with someone who is compatible with them. The main character gets matched with someone she knows and likes but a glitch shows that momentarily, she was matched with a young man whose family has dared to defy some of the rules of the society thereby making him and his family a lower class of citizens who can't be matched. There's way more to it than that- it's hard to describe succinctly. It's in a series and I will likely read the next book in the series. 

Ohio by Stephen Markley- This takes place ten years after the high school graduation of four friends in, you guessed it, Ohio (more specifically in a fictional small town within Ohio). The book spans one evening when all four find themselves back in town. However, each character's story in high school is revealed so it's told in different timelines, shifting from the past to the present. I loved the prose in this book for the most part though sometimes it was overwrought. Some parts were hard to read and there was a sense of loss and despair but it was written beautifully. It was character driven but there was a bit of a mystery interwoven into it as well.  

I started two book but didn't finish them. One was called The Last Chairlift by John Irving. It was 900 pages!! I made it to about 300.  I just did not like it at all. Odd characters. Not a good plot. I really liked A Prayer for Owen Meany which John Irving wrote. I read it years ago and so I slogged through three hundred pages of this book and then I stopped reading it. The older I am getting, the less inclined I am to continue reading something that isn't really drawing me in... I gave this book longer than I normally would have based on liking one of the author's earlier books.

The other one that I didn't finish was written by my very favorite 19th British author Wilkie Collins called Blind Love. I couldn't keep track of the characters- too much time was elapsing before I could pick up the book in between reading. I gave up on it but I have not given up on Wilkie! I will read another one of his when I have larger blocks of time to dedicate to reading :).