April- 3

In April I listened to Nanny Returns. I really enjoyed the concept of revisiting the first part of this story that I really enjoyed reading many years ago. The original story was made into a movie, not the greatest version of the story of course but in fairness as an avid reader I'm never that thrilled with the movie versions of books. I was kinda worried that with the movie so fresh in my mind it would be difficult to enjoy the sequel novel. As I suspected it was difficult to go back into the mind frame of the original and not have the bias of the movie characters in mind. The story was a bit odd as well and just didn't seem plausible for the most part. I was mostly disappointed in what I hoped would be a cool sequel that just fell short. It was sort of nice to have some closure to some of the characters and I don't regret listening to the story, but I do wish it had had more substance to it.

April's second listen was author/actress Isabel Gillies Happens Every Day I can't remember how this one ended up on my list, but I didn't realize the author was an actress from a show I frequently watch until I was listening to the book. She plays Detective Stabler's wife on Law and Order SVU. She also has another connection to my world in that most of her book takes place in Oberlin Ohio. I think I identified with the book because she shares the story of the end of her first marriage and the effect that had on her and her children. She shares the story of heartbreak but also of rising up to be a mother to her children before being a bitter divorcee. It's a lesson a lot of women could learn something from. Healing isn't always easy but there are choices to be made that affect the outcome of families moving on.

The last read of April was something I picked up from the new book shelf at the library on a random visit. It was a parody of The Giving Tree, a truly wonderful book. The Taking Tree by contrast started off somewhat funny but just didn't hold the interest very well until the end. Overall I just wasn't sure what the anonymous author was trying to convey, which is a shame because it probably started off with a point...