Read With Keri: Books I Read in April
April was an okay book month. I finished five books, which was great, but the majority of them (spoiler alert) were duds. I’ve been struggling with fitting reading time into my schedule, and consequently, fell into a book slump this month. They can’t all be winners, you know? However, a few of my preorders arrived this week, so I think May will definitely be better!
Here are the five books I read in April.
Spare - Prince Harry (2.5/5 stars)
I finished this with an hour to spare before it was automatically returned to Libby. Whew! This was longgg and honestly pretty boring until 11 hours in (it is a COMMITMENT). I almost quit this book so many times but was determined to finish it. He focuses a lot on his military experience, which is fine, but I wasn’t interested in that at all. He seems to briefly talk about his deteriorating relationship with his brother and relationship with Meghan. There are some good chapters that I found interesting, but a lot of boring stuff in between. Prince Harry narrates the audiobook, which was cool, but I think I would’ve rather read it myself so I could skim it more easily.
Troubles in Paradise — Elin Hilderbrand (4/5 stars)
This is the last book of the Paradise trilogy and my favorite one of the three. I really enjoyed this series and it kept me intrigued until the end. I grew to love some of the characters and even though it takes place in the Virgin Islands instead of Nantucket, Elin Hilderbrand’s iconic writing style was evident throughout.
The Stories We Tell: Every Piece of Your Story Matters — Joanna Gaines (2/5 stars)
I wanted to like this one, but it really was not great at all. I love the Gaines fam but this felt like Joanna was trying to say something profound in every chapter but fell short. It ended up being super repetitive and vague, in my opinion. I thought it’d be more of a memoir, but it was basically self-help/her encouraging readers to “share their story” and “don’t be afraid to tell your story.” Um, okay?
Be A Triangle — Lilly Singh (1.5/5 stars)
“Be a triangle” seemed like an interesting concept, but this fell flat to me and I didn’t agree with most of it. The triangle is having a relationship with ourselves, a relationship with the universe, and implementing design. Thankfully, it was only an hour-long audiobook so I didn’t waste too much time on it. It was funny in some parts but honestly pretty boring and not for me. Had it been longer, I would’ve definitely given up on it.
The Six Conversations: Pathways to Connecting in an Age of Isolation and Incivility — Heather Holleman (4/5 stars)
This book is definitely a dense and thought-provoking read. It is not one to “binge,” so I’ve been slowly reading it for a few months now. I enjoyed it, though, and think it’s worth reading. The author is very passionate about asking the right questions to get to know others better and on a deeper level. She has categorized questions into six dimensions: physical, spiritual, social, cognitive, volitional, and emotional.
