I’ve been a busy reading beaver this past month – so this might be one of my longest Quick Lit posts to date! Since I last linked up with Anne @ Modern Mrs. Darcy’s monthly mini book review roundup, I’ve read seven books – admittedly most of them are YA books which tend to take a little less time. Here’s how my month shook out:

Terrible Typhoid Mary by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

My book club discussed this in March. I thought it was extremely well written and engaging for a nonfiction title, the author did a good job at breathing life and wit into an old story and kept it from getting too try. It was not necessarily favorite book material for me but for a nonfiction book, I thought it was good. LIKED

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

I loved the premise of this book. The plot lagged occasionally but overall I really enjoyed it and downloaded book two pretty much immediately after finishing this one. REALLY LIKED

The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson

I was surprised to find that I actually enjoyed this book more than the first one. Something in the writing felt fresher and tighter and it probably helps that I’d grown accustomed to the cast of characters. I also really loved Oliver – probably more than I’d liked Keith in book one. LOVED

Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling

I think I liked this book even more than her last one. It was funny, informative, dishy and inspiring jut like Mindy. I just started watching The Office last month and it was even better having just read this. REALLY LIKED

Dear Mr. Knightly by Katherine Reay

It took awhile to warm up to this book. Initially I was irritated by the main character and the whole thing was too similar to Daddy Long Legs (which I loved) but the book picked up in the second half and I ended up enjoying it. LIKED

Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell

Short but sweet. I enjoyed it but was kind of bummed when it was over. I’d gladly read a full novel about these characters. It’s a short story about a teen girl who camps out for the latest Star Wars premier and the handful of people she meets while she is there. Very sweet. REALLY LIKED

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald

My book club is discussing this at the end of the month. It took me a little while to get into this book but once the plot started to pick up and I got to know all the characters I found myself reading in larger and larger chunks until the last two nights when I stayed up WAY to late to finish. I found the premise interesting if at times a bit unrealistic but a few of the characters tugged at my heart strings enough that I suspended my disbelief long enough to enjoy the ride. Still, I always felt slightly at arms length away from everyone. For a book full of internal dialogue, it still felt like it was slightly emotionally removed and the end of the book wrapped up almost too quickly and left me feeling unresolved even though all the plot points were mostly tied up. A good book but not quite great. LIKED

Right now I’m also reading Women Are Scary by Melanie Dale, a funny parenting memoir that is silly and sometimes insightful. It’s about the scary notion of making mom friends – something I can definitely relate to. I’ve been reading it on my kindle in spurts when the kids are at karate or I’m waiting to pick the kids up after school – that kind of thing. I’ve been trying to read the many paperbacks taking up space in my room at night so this has been more of a long lingering read than a sole focus which works great when I have a book club title plow through. Now that I’m finished with the book above, I’ll probably start reading A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking which is one I’ve been meaning to read for awhile.

What are you reading right now?