One of the advantages to being stuck at home has been a fairly sizeable increase in reading time. With nowhere to be in the mornings, I’ve been letting myself stay up late reading most nights, flipping through my book club picks during the day (they’ve all been too heavy to read right before bed – a lesson I’ve learned over time about myself), reading books alongside the kids and listening to audio books while going for walks.

And don’t even get me started on all the progress I’m making in Animal Crossing.

Here’s what I’ve been reading this month and what I’m reading now as we approach May.

I read The Magic Misfits by Neil Patrick Harris after my teenager finished and recommended it. We’ve had the book for awhile and I think I was avoiding it because what are the odds that NPH is an amazing actor, singer, human being and a good author, too? Well I can tell you that NPH continues to never disappoint me. The book is like a mix of A Series of Unfortunate Events and The Mysterious Benedict Society. It’s got magic lessons and life lessons and you can almost hear Count Olaf narrating it in your head while you read it.

Katherine Center is quickly becoming a sure thing for me. Love stories that have depth and multiple story arcs and tackle heavy issues without ruining your night. Things You Save in a Fire takes place in the world of firefighting. I had more in common with the main character than I was expecting despite having no experience with fire fighters. I loved the Boston ambiance and quickly got caught up in this one. My only beef is that the main love interest was almost too good to be true.

I’ve been saying for awhile now that life in quarantine feels like the movie Groundhogs Day. So it seemed very timely to be reading Pretty in Punxutawney which takes on that very premise. The main character is doomed to repeat her first day at a new high school until she gets it right. Add in John Hughes references for days and a cast of characters that do not disappoint and you’ll see why I couldn’t put this one down. The premise may sound overdone but the story kept me guessing from beginning to end.

I just finished reading Lucky Caller by Emma Mills a couple nights ago and it’s another easy reading YA book. The main character is taking a high school class on running a radio station because apparently she goes to the coolest school ever. The class breaks off into groups to run a radio show and she ends up in a group with her old best friend / crush who she hasn’t really talked to for awhile. One of the other kids in the group was giving me major Azis Ansari vibes which was fun for me. I liked this one but also found myself frustrated with the characters and had a hard time controlling that enough to settle into the story sometimes.

Okay here are the books I’m currently reading / haven’t finished yet.

My book club discussed The Lying Game by Ruth Ware this month and I still haven’t finished it though I haven’t necessarily abandoned it either. It’s a kind of mystery thriller that switches tense frequently which can be hard for me. The book is fairly descriptive and moody and I was struggling to stay the course with it but I switched to the audio book a week before the meeting and it helped a lot. I still didn’t finish in time but I’m planning to continue listening when I’m out for walks.

My daughter and I decided to start a little mother daughter book club together where we read a chapter book and discuss in real time. So she’ll read a couple of chapters, pass me the book and then I’ll read said chapters and then we’ll discuss. She just finished reading the last few chapters and I’ve really enjoyed the process of discussing it this way. It doesn’t hurt that we’re reading one of my favorite BSC super specials, Starring the Baby-sitters Club! I loved this series when I was her age as well as Mary Martin’s Peter Pan so the whole book is nostalgia for days.

In May my book club will discuss Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng which was just turned into a series on Hulu. I’m only a couple of chapters in but it looks promising so far. Maybe I’ll finally finish a book in time for the meeting next month!

What have you been reading lately?