For the Record: April 2010:

Only one of the books I read this month (Daughter of Fortune) will count towards my goal of reading more books-that-have-been-on-my-bookshelf-forever.  Not only that, but I stopped in Borders on a whim and accidentally came home with 5 more books from their super-sale.  I'm falling behind!  Need to read more, buy less! (right.  like that's going to happen.)  Okay, on with it...this is what I finished reading in April:

29. The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Beverly Cleary (3 stars) Simple and sweet, this book tells the fun story of a mouse and a boy that share a love for a motorcycle. It's written simply enough for a child to read, but is fun to read aloud as well. There were some things that definitely dated the book, but nothing that made it unapproachable. It rather lent to it's charm.

30. Daughter of Fortune, Isabel Allende (3 stars)  This story took place mostly in Chile and California around the time of the Gold Rush, which is one of the main reasons I held onto this book, intending to read it, for so long.  I enjoy Gold Rush history, but this book moved a little too slowly for me.  The writing was fluid, but the pace a little slow, and the topic focused a little too much on whorehouses for my taste.  The book wasn't bad by any means, but it never really grabbed me or spoke to me.

31. The Lightening Thief, Rick Riordan (4 stars) #1 in the Percy Jackson series
32. The Sea of Monsters, Rick Riordan (3 stars) #2 in the Percy Jackson series
33. The Titan's Curse, Rick Riordan (3 stars) #3 in the Percy Jackson series

The Percy Jackson series consists of 5 books which take a unique, action packed, and oftentimes humorous look at what it would be like if the mythology of the Greek Gods were actually real, not mythological.  They are quick and fun to read; I'll be reading the last two soon, I'm sure.

34. Precious Bane, Mary Webb (4 stars)  Recommended by a fellow book lover on the Sonlight forums, and received as a Christmas gift from a friend, I found this to be an interesting jaunt off the beaten path.  It was written in the 1920s, and set in the mid 19th century Great Britain (Wales, I think), it is full of tradition, superstition, culture and lyrical writing.  It is definitely a book to be read and reread, both for its language and its look on life.

35. Time Among the Dead, Thomas Rayfiel (3 stars)  A LibraryThing Early Reviewer book, you can see my full review here.

36. Detectives in Togas, Henry Winterfield (4 stars) A fun, rollicking adventure mystery taking place in Ancient Rome.  Fun to read aloud.

37. Mystery of the Roman Ransom, Henry Winterfield (3.5 stars) Sequel to Detectives in Togas, perhaps not quite as suspenseful but just as much fun.

38. Catching Their Talk in a Box, Betty M. Hockett (3 stars) A missionary story from Sonlight Core 2, this is a simple book about the initial attempts to record the bible in different languages.

39. And the Word Came with Power, Joanne Shetler (4 stars)  What makes this missionary story so great is how it makes obvious how real the spiritual world is, and shares the story of an amazing missionary while also showing that not everyone is called to be an overseas missionary.  I like the emphasis on becoming more like Christ, in whichever way he would have you do so, rather than emphasizing being a missionary.