April wasn't too good a month for reading either.

I'm a little late in posting about my readings for April.  But here goes!  Only three books and 1190 pages.

Seven Years to Sin by Sylvia Day (320 pages).  I like Sylvia Day so much more than EL James.  Even though there's sex, there's always a story in her books.  Always.  And it's a pretty good story.  This one occurs in the 1800's.  Lady Jessica, on the eve of her wedding, sees something that changes her views on sex (much to her future husband's delight).  She sees a young man (a third or fourth son, I couldn't figure that part out) and an older woman in a gazebo.  She quickly learns that he is a gigolo.  Seven years later, Jessica is widowed and on her way to Jamaica to sell the plantation she inherited from her husband.  The owner of the ship she travels on is Alistair, the young man she watched having sex so many years ago.  The passion that ignited between them that night in the garden cannot be ignored.  But both of them have so much baggage.  Can true lust become true love?  You betcha!  With a supporting cast of characters (Jessica's brother-in-law, who is madly in love with Jessica's sister Hester, who is married to the abusive Regmount and a myriad of others), it's a pretty good story.  With some darn good sex.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (550 pages).  This was my book club book for May.  It's told from Death's point of view.  Which at fir4st was a little strange (Death likes to make interjections throughout the story).  But I really found myself enjoying it after a while.  Liesel Meminger is nine years old when she finds herself given (by her mother) to a foster family, the Hubermanns.  Her younger brother died on the train  to Molching and at his graveside, Liesel stole the first of many books.  She finds a new life with the Hubermanns.  She learns to read and learns the value of words, she gains a new best friend and learns to love, and she steals more books.  But it's 1939 and this is Germany.  There is no such thing as security for Liesel and her neighbors.  The son of a man Hans Hubermann fought with during World War I finds himself at the Hubermanns' door.  Max is Jewish.  The Hubermanns keep him hidden in their basement for months, until he finally decides they are in too much danger with him there and he leaves.  But not before making an indelible imprint on Liesel's life by writing two books for her.  Hans is taken off to fight, but a fortunate injury sends him back home for a bit (and allows him to escape Death's clutches, yet again).  Liesel eventually sees Max again, as he is being marched through the streets toward a concentration camp.  Liesel begins to write her own story every night in the basement.  The last night she spends writing is the night that an air raid happens, an air raid that is a surprise.  No sirens, no warnings.  Everyone asleep on Himmel Street, only Liesel safely in a basement.  Death came to Himmel Street and took away almost everyone who was improtgat to Liesel.  A few years after that, Max finds Liesel.  And many many years after that, Death finds Liesel.  Death, who has carried her story book with him since Himmel Street.  I found my eyes welling up with tears quite frequently.  I absolutely loved it and can't wait to see the movie!

Hemingway's Girl by Erika Robuck (321 pages).  My old standby (historical fiction) AND Hemingway's Key West?!  I'm sold!  It's 1935 and Mariella Bennett is 19 years old the first time she lays eyes on Ernest Hemingway.  Her father is dead, her mother is floundering, and she is sole breadwinner for the family (she has two younger sisters).  She gets a job as a maid for Hem and wife #2, Pauline (the one he left Hadley for, the one who had all the money, the one who's uncle actually bought their Key West home).  Mariella has a front row seat to the Hemingways' lives - the alcohol, the jealousies, the fights.  She feels an instant attraction to Hem (from what I understand, who didn't?!) and he to her.  One night, after dinner at Sloppy Joe's, Mariella and Hem head to the Blue Goose for Friday night fights.  There, Mariella sees Gavin Murray for the first time.  He's fighting one of the local champions.  He's a vet, down in the Keys to help build the new overseas highway.  She can't deny her attraction to Hem and she can't deny her attraction to Gavin.  Hem symbolizes freedom, Gavin symbolizes her future.  After a summer in Bimini with the Hemingways, Mariella returns home.  And that's when disaster strikes in the form of the hurricane of 1935, a hurricane that the government knew was coming and still didn't evacuate the vets (and their families) who were working on the highway.  The loss of life was devastating (250 vets and 400+ civilians died).  But Mariella gets her happy ever after.  The book opened and closed in the year 1961, the year of Hem's suicide.  Because no line was ever crossed, Hem and Mariella remained close until his death.  It was a good book.  Probably because I was just in Key West in December and could picture so many of the places described in the book.