April – what a good month for a vacation! I’m considering spending a few days in Southern Oregon. I don’t want to go far from home but I have a good location picked out. I hope it won’t snow.
My April Word of the Month
Future
My April Haiku of the Month
It is truly new.
A fresh start, cleared land and hope.
With work, good will come.
Bible Verse of the Month
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:6-7
My April reading diary is at the bottom of this page, after the book list.
My Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/lindajm
☆ – I own the book and am ready to read.
★ – I’m reading it.
✓ – I finished reading it. Yay!
⇗ – Still reading at the end of the month.
DNF – I did not like it or finish it.
∅ – Stalled – I started but didn’t finish.
↓ – I didn’t even start. Complete fail!
Still reading:
★ History: The World Rushed In: The California Gold Rush Experience, by J.S. Holliday
This nonfiction history based on gold rush journals will take me multiple months to get through. I’m reading this because I love learning about California history and because it is the thickest book I have right now… it is for 2021 PopSugar Reading Challenge prompt #41 – The longest book (by pages) on your TBR list. My plan is to read at least 4 pages daily so I should be able to finish in three or four months at that rate. As of the beginning of April, I’m in chapter five out of twelve.
★ Juvenile History: George Washington’s World, by Genevieve Foster
This is the longest book on my Newbery reading list so I wanted to get started early in the year and don’t expect to finish this month. I read only about four pages daily.
Drop Everything and Read Readathon: Beverly Cleary!!
Angie of the Literary Labors Booktube channel is hosting a “Drop Everything…” readathon to focus on the life of Beverly Cleary who just passed away on March 25, 2021 at the age of 104. April 12 was to be her 105th birthday! To honor her we will read her books from April 1 to 11.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuqGsc5xEUo
By great good fortune and synchronicity I just bought the boxed set of eight “Ramona” books to share with a young neighbor of mine. I ordered them on March 17 and picked them up from the post office on the day she passed away! I’ve never read them before. We’ve started reading the first book, Beezus and Ramona and it kept making me laugh. This series is only going to get better, I’m sure. There are two Newbery Honor Books in this series.
★ Juvenile Fiction: The Complete Ramona Collection, by Beverly Cleary
Looking forward to reading as many of these as possible during the first 11 days of April.
✓ Memoir: A Girl From Yamhill, by Beverly Cleary
This is our group read, and is one of Beverly Cleary’s memoirs. I just bought a Kindle copy.
My Newbery List Reading Project
Since the 1990’s I’ve wanted to read all the books on the Newbery award list – both medal winners and honor books. I’ve read only 111 of the books, out of a total of 423. That leaves me 312 books to read, so I’ll be adding some of them to my reading list for the next few years.
✓ Juvenile Fiction: Waterless Mountain, by Laura Adams Armer
This is the 1932 Newbery Medal Winner. Younger Brother learns about the Navajo culture and he wants to see the Pacific Ocean. This is a coming of age story.
★ Juvenile Fiction: What Hearts, by Bruce Brooks
This is a 1993 Newbery Honor Book. This is divided into four episodes in the life of a sensitive twelve-year-old boy.
✓ Juvenile Fiction: When You Trap a Tiger, by Tae Keller
This is the 2021 Newbery Medal Winner. A magical tiger tries to make a deal with Lily who is worried about her sick grandmother. This is magical realism.
☆ Juvenile Fiction: A Wish in the Dark, by Christina Soontornvat
This is a 2021 Newbery Honor Book. This is a Thai fantasy book about Pong, who escaped from a prison he was born in.
★ Juvenile Fiction: We Dream of Space, by Erin Entrada Kelly
This is a 2021 Newbery Honor Book. Three sibilings are in seventh grade together. One of them is especially interested in the space program thanks to an enthusiastic science teacher.
✓ Juvenile Fiction: Fighting Words, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
This is a 2021 Newbery Honor Book. Della and Suki are sisters. When their mother is put in jail Della looks to Suki for help, but nobody helps Suki when she needs it.
Anything else to read in April?
How about a classic?
✓ Classic Fiction: Persuasion, by Jane Austen
Looking forward to this reading experience.
A Year in Mitford
I’m participating in the #ayearinmitford challenge.
✓ Christian Fiction: Out to Canaan, by Jan Karon
This is the fourth book in the Mitford series.
Gardening!
I’m reading gardening books because I have a desire to renovate my 1/2 acre with God’s help starting with developing the landscaping as suggested in Proverbs: “Prepare your outside work, make it fit for yourself in the field; and afterward build your house.” – Proverbs 24:27
★ Gardening: The Earth User’s Guide to Permaculture, by Rosemary Morrow
I’m learning to create sustainable environments through closed systems designed for permanent agriculture development. I have other gardening books to explore as well, but am starting with this one.
https://lindajomartin.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/organic-gardening-no-dig.jpg
https://amzn.to/2OL35aq
★ Gardening: Organic Gardening the Natural No-Dig Way, by Charles Dowding
This is how I’m planning to create my garden… using the “no dig” system of Charles Dowding.
My April 2021 Reading Diary
April 1 – It feels so good to start a new month. My property got cleared off and I’m so happy to see the fire debris is gone.
It was a slow reading day, but I did read three chapters in A Girl From Yamhill, Beverly Cleary’s memoir. I also listened to two chapters of Up a Road Slowly, a Newbery Medal winner by Irene Hunt. What took up more of my time was making this video.
April 2 – Good reading day. I finished reading Beezus and Ramona and am off to book two of the Ramona series tomorrow! Also read a little from a variety of other books on my list. Late last night I started reading Waterless Mountain, a novel rich in Navajo culture. I read two chapters.
April 3 – Today I started reading Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary. My goal is to read only one chapter of a Ramona day each day until I get through the 8-book series. No hurry!
April 4 – Happy Resurrection Day! He is Risen! Now for the bad news: I’ve been sick since late last night. I have no idea how I could have caught something, careful as I am to avoid sicknesses. Anyhow, I slept almost all day. Not much reading got done except for my #DEAReadalong reading which is a chapter out of a Ramona book and three chapters of the memoir, A Girl From Yamhill – both by Beverly Cleary. I’m now on the second Ramona book, Ramona the Pest. It seems that some of the incidents from her memoir showed up in the Ramona books! Very cool to see how she put her own stories and memories into Ramona’s stories.
April 6 – I’ve been sick a few days! Imagine that. Despite my careful conscientious mask wearing, I somehow picked up a bug of some kind and had a fever. With orange juice, water and cough drops from my daughter and lots of prayers from dear Christian friends and the constant ever-loving compassion of God, I’m feeling much better now. Last night I finished reading the last section of Go Tell It on the Mountain and now, I’ve written a review of it on Goodreads. Still reading many other books, a little at a time each day. Still complaining about the s-l-o-w plotlessness of Waterless Mountain. Despite the deep insights into Navajo culture, it is driving me a bit crazy trying to psyche myself up to get through it. I’m really shocked by the custom of a mother to never be seen by the husband of her daughter. What a way to get rid of mother-in-law issues. Just delete her and make her hide behind her hogan so he doesn’t have to see her. Forever. This was practiced by several tribes besides the Navajo and the Crow still do it. I would not want to go through life trying to avoid someone like that. See: The Mother-in-Law Taboo.
April 7 – Today was a busy day. I did manage to read some of Out of Canaan. I went to my property (pictured above) and found the man who takes soil samples parked in my driveway. Undeterred, I entered by the gate and delivered water to three thirsty, struggling, transplanted rose bushes. Mission accomplished. The street looked like a construction zone, only it is more like a deconstruction zone. The cleanup crew is now working on the residences across the street from mine. They’ve got three of them cleared, with three to go. My neighbors will be so pleased. Other neighbors who are still waiting in other sections of the neighborhood are sounding a bit grumbly and impatient, somewhat like I was not long before they got around to clearing my land. [Later] – I spent the evening reading a variety of my books in progress. I like reading a few pages or chapters, then turning to another book. No, I don’t get them mixed up. I like variety.
April 10 – I’m still reading. I just finished reading Ramona the Pest. Tomorrow I’ll start Ramona the Brave.
April 16 – I’m so glad I finished reading Waterless Mountain tonight. Here’s my Goodreads review.
April 24 – So far I’ve finished three of the Ramona books and two of the other juvenile fiction books, and the Mitford book. I started reading The Divine Comedy by Dante.
April 27 – I finished reading Persuasion by Jane Austen and reviewed it on Goodreads.
My April Wrapup…
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