Monthly Bood Roundup: April & May

Since I have been so bad about posting, I have decided to combine my book posts for April and May. Save myself some time, ya know?

In April, I read:

Fordlandia by Greg Grandin
An (Almost) Perfect Love Story but Rachel Schurig


I had my first museum internship the summer between my junior and senior years of college. It was at the Grand Traverse Heritage Center in Traverse City, Michigan. I loved it. Along with my co-intern, Whitney, I researched and wrote the narrative for an exhibit on car culture in the TC region. Of course, since we are talking Michigan here, we learned a lot about Henry Ford. He's a very interesting figure, if you ask me. Maybe not always for the greatest reasons (by most accounts, he was seriously anti-Semitic). Whitney and I even met a man from the area that was, at the time, 102 years old. He couldn't hear the frequency of my voice, so Whitney got to conduct the interview. He remembered working in a store and having Henry Ford come in and ask him a question, which I thought was awesome. 

Anyway... I didn't know until recently that Ford had tried to cultivate a rubber plantation in South America. This book talks about that project- the trials, the failures, the remnants left for the people that live there today. It was very interesting, and shed new light for me on Ford and his whole operation.

The Schurig book was one of those that I consider to be a light, fun read. I like to slip those in between heavier things, to give my brain a bit of a break and just read something that is pure entertainment. I particularly enjoy her books because they are set in Michigan (I had a loose theme going on on April, I guess) and they talk about places that I am familiar with. It's a good time. She has a few series (that are all somewhat intertwined) out there and they are very inexpensive for the kindle. I recommend trying them.

In May, I read:

Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella
The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen
Clara's War by Clara Kramer
All He Ever Wanted by Anita Shreve 

Okay. I have been working on this post for about a month now. I'm sick of it sitting there in the draft state, so I will be brief about my books for May:

Remember Me was a good book if you're into Sophie Kinsella's work. I actually liked it better than some of the others I have read. The Girl Who Chased the Moon was very good. It was my first time reading anything by that author and I really enjoyed it. So much so that you'll be seeing her name pop up in my June roundup a couple of times. Clara's War was fabulous. It is a memoir by a Holocaust survivor and I just loved it. Clara's voice is so strong and unique that her experience will likely stick in my mind for a while. Finally, All He Ever Wanted was... just okay. I read another Shreve novel in June and I liked that one a lot better (but more about that elsewhere).

What have you been reading?