Reading life review: April

■ Birds of California: Field Guide (Stan Tekiela)
Nature.
■ Birds of San Diego (Chris Fisher)
Nature.
■ Torrey Pines State Reserve, Third Edition
Nature.
These three books were my literary companions during our trip to Southern California.

■ One Second After (William R. Forstchen)
Fiction.
Billed as a book "so important it has become the topic of a congressional debate," this novel offers a compelling premise -- What would life be like if the country were crippled by EMPs? -- in prose so inelegant that I had to set it aside after only sixty pages. I had thought it would be the perfect airplane/airport book, but it didn't even rise to that low standard. Believe it or not, I do plan to finish it, though, since I want to know how it ends. WARNING: Some creative skimming may be involved.

■ Poems from the Like Free Zone (Taylor Mali)
Poetry, audiobook. I listened to this twice -- once in O'Hare and once in the air (from LAX to O'Hare). Mali is, in a word, brilliant, and I, like, love him? Heh, heh, heh.

■ Burnt Toast on Davenport Street (Tim Egan)
Read-aloud. This is one of my favorite books in all the world. Egan writes offbeat narratives and punctuates them with some of the quirkiest, most endearing illustrations I've ever found in a children's book. Other faves include Serious Farm, Metropolitan Cow, and Friday Night at Hodges' Cafe. (Do I need a note here to remind folks that reading aloud from old family favorites is a good -- nay, a grand idea, no matter how old the kids are? I sure hope not.)

■ Love in a Time of Homeschooling: A Mother and Daughter's Uncommon Year (Laura Brodie)
Memoir; education. Chapbook entry here.

■ An Abundance of Katherines (John Green)
YA fiction. An endearing (and witty) protagonist-and-best-buddy duo coupled with a somewhat less than plausible plot make this a lightweight but entertaining YA novel.

■ Rules of the Road
I passed! Only one question wrong! Yay! More, my license photo is quite nice.

■ The New Global Student (Maya Frost)
Education (a re-read). As I have mentioned here and elsewhere, the Misses are fascinated by the idea of completing their college education abroad. Frost suggests a number of ways to make this happen.

■ Don Quixote (Miguel de Cervantes; an abridgment)
Classic. With the Misses. A serviceable retelling.

■ The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ (Philip Pullman)
Fiction. Part of the Canongate myth series. Pullman attempts to (re)define the nature of writers and narrative using the greatest story ever told. By turns interesting... and irritating.

■ As You Like It (William Shakespeare)
Play, classic. With the Misses. This was our selection for celebrating Will's 446th birthday. We also (finally!) watched Branagh's film version and were deeply disappointed.

■ I Am Not a Serial Killer (Dan Wells)
YA fiction. No, John Wayne Cleaver is not a serial killer -- not yet, anyway. And this mixed-genre novel is not what you think. One word: Wow! I haven't met a sociopath this interesting since Joyce Carol Oates' Zombie.

■ The Other Family (Joanna Trollope)
Fiction. If you've never read Trollope, this is as good a novel to begin with as any other. She crafts quality prose and develops memorable characters. The phrase (pardon the cliché) "keenly observed" comes to mind when I think of her books -- this one, yes, and others I've enjoyed, including The Choir, A Village Affair, The Rector's Wife, The Men and the Girls, Other People’s Children, and Marrying the Mistress.
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Note: The last nine titles in this review were completed during Girl Detective's 15/15/15 challenge. I had initially projected that I would complete seven books during the course of the challenge, so completing nine was more than a little satisfying.