April, April, April. Where have you gone? This month was a flurry of activity, work and travel, so it’s not that surprising that it seems to have flown by.

My reading in April started out very slowly, just four books in the first 25 days of the month. But I finished three books during the Readathon on April 26, flew through three comic books on April 27, and finished up another book on April 30, bringing my total for the month to 11. Here’s the master list:

1. Goetz, Thomas: The Remedy (nonfiction)
2. Weir, Andy: The Martian (fiction/audio book)
3. Jamison, Leslie: The Empathy Exams (essays)
4. Blanding, Michael: The Map Thief (nonfiction)
5. Ojito, Mirta: Hunting Season (nonfiction)
6. McCraken, Elizabeth: An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination (memoir)
7. Patchett, Ann: Truth and Beauty (memoir)
8. Vaughan, Brian K. and Staples, Fiona: Saga Vol. 1 (graphic novel)
9. Vaughan, Brian K. and Staples, Fiona: Saga Vol. 2 (graphic novel)
10. Vaughan, Brian K. and Staples, Fiona: Saga Vol. 3 (graphic novel)
11. Sloan, Robin: Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore (fiction)

As you can see, I am woefully behind on reviews. I hope I can get caught up in May. My favorite book of the month was probably The Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison, but I also really enjoyed The Martian by Andy Weir. Overall, I think it was a great reading month. I hope I can keep up my momentum going into May. My biggest book nerd moment of the month was going to Los Angeles for the LA Times Festival of Books.

A Look to May

There are a ton of great books coming out in May. The pile I have sitting by my desk includes The Tale of Dueling Neurosurgeons by Sam Kean (May 6 , Little Brown), An Untamed State by Roxane Gay (May 6, Black Cat), The Bees by Laline Paull (May 6, Ecco), To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris (May 13, Little Brown) and the book I’m reading now, Console Wars by Blake Harris (May 13, It Books). Oddly enough, it’s a ton of fiction, which will be a fun change of pace. 

The other big event for May will be my trip to Book Expo America. I’ve got most of the major details — a plane ticket and a roommate — figured out, but I still have to scope out the autographing tables and panels to see what books I’m excited about. I plan to share those at some point this month too. Happy Reading!

PHOTO CREDIT: ROB WARDE VIA FLICKR

Title: The Secretary: A Journey with Hillary Clinton from Beirut to the Heart of American Power
Author: Kim Ghattas
Genre: Nonfiction
Year: 2013
Publisher: Picador
Acquired: Purchased
Rating:

Note: Seeds of this post originally appeared on Book Riot as a contribution to the Best Books We Read in March.

Review: When Hillary Clinton agreed to work for her former rival, President Barack Obama, as secretary of state, her first priority was to repair America’s image around the world. Over Clinton’s tenure, BBC foreign correspondent Kim Ghattas had a front row seat to see how Clinton shaped America’s foreign policy and, to a lesser extent, her own image as a politician and diplomat. The Secretary chronicles that period and explores the role of a diplomat in a rapidly changing world.

Ghattas, who grew up in Lebanon, brings an interesting insider/outsider perspective that I thought made this book stand out from other books on Clinton or on American foreign policy more generally. Ghattas grew up seeing the impact that policy decisions have on average citizens in foreign countries. She’s able to bring that experience and knowledge into her analysis of Clinton’s decisions and approach to the role of secretary of state.

The Secretary is also great because Ghattas makes it more than just a book about Hillary Clinton. The Secretary is a book that explores how American power (and even more, the perception of American power) has changed over the last decade. The book is really smart in exploring the tensions between what foreign groups want (or don’t want) from the American government and what outcomes politicians can and cannot guarantee. It’s a more pragmatic look at America’s status as a foreign power than I was expecting, but I thought it was persuasive.

On a mostly unrelated note, reading this book also reminded me about Texts from Hillary, which is as funny today as it was two years ago.

I started reading this book the day it arrived in the mail and could not put it down until I turned the last page. Ghattas is an engaging and skilled journalist who offers a new perspective on foreign policy. If you are a political junkie of any kind, I highly recommend this book.

Briefly // After all of the fun with the Readathon yesterday, I’m feeling rather content and lazy today… I expect this will be a short little update.

Time and Place // 4:00 p.m. at my desk

Eating and Drinking // Water

Reading // I finished three books during the Readathon yesterday: Hunting Season by Mirta Ojito, Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett, and An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCraken. I also finished all three volumes of the comic book Saga by Brian K. Vaughan (writer) and Fiona Staples (illustrator) this morning. That puts me at 10 books for the month, hooray! If I do read more later today, it’ll be Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan, but my brain feels a little too mushy for that.

Watching // I watched the second three episodes of the first season of The Hour today — great BBC show. I think series two is on Amazon Prime… so I have an idea of what I’ll be doing later.

Listening // I spent a little time with the new Veronica Mars book on audio yesterday, but I still have about a third to go before I’m finished.

Blogging // This week I posted about connections between Boy, Snow, Bird and Postcards from Cookie, as well as a couple of posts on the Readathon — my book pile and my progress throughout the day.

Promoting // The folks over at Book Riot (a site where I am also a contributor) have had some really spectacular posts this week about the diversity problems at BookCon, a reader-focused day planned for this year’s Book Expo America. Please do read these three pieces and share your thoughts:

• Readers Deserve Better Than BookCon
• What BookCon Should Be Saying
• Blindingly White: BookCon, John Green, and Knowing When It’s Time to Speak Up

Anticipating // I think this week at my day job is going to be easier than last week. I don’t anticipate any late nights (I had three last week) or major projects, which will be a good break after how the rest of April went. Fingers crossed for a chill week where I can get caught up in some other areas of life.

Happy Readathon day, friends and fellow readers. I am so excited to spend the day cuddled up with several good books. Throughout the day I’ll be doing updates on my Tumblr, A Little Bit of Dorkiness, and my Twitter feed (@kimthedork) and, periodically, collecting them using Storify.

You should be able to see the embedded Storify for my Readathon below, but if not follow this link. If all goes according to plan, the most recent updates from the day will be at the top of the feed. 

Happy Readathon!