Nightstand Books—April

April. Otherwise known as Month of Crazy. My two online classes finish this month so I will be studying for exams, as well as my two AP tests and the second SAT test. For some crazy reason, I decided to do Camp NaNoWriMo. I'm going to a board game "convention" with my dad. Choir concerts are starting. I have three editing/beta-ing projects in various degrees off progress which need finishing, plus my own fantasy novel. And don't forget that senior recital to practice practice practice for!
And, I have a stack of books to read:

At the top is The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall. The fourth Penderwicks book came out last week and I devoured it in two days. I was feeling withdrawal symptoms, so I started to re-read the second book again, even though I re-read the series in December. They're just so good! I don't know how I will be able to wait another 3-5 years for the final book. I could have my own children to read this books to by then! O.o

Next is Five Complete Agatha Christie mysteries. I just finished The ABC Murders last night. If you aren't sure where to start with Agatha Christie (she does have about a hundred books), I would suggest starting with The ABC Murders. It was fantastic. I am berating myself for not seeing what was coming at the end. Next I'm going to read Cards on the Table which will be great because it has Ariadne Oliver in it. She's my favorite Agatha Christie character.
Other great Christie mysteries to start with are Murder on the Orient Express and And Then There Were None. The Mysterious Affair at Styles is also quite exciting. It was her first novel and introduces the character Hercule Poirot.

1984 by George Orwell. I don't know why I had it in my head that I would love this book. I started out enjoying it, but it's gone downhill. More in my review.
I'm reading 1984 for my reading challenge. It was supposed to be done in March but I'm having a hard time getting through it. Since April's book is The Hunger Games, and since I'm expecting it to be a short read, I figured it would be okay to finish 1984 in April. I'm nearly finished so I think I might plow through the rest over the weekend.

The Inimitable Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse. Every few days I pick this up and read a few pages. I don't actually consider myself reading it... more like browsing through it.

The Year of Reading Dangerously by Andy Miller. Isn't that a fantastic title? This is my nonfiction book for the month. Last month I was reading a book on the history of showtunes and Broadway by the fabulous William Zinsser, which I only got two chapters into. Instead, last month's nonfiction was Red Scarf Girl, a memoir of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. I was going to have the Broadway book be this month's nonfiction, but it sadly has to go back to the library. Instead, I will read The Year of Reading Dangerously (dun dun dun!), which is a book about a man's journey to read classic fiction that he missed reading earlier in life. It sounds like a great read!

And finally, A Tale of Time City by Diana Wynne Jones. This was on my pile last month and I still haven't read it. I think I will start it after I finish the Penderwicks book (and maybe after 1984).

Tomorrow I should be back with the 777 tag that has been circling blogger. I'm also hoping to have my reviews for both Twilight (last month's reading challenge book) and 1984 out sometime this month as well.

What are YOU reading?

Live long and prosper!