We’re never at a loss for books to read in this house. Sticking to my retirement goal from nearly two years ago, I managed to find four books this month with light enough topics to not add to my sadness following Dad’s passing.

Week 1: Bless Me, Father by Neil Boyd

After enjoying A Father Before Christmas a number of months ago, I was pleased to download the first book in the Bless Me, Father series (free if you’re on Amazon Prime).

The young curate and the crusty old Irish priest are quite a pair. Add the unflappable housekeeper, cranky neighbor, and a variety of nearly unmanageable parishioners, and the situations rollick along merrily.

Week 2: Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce

This charming work of fiction reminds me of two books I enjoyed with Mom long ago: The Borrowers by Mary Norton and The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. After school at least once a week, I’d read aloud to Mom while she was ironing (we even ironed sheets back then – ugh!) and we shared some wonderful classics together.

This is part of the huge collection of Folio Society books my parents gave us last year. How I’d love to know if Mom had picked this one out (Folio used to be a sort of fancy book-of-the-month club, based in London; now it’s simply a fancy online book store) or if Dad picked it out for Mom.

This story is set during a quarantine. Tom’s brother has the measles, so Tom gets sent to stay with a childless aunt and uncle. There’s a misbehaving grandfather clock that is the key to some unforgettable time travel for the lad.

Week 3: The Butler: A Witness to History by Wil Haygood

Chances are you’ve seen the movie, and maybe even read the article that first brought international attention to Eugene Allen, the retired White House butler. Right before the 2008 election, journalist Wil Haygood searched to find a longtime Black service worker at the presidential mansion who could talk about working for so many presidents during such change in the country. Haywood found Allen and together they told his story.

The book reads like three long magazine articles. The first details how Wil Haygood found Eugene Allen and put together his story for The Washington Post. The second presents the history of Blacks in Hollywood. And the book finishes with the story of Allen, his son, and Haygood attending Barrack Obama’s first inauguration. As the April showers fell outside, a few tears dampened this book’s pages inside.

Week 4: To School Through the Fields by Alice Taylor

This was one of many leftovers from last month’s stack of Irish books. And it’s a good one.

Author Alice Taylor tells her sweet and funny stories of growing up on a farm in Ireland. It’s like listening to Farmer Gary tell his tales, but with an Irish accent. And without the cussing.

As April showers move on at last, we’ll welcome May flowers and four new books next month.

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