Far too often of late, I relax at night with my iPad-catching up on Facebook, Pinterest, Active Rain blogs, or whatever. Therefore, I'm delighted that Ellen Caruso and Shar Sitter encouraged me to host the April Book Selection in the Reading in the Rain group.
It'll be good for me to ditch the social media for a while each day and escape life with a good book. Hopefully, I'll get back into the habit of treating myself to 
the lovely luxury of getting lost in a story. Reading in the Rain is a good group for book lovers - you should join us.
For March, Amy Hahn invited us to read Nicholas Sparks, "The Guardian." Sparks is from Amy's beloved Crystal Coast of North Carolina and always weaves an amazing tale. How could you not love a story featuring a dog as one of the main characters?
This month, I chose a book designed to chase away those April showers. It's a story about four, very dissimilar Englishwomen who leave the damp and dreary climate, and some personal angst, for a month long holiday in Tuscany.
The Enchanted April, by Elizabeth von Arnim promises us a restful, funny, sumptuous and invigorating vacation for the mind and soul.
Here's an excerpt from the first page. The book starts out a bit slow, almost a bit stuffy, but, good storytellling and charm soon win you over.
It began in a woman's club in London on a February afternoon–an uncomfortable club, and a miserable afternoon–when Mrs. Wilkins, who had come down from Hampstead to shop and had lunched at her club, took up The Times from the table in the smoking-room, and running her listless eye down the Agony Column saw this:
"To Those who Appreciate Wisteria and Sunshine. Small medieval Italian Castle on the shores of the Mediterranean to be let. Furnished for the month of April. Necessary servants remain. Z, Box 1000, The Times."
That was its conception; yet, as in the case of many another, the conceiver was unaware of it at the moment.
So entirely unaware was Mrs. Wilkins that her April for that year had then and there been settled for her that she dropped the newspaper with a gesture that was both irritated and resigned, and went over to the window and stared drearily out at the dripping street.
I so hope you'll join us for a vacation this month in the Italian countryside. Together, we'll witness the magical transformation of four women as the sunshine and wisteria work their charm.
Warning - There are a number of online complaints about the quality of the free kindle version, apparently it's riddled with misspellings, so be advised. There are also several complaints about similar problems in the Echo version of the paperback.
I purchased my copy at Amazon.com
I also found this online version for those of you who want that option. It may also be riddled with grammatical errors and misspellings.
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