hoppy april stories: book reviews & then some!
i love a judy garland movie almost as much as i love a fred asaire film. here: a still from the internet of EASTER PARADE (1948). but to be fair, my fave judy pic is either SUMMER STOCK (1950) or OZ (1939), of course.
we love a bonnet parade— almost as much as we love stories! please enjoy the collected weekly reading book review videos of april (as they happen each monday morning this month). along with links to bookshop.org (unless otherwise indicated) where you can learn more about each title that intrigues you!
hoppy reading!!
xo,
*hallie :)
✨✏️ weekly reading book review april 2026: episode one!! ✏️✨
here were the stories (books, plays, & audiobooks!) of the week:
✨ AUDITION by michael shurtleff
(just like the most-together writing-for-publication craft book you need is BEFORE & AFTER THE BOOK DEAL by courtney maum , this one is the ONE book you fer sure need about acting!!)
p.s. i'm finding it IndREDiBLe how much acting and writing are "the same!" character development, backstory, tension, subplot, etc etc...!!
✨ RUMORS by neil simon (script)
✨ THE GRIMOIRE GRAMMAR SCHOOL PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION by caitlin rozakis
(also love her book DREADFUL!!)
✨ DEEP WORK by cal newport
(agree with the sentiment, but so far making me mad; could be ‘cause of format? someone please tell me in the comments not to DNF?!)
✨ THE GREAT GATSBY (touring broadway company at the peace center!)
https://broadwaygatsby.com/tour
✨ THE MOUNTAINTOP by katori hall at the warehouse theatre
(goooooo seeeee it!!!!! & get your tx before they sell out the run!!!)
the script: https://bookshop.org/a/5254/9781472587718
the show: https://warehousetheatre.com/shows/mountaintop
miiiiiight read next:
✨ THE SECOND LIFE OF SNAP by erin entrada kelley
(out in may from green willow books !! thanks for the ARC, harper collins childrens books!! )
✨ SOUNDS LIKE LOVE by ashley poston
✨ PERFECT LITTLE WORLD by kevin wilson
(it was three lives bookstore i was trying to think of in the west village, nyc!)
✨ AN ARTIST’S LIFE by mary whyte
what stories are you loving right now?!?
my substack goes out tomorrow with crayon box happy mail links + fave march reads + recent theatre blog links… plus i’m acting and revising a pb dummy this week…! yay!!
my monthly marker re*cap (substack newsletter): https://halthegalstoryart.substack.com
the crayon box (monthly sticker mail + more!!): https://www.patreon.com/halthegal
my theatre, travel, & otherwise blog on my website: https://www.halthegal.art/artist-blog
✏️
with all my hollow-chocolate ears heart,
xo,
*hallie :)
✨❤️ weekly reading book review april 2026: episode two!! ❤️✨
here are the stories i read & enjoyed this week:
❤️ THE SECOND LIFE OF SNAP by erin entrada kelly (short middle grade coming mid-may from greenwillow books )
❤️ LITTLE WOMEN by kate hamill
acting edition available here: https://www.concordtheatricals.com/s/98792/little-women-hamill
❤️ WOMEN IN JEOPARDY! by wendy macLeod
(hhhiiiiilarrrioussssss)
acting edition available here: https://www.concordtheatricals.com/s/62426/women-in-jeopardy
❤️ STEERING THE CRAFT by ursula k. leGuin
❤️ BAREFOOT IN THE PARK (1967 film)
imdb link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061385/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
currently reading:
❤️ BAREFOOT IN THE PARK by neil simon
❤️ IT’S NOT HER by mary kubica
(mine from book of the month; try for ONE DOLLAR for your first month with my referral link if you'd like: https://www.mybotm.com/4fk6zo9eig4 )
hope to read next:
❤️ ROMEO & JULIET by wm. shakespeare
❤️ LIFE ON THE MOON by matthew swanson & robbi behr (heavily illustrated middle grade out tomorrrrowww from knopf/random house kids! yay!!)
currently watching:
☠️ THE PIRATE (1948)
imdb link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040694/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
what stories are You loving right now?!?
this week, i also AUDITIONED for the first time since high school AND performed a monologue (ON STAGE! for PEOPLE!!) —my first time without a script since college speech class!! yay me!
dad snapped this pic of me on stage last night at the scct spring sharing. i’m peforming a monologue from richard pridham’s HOW I GOT THAT PART.
with more storytelling to come & enjoy,
❤️xo,
*hallie :)
✨ weekly reading book review april 2026: episode three ✨
whew! we made it through some GreaT reads this week!!
❤️ IT’S NOT HER by mary kubica
you can try your first month of BOOK OF THE MONTH (where i got my copy) for just 100 cents with my referral link here:
https://www.mybotm.com/4fk6zo9eig4
❤️ LIFE ON THE MOON by matthew swanson & robbi behr
❤️ ROMEO & JULIET by wm. shakespeare
❤️ BILLY & THE MINPINS by roald dahl (yay what went wrong pod & WILLY WONKA episode last week + secret world pod for making me check the dahl shelves again!!)
✒️ THE ENDING WRITES ITSELF by v.e. schwab & cat clarke
❤️ BAREFOOT IN THE PARK by neil simon
got to see:
❤️ yo-yo ma LIVE at the peace center in greenville, sc & i’ll never recover
https://www.peacecenter.org/events/programs/26-yo-yo-ma-program
currently reading:
❤️ HARD-BOILED WONDERLAND AND THE END OF THE WORLD by haruki murakami
❤️ THE VANISHING CHERRY BLOSSOM BOOKSHOP by takuya asakura
reading next & maybe:
⭐️ A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES by deborah harkness
❤️ THE HOUSE WITH A DRAGON IN IT by nick lake & illustrated by emily gravett
❤️ wm shakespeare’s SONNETS
❤️ A LONG GAME: NOTES ON WRITING FICTION by elizabeth mcCracken
✏️what stories are you loving right now?!? ✒️
with papercuts to prove my luv,
❤️xo,
*hallie :)
✨ weekly reading book review april 2026: episode four!! ✨
this week i read:
❤️ THE HOUSE WITH A DRAGON IN IT by nick lake
❤️ THE VANISHING CHERRY BLOSSOM BOOKSHOP by takura asakura
❤️ WHAT A SMALL CAT NEEDS by natalia shaloshvili
currently reading:
❤️ A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES by deborah harkness (again! for #bookclub! yay!)
❤️ wm shakespeare’s (154) SONNETS
saw & watched:
❤️ THE MOUNTAINTOP by katori hall at the warehouse theatre, greenville, sc
https://warehousetheatre.com/shows/mountaintop/
❤️ DRAGONS LOVE TACOS at the south carolina children's theatre, greenville, sc
https://scchildrenstheatre.org/shows/dragons-love-tacos-2/
❤️ THE PIRATE (gene kelly! judy garland! 1948!)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040694/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
❤️ MONTY PYTHON & THE HOLY GRAIL (1975)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071853/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
reading next:
❤️ wm shakespeare’s A LOVER’S COMPLAINT
❤️ HARD-BOILED WONDERLAND & THE END OF THE WORLD by haruki murakami
❤️ THE GRIMMELINGS by rachel king
❤️ THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF MAGICAL BAKING by anne crews
substack newsletter, theatre blogs, and crayon box goodies & announcements coming soon & across all the things within the next week!
monthly marker re*cap: https://halthegalstoryart.substack.com
my art blog: https://www.halthegal.art/artist-blog
the crayon box: https://www.patreon.com/halthegal
gratefully yours in crumbs & spirit,
❤️xo,
*hallie :)
{my personal} fave reads o’ the month!!
✨📚 whooooosh did april go fast, or was it just me? 📚✨
alas, the stack o’ most enjoyable reads was LARGE and here are a few i’ll share with you! 🥰
🎭 the plays:
❤️🩹 ROMEO & JULIET, by wm. shakespeare
👣 BAREFOOT IN THE PARK, by neil simon
🍁 WOMEN IN JEOPARDY!, by wendy macLeod
🍸 (unpictured) RUMORS, by neil simon
🎬 the (one!) non-fiction:
🎭 AUDITION, by michael shurtleiff
(applies not just to acting, but ALSO to writing and story-crafting, i promise!!)
📝 the middle grade reads:
🐉 THE HOUSE WITH A DRAGON IN IT, by nick lake and illustrated by emily gravett
🌙 LIFE ON THE MOON, by matthew swanson and robbi behr
☠️ and the fave of the grown-up books:
✒️ THE ENDING WRITES ITSELF, by evelyn clarke
what were your fave reads of the month??
excited to see what stories MAY brings to my metaphorical (and perhaps occasionally LITeral) doorstep!!
🚪🛒🛍️
(although it IS time to make some more of my own... i should probably go buy AnoTHER blank notebook to add to the collection, just in case, right?? teehee.)
😏
💖xo,
*hallie 🤓