April Wrap-up & May TBR 2020: A Whole Lotta Reading Goin’ On

Hello fellow readers! Hope you’re all doing well and staying safe. One-third of the way through 2020 and life has changed so much since my last post. I’ve been trying to get back to blogging but it was quite overwhelming to keep up with everything last year. My reading was all over the place, work was insane and I wasn’t able to write reviews as and when I finished a book.

This time, however, with help from the sweet and kind Dini @ Novels and Nebulas, I feel confident and well-prepared to stick to a blogging schedule. Thank you so much for all your help, Dini! 🙂

Now let’s see what’s going on with my reading.

March wasn’t my best reading month (finished just 3 books!) but 2 of them were 600+ pages each so I feel good about that. Mostly it was the stress of the sudden lock-down/self-isolation at home and the increased workload of household chores that threw me off my rhythm and I couldn’t find the time or energy to just sit and read.

But come April, I pushed myself to listen to audiobooks more and more while engaging in mundane tasks around the house like dusting, washing utensils, cooking etc.

And surprise, surprise! I ended up reading 17 books!

So here’s what I read in April:

• Locke & Key Vol.1: Welcome to Lovecraft by Joe Hill – ⭐⭐⭐.5
  I rarely read graphic novels but I wanted to try this one before watching the show. I found the story and art confusing at first, then it was quite intriguing. I may not read the rest of the volumes though. Oh, and the show is amazing!
• A Court of Wings And Ruin by Sarah J Maas (reread) – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  With this I finished my reread of the first ACOTAR trilogy. I cried SO much during the battle scenes. Loved it even more this time around.
• All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover – ⭐⭐⭐⭐.75
  Dammit, she did it again! My 4th CoHo book and she made me get emotionally attached to two more characters. I felt their pain and frustration and so much love for each other, and I bawled my eyes out for them. 😭

• The Selection by Kiera Cass – ⭐⭐⭐.75
• The Elite by Kiera Cass – ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• The One by Kiera Cass – ⭐⭐⭐⭐

• The Heir by Kiera Cass – ⭐⭐⭐.5
• The Crown by Kiera Cass – ⭐⭐⭐.5
• Happily Ever After by Kiera Cass – ⭐⭐⭐.5

Honestly, if I hadn’t seen some fellow readers gushing about the upcoming Netflix adaptation of this series and planning a binge-reread, I probably wouldn’t have listened to the audiobooks this month. I was okay never having read The Selection series after the mixed reviews I’d heard when it was first coming out.

Anyway, I did listen to all the audiobooks – and it was fun. What else are you going to do when washing utensils, cooking meals or cleaning surfaces for 4-5 hours a day?

I actually enjoyed the first trilogy quite a bit. But the last 3 books, I really should have given them a pass. I liked America and Maxon’s relationship, their friendship and all the twists and turns that happened. But I couldn’t connect to “Princess Eadlyn” or get behind the choice she made. 🤷‍♀️

• Dual Image by Nora Roberts – ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
  This would have more or less been a sweet, easy romance if not for the shocking turn of events towards the end. I was so worried things were going to go terribly wrong and I liked how everything was resolved at the end. Well, not everything. There was one character who didn’t get what she deserved.
• No Judgments by Meg Cabot – ⭐⭐⭐.5
  A sweet, steamy, hate-to-love romance set in a small island community about to be hit by the storm of the century, it was a quick read/listen.

• Lumberjanes Vol. 1: Beware The Kitten Holy by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis and Brooke Allen (illustrator) – ⭐⭐⭐.25
  This was just a very confusing story right up till the end when the pieces finally started falling into place. Maybe I was expecting too much considering it’s just Volume 1 of I don’t know how many. The art was nice. But I’m not going to be reading the rest of the series.
• The Beauty of the Moment by Tanaz Bhathena – ⭐⭐⭐
  Another audiobook I listened to while working in the kitchen. This was a bit disappointing as I’d heard pretty good things about it. It had potential but I couldn’t really relate to the characters or their problems and the story just wasn’t engaging enough.
• Reunion In Death by JD Robb – ⭐⭐⭐⭐.75
  Book 14 in the amazingly addictive In Death series, this was gripping and unputdownable. My favorite part was when the female protagonist confronted her past, and of course, all the action and romance.
• Purity In Death by JD Robb – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  In Book 15, there’s a neurological virus spreading through computer screens, causing the infected people to go crazy, become violent and self-destruct. It was spooky and so very clever!
• Portrait In Death by JD Robb – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  Book 16 gave me so much happiness but also made me cry thrice during some extremely tender moments between the protagonists. I just love how much they love each other amidst all the danger and crazy stuff that keeps happening to them.
• Fierce Fairytales & Other Stories To Stir Your Soul by Nikita Gill – ⭐⭐⭐
  This was okay, not bad, not great. I’m not a huge fan of poetry or very flowery language. I could not relate/connect to the poems and stories as much as I would have liked to though a couple of them did call to me.

May already?! Huh.

This may be the quickest ever that I’ve picked out my TBR for a month. In the space of 20 minutes, I had the books pulled from my shelves and neatly stacked and set up to be photographed while there was still light out. Usually, it takes me days to finalize what I may be in the mood to read for the next few weeks. Too many options, not enough hands and eyes and just one brain, you know? 😜

• One of Us is Lying by Karen M McManus
• I’ll be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara
• Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
• Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch
• The Book of M by Peng Shepherd
• Recursion by Blake Crouch
• Year One by Nora Roberts (reread)

Trying my best to tackle some backlist titles (Snow Like Ashes) that have been sitting on my shelves since ages! I was reading Elantris last January (2019) and got 200+ pages in before my moody heart started craving Rom-Coms instead of fantasy. So I really want to read it this month and move on to the Mistborn trilogy. I also want to reread Year One and finish the rest of the trilogy this summer, it’s about a similar deadly virus taking over the world – kind of what’s happening right now, so what better time to read it than now? Also, it has magic. 😊

How many books did you read in April? Which one was your most/least favorite? Which book(s) are you most excited to pick up in May? Talk to me in the comments below!

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