April Wrap-Up

 Hello Interwebs!

Another month gone and another month I have blogged exactly none. No reviews, no extras, nothing. Eventually that will change but for now I guess this is how it is. I had the best reading month in April. I read a grand total of 14 books in the month of April and I found a new favorite author, which derailed my planned reading but it was worth it. So lets jump right into what I read this month. 

• Every Vow You Break by Peter Swanson. This was the April Book Troop thriller selection and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It was a wild ride that somehow managed to be a decent thriller without having any mental illness made them do it vibes. I read it from April 4th to the 7th and I gave it a 4/5 star rating. 
  
  
  
  
• And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman. This was my first Fredrik Backman book, one of the novellas about a grandfather and his son and grandson as they come to terms with his dementia. I cried and this is now one of my favorite authors and I must read everything he writes. I read the entirety of this on April 7th and gave it 5 stars. 
  
  
  
  
• The Bookwanderers by Anna James (Pages & Co #1). This was the Darling Desi patreon buddy read. This was a middle grade fantasy about a girl who lives with her grandparents above their bookstore who finds that her favorite book characters are appearing in the real world. I listened to this on the night of April 14th while I was resetting my sleep schedule for work and working on a puzzle. I gave it a 4 star rating. 
  
  
  
  
• My Own Two Feet by Beverly Cleary. This is the second volume of Cleary's autobiography following her life from her high school graduation to the early publishing days of her novels. It was wonderful and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I read this from April 14-17th and gave it a four star rating. 
  
  
  
  
• Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary (Ramona Quimby #1). This is the first book in the Ramona Quimby series, a children's chapter book series about the Quimby family and specifically the youngest daughter Ramona although this book focuses more on older sister Beatrice, also known as Beezus. This was just as delightful as it was when I was a kid and gave it a 4 star rating. 
  
  
  
  
• My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman. This was my second Backman book, picked solely because it was one of the few ones my library had in paperback. It's about a girl whose best friend was her grandmother who passes leaving a scavenger hunt of apologies for her. It was delightful and I want to read all of his books. I read it from April 17-22 and gave it a 5/5 stars. 
  
  
  
  
• Things My Son Needs To Know About the World by Fredrik Backman. My third Backman book and another novella length book, this one a nonfiction memoir of sorts he wrote as letters to his son who was about 18 months at the time. I read this from April 22-23 and gave it a 5 stars. 
  
  
  
  
• Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary (Ramona Quimby #2). The second book in the Ramona series. Read on April 24, given a 4 star rating. 
  
  
  
  
• The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict. This is a historical fiction book about actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr. I enjoyed this but it felt disjointed and her inventions seemed to be a bit of an after thought. I read it from the 24th to the 26th and gave it a 3.5 star rating. 
  
  
  
  
• Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary (Ramona Quimby #3). The third Ramona book, read on April 26th and given a 4 star rating. 
  
  
  
  
• Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay. A thriller I'd liked the synopsis of. It follows a boy, Matthew, whose older brother is in prison for killing his girlfriend his senior year in high school although he and his family maintain his innocence; then the rest of the family dies while on a trip to Mexico and it appears that foul play may be involved. It was a good thriller with good twists and turns. I read it from April 26-28 and gave it 4/5 stars. 
  
  
  
• Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by Max Brooks. My roommate let me borrow this book about a fictionalized account of a sasquatch massacre in an isolated off the grid co-op cut off from civilization following a volcanic eruption. It's told in diary format mixed with interview interjections. It was part wilderness survival and part creature horror novel and I enjoyed it a lot. I gave it a 4/5 stars and read it from April 28-29. 
  
  
  
• Ramona and her Father by Beverly Cleary (Ramona Quimby #4). The fourth Ramona book. I read it on April 29 and gave it a 4 star rating.
  
  
  
  
• Ramona and her Mother by Beverly Cleary (Ramona Quimby #5). The fifth Ramona book that I also read on April 29th and gave 4 stars to. 
  
  
  
  

So those are the books I read in April for a total of 3471 pages and an average rating of 4.1 stars. My favorite book I read this month was My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman and my least favorite was The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict. That being said I didn't really dislike any book I read this month. 

I didn't buy many books this month 24 if you count them individually. Two of them I ordered back in March but didn't arrive until this month and four others were  in a single collection from Amazon. 

• Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala (Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery #1); cozy mystery hardcover from Book of the Month.
• The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton; music-based historical fiction hardcover from Book of the Month.
• People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry; romance hardcover from Book of the Month.
• People Like Her by Ellery Lloyd; thriller ebook from Amazon.
• Home Before Dark by Riley Sager; thriller ebook from Amazon.
• The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir; historical fiction audiobook from Chirp.
• Unbirthday by Liz Braswell (A Twisted Tale); young adult fairy tale retelling of Disney's Alice in Wonderland; ebook from Amazon.
• The Joe Hill Collection; horror ebook collection from Amazon containing:
• Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
• 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill
• Horns by Joe Hill
• NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
• Jane Austen at Home by Lucy Worsley; nonfiction biography audiobook from Chirp.
• Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik; young adult fantasy fairytale retelling ebook from Amazon.
• The Bone Maker by Sarah Beth Durst; dark fantasy paperback from Unplugged Book Box
• And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman; literary fiction novella hardcover from Amazon
• Whiskey When We're Dry by John Larison; historical fiction ebook from Amazon
• A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O'Connor; short story collection ebook from Amazon
• Boy in the Box by Marc E Fitch; horror ebook from Amazon
• The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow; historical fiction ebook from Amazon 
• Later by Stephen King; mystery/thriller/horror paperback from Books a Million (ordered in March)
• A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J Maas (ACOTAR #5); fantasy hardcover from Books a Million (ordered in March)
• Ladies of the House by Lauren Edmondson; contemporary Jane Austen retelling paperback from Target
• Good Company by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney; literary fiction hardcover from Target
• It's Kind of a Cheesy Love Story by Lauren Morrill; young adult romance ebook from Amazon

So that's everything I have read and gotten in the Month of April. I didn't dislike anything I read in this month and I'm really happy with my book acquisitions for the month. I'm done with April showers! On to May flowers!

Happy Reading!

Richelle