It’s my favorite time of the month! Here’s a look back on my bookish activity this month. Let’s see if I stuck with my April TBR strategy:
Books I read:
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
1666: Plague, War and Hellfire by Rebecca Rideal
Red Sister by Mark Lawrence
Geekerella by Ashley Poston
The Girl of Ink and Stars by Kiran Millgrave Hardwood
Caraval by Stephanie Garber
The Futures by Anna Pitoniak
The Jungle by Pooja Puri
Northern Lights by Philip Pullman
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
The Lady and the Highlander by Lecia Cornwall
A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

I read twelve books this month! I kicked off the month with The Handmaid’s Tale, which I freaking loved. It was my first time reading it because I was scared of potential scenes of sexual violence. This wasn’t the case at all. You may have noticed that I haven’t done a review of this book. I can’t quite sort out what I want to say just yet — it hit me pretty hard! I’ll think of something that will do it justice.
After a slowdown with 1666 and Red Sister, I wanted a few books that I could power through and use to bring my numbers up. Geekerella, The Girl of Ink and Stars, and Caraval were all read in a single day. The Futures was my first physical ARC and I really enjoyed it! I’ve got a review coming up tomorrow for that book. The Jungle was a little outside my comfort zone, but still a good and important read; you can check out my review here. I had a massive change of heart while reading Northern Lights. I’ve stated a few times on this blog that I felt it was going really slowly and wasn’t compelling, but that all changed around the midway point. I ended up absolutely loving it and plan to read the rest of the books. I finished my first Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses (‘finally!’, some of you might say). I have a lot of thoughts about this one. It was fun, but really problematic in a lot of ways. I plan to post a review soon, watch this space!
Finally, I blasted through A Darker Shade of Magic and The Lady and the Highlander. The former was absolutely amazing, the latter was definitely not. A Darker Shade of Magic has been on my shelf for over a year and I’m so happy I finally got around to reading it. A glowing review is forthcoming.
Books I’m currently reading:
I’m currently reading a long overdue ARC of Sea by Sarah Driver. So far it’s a fun fantasy adventure at sea, featuring a stubborn but brave young girl. I’ve pulled The Wrath and the Dawn out of the ol’ TBR stack. I’ve been looking forward to this one for ages, I’m glad I finally found it at my local bookshop. I’ve also just borrowed my parent’s copy of The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee, which looks amazing and is all about crazy opera performers.
Books bought:
Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee
Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel
Katherine Howard: The Tragic Story of Henry VIII’s Fifth Queen by Josephine Wilkinson
The Power by Naomi Alderman
The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh
Runemarks by Joanna Harris
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
The Circle by David Eggers
Collected Ghost Stories by M. R. James

So I didn’t really stick to my two-out-one-in April TBR strategy, but I did actually read more books than I bought this month. I think I earned a cookie for that.
I’ve had my eye on most of these for awhile. I think I’m going to tackle The Power, Ninefox Gambit, Sleeping Giants, and Strange the Dreamer first.
So there we have it! This is what my TBR pile looked like at the beginning of April:

This is what it looks like now. I’ve done a little spring cleaning:

It’s still out of control, but I’ve shifted some stuff around and I think this is going to be a good month! I’ll continue on with my two-out-one-in system.
How did the rest of you do this month? What’s the best book you’ve read in April? Got any books you’re looking forward to in May? Leave a comment!
I have finished six books so this month and I will finish another one tonight. So seven overall. The best book I read this month was Colin Tudge’s The Secret Life of Birds. It is a popular science book about the evolution of birds. As you know, I love taking photos of birds so it was interesting to learn more about the science of birds.
The other good books I read this month were the Queen of the Night which you stole from me this afternoon and The Sellout. Both books are rambling and disturbing. I feel like I would need to read both again to get everything out of these books. They were full of surprises and were shocking in parts, although for very different reasons.
Finally, the book that was the most fun to read was Julia Kelly’s The Governess Was Wicked. Who knew that romance novels could be so much fun.
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Wow! 12 books, nicely done. 🙂
Random side note: I absolutely love that kitty lamp in your book photos. It’s so cute!
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Thank you! That kitty lamp was a Christmas present from a friend who knows me very well, I love it too!
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