Oh, wow, I had a great reading month in April. I cannot believe how well that went—finally! I’m so happy with my reading month and for the most part I read some fantastic books! April feels like I’ve got things BACK ON TRACK, but truth be told I actually had a lot of downtime thanks to COVID so . . . maybe this is all a lie and I’ll go back to being behind in May.
I managed to get through seven (!!) books in April and I got through most of the books I picked from my new TBR Jar (you can see that on my YouTube channel below). I did swap one of my TBR picks for Q because that was coming out in April and seemed more fitting! (but I still read the same amount of ARCs, so, eh?)
However, despite my best efforts, I’m terribly behind on my Goodreads reading challenge. I’m getting stuck at being 10 books behind, or so, thanks to a couple of abysmal reading months. But I will persevere!! Also, April was by far my most diverse reading month when it comes to genres: be sure to check out in my pie chart below which genres unexpectedly claimed the top spot for my reading pattern in April!!
Dear Mrs Bird
by A.J. Pearce
Genre: Historical Fiction
Author: A.J. Pearce
Published: April 2018
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Pages: 288 {paperback}
This was the first book I picked for my April TBR jar. I really loved it! I had suspected that this book would be a story that was my sort of thing but I’d had no idea just how much. This is set in London during the Blitz (WWII) and follows a woman, Emmy, who wants to become a War Correspondent. It’s really gripping and such a wonderful story!
Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies
by Tara Schuster
Genre: Non-Fiction, Self-Help, Memoir
Author: Tara Schuster
Published: February 2020
Publisher: Dial Press
Pages: 318 {hardback}
I definitely needed this in my life. Schuster has written some of the funniest and most relatable memoirs I have ever read. I wasn’t sure if I was totally going to love this when I first bought because I didn’t know who Schuster was but I just thought it sounded so great—and it was!
Review to come
Sleeping Giants
by Sylvain Neuvel
Genre: Sci-Fi
Author: Sylvain Neuvel
Published: May 2016
Publisher: Penguin
Pages: 304 {paperback}
Will I continue the series? Yes
I cannot get over how brilliant this was. This is such a different story and I listened to the audiobook. This is by far also my favourite audiobook because of the cast of voice actors and how well it was performed. I felt like the audiobook was the only true way to read this story and would highly recommend reading it like that!
Review to come
Daughter of the Pirate King
by Tricia Levenseller
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Author: Tricia Levenseller
Published: February 2017
Publisher: Square Fish
Pages: 311 {paperback}
Will I continue the series? Yes
Another brilliant read! I’ve been wanting to pick this up for a few years and was finally convinced to bite the bullet. This was a super fast and addictive read for me filled with everything I could have wanted: pirates, female sassy lead, romance, fighting, treasure maps. You name it. Alosa (the MC) is awesome and I can’t wait to read the sequel.
Review to come
Q
by Christina Dalcher
Genre: Sci-Fi, Dystopian
Author: Christina Dalcher
Published: April 2020
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 384 {paperback}
Will I continue the series?
Like I said, this month just had great read after great read. This was a chilling dystopian that was all too imaginable. I really enjoyed it and Dalcher was super sneaky by writing such short chapters because it was just so impossible to put down!! This has only just been released at the end of April so I would definitely recommend that you grab a copy! This was the ARC I decided to read instead of Painter to the King so that I could review it in time.
Ayoade on Top
by Richard Ayoade
Genre: Non-Fiction, Humour, Memoir
Author: Richard Ayoade
Published: September 2019
Publisher: Faber and Faber
Pages: 256 {paperback}
This was the most interest (read: strange) memoirs I’ve ever read. Not wholly unexpected seeing as it is Ayoade, but the entire book is a review of a film called View from the Top and the way that Ayoade thoroughly picks it apart in the most hilarious ways is 100% worth it. I read this without having seen the film (though I subsequently watched it) and still enjoyed it and it all made perfect sense. Plus there are many great moments where Ayoade somehow relates it to his own life.
Review to come
The Christmas Party
by Karen Swan
Genre: Romance
Author: Karen Swan
Published: October 2019
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Pages: 480 {paperback}
Alas, this let me down. I had been really excited to read this because I’ve previously read and loved a Karen Swan book but this just felt like it went on forever and there were definitely problems with the plot structure. It just feels like you aren’t given anywhere near enough information until way too late in the story! This was the third book I picked from my TBR jar.
Review to come
- I reviewed some books:
- I participated in Top Ten Tuesday:
- March Book Haul
- March Wrap-Up
- Books to Buy This Month (March 2020)
Genres Read
Pages Read
Total: 2,341
Goodreads Reading Challenge
22%, or, 21/95 books
TBR Count
264 [-/+0]
April was fantastic, so much better than every other month so far. I had two weeks off from work thanks to COVID and I really managed to find my groove in my reading life. I’ve started up a new organisational calendar that was inspired by a post I saw over at Whimsy Pages and it has CHANGED MY LIFE. I kid you not. It’s basically just an emoji-coded google calendar but oh my god, lifesaver.
I have also started up a TBR Jar which is a feature that will exclusively be over on my YouTube Channel. I originally did one just to choose which ARCs to read each month but enjoyed that so much that I’ve done one for my full TBR as well for May.
Like I said earlier, I had two weeks off in April thanks to COVID related reasons (I didn’t have it, Western Australia has been relatively fine) and it was absolutely the break I needed. It was so nice to have more time on my hands for reading and blogging!! So I can’t wait to continue sticking to my new routine: so far it seems to be working! But of course, that all depends on my work/university balance which some weeks can be very, very challenging.
What’s more exciting is that I bought a Kindle!!! I love it so much more than I thought I would?! I’ve been thinking about getting one for quite some time but as some publishing houses have swapped to sending out some ARCs over NetGalley and then I found out about Colleen Houck’s newest book (Terraformer, yes, I’ve already pre-ordered) I thought SCREW IT, I NEED AN EREADER. So I got one! And I didn’t realise how much my life was lacking beforehand for not having one. If anyone is interested, I got the new waterproof paperwhite and it is beautiful.
This feels like one of the biggest “about me” sections I’ve done for a long time which is hilarious considering it’s been during the quarantine. Does that say too much about my lifestyle?!?
Movies I Watched
Atlantis: The Lost Empire, 2001: 7/10 stars
A classic, no? I love everything about this Disney (and Disney seems to be a real theme this month). It’s just such a great, adventurous story that doesn’t get nearly enough hype!! It always makes me sad that this film isn’t featured in any way in any of the Disney parks.
Beauty and the Beast, 2017: 9/10 stars
Funny story, the reason I watched this was actually because I thought Onwards had come out but I got the dates wrong: I was too early. So I was sitting there with my popcorn wondering what to do and went, let’s watch Beauty and the Beast! Dan Stevens is the love of my life.
Tangled, 2010: 9/10 stars
I’m mostly sitting here upset at the fact that Tangled came out ten years ago. I am feeling very old. This has to be one of my favourite Disneys that always cheers me up because it’s just so DARN GOOD. Could watch this over and over without fail.
The Kid Who Would Be King, 2019: 5/10 stars
This was absolute trash and I loved it. The movie is actually done really well in terms of the CGI and editing and even the acting wasn’t the worst. But the story is a pile of poop, intentionally I do believe. So if you’re in need of a chuckle this is definitely a film to whip out and enjoy for its cringe factor.
Amerian Sniper, 2014: 8/10
Daaaaaaammn. This film. Ooooof. Hits you real hard. This was an incredible film that I originally wasn’t sold on but as the movie progressed I found myself loving it more and more. I could not BELIEVE the ending, however. Devastating.
Iliza Unveiled, 2019
Being a comedy special I won’t actually rate this one, I just don’t rate these sorts of things (in a literal way, I so rate this in the methaphorical way). Iliza is hilarious and this was no exception. In this special it’s all about marriage and god I love her.
View from the Top, 2003: 5/10 stars
Once again, this was another trash film but I had to watch it. Having read Ayoade on Top this month (which is dedicated to reviewing this movie in fine detail) I just had to know what Ayoade was on about. I loved laughing at this but WOW so trash.
Tick! April done!
What was your favourite book that you read in April?
~~ Kirstie ~~
Upside-Down Books 
Looks like a good month! I hope May is just as good!
(www.evelynreads.com)
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Thanks! It was 🙂 Fingers crossed!
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Dear Mrs Bird is on my wishlist right now. But don’t worry about your Goodreads challenge, you can always change the number. I do it all the time!
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So glad to hear that! I hope you enjoy it 😊 and this is true but I soooo want to reach 95 still 😂
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I just upped mine to 45 but I think I might have to put it to 50 this year!
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That’s awesome!
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Loveeeee this post! And so happy to see how your April goes!❤
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Thank you!! ❤️
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