Books Read in April

Yes, you read that right - April. This is a lateness record even for me! May was crazy busy, but now that we are past our son's graduation, I am trying to catch up!

I didn't want to skip my April summary completely, though, because April was an amazing reading month for me. I read a total of 9 books, which is a LOT for me (which partly explains why it took me so long to finish all my April reviews). Here's what I read:

• Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys, YA historical fiction (Prussia, Poland)
• The Lightning Queen by Laura Renau, middle-grade audio (Mexico)
• The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens, adult fiction/suspense (Minnesota)

• Something New: Tales from a Makeshift Bride by Lucy Knisley, graphic memoir (IL/NY)
• The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce, adult fiction (UK)
• Blog, Inc. by Joy Deangdeelert Cho, nonfiction 

 

• Upside-Down Magic by Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle & Emily Jenkins, middle-grade audio 
• The Big Dark by Rodman Philbrick, middle-grade audio (New Hampshire)
• Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz, adult fiction/suspense (Colorado)

Wow! So, how did I manage a record-setting reading month? Well, Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon was in April, which helped. I listen to a few middle-grade audios which tend to be shorter than YA or adult. And one of my books, Blog, Inc., I started last September and finally finished! Of the 9 books I read, 2 were nonfiction (rare for me), 1 was YA, and 3 were middle-grade (and also audio). It was a nice variety of books, all enjoyable!

Progress on 2016 Reading Challenges:
This is my favorite part of my monthly summary - updating my Reading Challenges! Still not much progress on my Read Your Own Damn Books Challenge - only two of these NINE were TBR books from my shelf! For the Monthly Motif Reading Challenge, April was Best of the Best month (award winners) - The Life We Bury won multiple awards. I read two more nonfiction books for my 2016 Nonfiction Reading Challenge, but STILL no classics for the 2016 Classics Challenge! For my Travel the World in Books Reading Challenge, I read books set in Poland and Mexico.  I am also tracking the states my books are set in, even though there is no Where Are You Reading challenge this year - I added 4 new states this month!