Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Books Read in April

Let's see...in April, I traveled to Virginia, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania in cars and on planes, camping, staying in hotels, and staying in my mom's guest room. It was a hectic, chaotic month, but all that travel also provided plenty of reading time!

Here's what I finished reading in April:
  • Mudbound by Hillary Jordan (MS) - adult fiction
  • On the Come Up by Angie Thomas - teen/YA fiction on audio
  • Leading Men by Christopher Castellani (NY, Italy) - adult fiction


  • Last Day by Domenica Ruta (MA) - adult fiction, reviewed for Shelf Awareness
  • Lives Laid Away by Stephen Mack Jones (MI) - adult fiction 

That's eight books in all in April, a very good reading month for me! Much of the month was spent packing in as many books for Booktopia (held the first weekend in May) as I could manage - summary coming up next week! I read all fiction last month and mostly adult fiction, with just one  YA novel. I listened to three of the books on audio. I enjoyed all of these, and Mudbound was particularly powerful and well-written, but my favorite of the month (and perhaps even the year!) was Hum If You Don't Know the Words, a moving, heart-breaking, and heart-warming story of love and healing - if you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend it.

Progress in 2019 Reading Challenges:
This is my favorite part of my monthly summary - updating my Reading Challenges:

Mount TBR Reading Challenge - 3 of my 8 books were from my own shelves (and they were all fairly new, so I am still losing ground!).
Monthly Motif Reading Challenge - April was Crack the Case month, so Lives Laid Away by Stephen Mack Jones fit.
Back to the Classics Challenge - no classics read - again! Slow start. I really tried to fit one in, but book group reads, review books, and Booktopia had to come first.
Monthly Keyword Challenge - I didn't read a single book with any of the monthly keywords in the title...again. Clearly this challenge wasn't a good choice for me!
Nonfiction Reading Challenge 2019 - no nonfiction books again last month.
Diversity Reading Challenge - back on track last month, as 5 of my 8 books were diverse books.
Travel the World in Books Reading Challenge - I added two new countries: Italy and South Africa.
2018 Literary Escapes Challenge - I added 2 new states: Michigan and Mississippi. Plus, I read my second book of the year set in our tiny state of Delaware - amazing!
Finally, Bookish Bingo hosted by Chapter Break - not really a challenge per se, but a fun game that I play each month. I filled in 21 squares in April - 




Spaces Filled In:
Mudbound - military, siblings, vengeance
On the Come Up - Easter egg, musician, feisty
Leading Men - travel, shelf love
Sunburn - audio book, tricks or pranks
Hum If You Don't Know the Words - a book someone recommended, transformations
Soon the Light Will Be Perfect - free book, male author
Lives Laid Away - read a physical book, library book, in a series
Last Day - not in a series, tattoo, new adult
Free Space

What was your favorite book read in April?

2 comments:

  1. What a wonderful set of books you read in April! I think you should just let go of the keywords challenge :-)

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    Replies
    1. ha ha - no kidding, Helen! Not a single book has counted yet in 4 months! Clearly not the right kind of challenge for me!

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