Books Read in April

Weeping cherry tree in bloom

I had a great reading month in April, though it took me a while to catch up on all my reviews! Here are the books that I finished last month:

• Notorious by Gordon Korman (Canada, MI) - middle-grade fiction on audio
• Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut (NY, Germany) - adult fiction
• Snapdragon by Kat Leyh - middle-grade graphic novel

• The Late Show by Michael Connelly (CA) - adult fiction
• Go To Sleep (I Miss You) by Lucy Knisley - adult graphic memoir 
• Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore (NY) - adult fiction on audio

• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer (NY) - adult fiction
• Greek to Me by Mary Norris (Greece) - adult nonfiction/memoir
• Go with the Flow by Lily Williams and Karen Schneemann - teen graphic novel

• The Phantom Twin by Lisa Brown - teen/YA graphic novel
• How to Write Nonfiction by Joanna Penn - nonfiction

Eleven books in one month is a LOT for me, but before you get too impressed, four of these were graphic novels or memoirs, easily read in an hour or two, and the last book on the list took me over a year to finish! I read it in bits and pieces while writing and publishing my own book. Of the eleven books, three were nonfiction and eight were novels. I listened to two of them on audio. Seven of the books were for adults, two for middle-grade readers, and two for teens and/or young adults. All in all, that's a pretty good mix for one month! It's always tough for me to choose a favorite--I enjoyed all of these--but I think Oona Out of Order, with its original, twisty time-jumping plot grabbed me the most.

Progress in 2020 Reading Challenges:
You can see all of the reading challenges I am participating in and full lists of the books read for each at the challenges link. I have some fun ones going this year! Here's how April stacked up:

Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2020 - I read 8 books from my own shelves last month! The pandemic has been great for reducing my TBR shelves.
2020 Monthly Motif Reading Challenge - April was Classics or Currents, so I chose a current (published in 2020), Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore

Back to the Classics 2020 - Finally, I read a classic! Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut was first published in 1969, more than 50 years ago, making it a classic for this challenge. That brings my 2020 grand total to ... one!

PopSugar Reading Challenge - this is a unique one! I fit nine of my eleven books into categories in April, filling in 26 categories so far this year--it's getting more challenging with fewer categories left but still a lot of fun:

1. A book published in 2020: Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore
2. A book with a pun in the title: Go with the Flow by Lily Williams and Karen Schneemann
3. A book with at least a four-star rating on Goodreads: Snapdragon by Kat Leyh
4. A book set in a country beginning with "C" - Notorious by Gordon Korman (Canada)
5. A book with a character with vision impairment or enhancement: Go To Sleep (I Miss You) by Lucy Knisley
6. A book set in the 1920's: The Phantom Twin by Lisa Brown
7.  A book by an author who has written more than 20 books: The Late Show by Michael Connelly
8.  A book with more than 20 letters in its title: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
9.  A book published in the 20th century: Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

2020 Nonfiction Reader's Challenge - I read three nonfiction books in April, fitting into the categories of Related to an Occupation and Published in 2020. Only Greek to Me (travel memoir) didn't fit into any of my remaining categories.

2020 Diversity Reading Challenge - Five of my eleven books were diverse, according to the rules of the challenge, though none fit this month's category (Middle-Eastern/South Asian).

Travel the World in Books Reading Challenge - I added 3 new countries: Canada, Germany, and Greece.

2020 Literary Escapes Challenge - I only added one new state, Michigan, but read lots of books set in New York last month!

And finally, Bookish Bingo hosted by Chapter Break - not really a challenge per se, but a fun game that I play each month! Stop by to print out this month's Bingo card and play along. In April, I filled 18 spaces on my bingo card:

Spaces Filled: 

Notorious: audiobook, gold on the cover
Slaughterhouse Five: historic setting
Snapdragon: not in a series
The Late Show: favorite author, in a series, vengeance
Go to Sleep (I Miss You): read a physical book
Oona Out of Order: free book, set in spring
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: shelf love
Greek to Me: book club read, travel
Go with the Flow: feisty character
The Phantom Twin: romance, siblings
How to Write Nonfiction: not a new release
Free Space

What was your favorite book read in April?