Hi and welcome to another monthly overview!
I didn’t think it was even remotely possible but months spent in COVID-19 times fly by even faster than regular months! My department is still working in shifts, switching between working in the office and either working from home or having that time off. I worked from home for one week and I had time off for one week, and between listening to audiobooks while working (which I can never do in the office) and while gardening when I had time off my audiobook stats are through the roof. I also did a lot of reading, so overall this is the best bookish month I’ve had this year!
I managed to read another Spanish novel, as per my NY resolution. This time I chose to reread The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella, which dates back from the time when I read a lot of chick lit. For me, it’s the ultimate feel-good novel, it always makes me smile and what with all that’s going on IRL, I could use a little pick-me-up.
In figures April looks like this:
April
Novels: 5501 pages over 18 books
Audiobooks: 66.5 hours over 8 audiobooks
And here’s what I did last month, and some of what I’ll be posting this month:
What I read (full novels):
Ash Mountain, Helen Fitzgerald (review to follow)
Forever in the Memory of God: And Other Stories, Peadar Ó Guilín
He Started it, Samantha Downing
Cursed (Henning Juul 4), Thomas Enger
Blood Red City, Rod Reynolds
The Wise Friend, Ramsey Campbell (review to follow)
Damsel, Elana K. Arnold
La Reina de la Casa (The Undomestic Goddess), Sophie Kinsella
What Lies Between Us, John Marrs (review to follow)
Dear Child, Romy Hausmann (review to follow)
Who We Were, B.M. Carroll (review to follow)
Harrow Lake, Kat Ellis
Rose Madder, Stephen King
Cursed: An Anthology of Dark Fairy Tales
Red Hood, Elana K. Arnold
Ink to Ashes, Russell Day
Afraid of the Light: An anthology of crime fiction
What I read (novellas):
Murder Wore A Mask (Mydworth Mysteries 4), Matthew Costello & Neil Richards
What I listened to:
Bitter Sun, Beth Lewis
Knock Knock, Chris Merritt
The Split, Sharon Bolton
What’s Left Of Me Is Yours, Stephanie Scott (review to follow)
The Dreamers, Karen Thompson Walker
Wilder Girls, Rory Power
The Sister, Dervla McTiernan
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, Holly Jackson
What I read earlier but reviewed in April:
The Bird Tribunal, Agnes Ravatn
Burial Rites, Hannah Kent
The Mercies, Kiran Millwood Hargrave
The City We Became, N. K. Jemisin
The Passengers You Cannot See, The Behrg
The Book of Koli, M.R. Carey
Little Disasters, Sarah Vaughan
Sister, Kjell Ola Dahl
Last month I also reshared my review of Wilderness by B. E. Jones in honour of the paperback publication day.
I hope you had a good month and that you are safe and well! Thanks for joining me today and happy reading xxx
Wow have you slept at all?! What an amazing month… are you sure you want lockdown to end 😉? I’m terribly excited that you read What Lies Between Us by John Marrs, my fav author! I do hope you liked it and I can’t wait to read your review.
Wow I’m so impressed and a little jealous, no very jealous! Please give me some tips xx
Thanks and sorry! I was afraid I was losing my reading mojo for a minute there in March but in April it just kinda returned with a vengeance I had no hand in 😄 I do find that keeping track of the number of books and pages/minutes really motivates me. And with fewer social obligations there’s more reading time. It does take me a while longer to get into a story these days, but once I manage that, I’m fine. My blogging mojo on the other hand has shrivelled up and died 😫
Impressive amount of books read! I’m lucky if I read 10 in one month.
Thank you 😊
Wow, what a great month of reading! 18 books!!! I haven’t read any of these yet but I’m going to check them out 🙂
Thank you 😊 I’ve really set myself up to fail in May 😂
66.5 hours… HOLY GUACAMOLE is all I have to say!!!!!!!!!
🤣 I’ll never be able to recreate those optimal circumstances 😂
What did you think of Knock Knock and Rose Madder? Fab month!!
I had a great time with both and I blew through them both as well 😄 So happy I won Knock Knock and got to listen to my first novel by Chris, and so happy I finally got around to reading Rose Madder!
Wow girl, your reading month was on fire!! And I thought I had done well… xD My blogging mojo is completely missing though; have you seen it by any chance? I hope May will treat you well! xx
Thanks Yvo! Yes my reading mojo is definitely strong but, like yours, my blogging mojo has gone MIA. All my reviews that are going live now have been written well in advance, I’ve been having so much trouble expressing my thoughts these last couple of weeks 😔
Oh yes I feel you! Especially blog tour reviews are a struggle right now as I feel I’m not doing the books justice… ;( xx
I know the feeling 😔