Rearview Mirror // April 2020

Still operating under the “better late than never” premise, here’s the roundup from April!

Favorite April Read

It’s just super hard to top rereading a book that’s been on my list of favorites so long that I can’t even remember the first time I read it!  So I have to go with Anne of Avonlea for this one!

Most Disappointing April Read

Despite the fact that I did mostly enjoy this one, I’m putting Sofia Lundberg’s The Red Address Book here for this month.  There was just a lot of potential that never felt like this book achieved, plus I was really over the insistence that the main love story was super romantic when it was mostly just aggravating.

Other April Reads

• 3.5*
  • Robin Kane series by Eileen Hill
• 4*
  • The Washington Wolves series by Karla Sorensen
  • His Good Opinion by Nancy Kelley
  • The Last Equation of Isaac Severy by Nova Jacobs
  • Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder (I read the first three books in this series in April, but will review them with the rest of the books, which I read in May)
  • Moonlight Becomes You by Mary Higgins Clark
  • A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan
  • Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
• 4.5*
  • Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
  • Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder
• 5*
  • Leave It to Psmith by P.G. Wodehouse

April Stats

• Total Number of Books Read:  19 (15 physical; 4 Kindle)
• Total Pages Read:  5857
• Average Star Rating for April:  4.02 (highest month of the year so far)
• Longest Book:  Fire Study (441 pages)
• Shortest Book:  The Mystery of Glengary Castle (188 pages)
• Oldest Book:  Anne of Avonlea (published 1909)
• Newest Book:  Focused (published 2020)
• Number of New-to-Me Authors:  5

April DNFs

I was trying to read a few more of my oldest Kindle books, but had two more fails in a row.  Did I like not even read book descriptions before downloading them back in 2016?!

Although in fairness White Tiger (by Kylie Chan) does kind of sound like a book I would like.  But it was so, so, SO slow.  I got through 22% of this book and finally bailed.  Absolutely nothing was happening, the main character wasn’t particularly likable, and this book was the first in a trilogy, so while I may have slogged through it on its own, there was no way I was going to read THREE of these books.

I didn’t even make it that far into Veiled Empire by Nathan Gamson – just the first chapter was full of graphic violence and that just ain’t me.

TBR Update

This I keep updated as I go, so it’s current as of today, rather than as of the end of April.  I’m sure it’s off-kilter, though, because I get most of my TBR additions from reading book reviews on all of your lovely blogs, and am now up to almost 700 unread book blogging emails!!!!

For those of you who don’t know, I’m weirdly obsessive with organizing the TBR, and have it on a spreadsheet divided into five different tabs:

• Standalones:  480 (down one)
• Nonfiction:  117 (holding steady)
• Personal (which includes all books I own (fiction and nonfiction), but lists any series I own as only one entry…):  666 (down four, and a weirdly appropriate number for these bizarre times haha)
• Series (each series counted separately, not each book within a series):  243 (up one)
• Mystery Series (each series counted separately, not each book within a series): 114 (holding steady)

Reading Challenge Updates

• #ReadingEurope2020 – visited one country – France (total 4/46 complete)
• #ReadtheUSA2020 – visited three states: Nebraska, Rhode Island, and Washington (total 19/50 complete)
• #SeparatedbyaPondTour – visited the three states above, and no where else!! (Total 33/159 complete.)
• #LitsyAtoZ – 2 books (20/26 complete)
• #BackwardsAtoZ – 10 books (No D through no M on my second list – I’m trying to do this one in order and to see how many times I can get through the alphabet!)

Current Reads

I just started Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson.  While none of Swanson’s books have become instant classics that I loved and wanted to read again and again, I haven’t regretted reading a single one of them as they have all had excellent pacing and engaging stories, so I’m interested to see where this one goes.  I’m also doing a buddy read of Sense & Sensibility, just one chapter a day, which I’m really enjoying.

Up Next 

My probable next five(ish) reads…

• Heidi by Johanna Spyri – I’ve been meaning to reread this book for simply ages.  I’m also planning to read the two sequels, both written by Spyri’s translator, Charles Tritten:  Heidi Grows Up and Heidi’s Children.
• Pigeon Post by Arthur Ransome – I’m genuinely excited about reading the next Swallows & Amazons tale!!
• King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry – another reread of a childhood favorite
• The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie – I’m in a Litsy group that is reading one Christie book per month in published order, and this is May’s book!!
• The Snark-Out Boys and the Avocado of Death by Daniel Pinkwater – another book I’ve been meaning to reread for eons!!

Well that’s the wrap-up for April – maybe I’ll actually get to write some May reviews IN MAY!  :-D  Hope all of you are doing well!!!