firewhiskeyreader

We are entering the time of the year where everything is busy all the time and also the weather changes are wreaking havoc on my immune system. I’ve slept so much today so I think I’m mostly ready to write this post today. Here’s hoping.

April was a pretty good reading month, although I truly said, what tbr? And just mood read the whole month. Is that very different from usual? Maybe not. But let’s get started with the books, shall we?

Books Read in April by Rating

5 Stars

I’m not sure why exactly, but April was very much a month where what I was in the mood for was finally reading some nonfiction books that I was really interested in. Two of them were absolutely bangers for me, What My Bones Know and Everything is Tuberculosis. The first is about one woman’s journey with Complex PTSD and that was fascinating. I would love to read more about Complex PTSD, but I want to avoid the most popular book after learning a bit about the author in What My Bones Know. So if you have any books you would recommend, definitely let me know! And Everything is Tuberculosis was so fascinating. I love reading a nonfiction that makes me want to quit my job and get another degree to try and fix a problem that I previously knew nothing about. In this case, I want a Masters in Public Health and to go to bat for USAID, which is under attack right now politically.

I also read two really great contemporary romances, A False Start and Wild and Wrangled, both of which were the final book in their respective series. I really love the worlds that Elsie Silver and Lyla Sage create just in general, so it’s no surprise both of these books worked so well for me.

Blood Over Bright Haven is my other stand out besides the weird nonfiction mood, because this is a much darker fantasy read than my usual fare. And let me just tell you, Blood Over Bright Haven is genuinely FANTASTIC and if you’re at all interested, I would highly recommend. It’s a realization that the religion you’ve been following your whole life through your academic pursuits is maybe not what you thought type of story and it’s wonderful.

Otherwise, you can find my ARC review of Death at a Highland Wedding by Kelley Armstrong on my blog, but the obvious tl;dr is that I loved it so much and Magic Rises was a reread with the graphic audio. I’ve been really enjoying these rereads and I’ve been going slowly through the series with the new audios.

4.5 Stars

An ARC Review of Bold Moves is coming soon, but I really enjoyed it so much. I think Barry is super talented and also wildly under read. More people need to pick up her books. Saving 6 is the first book of Joey and Aoife’s story and it was heartbreaking, but also, I didn’t ever quite manage to sink in quite as thoroughly as I did to Shannon and Johnny’s story so I felt like a 4.5 was the right rating. I’m working on Redeeming 6 now though and I do still love these characters so much.

4 Stars

Let’s start with covering my contemporary romances that I really enjoyed! Say You’ll Remember Me is not my favorite Abby Jimenez, but it still had me laughing out loud and also crying, so it’s not like it was terrible. Just not her best and that was largely because the conflict between the couple felt so sad and awful that I was struggling with it a bit. Takes One to Know One is great and you can find my review of it here. Off the Hook by Julie Olivia didn’t become a new favorite like the first book from her I read, but it was absolutely fabulous, I just got aggravated with the third act. The Heir by Ava Rani was mostly fantastic, but also there’s something Ana Huang dark lurking underneath the surface in the plot of this one and it just didn’t quite come together the way I think she wanted it to.

Then we have my other two nonfiction reads of the month. Heartbreak is the National Anthem was really super fun, but ultimately doesn’t live up to the premise of the subtitle, in that it doesn’t exactly explore how Taylor Swift has changed the pop landscape. But I had fun with the reminiscing about the Eras Tour and all of her excellent hits over the years. Grief is for People was a really poignant read of a personal exploration of her own grief and I thought it was really well done, but something about the way it ended felt like it sort of stumbled to the end rather than ending strong.

3 Stars

I’ve ranted plenty about Last Chance to Save the World in my ARC Review, so I’m not going to get into it here, but know that three stars feel generous. Meanwhile on The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean… I read this because of my in person book club and then I couldn’t actually make it to the meeting. I have no idea how I feel about this book. There are some really interesting concepts in it, but I didn’t love it? But it’s also not my kind of book, so… You know.

Closing Thoughts

What were your favorite books of April? Did you have as good of a reading month as me? I hope so!

xx