Month in Review: April 2019

April was a pretty good month for me I think.  I feel accomplished having tackled not one but two behemoth novels that accounted for over 2,000 pages of reading alone.  I found some new favorites and authors to look out for in Sylvain Neuvel and Maria Dahvana Headley.  To top it off- I added another notch to my classics belt with Beowulf!

Can I start with some stats?  Is that allowed?

Books read: 9 for April, 32 for the year

Pages read: 3,925 out of 10,597 (So 37% of my reading was done in April alone… interesting.)

Average rating: 3.61

Female Authors: 3 out of 15 for the year (Booo! My goal this year is to read more women than men.  For some reason I gravitate more towards male authors. It’s a bad habit and I’m trying to break it.)

Favorite Read:

Review here.  I gave this book 4.5 stars, but if I’m being honest, it deserves 5.  I was a little thrown by the ending at the time, but this book has stuck with me.  Weeks later I find myself still thinking about it, and wondering how I can convince my mother to read it.

Longest read:

Review here.  This is probably the longest book I’ve ever read at 1,345 pages.  The Priory of the Orange Tree was a close second at 848 pages.  I feel like I’ve lost a part of my soul having to say that it was also my lowest rated read.

Shortest Read:

Review here.  The Test clocks in at a mere 112 pages and is absolutely worth the two hours it takes to read it. It was a close second for highest rated, and really only lost out because The Mere Wife effected me so much more.

Series Completed:

Luna by Ian McDonald, review here.  I’m sad it’s over- I could spend another 3, 5 or 10 books with these characters. On the bright side, in the bottomless depths of the Edelweiss catalogues, I’ve discovered a novella expected to release this fall set in this world.  Once they’ve got a cover up it’s headed straight for Can’t Wait Wednesday.

Other reads completed this month:

ARCs approved:

I’m super excited for Atmosphaera Incognita by Neal Stephenson.  It will actually be the first time I’ve read him, and while it may not be the best place to start, I’m happy I won’t feel obligated to finish a thousand page novel if I don’t end up being a fan.

A Hero Born is actually a wish I had granted.  I was super excited about it because I’m always looking for a good translated and foreign favorite novel, but I’ve seen some less-than-stellar reviews on this particular translation.  Lucky me it’s not due out until fall so I won’t feel too bad about procrastinating.

GoodReads Giveaway Won:

I’m SO excited I won the giveaway for Ninth Step Station.  Not long after I downloaded my kindle copy, the kind folks at Serial Box sent me a redemption code to get the audio to go with it.  I’ve never tried Serial Box before but I hear it is full cast audio, and one of the authors, Malka Older, I know is super talented.  I can’t wait to get started!

Looking ahead…

Currently reading:

Just to assure myself I really do like Under the Dome and that my reading tastes haven’t changed drastically, I’m re-reading it so I can later do a compare-contrast (and finally put up a review).  It’s long but it’s going quick and only 10% I’m fairly certain it isn’t my taste that’s changed.

Friday Black was put on my radar by the Newburyport Literary Festival, which happened to be the same day as the Providence one.  I was combing their list of authors trying to determine which festival I would enjoy more and Adjei-Brenyah was one author I’d never heard of before but that I was sort of sorry I would miss out on.  This is a collection of short stories, many of which happen to be speculative fiction.  It’s definitely interesting so far, and his stories are very thought provoking.

Planned reads for May:

And I guess that’s it!  *If you don’t hear from me, send help. I’m already behind!*