April was such a good reading month! I did two major readathons, OWLs Readathon and End Game Readathon (hosted by Kari and I), and successfully completed both. I even read some things that weren’t on my TBRs for my readathons, and read some short stories with my English 11 class. I read 21 things this month, which is pretty good if you ask me! I loved almost everything I read, so I really can’t complain about it all that much.
A highlight of this month was a 24 hour readathon I did. I was getting close to the end of the End Game Readathon and I was afraid I wouldn’t finish the challenges, so I took the Saturday of Easter weekend to read as much as I could over a 24 hour period. I finished three books, and started a fourth during that time. It went really well.
Without further ado, let’s jump into what I’ve read this month:
- Someday by Drew Hayden Taylor
Rating: 4 stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: The first thing I read this month was a short play that my school is considering as a text for students to study. We got a copy in, ordered by the librarian, and I gave it a read. The content matter is really sad as it deals with the sixties scoop and a family that was forcibly separated being reunited, but it was really well written. I definitely enjoyed it. It hit on a lot of good points and it really got me feeling strongly for the characters which is hard in a short play. I definitely recommend it.
- The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Rating: 4 stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: Apparently, this was the month with a lot of plays! The second thing I read was also a play. The Crucible hit a couple of challenges for both of my readathons and also fell under the heading of something that I had been meaning to read for quite awhile. I borrowed my copy from my classroom library and gave it a read through. It was a frustrating read because I empathised with some characters and wanted things to go their way, and it really didn’t. Some of those characters deserved better and it makes me angry.
- “The Cremation of Sam McGee” by Robert Service
Rating: 4 stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: The first short story/poem I read with my grade 11s this year was this one. I don’t have a lot to say about it, but I really like it and it makes for a nice transition between poetry and short stories. It’s an interesting story.
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Rating: 2 stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: This was my first audiobook of the month. As I have mentioned before, I’m trying to read more classics and this one was available at the library. I’ve heard good things about the book, so I was interested. To be honest, it wasn’t my favourite. I struggled to understand what was happening at first and when I got into the story finally, I didn’t really like the plot. It was definitely an intriguing concept, but I just wasn’t super into it.
- Curse of the Arctic Star by Carolyn Keene
Rating: 3 stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: Pretty quickly I had to replace a book on my planned TBR with something that was available through my overdrive app. This was a modern Nancy Drew story and it was interesting. I enjoyed the nostalgia of the book, but on the whole it wasn’t my favourite time with Nancy and the gang. I loved Nancy Drew as a child, and this one was the same kind of idea with Nancy as a teenage sleuth, and that was neat but the story wasn’t as good at the original series. Plus the mystery didn’t really fully get solved by the end of the book and what’s the point of that?
- “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr
Rating: 4 stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: This is another short story read with my class. It’s a weird one, but I like it and I think the kids enjoy it.
- Bloodwitch by Susan Dennard
Rating: 5 stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: This was up there as one of my favourite reads of the month. The Witchlands series is one of my favourite fantasy series and I feel like it deserves way more attention then it gets. Bloodwitch is the third book in the series (though there is a novella) and it was just so good. It was the perfect continuation of the series. I love the characters and I love the story, and now I have to desperately wait for the next one (which doesn’t have a release date so colour me sad) and so I think you need to go pick up this series and read it.
- Don’t You Cry by Mary Kubica
Rating: 4 stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: This was such an interesting concept for this thriller. It wasn’t my favourite thriller that I have ever read, but it seriously had me going! I was making predictions and definitely thought I knew what was going on, but it turned on I was horribly wrong! There were some good twists and turns, and I really liked the ending. I recommend it.
- Romanov by Nadine Brandes
Rating: 4.5 stars
Format: eBook
Review: This was my one eARC of the month. I’ve had it on my phone for awhile and had started it, but finally dug further into it in April because it fit for some of my prompts for my readathons. I have a longer review on this blog so go check that out if you’d like to know more about my thoughts on it.
- Let it Snow: Three Holiday Romances by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle
Rating: 4 stars
Format: eBook
Review: This book was like the only John Green book I hadn’t read and as I love both John Green and Maureen Johnson, I felt like eventually I had to read it. It worked for my readathons so I picked it up, and I absolutely had a good time reading it. It’s a cute collection of three romances and while it would have been way more appropriate to read in December, I still really liked it. I loved the way the stories overlapped while still allowing each story to shine on their own.
- “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl
Rating: 4 stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: Yet another short story for my English 11 class. I remember reading this when I was younger and being really shocked by it, so obviously it was a fun one to study with my kids. It’s a good story, and you should read it if you haven’t already.
- “All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury
Rating: 4 stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: This was the last short story I studied with my English 11 class. This story is so, so heartbreaking. It’s like a punch in the gut. There’s also a video you can watch if you’d like, and the video actually made me cry while sitting in my classroom so that’s no joke.
- Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Barshardoust
Rating: 5 stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: This book also fit in with some of my challenges for my readathons. I’ve had this book for about a year, and had been putting it off (have I mentioned being distracted by new shiny books quite often?) and so it was great to finally have an excuse to prioritize it and read it. I loved this one, and I loved the characters. Mina and Lynet were both such strong women and I loved them so much for it. They were so different from each other, but I loved how they interacted with each other. Their bond as mother/daughter was very compelling and I really loved the take on a familiar story and how Barshardoust made it her own.
- The Way I Used to Be by Amber Smith
Rating: 5 stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: The Way I Used to Be was the first book I read in my 24 hour readathon. It was a fairly easy read language/reading level wise, but an emotionally devastating read content wise. This is story was so well written, and so deeply impactful. We watch Eden grow up, and we watch her deal with what happened to her and it feels so relatable the way she lashes out at the world. I cried over most of this book because I just felt so deeply for her. Trigger warning for rape, but if you can stomach the content, I really, really recommend this one.
- The Power by Naomi Alderman
Rating: 5 stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: I have been putting off The Power for a long time, and I’ve owned it for a long time. It came highly recommended to me by the librarian who used to work at my school. She loved this book and I was intrigued and definitely wanted to read it, but I just never got around to it. Well, the time finally came and I am so glad that it did. This book was mindboggling. The concept was so unique that I genuinely had no idea what to expect. I quickly fell in love with all the characters that we followed, and just kept flipping pages needing to know what happened. The ending through me through a loop and really made me think. I definitely think this one is worth picking up if you liked The Handmaid’s Tale, because while the concept is different, it gave me similar vibes.
- Scythe by Neal Shusterman
Rating: 5 stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: Kari is so happy I finally read this one. She’s been bugging me to read it for awhile. I am so so glad that I did. This story is so cool. Again, the characters were amazing and the plot was engaging. I wanted them to thrive and succeed and I wanted to see what they were going to get up to and how it was going to play out. Citra and Rowan are my babies and I love them. I’m definitely going to have to read the next book, but I think I’ll wait a little closer to when the third book comes out.
- Dear Martin by Nic Stone
Rating: 4 stars
Format: eBook
Review: I’m going to have to say that I’m so glad that I read this book. It’s not what I expected. The way it was written was very different, but I really liked it. It worked really well for the story being told. The issues discussed, Black Lives Matter and police brutality, are still so painfully relevant and I think these are the stories we need to keep telling because they are stories that continue to produce empathy in people. Justyce was such a fascinating character. Dear Martin was a quick read but it was chock full of great story.
- Elisabeth: The Princess Bride, Austria – Hungary, 1853 by Barry Denenberg
Rating: 4 stars
Format: Physical Copy
Review: Elisabeth was another quick read, about 90-100 pages with about 50 pages of historical information at the back of the book. The story felt kind of rushed, but the history that it covered was really interesting to me. It’s not a period/area/figure that I really know a lot about. However, Elisabeth was a really interesting person to read about. I also enjoyed revisiting the Royal Diaries series.
- An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Rating: 4 stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: My friend Cheyenne loves this series so I put it on my TBR and put it on hold through my overdrive app. It came in this month and so I began to listen. I liked how they had two different narrators reading the story, and both of them had really lovely voices to listen to. This book stressed me out, and for awhile I wasn’t sure if I was going to continue on with the series. However, I got over myself and the stress and forced myself to continue and I really enjoyed the ending. It was super exciting and it made me want to continue with the series.
- The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter
Rating: 4 stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: I was in a bit of a thriller mood this month, so I picked up an audiobook of a The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter. I really like the way that she writes a thriller and the plot of this one was intriguing. This started out super exciting and then kept you wondering just what had happened and whodunnit. My theories were all wrong and I was living for it. It’s not my favourite thriller I’ve ever read/listened to but I definitely really enjoyed it.
- Last Breath by Karin Slaughter
Rating: 4 stars
Format: Audiobook
Review: My last book that I finished this month was a prequel to The Good Daughter. I really enjoyed reading about Charlotte, one of the main character’s, history. It was a short novella, and quick listen, but totally worth it. I really liked seeing this happier time in Charlotte’s life, though you really felt for her as the story progressed. She’s a great character.
Woosh! That’s everything I read. What did you read in April? Did we read any of the same things? Let me know in the comments!
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