Happy May! What Did You Read in April?

[dorothyinAus]

What was your favorite?

How are you doing with any challenges you are working on? Are you on track for your yearly reading goal, if you have one?

Are you looking forward to any new books coming out in May?

[abs]

May? This year is flying by!!

April was an okay reading month for me.

King's Cage: I initially gave it two stars but I think I might even do one. It was SO boring and every page was a struggle. To be fair, I did finally give up at the 75% mark. Maybe it got better after that but I doubt it.

A Court of Thorn and Roses: 4 stars

A Court of Mist and Fury: 5 stars

My list of books read this month is much longer if we count kids books I read with DD...

Can't wait for a Court of Wings and Ruin! Tomorrow!!!

[ufcasey]

Books read in May:

1 star
Trigger by Scarlett Dawn

2.5 stars
Red Moon Rising by Elizabeth Kelly
Lonen's War by Jeffe Kennedy
Seven Minutes in Heaven by Eloisa James
Anchor by Nicole Blanchard

3 stars
The Romanov Sisters by Helen Rappaport
Taking Turns by J.A. Huss
Kisscut by Karin Slaughter
Beyond Innocence by Kit Rocha
Devil in Spring by Lisa Kleypas
Yes, Please by Willow Summers
Now, Please by Willow Summers

3.5 stars
A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab

4.5 stars
Shield of Thunder by David Gemmell
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

5 stars
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas  <-- favorite


I am looking forward to the following new releases in May:
The Boy on the Bridge by M.R. Carey (May 02)
A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas (May 02)
The Queen and the Cure by Amy Harmon (May 09)
Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh (May 16)
White Hot by Ilona Andrews (May 30)

[snshne322]

I did pretty good this month and got sucked into a couple series.

Neanderthal Seeks Human (Knitting in the City #1) by Penny Reid ****
Neanderthal Marries Human (Knitting in the City #1.5) by Penny Reid ***
Friends without Benefits (Knitting in the City #2) by Penny Reid ****
Fifth Grave Past the Right (Charley Davidson #5) by Darynda Jones ****
Sixth Grave on the Edge (Charley Davidson #6) by Darynda Jones ****
Seventh Grave and No Body (Charley Davidson #7) by Daryna Jones ****
Eight Grave After Dark (Charley Davidson #8) by Darynda Jones ****
The Dirt on the Ninth Grave (Charley Davidson #9) by Darynda Jones ****
The Curse of the Tenth Grave (Charley Davidson #10) by Darynda Jones ****
Blood Vow (BDB Legacy #2) by JR Ward **
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Saraj J Maas ****




ACOWAR!  And seeing Saraj J Maas later this month!!

[AJL]

What I read in April:

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover 4/5*
The City Baker's Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller 4/5*
The Hating Game by Sally Thorne 4/5*
Swear on This Life by Renee Carlino 3/5*
Mystic Summer by Hannah McKinnon 2/5*
The Girl from Summer Hill by Jude Devereaux 2/5*
The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay by Kelly Harms 2/5*
Keep by Rachel Van Dyken 2/5*

Pick a favorite? Hmm... I think it's a tie between The City Baker's Guide to Country Living and The Hating Game. I enjoyed both very much.

My only reading challenge is quantity. I've read 37/100 for the year. I'm 4 books ahead of schedule at this current pace.

None of the books I'm really looking forward to reading are coming out this month.

[pandora89]

April was a pretty slow month for me.

While You Were Sleeping - 3.5*
Still Life - 4*
Results May Vary - 4*
Nine Women, One Dress - 3.5*
Find Me - 1.5/2*
The One That Got Away - 3*

I am looking forward to reading Into The Water by Paula Hawkins.

[CrazyLucky]

I read All the Missing Girls. It was ok.
I'm currently almost finished Lincoln in the Bardo. I feel like I should like it because all the critics LOVE it. And they're smart, so if I want to think I'm smart, I should probably like it. But I don't really. I'm just getting through. I think it's really slow in some spots and I think the concept could have and should have been much more interesting than it is.
I think I'm going to read the Secret Life of Bees next.

[ally]

In April I read:
All By Myself, Alone, Mary Higgins Clark, 4*
The Map Thief, Heather Terrell, 4*
The Rosie Project, Graeme Simsion, 3*

I spent a lot of time with Victoria and Albert, but it is still not finished!

I have read 12/35 books for the year.

I have so many books stocked up to read that I do not even know the new releases for May!

[travella]

April reads:

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher 1*
We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter 2*
Perfect Little World by Kevin Wilson 2*
Fractured by Catherine McKenzie 2.5*

A lot of mediocre books last month. I was ready for a good book so I started A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny and it has been exactly what I needed. I'm hoping that the rest of the month is just as good.

I'm doing well on my reading goal - 56% (17/30) of the way complete. I did set it really low though because I wasn't sure how much free time I would have this year.

[rootbeerfloat]

The Romanov Sisters, Helen Rappaport - 3*
The Summer That Melted Everything, Tiffany McDaniel - 3*
On Second Thought, Kristan Higgins - 3.5*
Everything We Keep, Kerry Lonsdale - 2.5*
A House for Happy Mothers, Amulya Malladi - 3.5*
Homegoing, Yaa Gyasi - 4.5*
Moon Called (Mercy Thompson #1) - 3.5*

My favorite, by far, was Homegoing.

I'm at 16/50 for the year, finally on track after falling behind the previous months.

I'm looking forward to ACOWAR, too.

[charlatti]

5 stars
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Girl Who Could Not Dream by Sarah Beth Durst (middle grade re-read)

4 stars
The Winter in Anna by Reed Karaim
Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel
Indelible by Adelia Saunders
Whistling Vivaldi by Claude Steele (nonfiction)

3 stars
Burntown by Jennifer McMahon
The Crooked Sixpence by Jennifer Bell (another middle grade, more like 3.5)
American War by Omar El Akkad
The Dry by Jane Harper

2 stars
Making Mistakes on Purpose by Elise Primavera (a sequel and a read aloud with my DD. The first one was great but this one not so much)

[MrsAxilla]

Under Different Stars, Amy A. Barton - 3*
ASea of Stars, Amy A. Barton - 2*
A Court of Thorns and Roses - 4*
A Court of Mist and Fury - 5*


If you preorder on kindle does it show up at midnight? I may just stay up and find out....

[minzy]

In April, I finished All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda (3.5 stars); It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover (4.5 stars); Swing Time by Zadie Smith (4 stars); The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (4 stars); A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (4 stars); A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas (5 stars); and The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (4.5 stars). Basically, lots of recs I've seen from this board. The Court of Mist and Fury was my favorite of the month. I'm going to see if I can find the next one tomorrow when it comes out, but otherwise I don't know much about new releases.

I'm not doing any specific annual challenges aside from quantity (though I did just register for our summer reading program today). I've read 20 on the year, so am slightly ahead of pace for my goal of 50, but with the kids out of school soon for the summer, my pace will probably slow.

[dorothyinAus]

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien *****
Sidney Chambers and the Forgiveness of Sins by James Runcie ****
Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams ****
A Gilded Grave by Shelley Freydont ****
The Romanov Sisters by Helen Rapppport ***

My favorite for the month was definitely Mrs. Frisby, and I loved sharing it with DH during our weekly story-time. I really like having that off-line, no-tv, quiet-ish time each week. Sharing our favorite books with each other is just a bonus. We're starting Winnie-the-Pooh and the last Murray Whelan mystery this month -- we try to have one serious adult book and one fun one at a time.

I'm at 21 books for the year towards my goal of 48. And I've completed 16 of the 40 Monopoly Properties for that challenge. I feel I'm behind, even though everything says I'm on track or ahead of schedule.

There are no books coming out in May that I would drop my current book to read immediately, though a few next-in-series books are coming out. I can wait for them until I get to them in the series though.

[frog]

Girl at War ****
Yellow Crocus *****
Ozma of Oz *****
The Ship of Brides ***
Throne of Glass ***
Sacred Hearts ***
Sweetgirl ****
Egg and Spoon ****
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings *****


There's nothing in specific that I'm waiting to come out this month. I've read 49 books out of my goal of 100, I'm well ahead of goal.

[monkeyfeet]

dorothyinAus, we need more info on your story time, do you read out loud to each other?

[BlackCanary]

1. Orange: The Complete Collection, Vol. 1 by Ichigo Takano
2. Orange: The Complete Collection, Vol. 2 by Ichigo Takano

Could not finish Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez.

[dorothyinAus]

May 2, 2017 6:55:44 GMT -5 monkeyfeet said:

dorothyinAus , we need more info on your story time, do you read out loud to each other?

Yes, we do.  After dinner on Saturday nights, we turn off the tv, mute our phones, close our computers and each read aloud from our book choice for about half an hour.

Growing up my mother instituted a no-tv night each week and she read aloud from a book we all voted on.  DH's mother did something similar.  We decided to carry on the tradition.  It's really very nice -- a quiet, stress-free hour each week.  DH usually has a nightcap-style drink while I'm reading and I have a cup of night-time tea while he's reading.

So far we've shared:  Mrs. Frisby, Bunnicula, Cheaper by the Dozen, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, The Westing Game, Waiting for Gertrude, 1984, and the whole Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series.

[mrspez07]

Anyone have an issue with Goodreads not showing all of the books in your "read" shelf when you list by date read? I've had this happen to a book a month for the last few months.

The Last Camillia by Sarah Jio
Ink and Bone by Lisa Unger
Both were vacation reads at the beginning of the month, captivating and easy to read.
I Am Malala
The Art of Crash Landing by Melissa DiCarlo
June: A Novel (I love the way this one winds its way through the story).

All 4 stars

I'm burning through books so far this year. Definitely hunkered down in the cooler months to make a dent in books, we'll see if it continues.

[kelliebeans104]

May 2, 2017 20:01:33 GMT -5 mrspez07 said:

Anyone have an issue with Goodreads not showing all of the books in your "read" shelf when you list by date read? I've had this happen to a book a month for the last few months.

The Last Camillia by Sarah Jio
Ink and Bone by Lisa Unger
Both were vacation reads at the beginning of the month, captivating and easy to read.
I Am Malala
The Art of Crash Landing by Melissa DiCarlo
June: A Novel (I love the way this one winds its way through the story).

All 4 stars

I'm burning through books so far this year. Definitely hunkered down in the cooler months to make a dent in books, we'll see if it continues.

Sometimes if you update that you read a book in the app instead of on the desktop version it won't populate a date read.  I've had that happen a few times so I try to update mostly on my laptop. 

[charlatti]

May 2, 2017 20:01:33 GMT -5 mrspez07 said:

Anyone have an issue with Goodreads not showing all of the books in your "read" shelf when you list by date read? I've had this happen to a book a month for the last few months.

Check if they are in the list without dates. There was a bug (now fixed for me) where the date finished saved on the book details page but not on my shelves.

[rainbowchip]

I'm late to this because we were at Disney World! My April list is small because I HAD to devote a lot of time to trip planning and prep. And I barely read the whole time we were there.

I had the same issue as mrspez07. The books were marked as read but without a date. I had to go back and guess at the date.

I read The Passage 5* and Hard Eight 3*.