Hey, lovelies! Apologies for not posting yesterday. I haven’t had time to write a whole bunch of May posts in one day like I did last month, but I GOT THROUGH EXAMS. Also this next week is VACATION TIME (!!!!) for my family and I, so that’s exciting! Good thing though – I’ve got all the book reviews for May written. So you won’t run out of book recommendations! And one post has got three in one. Like those shampoo, conditioner, and body wash soaps at the store.
the books!
I read seven books this month, and I should like to include Code Name Verity in this stack, which makes eight, because I finished it on May 1st. If I started it on May 1st, then it wouldn’t be counted. Make sense? No. Well too bad. Oh, oh – and I re-read FOUR. FOUR glorious re-reads. Re-reads are very important to me. If a book isn’t worth a re-read, then it isn’t worth the read. Of course, the re-reads this month were all Kiera Cass books in preparation for the HEIR, which debuts May 5th, which will be signed by the Kiera Cass and given to a #1 fan named Emily on May 6th (eeek!! Still can’t believe that!), but it still counts for something.
Lovely stack, really. If you notice one missing, it’s because I read Crunch on my Kindle. I do use my Kindle, I do. It’s not my best friend, as you can see, but I do use it. I’m adding a drop-down bar for where I talk about the books since it takes up too much space of the post. 😀
[learn_more caption=”Click to hear about the books!”]#1: Crunch by Leslie Connor: First book read in April! I reviewed it last week and gave it 3.5 stars! I don’t like using half stars, but I felt like it wasn’t a three star, and it wasn’t a four star, so what else I could do? It was teetering between “I loved this book!” and “Kind of mediocre.” (As seen on my review policies page here.)
#2: Dauntless by Dina L. Sleiman: You’ll be getting this review this Monday, folks, and I do believe I added some really pretty pictures of Dauntless hanging out in my dad’s garden. Tell me, WHAT is more beautiful than flowers and books?? No, don’t answer. (EDIT: That would be cats and books.) Pretty good, pretty good. Dauntless got 4 stars!
#3: This Means War by Ellen Wittlinger: I don’t want to give away too much, since I did a mini review for this miniature book (it was really really short!), but short doesn’t mean bad. It most certainly does not. 5 stars! Plus this was a historical fiction (cold war vibes, people!) so that was fantastic.
#4: Keep Smiling Through by Ann Rinaldi: Moving onto WWII historical fiction. I love a good WWII historical fic. I do mean LOVE. I DEVOUR THEM. Buuuutttt but…. not this one. I gave it 3 stars. But does that mean I don’t want you to read it?? NOOOO. You must, you must read it. It got 3 stars for the… well, I’ll explain in the review. Still. Read it for yourself, alright?
#5: Serendipity and Me by Judith L. Roth: Awwww. Sweet, sweet, sweet! Just so sweet! And can we admire the cover? ADORABLE. Get a lollipop and maybe some tissues and get reading! 5 stars!
#6: Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr: Oh. Um… this was really sad. The whole book was written in a sad mood. But it was so BEAUTIFUL. Why do I choose books that make me cry?! I gave it 5 stars, but… buuut… it was so saaaad. I also took some beautiful pictures for this review, though, so that’ll balance it out, yes?
#7: Princess Academy by Shannon Hale: Sweet flying pancakes. This was awesome!! I haven’t reviewed it, but I’ll probably give it 4 or 4.5 stars, because it was so creative! So… so wonderful! Agh! So glad I read it.
#8: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein: Holy cow holy cow holy cow holy cow holy cow holy cow holy cow. My brain hurts from thinking. My eyes hurt from crying. My heart hurts from breaking. WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF. This is THE best historical fiction I’ve read since The Book Thief. Yes. That good. Very heavy material. Little bit of language. But AMAZING. 6 stars. What? That’s not a rating? OH WELL. (And in case you were wondering why I haven’t been answering any comments… I WAS BUSY READING & THEN RECOVERING FROM FINISHING THIS BOOK!!)[/learn_more]
the blog posts
What were you guys excited about this month?? Well, let’s see. Well, you LOVED For the Bookish’s blogoversary, but I think you reeaallly liked my first-ever-giveaway (of course you did! Who doesn’t love free BARNES & NOBLE GIFT CARDS??) annnnd in second place for the most views, What The Mother/Daughter Book Club Taught Me. That’s exciting! I loved that post! My personal favorite post was Authors Appreciating Readers. What about you? Which was your favorite post from April?
Also, because I’m nice and I LOVE reading other people’s blogs (turns out I’m not just a blogger, I’m also a blogling! (aka: person who reads blogs)), here are some of a few of my favorite posts on blogs I follow from April!
- Jessica @ Bookish Serendipity has some wonderful advice for new bloggers!
- Cait @ Paper Fury has ten things we SHOULD tell writers. (Which I LOVED.)
- Daisy @ A Bookish Flower tagged me in The Teenage Girl Tag. (Which I love and need to do!)
- Audrey @ The Measure of a Book has a list of WONDERFUL children’s books that I’ve grown up on!
- Ana @ Butterflies of the Imagination took a hiatus this month, but SHE WROTE 50K IN 18 DAYS & I’M SO PROUD. (And a teensy bit jealous!)
- Trisha @ Forever Trisha reviewed One for the Murphys which I was so excited about because I loved it and she loved it and YAY!
upcoming in may…
(april showers bring may flowers!)
As I mentioned before, I AM MEETING KIERA CASS IN FOUR DAYS. FOUR. DAYS. Which means The Heir comes out in about THREE. And can you just all stop and watch the beautiful trailer for The Heir that came out on Thursday?? (You can also watch it here.) I think know my mom is sick of hearing it, but it’s SO EXCITING.
Do you think I’m excited? I’m pretty excited.
Also all of the books mentioned that I read in April will be posted with their reviews here in a few weeks… and I’m doing a guest post on Inside Out Magazine in their culture & creativity section soon! Not sure when, but I’ll keep you posted. That was pretty exciting, as it’s one of my favorite blogs and I was so excited when the executive editor emailed me! I also hope to have a few guest posts of my own (well, from other people, of course), visiting with us in May, so stay tuned!
I hope everyone had a lovely April and an even better May!
I want to hear from you – what books have you read in April?? Favorites? Favorite blog posts? (On FTB and other blogs!)