April 2024 Wrap-Up 🌂

Happy Tuesday, bibliophiles!

Unfortunately, I probably won’t be able to write up a book review or a Sunday Songs post this week, as I’m days away from finals. I started this post in advance, as I do with all of my wrap-ups, so that’s why I managed to put it out today. But from today on, I’ll be (mostly) radio silent for the next week or so. Wish me luck…

Let’s begin, shall we?

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

April’s been its fair share of crazy, what with job interviews, preparing for finals, and wrapping up my sophomore year of college. (How’d that happen??) It’s definitely taken a toll on my reading and blogging, but I’ve still had some free time in between. Said free time has been surprisingly fruitful this month—I finished up the 20,000 word novella that I had to write for one of my classes, and I had a solid weekend where I was able to brainstorm quite a bit for my main sci-fi trilogy. I’d still be doing said brainstorming if not for…y’know, studying for an astronomy final, but once I’m free of that, I’ll be back to making my outline even more excessively long. I’m almost there…

As I said, I had less time to read than I have in the past few months, but strangely, as far as ratings go, it’s been my most positive month. I say “strangely” because I felt like I was in a stint of good, but not great books for at least the first third of April. However, it picked up significantly, partially aided from a particularly lucky haul from Barnes & Noble with a dear friend of mine.

Other than that, I’ve just been watching The Bear, Taskmaster, and Ripley (how and why is Andrew Scott so good at being SO devious), writing when I can, and preparing for the end of the semester.

Oh, and remember how (hesitantly) excited I was about the fact that The Search for WondLa was being adapted into a TV show? We’ve just gotten the first look, and…

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…not to be dramatic, but this is my villain origin story. This is my Joker arc. I’m beyond livid. They drained it. They drained it of the artistry and creativity. And the love. They made Muthr into one of those Playmobil people. Why is Otto furry and squishy? Why does Rovender have those front-facing predator eyes? Where are Eva Nine’s signature braids? Where’s the soul?

Yeah! I’m fine. They just turned my childhood into a sad, lifeless husk of a 3D animated TV show…

READING AND BLOGGING:

I read 15 books this month! Somehow, I feel like I was in a slump of good but not remarkable books for at least a third of the month, but somehow, I got through a whole month with no 2 or 1 star reads? That’s a new one for me.

3 – 3.75 stars:

• Flux – Jinwoo Chong (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• Eat, and Love Yourself – Sweeney Boo (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• Shit Cassandra Saw – Gwen E. Kirby (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• Taproot: A Story About A Gardener and A Ghost – Keezy Young (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• Happy & You Know It – Laura Hankin (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries (Emily Wilde, #1) – Heather Fawcett (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• A Tempest of Tea (Blood and Tea, #1) – Hafsah Faizal (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)

4 – 4.75 stars:

• Calamity (Uncharted Hearts, #1) – Constance Fay (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Robert Louis Stevenson (for school) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• Strong Female Character – Fern Brady (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• The Left Hand of Darkness – Ursula K. LeGuin (re-read) – for school) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• Ten Low (Ten Low, #1) – Stark Holborn (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• A Letter to the Luminous Deep (The Sunken Archive, #1) – Sylvie Cathrall (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• The Tusks of Extinction – Ray Nayler (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25)
• Activation Degradation – Marina J. Lostetter (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH: Activation Degradation – 4.5 stars

POSTS I’M PROUD OF:

• I had fun reviewing Drunk on All Your Strange New Words, A Tempest of Tea, Happy & You Know It, and Ten Low!
• Music rambling! Here are my Sunday Songs from 4/7, 4/14, 4/21, and 4/28!
• I took a stab at the Ten Bookish Questions Tag!

POSTS FROM OTHER WONDERFUL PEOPLE THAT I ENJOYED:

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to blog-hop much because of finals, but here are some highlights:

• Because we still need these reminders: a great PSA about disability from Disabled Dahling!
• The Corner of Laura had a great take on the Ten Bookish Questions Tag!

SONGS/ALBUMS I’VE BEEN ENJOYING:

Today’s song:

That’s it for this month in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!