Late to the game in posting my April Wrap Up. Time just keeps getting away from me, too much to do in too little time. But better late than never.
If you’re new to Speaking Of…, I like to post a monthly wrap up of everything I read during the month. I link my reviews to what I read for easy access, talk about any books I did not finish (DNF), and pick out my favorite and least favorite reads for the month. While my goal every month is to read 12 – 15 books, this month I finished up 11 books. Most books I read this month were digital review copies. I’m finding that I read digital books much faster than physical books, who knew! While I did have a few great reads, I also had quite a few ‘meh’ reads. I think I’m just in a mood lately which is making it hard to enjoy certain types of books.
Check out everything I read in April below!
50/125
- Indian Burial Ground | Nick Medina | ★★ ★| REVIEW
- The Husbands | Holly Gramazio | ★★★ | REVIEW coming soon
- Home is Where the Bodies Are | Jeneva Rose| ★★★★★ |REVIEW
- Funny Story | Emily Henry | ★★★★★ | REVIEW
- The Ministry of Time | Kaliane Bradley |★★★ | REVIEW
- Those Empty Eyes | Charlie Donlea | ★★★★ | REVIEW
- Long Time Gone | Charlie Donlea | ★★★★ | REVIEW
- Spitting Gold | Carmella Lowkis |★★★ | REVIEW
- Happy Medium | Sarah Adler | ★★★ | REVIEW
- Every Time I Go on Vacation Someone Dies | Catherine Mack | ★★★★ | REVIEW
- Middletide | Sarah Crouch | ★★★★★| REVIEW
Recap
I was able to read some of my most anticipated releases for Spring, and while I loved one, I found I didn’t enjoy most as much as I wanted. Spitting Gold and The Ministry of Time were so high on my list to read, and I was excited to get advanced copies. But both ended up being completely different from my expectations. Spitting Gold was less a fantasy and more a historical romance and I just felt jilted that there wasn’t some sort of magic involved. Ministry of Time was very much a literary character focused romance with a side of time travel. I needed more time travel and more focus on the plot. Both were just not what I was expecting and so was let down.
Indian Burial Ground was another book like that for me as well. I thought we’d have a page turning thriller, but it just didn’t do it for me or hold my attention to well. The Husbands was another 3★ read which I listened to on audio. It wasn’t bad, but the ending was left so open that I didn’t get any closure or answers. Happy Medium was final 3★ read and was longer than it needed to be but was a blend of paranormal and romance.
For my 4★ reads we have Every Time I Go on Vacation Someone Dies (a funny cozy mystery perfect for summer) and two Charlie Donlea books. While neither Those Empty Eyes or Long Time Gone were my favorite from Donlea, both were entertaining and kept me guessing.
In terms of my favorite reads for the month Middletide was my favorite followed closely by Funny Story and Home is Where the Bodies Are. Though it’s a slower character driven mystery, Middletide was a fast read and I highly recommend it. And one can never go wrong with a Jeneva Rose or Emily Henry book!
That’s what I read! Did we read any of the same things?? What was your favorite read from April??