#April Books

[bookaddict24-7]

NEW YOUNG ADULT RELEASES! (APRIL 30TH, 2024)

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HAVE I MISSED ANY NEW YOUNG ADULT RELEASES? HAVE YOU ADDED ANY OF THESE BOOKS TO YOUR TBR? LET ME KNOW!

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NEW STANDALONES/FIRST IN A SERIES:

To A Darker Shore by Leanne Schwartz

The Vanishing Station by Ana Ellickson

Where Was Goodbye? by Janice Lynn Mather

I'll Be Waiting for You by Mariko Turk

Playing for Keeps by Jennifer Dugan

The Last Boyfriends Rules for Revenge by Matthew Hubbard

The Notes by Catherine Con Morse

Not Like Other Girls by Meredith Adamo

Pillow Talk by Stephanie Cooke, Mel Valentine (Illustrator)

What's Eating Jackie Oh? by Patricia Park

NEW SEQUELS:

Sound the Gong (Kingdom of Three #2) by Joan He

Saint-Seducing Gold (Forge & Fracture Saga #2) by Brittany N. Williams

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Happy reading!

[poppletonink]

April Reading Wrap Up

The Spirit Bares It's Teeth by Andrew Joseph White - ★★★★★ - 5 stars

Good Vibes, Good Life by Vex King - ★★★☆☆ - 3 stars

Animal Farm by George Orwell - ★★★★★ - 5 stars

[rabid-reads]

my 4 favorite books out of the 15 i read in April!

The Astonishing Color of After

i wasn't expecting to ADORE this book as much as i did, and it felt so satisfying. like you had been apart of the character's healing journey. i was happy to come out of this feeling whole! and i loved the writing, it was beautiful. in a deeply sentimental way. and i thought the romantic aspect was really soothing considering the subject matter.

Betty

great, but i cried a lot. and i didn't feel anything but an unrelenting sadness at the completion of this book, but 10/10 recommend. the writing is immaculate and haunting. i really hate Betty's mom. if you like books that make you feel like the sun will never rise again, this is the one.

Dark Matter

ok, here me out. this book is like if Rick from Rick & Morty had a banger of an origin story. i was hype about how much Jason loved his wife! it was such an amazing ride. the writing is fine (it didn't stand out to me, but it wasn't bad or anything).

The Library at Mount Char

i. love. this book. i was not expecting this to be what it was. it had no business being THAT unique and enthralling. i only wished it was longer so the 12 catalogs and the pelapi were explored more, and i feel like you can tell a lot about someone based off who their favorite character was in this book. the biggest draw back is the lack of fanfiction for it.

[critical-quoter]

April Books

Holy moly, I have surpassed the 50% mark of my reading goal for this year. BookTok still has a chokehold on me so my TBR on Goodreads on consistently over 1200 books, and constantly being increased.

Stay Over - Kaylee Ryan ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Warrior - A. M. Brooks ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Wild Heart - Lacy Chantell ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Spark of Obsession - Victoria Dawson ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Plus Size for the Billionaire - R. J. Stevens ⭐️ You Can Follow Me - Jo Brenner ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Lose Me in the Shadows - Jo Brenner ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meet Me in the Dark - Jo Brenner ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Owned by a Sinner - Michelle Heard ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Siren - R. J. Lewis & A. R. Rose ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Savage Seduction - Didi Sands ⭐️⭐️ Sick Boys - Clarissa Wild ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Dreaming Forest - L. B. Black ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Where's Molly - H. D. Carlton ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Pieces Left Behind - Ryan Marie ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A Rebel's Promise - Sara Blackard ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Brawler - Colleen Charles ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Thalia De Luca - Jaclin Marie ⭐️⭐️ When It Ends - Penelope Black ⭐️⭐️ Sorry. Not Sorry - Emily James ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ My Anti-Hero - Titan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Axel - Samantha Whiskey ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ To Wake A Kingdom - Nisha J. Tuli ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Butcher & Blackbird - Brynne Weaver ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 'Til Encryption Do Us Part - Cathleen Cole & Frank Jensen ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Saved - Hazel James ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Fearlessly Bound - Zainab Samba ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Piece That Breaks - N. J. Gray ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Easy Like Sunday Morning - Kenya Goree-Bell ⭐️⭐️ The Pucking Wrong Guy - C. R. Jane ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Reckless Hands - T. L. Smith ⭐️⭐️ Resisting the Grump - Ashley Muñoz ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Pucking Wrong Date - C. R. Jane ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Blood of My Monster - Rina Kent ⭐️⭐️⭐️ In Your Wildest Dreams - Rebecca Jenshak ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Liees of My Monster - Rina Kent ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Blood of My Monster - Rina Kent ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Fearless King - Zainab Samba ⭐️⭐️ Saving Vienna - Vikki Jay ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Evergreen Ivy - Ada Taylor ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Payback - Mila Sin & Manuela Rouget ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Fifty Shades of Grey - E. L. James ⭐️⭐️ Grey - E. L. James ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Welcome to Fae Cafe - Jennifer Kropf ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Born of Mist and Dragonfire - Ava Thorne ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Keeping My Bride - Angela Snyder ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Battle Within - Christina Mattingly ⭐️⭐️ Dark Obsession - Hope Ford ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Small Town Swoon - Melanie Harlow ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Hate Like Ours - Nikita ⭐️⭐️ The Deal Dilemma - Meagan Brandy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Dig - L. A. Ferro ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Rancher's Seduction - Nicole Simon ⭐️ I Almost Do - Evangeline Williams ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Plays Well With Others - Lauren Blakely ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Heart Trick - Kristen Granata ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A False Start - Elsie Silver ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Falling for You - T. Thomas ⭐️⭐️ Mafia and Protector - Isa Oliver ⭐️⭐️ Recklessly You - J. Morales ⭐️⭐️⭐️ All Rhodes Lead Here - Mariana Zapata ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

61 total books read for April 2024!

[authorjacobfloyd]

HOUSE OF DARK FICTION PROMOPTIONS: SHEPHERD'S WARNING by Paul Melhuish from Vulpine Press

From Paul Melhuish, author of Necroforms, Fearworld, and High Cross comes a horrifying new tale about a cursed tradition coming back to claim the lives of anyone who partakes. Will You Dance With Death?Morris dancing; national joke or quaint historical tradition? There is nothing funny or quaint about Shepherd’s Warning, also known as the Dance of Death, the lost Morris dance from the Bracewell…

[wttnblog]

9 Exciting April 2024 Book Releases to Read Now

I cannot even explain how many absolutely incredible looking books are coming out this month! I guess a good place to start would be that I checked out 4 influencer ALCs from Libro.fm when my previous maximum was 2. There were simply too many good ones to pass up on! Even outside of those, the books coming out this month look delightful from start to finish and I’m sure many of the WTTN Best Of…

[strugglinguist]

April Books

Only five books this past month! We had the end of the semester, and family came to visit. It was quite the month.

Raptor by Lindsay Buroker

Soul Blade by Lindsay Buroker

Oaths by Lindsay Buroker

Master of Sorrows by Justin T Call

The Power by Naomi Alderman

I finished my reread of Lindsay Buroker’s Dragonblood series. It was a delight to read again! A roguish war hero, a sorceress, some dragons, and a smattering of talking swords. Name something better! 😂

I also started a new series by Justin T Call. Master of Sorrows follows an acolyte training to hunt down and find magic artifacts to rid the world of magic. There’s a big splash of magical ableism since magic is seen as a curse typically marked by physical deformity. Our main character was born without a hand and he hides it just to be found out later. It’s super interesting!

Finally, my girlfriend and I read The Power by Naomi Alderman. It’s an alternate future book where women evolve the ability to shoot lightning and the patriarchy is turned on it’s head. It’s an interesting thought experiment because you identify with the women taking power back, but oooooh they go so far! I wish the book took on the interesting questions of transness in such a world, but the new Amazon Prime show is reported to dig into those questions. I’m going to have to check it out!

[afropuffsartstudios]

[thechaoticreader]

📖🌷🌦️April Reading Wrap🌦️🌷📖

Stats:

Total Read: 3 Avg Rating: 3.8⭐️ Most Read Genre: all different genres<3 Most Read Format: Physical Book (library) DNF Count: 0

Books:

Title: Camp Damascus Author: Chuck Tingle Format: Physical Book (library) Genre: Horror Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Started: 03/13/24 Finished: 04/17/24 Quote: "Rose 2:6 And when the morning came she pushed onward because the wicked and the vile bore down from every side, and onward was the only direction she had left." pg 135

Title: Bride Author: Ali Hazelwood Format: Physical Book (Library) Genre: Paranormal Romance Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Started: 04/22/24 Finished: 04/28/24 Quote: " '...at times, there are decisions that feel right, deep in the narrow of my bones.' 'You are one of them'" pg 132

Title: Solitaire Author: Alice Oseman Format: Physical Book (Library) Genre: Y/A Contemporary Rating: ⭐️⭐️.5 Started: 04/29/24 Finished: 04/29/24 Quote: "Sometimes I like to fill my days with little things that other people don't care about. It makes me feel like I'm doing something important, mainly because no one else is doing it." pg 7

[shisasan]

April 10, 1927 Journals of Anais Nin 1923-1927 [volume 3]

[bookaddict24-7]

NEW YOUNG ADULT RELEASES! (APRIL 23RD, 2024)

___

HAVE I MISSED ANY NEW YOUNG ADULT RELEASES? HAVE YOU ADDED ANY OF THESE BOOKS TO YOUR TBR? LET ME KNOW!

___

NEW STANDALONES/FIRST IN A SERIES:

Dark Parts of the Universe by Samuel Miller

Finally Fitz by Marissa Kanter

Kill Her Twice by Stacey Lee

Song of the Six Realms by Judy I. Lin

Wild Dreamers by Margarita Engle

Punk Rock Karaoke by Bianca Xunise

Off with Their Heads by Zoe Hana Mikuta

Out of Blue Comes Green by M.E. Corey

The Merciless King of Moore High by Lily Sparks

NEW SEQUELS:

A Whisper in the Walls (Waxways #2) by Scott Reintgen

Blood Justice (Blood Debts #2) by Terry J. Benton-Walker

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Happy reading!

[alexsfictionaddiction]

Alex Recommends: April Books

This month has been full of my last few assignments for my MA. I can’t believe that I’m so close to the end of it already -it has gone SO fast! I am also starting to sort out my dissertation now, which I’ll be working on over the summer. It sucks that I won’t be able to have any proper time off this year but I am actually quite excited about my topic, so it shouldn’t be too bad.

My brother Luke turned 30 this month. Having a younger sibling in their 30s does make you reflect on your own age and life stage, so I have been doing some self-assessing recently. I am definitely not where I thought I’d be at 32 but I’m actually the happiest that I’ve ever been. I am still trying to be OK with my body and I am forever working on becoming a better person but I am certainly much happier and (I think!) wiser than I was five years ago. So, it seems like I’m on the right path!

I have been continuing to make my way through the Women’s Prize longlist and just like March’s recommendations, that’s where all of this month’s books come from too. Although there have been a few books on this list that I thought were questionable additions, I’ve really enjoyed the majority of them. It’s a real eclectic mix this year and on the whole, I was really happy with the shortlist. I’d love to know your thoughts on it, if you’ve also been following the prize and reading the nominees. I’m really looking forward to the winner announcement in June, so roll on the summer!

-Love, Alex x

FICTION: Wandering Souls by Cecile Pin.

At the close of the Vietnam War, young siblings Anh, Minh and Thanh make the journey across the ocean to Hong Kong, knowing that their parents and younger siblings will follow. But when their family fails to make it to safety, 16-year-old Anh becomes the sole guardian of her younger brothers but their lost loved ones never really leave them. As the years go by and the siblings settle into 1980s London, plagued by xenophobia and inequality, they begin to wonder if love and history is enough to keep them together. This heartbreaking story of unimaginable strength and resilience is the true story of so many immigrants of war-torn countries. I loved the fact that the book’s focus was on a young migrant family who made simple lives for themselves. None of the siblings went on to have high-flying careers and lots of money but they did all find some kind of peace and happiness, meaning the characters felt very real and were so easy to connect to. There are also some beautiful friendships and family bonds forged by displacement and a search for belonging. I was so moved by the message that our dead loved ones are constantly there and will never stop loving us. It’s a highly emotional yet hopeful novel that I strongly believe should have been shortlisted!

LITERARY FICTION: Black Butterflies by Priscilla Morris.

Sensing that things are escalating in Sarajevo, artist and teacher Zora sends her husband and elderly mother to her daughter in England. But as divisional lines become clearer, random killings become commonplace and their city begins to deteriorate, Zora and her friends must learn to survive and persist within a world that is becoming increasingly hostile. Black Butterflies is a unique story from a unique perspective. Both the setting (the siege of Sarajevo) and the narrative voice (a woman in her 50s) are rare in popular fiction, so it was really refreshing to learn about a part of history that I knew literally nothing about. I also greatly appreciated that it’s a book about the people who stay behind rather than those who flee war, as that brought yet another fresh take. It also explores the power of art and the horror of losing one’s culture. The actual meaning of ‘black butterflies’ is such a heart-wrenching image, when it’s revealed and I’m pretty sure I literally gasped when that whole concept hit me. The lightness of the book comes in its celebration of community and their coming together in times of crisis to try to find pockets of hope. It was an altogether very well-written and singular book that I’m delighted was introduced to me by the Women’s Prize.

HISTORICAL FICTION: Trespasses by Louise Kennedy.

Cushla is a primary school teacher and barmaid amidst the horror and violence of the Northern Irish Troubles. In her family’s pub, she meets an older, married man called Michael, a barrister who defends members of the IRA. Finding herself drawn to Michael, he and Cushla begin an affair. But when one of her students’ father is brutally attacked, Cushla finds that everything she knows and loves may be about to collapse. Trespasses came to me with some very high praise from multiple sources, so I was very excited to read it. It’s a heady story that depicts 1970s Belfast perfectly. It tackles some heartbreaking themes such as poverty, social divide and of course, war. It’s also an exploration of crossing forbidden lines in the name of love and this takes several forms throughout the book (hence the title, I imagine!). Cushla is a thoroughly likeable heroine who clearly wants to do the right thing in a world where she is an underdog. I wasn’t expecting it to have thriller-esque vibes towards the end but I really appreciated it and it definitely had me completely hooked.

MYTHOLOGY: Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes.

Following her brutal rape at the hands of Poseidon in the temple of Athene, the youngest Gorgon sister Medusa is cursed by the goddess. Now she can kill with her stare, Medusa resorts to a reclusive, solitary life with only her immortal sisters for company. But then a young hero on a quest shows up, needing a Gorgon’s head to prove his worth. The cover of Stone Blind pitches the book as Medusa’s story and while it is that, it isn’t just that. We also get chapters watching the gods and chapters that tell the story of Perseus’ mother, Danaë. It’s an equally funny and equally tragic book that paints a far less than flattering portrait of the ‘hero’ Perseus. I really enjoyed the dialogue between the gods, particularly when Athene was involved. She is completely unreasonable in this tale but still somehow a figure of wit, sass and wisdom. There are also some fascinatingly unique perspectives, such as Medusa’s severed head. Even after its separation from her body, it continues to narrate part of the story, which is incredibly macabre while making some kind of horrific sense. 

COMING OF AGE: Homesick by Jennifer Croft.

Sisters Amy and Zoe are homeschooled in Oklahoma, as Zoe suffers from seizures, the cause of which can’t quite be determined. While Zoe is in and out of hospital, Amy begins to fall in love with her Russian tutor Sasha and nurtures a deep love of languages. When her academic talents send her to university at just 15, Amy’s life changes drastically. Homesick is a touching story of sisterhood and the powerful bond that can forge. It’s also a book about guilt and family duty, which continuously shows itself throughout the narrative. In places, it is full of humour and in other places, the story becomes very tense. Homesick is about learning who you are, what’s important and the realisation that sometimes that journey can take us to dark places.

[booksthoughts]

April reviews!

[moonlightequin1]

✨💫 TWST JP "ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL" FULL 3D PERFORMANCE 💫✨

I needed to share this video because it was region locked for this year's April Fools, but we finally got the full performance of the VDC tribe in TWST FES last year....😭🫶

WE WON EVERYONE 🎉🎊

LOOK AT THEM!!! 😭🎉🎉

[why-the-heck-not]

the saturday-sunday night diabolical "life is falling apart"- to do list followed by a mad scramble

[ryllen]

Anyhow, thank you ortho for coming home on 10 pulls!