This month I read a total of 18 books! I honestly didn’t think I would ever surpass last month’s total, but I guess I proved myself wrong haha (To be fair, a couple of these books were less than 50 pages…but I think they still count!)

While I am aiming for 150, I am also aiming to diversify my reading. I am trying to break into genres I don’t typically gravitate toward. I am hoping to read more non-fiction and classics. And, as always, I am taking part in several reading challenges.

Let’s get into it!

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Books I Read:

Howl’s Moving Castle (Howl’s Moving Castle #1) by Diana Wynne Jones (4 Stars) ~ print

~Reading Challenges: PopSugar Challenge (A DNF book from your TBR list); Little Inklings Challenge (A book you meant to read in 2020); A to Z Challenge (H)

Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales (4 Stars) (REVIEW) ~ e-book

~Reading Challenges: Reading Rainbow Challenge (Orange); A to Z Challenge (P)

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (3.5 Stars) ~ audio

~Reading Challenges: PopSugar Challenge (A book that has won the Women’s Prize for Fiction); Read Harder Challenge (Read a historical fiction with a POC or LGBTQ+ protagonist)

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (4.5 Stars) ~ print

~Reading Challenges: PopSugar Challenge (The shortest book (by pages) on your TBR list); Reading Rainbow Challenge (White)

She Persisted by Chelsea Clinton (4 Stars) ~ print

~Reading Challenges: PopSugar Challenge (A book in a different format than you normally read (audio, e-book, graphic novel…)

Chain of Iron (The Last Hours #2) by Cassandra Clare (5 Stars) ~ audio

~Reading Challenges: PopSugar Challenge (A book set somewhere you’d like to visit in 2021); Little Inklings Challenge (A book written under a pen name)

Viva Durant and the Secret of the Silver Buttons by Ashli St. Armant (3 Stars) ~ audio

~Reading Challenges: A to Z Challenge (V)

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab (5 Stars) ~ print

~Reading Challenges: PopSugar Challenge (A book about art or an artist); Little Inklings Challenge (A book everyone is talking about (hyped book)); On the Cover Challenge (Sun, Moon or Stars)

The Birds of Opulence by Crystal Wilkinson (3 Stars) ~ e-book

~Reading Challenges: Read Harder Challenge (A book set in the Midwest)

Dear Martin (Dear Martin #1) by Nic Stone (4.5 Stars) ~ audio

~Reading Challenges: PopSugar Challenge (A free book from your TBR list (gifted, borrowed, library)); A to Z Challenge (D)

Speak: The Graphic Novel by Laurie Halse Anderson (4 Stars) ~ print

~Reading Challenges: PopSugar Challenge (A bestseller from the 1990’s)

Royals (Royals #1) by Rachel Hawkins (4 Stars) ~ print

~Reading Challenges: PopSugar Challenge (A book that has the same title as a song); The Unread Shelf Project Challenge (On your unread shelf for longer than one year); On the Cover Challenge (A crown); Reading Rainbow Challenge (Pink)

The Real Simple Method to Organizing Every Room by the Editors of Real Simple (3.5 Stars) ~ print

~Reading Challenges: none

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (5 Stars) (REVIEW) ~ audio

~Reading Challenges: PopSugar Challenge (A magical realism book); Little Inklings Challenge (A 2020 award-winning book)

Namesake (Fable #2) by Adrienne Young (4.5 Stars) ~ print

~Reading Challenges: A to Z Challenge (N)

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (Whistle Stop, AL #1) by Fannie Flagg (4 Stars) ~ audio

~Reading Challenges: PopSugar Challenge (A book set in a restaurant)

A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire (Blood and Ash #2) by Jennifer L. Armentrout (4.5 Stars) ~ e-book

~Reading Challenges: none

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado (3.5 Stars) ~ audio

~Reading Challenges: Read Harder Challenge (Read a memoir by a Latinx author)

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Format: ……………………………………………..Reading Challenges:

Physical Books: 8                                    PopSugar Challenge: 31/50

E-Books: 3                                                Read Harder Challenge: 9/24

Audiobooks: 7                                         The Unread Shelf Challenge: 3/12

Non-fiction: 4                                          Little Inklings Challenge: 21/26

.                                                                  On the Cover: 8/10

.                                                                  Reading Rainbow: 8/10

.                                                                  A to Z Challenge: 16/26

.                                                                  Goodreads Challenge: 49/150  

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Star Ratings

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: Three (Chain of Iron, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, The Midnight Library)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2: Four (We Should All Be Feminists, Dear Martin, Namesake, A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: Six (Howl’s Moving Castle, Perfect on Paper, She Persisted, Speak, Royals, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe)

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2: Three (The Song of Achilles, The Real Simple Method to Organizing Every Room, In the Dream House)

⭐️⭐️⭐️: Two (Viva Durant and the Secret of the Silver Buttons, The Birds of Opulence)

⭐️⭐️1/2: Zero

⭐️⭐️: Zero

⭐️1/2: Zero

⭐️: Zero

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Things I Posted:

Book Review: Phoenix Flame ~ Book Review: Perfect on Paper ~ My Favorite Stand-Alone Novels ~ Books With One-Word Titles ~ Book Review: The Midnight Library

I’m proud of myself. I kept up with my blogging on a much more regular basis this month. It is nowhere near where I want to be, but it is a step in the right direction for sure.

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Getting Personal:

There was a lot that happened this month:

*We got to spend some time with family and friends.

*My daughter had her 4 year old doctor’s visit, which just seems crazy…how is she already 4?!

*I started to make some new friends. You forget how hard it is to make friends as an adult until you move to a new city!

*I started seeing a rheumatologist to see if we can figure out why I have been in pain for the past 10 years. I’m hoping we can find some answers so that I can start on the path to feeling normal again.

*We got my dogs set up with a new vet and found out one of my dogs is overweight *facepalm*

*I got my second dose of the COVID vaccine, and so did my husband.

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My April TBR Pile:

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

There There by Tommy Orange

Soul of Stars by Ashley Poston

Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade

You Should See Me In A Crown by Leah Johnson

Uninvited by Lysa TerKeurst

At the Water’s Edge by Sara Gruen

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How many books did you read this month? Have you read any of the books I read? Are you participating in any reading challenges? What about the books on my TBR for April? Let me know down in the comments! 

Interested in my monthly wrap-up for February? Check it out here!

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Love and happy reading,

Whitney