Monthly WrapUp: April 2010
Total Books and Current Status
Since January 1, I've finished 40 books, and abandoned 2. In April, I posted 8 full reviews. I also posted 4 recipes. I am behind on 2 reviews. I am currently reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot and will be picking out a new audiobook later today.
What Did I Read and Review?
Here's what I reviewed in April. Click on the link to see my review; the letter in parentheses is my rating.
Full Reviews / Readalongs
- "Babette's Feast" (short story) by Isak Dinesen (B)
- Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien (A) (readalong posts: #1, #2, #3)
- The Postmistress by Sarah Blake (A-)
- Purgatory Ridge by William Kent Krueger (B+)
- A Nest for Celeste by Henry Cole (B)
- Flash Point by Sneed B. Collard III (A)
- Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi (A)
- A Gift from Brittany by Marjorie Price (B)
- Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
- Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
What Else Did I Post?
Stats Posts: What Are They Good For? I asked you for your opinions of wrap-up/stats posts and as a result my monthly wrap-up posts are undergoing a change. This will be a work in a progress until I figure out what works best for me. Thanks for everyone's opinions.
Other Activities
- I was thrilled that my review of The Wife's Tale by Lori Lansens was published by The Book Studio.
- I was cheerleader for the April Readathon.
- I participated in Detectives Around the World.
- There is still time to enter to win the complete Harry Potter set and a $50 Visa gift card.
- There is also time to enter to win a signed copy of The Book of Awesome by Neil Pasricha (this is international).
I finished the Lord of the Rings Readalong and managed to complete the Graphic Novel Mini-Challenge, but I totally failed the Shelf Discovery Challenge. That failure didn't stop me from joining some new challenges, though:
- Margot from Joyfully Retired decided to double the cozy mystery challenge
- Julie at Booking Mama started the EW Summer Books Challenge (I hope she makes this a yearly challenge).
- Margot from Joyfully Retired is hosting the All Things Alcott Challenge, which I will be joining (announcement post tomorrow or Monday).
What's New, What's Coming Up?
On Monday I am going to post about a great Mother's Day contest sponsored by Jeannie Nash, author of The Threadbare Heart. Several blogs are hosting the essay contest, but you can enter at only one site. I hope some of you choose my blog.
I have a couple Literary Road Trip entries coming up in May, and I'll again be participating in the Spotlight Series, this time with one of my all-time favorite authors. (If you don't know about this, click the link.)
And, of course, I'm looking forward to Book Expo of America (BEA). I can't wait!
Talk to Me
Hope your reading month was fabulous. But before you click away, here are two things I'm always curious about:
- What was your favorite book in April?
- Are you caught up with your reviews?
24 comments:
Nice wrap-up Beth. I am caught up with my reviews. I do them right after I've finished because, well, because I probably would forget what I wanted to say otherwise. LOL
My favorite book read in April is tough. I read a several good books. Not particularly easy reads, but rewarding. I guess my very favorite is THE LOST SUMMER OF LOUISA MAY ALCOTT, but THE TRICKING OF FREYA runs a close second. And, the mystery I'm reading right now has finally really grabbed me, SKULL MANTRA. I'm so wishy-washy! LOL
You did have a great reading month! I think my favorite book of the month was The Heart Is Not a size by Beth Kephart. I am caught up with my reviews at the moment!
What a fantastic month! The LOTR trilogy is amazing, I should really reread them. My favorite of April was Gone with the Wind, I love that classic.
Wow you had a much better month than I :D
I love your wrap ups - they are always so thorough and make me think I should do my own!
My favorite book of April - Open House by Elizabeth Berg
Am I caught up with my reviews - I've written them for all of the books I've read thus far but no, they have not all been posted yet (trying to get ahead and all that!)
Don't the wrap ups make you feel productive? I am normally just too lazy to do them unfortunately. I am NOT caught up with my reviews, but only have one at the moment that I need to write (The Outsiders). I am waiting for an inspired moment. My favorite book by far this month was Let the Great World Spin.
I read 11 books in April (very good for me), and I enjoyed most of them very much.
Many of them were written by authors I knew already which is why I will highlight Denise Mina´s Garnethill trilogy. She was brand-new to me, and the trilogy was brilliant!
On the whole I am good at taking notes while or immediately after reading a book so I have three drafts ready on my computer: But now comes the hardest part: translating them into English. In that way English novels are easier as I write the review in English in the first place - and usually I am to lazy to translate them nowadays.
I'm glad for the wrap-up this month since I was busy and ended up skipping some posts. I would have missed your review of Embroideries if not for this post. :)
Pretty good month I'd say. I intend to do the EW Summer Books Challenge on a yearly basis! Hopefully we'll have some more people join us!
I like your end of month wrapups and may be copying it on my blog. My favorite book for April was Mary Higgins Clark's newest book-title escapes me at the moment.
I'm glad you didn't give up your wrap-ups. I like them. Thanks for mentioning my challenges and, please, don't stop reading my blog. We can go down the challenge rabbit hole together.
My favorite book in April is also my favorite of the year so far: The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott. I'm behind in two books I've read but haven't reviewed. One is Bad Things Happen which I liked but it was really different for a mystery. I'm having a hard time putting my words together for that one.
I read 7 books in April - about average for me. The best one was Take My Breath Away by Martin Edwards.
I'm up to date with reviews of April books, but have a few from earlier in the year that I haven't done - probably too late now.
Fantastic reading month, Beth!
My favourite book of the 15 I finished in April was Hypothermia by Arnaldur Indriðason. A beautiful 5 star read.
And no, I'm behind on reviews. I have a couple to write, though there's one I probably will never write as I felt very ho hum about the book.
Good luck with all your challenges.
It's so hard to choose a favorite book! I almost never manage unless something just stands out to me as awesome - which rarely happens! I don't really have an overall favorite this month.
I'm not caught up on my reviews but I hope to be after this weekend. We'll see how that goes.
You're always doing so well! I'm not nearly caught up on my reviews, even though I only plan to review certain books I read (i.e. that are part of a challenge). I have a hard time not getting too stressed about my MTR (Mount To Review)!
My best read of April might very well become my favourite novel of 2010... It's the book I'm currently reading: The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet. Of course David Mitchell is my all-time fav author so I might be a little biased ;)
Caught up on my reviews? Um...yah, no. Not even close. Once again I have been failing miserable to write any reviews of my audiobooks. I really need to figure something out about that.
My favorite book of the month was "Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott."
My favourite read in April? Well that would easily be, Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness. Not because the other books were poor, it was just a breathtaking ending to the trilogy.
Caught up on reviews? Erm... No. :D But after today I am a little closer than I was!
It seems everyone has had a great month! I really loved The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors, The Loved One, and Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked. And others, but I'll try to limit myself to 3 here!
How did you like Saving Ceecee Honeycutt? I'm thinking of reading it this month for one of my online book clubs, so I'm eager to hear your thoughts on it.
You had a great month! I hope May sees you doing just as well.
I can't wait to read your thoughts on Dead Tossed Waves, I loved it :) Not to taint your thoughts or anything, haha.
I'm always impressed by these monthly wrapups...I'm a slow reader and don't want to make myself sad with my reading counts...lol
Great work though. I'm also waiting on the edge of my seat for BEA...I need a fun vacation!
My reading month was okay. I didn't read as much as I'd planned. Allergies and sinuses were getting in the way. And I was in a reading funk. I'm hoping to get my reading mojo back for May!
My favorite book in April was, hands down, "Fingersmith" by Sarah Waters!
And I am never ever caught up on my reviews. But at least my 2009 reviews are done!! HAHA.
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