Hello friends, happy Sunday and happy last day of April! How are you? I hope you had a lovely week and overall month. Today, as it’s become a kind of routine, I’m going to be wrapping up life and bookish happenings.
As it always seems to be lately, April has been both a good and hard month, but let’s focus on the happy things, shall we?
It was my wonderful sister’s birthday and to celebrate, we went away for the weekend to a lovely French city called Lyon. We walked around a lot, got lost only a little bit, almost attacked by ducks, saw beautiful monuments and overall had loads of fun. I live for these kind of adventures.
I’m hoping that May will be better, as always, and waiting eagerly for little getaways again.
April was quite a good month in terms of reading, as I managed to read a good amount of books and even fell in love with some of them.
Books I read
Sweet, heartwarming and fun.
Read my full review right here.
Hollywood vibes, mystery, great f/f romance.
Read my review here.
Travels, friendships and character growth.
Full review coming soon!
MY HEART HURTS.
Full review coming next Friday. Be ready for the feels.
Realistic romance, siblings and football!
Coming soon.
Intriguing but ultimately underwhelming.
Coming soon.
I started writing here that I haven’t been writing too much this month because of getaways and the fact that I only write on weekends. Then I wrote 2 K yesterday and well I guess I did pretty good this month anyway. I was at 35 K at the end of last month and I am now at 43 K.. I’m hitting climaxes and middle points and everything and I’m a mix of excitment and fear because WHY IS WRITING SO FULL OF FEELINGS?!
I had a surprising month in blogging – a really good and surprising month. I had loads of fun writing my blog posts and my brain has been bubbling all the time with new ideas and enthusiasm, which makes me both happy and a bit overwhelmed that I can’t do it all. Well, let’s see what I did anyway this month, in case you missed it.
Book reviews
- The Forbidden Wish, Jessica Khoury
- A Conjuring of Light, V. E. Schwab
- Mini reviews : Everything Leads To You, Nina Lacour & Tell Me Three Things, Julie Buxmaum
- Noteworthy, Riley Redgate
Discussions
Bookish tags & other fun posts
Nyx’s Corner
Other news & in the next months…
I don’t have much to share in this category for the upcoming month. I was supposed to make my #SFATW feature come back last month but did not have the time nor motivation to do it. I think I might be paralyzed by fear that the enthusiasm for this one is gone and people won’t want to participate again. Maybe it’s silly, but well you know me, I’m trying to be as open and sincere about blogging things here.
While we are on the subject, well, it’s something I really enjoy: being able to speak my mind about all the blogging things. This was part of my surprising blogging month and the success of my Blogging Ways series. I have decided to try and do more of this, with a whole “Blogging” section here on the blog, both filled with blog posts about my experiences and blogging casual freak-outs, and a couple of “how-to” tips for book bloggers. Here’s to hoping you’ll enjoy it as much as I am excited for it.
How was your month? How many books did you read, and which one was your favorite? What’s one positive thing that happened to you this April?
Let’s chat in comments!
Oh my gosh it would be so hard to pick because I’ve read so many great books! Yesterday I read a historical romance that was really good called the Irish Warrior by Kris Kennedy. I also finished Anne Bishops Others series, Etched in Stone, and I read a ton of good YA novels! As far as good things in April, I am leaving today for the RT Convention in Atlanta. Today’s the 30th so that will still work for April, right? Girls trip!
Ohh that’s so great, it seems like you had such a lovely reading month, Deborah, this makes me so happy 🙂 Hope you’ll have fun at this convention!! 🙂
Amazing. Be careful how you travel. If the flat earth’s are correct, you might want to know where the edge is. I always carry a book to read when travelling but never get to read it. Call it the travel busy mind. France is definitely one country I would like to visit.
Haha thank you! I hope you’ll get to visit France someday 🙂
Aww Marie I’m sorry to hear that April has been a hard month *hugs* Though I’m happy to hear that it’s also been a good month, that you went on a fun adventure, had a great reading month, wrote a lot (woo go you!!) and had a good blogging month as well (so many posts to catch up on!!) If I have the time I would love to participate in #SFATW this month, and I’m sure there are lots of people who’d want to participate as well, so don’t worry ?
Thank you so, so much Michelle! <3 <3 And thank you for all of your support and everything. I guess I will see what I end up doing, this feature really is my baby and I'd be sad to give up on it I guess :/
My month was very productive and organised so YAY! I didn’t read to much but that’s okay,5 books is good enough. divergent was my favourite and I thought I’d hate because of Dystopia but I loved it. A Positive thing? I reached 800 followers, I think?
YAY, so glad to hear you had a lovely month! And congratulations on the followers, this is SO great! 🙂 I hope you will have a great May 🙂
I’m so jealous of your trip to Lyon! France is one of my favourite places to visit and Lyon looks so pretty. I can’t wait to go to France again so I can put more of my French to use – I’ve improved a lot recently! You had such a good reading and blogging month – I’m jealous! I only managed to post once in April because I’ve been so busy, but I have read quite a few good books. Don’t you just love it when you’re reading loads of books you love all at once? Falling in love with reading is one of the best feelings ♥
Denise | Riot Grrrl Reads
Ohh thank you, Denise! I hope you can get back to France soon, and please if you do, let me know! Alsace and my hometown has such pretty places ahah, I’d be so happy to give you a tour 🙂
Definitely. Falling in love with reading is the best feeling in the world <3 I hope you'll have a lovely May! <3
Ahh writing climaxes are so fun!!! My favourite bit of the writing process for sure!! I’m currently at the same point in the WIP, so I can relate 🙂 Great post!!
Oh yay, this is so exciting!! Have you been writing this WIP for long? Best of luck! <3
haha yes, little embarrassing, but this ones been going on for years for me. How about you? <3
OHHHH well don’t worry about it, mine has been going on for years now just as well ahahah 🙂
hahahaa well that makes me feel better for sure!! I guess most writers feel like “everyone’s writing so fast”, but the truth is we’re all in the same boat 😉 😀
Haha yes, it makes me feel better just as well to know I’m not the one holding on to a story for yeaaaaaaaars and years ahah.
hahaha yes!!!
Re: writing – the middle of a novel project is always the hardest for me. It’s the point when my motivation starts to run out & I’m second-guessing every single word. Here’s hoping both of us can keep pushing forward with our writing! I believe in you!
Oh thank you, Christine! <3 It really gets hard, it's both exciting to get to interesting parts of the story and develop everything a bit more, but it's also filled with self-doubt at every corner ahah. There are moments where I just want to erase everything I write ahah. Best of luck for your writing! <3
WRITING HAS SO MANY FEELS. AS WELL AS BOOKS. AND BLOGGING. Okay so basically everything. XD Happy late birthday to your sis ? and LYON LOOKS SO COOL. ?
RIGHT? SO MANY FEELINGS EVERYWHEREEEEEEEEEEE. Thank you so much May!! <3
April was also a bittersweet month for me, filled with bad and good things as well. I really hope May brings good stuff for both of us.
You read a lot of contemporaries this month! It is my favorite genre, so I’m always happy to get recommendations. I also wish you luck on your writing!
To be honest, not much happened this month, apart from the fact finals are over and I feel like I can finally breath again. I also hope to blog more next month, since I didn’t have much time at all during April. I’m excited to talk about all the fantastic books I read these last weeks!
I hope you have a fantastic May, Marie!
Oh I’m sorry to hear that, I hope that May will be a lovely month for you <3 <3
I really hope you'll want to add some of these books to your TBR, they were all really, really good. I had such a contemporary month ahah 🙂
I can't WAIT for you to blog more, Lais, and to read ALL of your fantastic posts <3 <3 I hope you'll have a wonderful month <3
I sooo love your monthly wrap-ups! ❤
https://jirahmerizz.wordpress.com
Aww thank you so much 🙂
Oh I’m sorry April was a little bit of an up and down month for you Marie, I know that feeling because April seemed to suck for me, but here’s hoping May ends up being a lot better for you! 😀 <3
All the books you read this month look like really bright contemporary reads, the covers are so colourful and enticing I kind of want to read them all without even checking out the blurbs. Also congratulations on starting writing again, even if you didn't write as much this month at least you're still carrying on with it.
Again, I hope you have an amazing May, and I hope it's better than April was for you as well. 🙂 <3
Oh no! I’m so sorry to hear April has been a sort of sucky month for you. I hope that May will be so, so much better <3 < 3
Haha yes, I had such a contemporary month, I hope to mix things up a bit more this month and I definitely am with the books I bought and everything. Fantasy and contemporary both 🙂
Thank you <3 <3 <3
Ehh, I guess sometimes we just have months that turn out kind of sucky. Thanks Marie! 😀 <3
I feel the need to have a bit of a contemporary month too, I feel like ACOWAR will put me into a fantasy slump so it's a good excuse to pick some up.
That's all right! 🙂 <3
Haha and you know me, I’ll tell you that ANYTIME there is a good excuse to pick up a good contemporary book! 😀
Sometimes I don’t think you need an excuse to pick up a good contemporary book! 😀
Agreed! 😀
You really had a great bookish month! I’ve read 14 books this month and planning to read even more books in may. You’ve read some interesting books this month. I’m looking forward to read 180 seconds and I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on it. Hope you have a great month in MAY! 🙂
OH wow, you had such an amazing reading month, Raven, so happy for you! 😀 I hope you’ll have a lovely May just as well 🙂
Thank you! I hope you have an amazing month! 🙂
Thank you so much! <3 <3
I actually haven’t read a single book this month.. I’m currently about 180 pages into A Court Of Thorns And Roses and that’s all the reading I have done so far! I don’t know why I haven’t picked up or finished a book this month! It’s really weird!
I am really happy to see my mom doing much better this month and sticking to her plan from around mid-March and just seeing her back to normal after the end of February and beginning of March weren’t so great for her and all of us.
Oh no! I hope that this month will be better for you in terms of reading – maybe it’s the book and you should try another one? OR the genre? :/
Oh well I’m glad to hear that, and I hope that May will be even better for everyone in your family, Swetlana! <3
I was reading ACOTAR which I only really read to prepare myself for the newest book to release today (as it’s the 2nd here already) and I just couldn’t really get myself to pick up the book. But then I was also staying with my sister for a good chunk of April, helping her take care of her boys and household as she had hurt her leg and was on crutches for like 3 or almost 4 weeks. So I’m sure that now that things have settled down and she’s off the crutches and I am actually at home again, I’ll hopefully be able to read more. 🙂
Thank you! I really hope so too and I’m starting to think it will more and more! 🙂
Oh no! I’m sorry about your sister, I hope she’s better now? <3 I hope you'll be able to read more soon then and enjoy your reads 😀
Yeah, she’s all good now! 🙂
Oh great, I’m glad to hear it! 😀
That’s so awesome on your writing? Have you been writing the story long? I’ve been needing a major butt kick to get mine going again. Keep up next month 🙂
I have been writing this story for so long ahah. This is my NaNo 2015 that I am re-working on ahah, hoping to finish it this year 🙂 I hope you’ll get the little kick you need to write this month! Thank you so much 🙂
No problem! I stand with fellow writers 😀 I’ve been working on my story for almost 10 years and my “brain child” needs to be complete lol. What kind of tricks do you use for writing? Do you have a playlist? Just make yourself sit down? I would love some pointers for motivation 🙂
Wow, that’s commitment! I hope you’ll be able to finish it soon 😀
I do have a playlist and some songs I like to listen to at particular moments in my writing, yes. I also like to do “writing sprints”, like, try and write as much words as I can in the matter of 10 minutes. Basically this is a trick to start writing ahah, works pretty well to get me into it ahah 🙂
Oh ok, I haven’t tried that yet. I’ve seen some authors on Twitter talk about it. Thanks for the tip 🙂 yeah this brain child wants to be done lol. It won’t leave me alone :p
You’re welcome – I hope this helps! Best of luck, you can do this, and you will feel SO GREAT when you finally reach the finish line 🙂
That is a good month indeed. Doesn’t hold back the stars have the prettiest cover? Cheers to May
It does have the prettiest cover, I love it! A shame the book didn’t make me fall in love just as much :/ I hope you’ll have a lovely May! 🙂
Marie!! It sounds like you’ve had such a lovely month. Sorry I’ve been so overdue for a blog visit – I’ve been so busy but I’m happy to hear that you’re well and have had great books for company. <3
I hope you have a wonderful May!! So many amazing books coming out, ahhh!!
Oh no worries, thank you so uch for your sweet comment <3 <3 I hope you'll have a wonderful May just as well! <3
I feel like April was a mixed month for a lot of us. For me, it was full of work stress but also full of a lot of reading. Somehow I managed 9 books and I don’t even know how I did it because that hasn’t happened in the whole time I’ve been blogging ?. Either way, I really hope May is a million times better for you Marie! Hopefully it’s better for all of us. And I have been seeing so much around about 180 seconds by Jessica Park. I’m starting to get curious because I adore her book Left Drowning (which I highly recommend and it will make you feel all of the feels too). I might just have to read that one sometime soon! Also, can’t wait for your blogging section! Can never have too many blogging tips. ?♥
Oh I’m so sorry to hear the month has been a bit stressful – I hope that May will be better for you <3 And well, you still managed to read TONS of books so that's an awesome accomplishment 😀
Ohhh, I'm now curious about Left Drowning. I really loved 180seconds and it made me want to read more from this author – I'll have to check that one out 🙂 Thank you! <3 <3
I hope so too! ? And I hope you enjoy Left Drowning whenever you read it. You’re welcome!! ?
Thank you! <3 <3
April was a good month. I finished and reviewed one of my friend’s novels, and I’m proud to see his work getting out into the world. I loved the Neil deGrasse Tyson’s new collection. The book of the month, though, was Mary Karr’s Lit. Memoir isn’t a genre I usually enjoy, but hers hit all the right notes for me. It was funny, dark, and written with a poet’s eye for words.
Also, I started Schwab’s trilogy and liking the little I’ve read. I’m glad to know the series hangs together and ends well. Cheers!
Oh yay, this is awesome! Best of luck to your friend 🙂
I hope you’ll love Schwab’s trilogy, I really, reaaally loved it. Have a lovely month!
You did so well in writing and blogging and everything! It looks like a great month and you really needed that time off with Nyx in Lyon 😀
Aww thank you Kat <3 Haha yes you better than anyone else knows how much I needed this. Time off's always good ahah 🙂
Looks like you had a great reading month, at the very least filled with beautiful covers 😉 And ofcourse Tell Me Three Things is one of my faves! And I’m happy to hear that you got to both travel and write this month, which are both always exciting 🙂
I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump, and I only read three books last month, BUT two of them were 5-star reads which was great. AND one of those was Illuminae so YAY for finally having read that one 🙂
Ahah yes, I realized afterwards that all of these were really beautiful covers 🙂
Ohh well…It was still a lovely reading month if you managed to read two 5 stars books! What was the other one, aside from the awesome (and slightly crazy….) Illuminae? 😀
Haha, besides Illuminae (which was indeed awesome and slightly crazy…) I also LOVED Immortal Fire, which was the final book in the Red Winter trilogy by Annette Marie <3
Oh I haven’t read this trilogy at all, what is it about? Maybe I need to check it out… 😀
It’s a fantasy set in Japan with a lot of Japanese mythical creatures such as kitsunes. I absolutely adored it, I loved the mythology, the action, the characters, the illustrations and the romance. If you’re interested in a fantasy with Japanese mythology I’d definitely recommend it, it was one of my favorite reads of this year <3 🙂
Ohhh well that sounds interesting, I’ll have to check it out!! 😀
You read pretty great books this month. <3
I totally understand what you said about writing, it's even overwhelming sometimes but in a good way and I'm glad we are both progressing down that path. 🙂
Hope you have a great May! Happy reading!
Thank you so much Poulami! How far ahead are you in your WIP for now? Is it going well? I hope so! <3
Happy reading to you too <3
Well, I finally completed Chasing Love (which was 51k in total… for now) and I’m 10k in Finding Love.
Ohhh yay, that’s awesome!!: 😀
Thanks Marie!! 😀
I’m so glad you had a good blogging month. I had a good one too. Happy reading for next month! <3
Megan @ http://wanderingsofabookbird.blogspot.co.uk/
Thank you so much, Megan! I hope you’ll have a lovely month just as well! <3
Sounds like you had a lovely month! 😀 I think you should definitely try out your feature again to see if people would be interested. Unless you really feel like their interest has died down, its okay to pass onto other things! 😉 Hope May has lots of good surprises for you, Marie. Happy reading! 🙂
Thank you so, so much for your support, Lashaan <3 I don't think I'm ready to give up on this feature yet, so maybe I'll try again 😀 Thank you so much, I hope you'll have a lovely month <3
Looks like a great reading month!! I read First &Then too this month and thought it was cute. I loved Tell Me Three Things. It is so great when you have tons of ideas for blog posts isn’t it?? I am semi-slumping in that department. Hope you have a great May!
It really was a good reading month! 🙂 I’m sorry to hear you’re in a bit of a slump, I hope inspiration will kick in again for May! Have a lovely month, Grace, and thank you! <3
Aw, I’m glad you had a great time traveling with your sister!!
Great reading month too. I really need to read Everything Leads to You.
I’m so excited for all the blogging things you have planned! I hope you have a wonderful May, Marie ♥
Thank you so much! I hope you’ll get around to reading Everything Leads to You soon, it was such a lovely book. I hope you’ll have a lovely May just as well! <3
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Great reading month too.
Thank you 🙂