Saturday, April 30, 2022

April Reading - Plans for May

 

April passed in a bit of a blur -- lots of doctor's appointments for both of us but, some fun stuff as well.  There was Easter and we all were able to get together (this year my SIL hosted) and she did a beautiful job.  It was my middle granddaughter's birthday on Easter (L - in pic below). She was just recovering from the flu so she kept her mask on most of the time --poor kiddo.  We did and Easter egg hunt and celebrated her sister's birthday (R) as it's a few days after. The cousins all got new Crocs as part of the gift as well as books and several other things.


It was also school vacation week so we all went to an art and book store and they all worked on a jellyfish project.

I also had my book group meeting. Some of us met for lunch beforehand and then (10) of us gathered to discuss Anxious People by Fredrik Backman. I actually read this when it first released and loved it. ALL of our group members loved this one (something new).  Has anyone seen the miniseries on Netflix?  I just watched the first episode so far - kinda fun. Next month's read is The Lost Apothecary; Sarah Penner which is suppose to be quite good. Have you read it?

April Reads

  1. Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir; Natasha Trethewey - 5/5 stars (April)
  2. Hat Cat; Troy Wilson - 4/5 stars
  3. The View From the Very Best House in Town; Meena Trehan - 4/5 stars
  4. Margreete's Harbor; Eleanor Morse - 4/5 stars
  5. The Diamond Eye; Kate Quinn - 4/5 stars
  6. Lessons in Chemistry; Bonnie Garmus - 5/5 stars
  7. Oceanarium; Loveday Trinick - 5/5 stars
  8. Unraveling Oliver; Liz Nugent - 4.5/5 stars (unintentional reread - it sounded familiar but I liked it!)
  9. Kids Fight Climate Change: Act Now to Be a #2minutesuperhero; Martin Dorey - 4/5 stars
  10. My Big Book of Outdoors; Tim Hopgood - 5/5 stars
  11. Two Nights in Lisbon; Chris Parvone - 4/5 stars
  12. The Mad Girls of New York; Maya Rodale - 4/5 stars
  13. The Dolphin House; Audrey Schulman - 4.5/5 stars
  14. Unlikely Animals; Annie Hartnett - 4.5/5 stars
  15. Bittersweet:: How Sorrow & Longing Make Us Whole; Susan Cain - 3.5/5 stars
I read (15 books in April) - (5) were children's books - of the others:  (2)NF and (8) Fiction.  I only downloaded (2) audiobooks from the library in April. All of my other reads were from my physical or virtual shelves.

Favorite Books for April


May Reading Plans

  1. (Finish) Remarkably Bright Creatures; Shelby Van Pelt
  2. Project Hail Mary; Andy Weir
  3. The Lioness; Chris Bohjalian
  4. The Lost Apothecary; Sarah Benner (book group read)
  5. Metropolis; B.A. Shapiro
  6. Unmasked: My Life Solving America's Cold Cases; Paul Holes
  7. The Book Woman's Daughter; Kim Richardson
  8. Summer Love; Nancy Thayer
  9. Little Souls; Sandra Dallas
  10. All the Lovers of the Night; Mieko Kawakami
  11. The Orchard; Kristina Gorcheva-Newberry
  12. The Fields; Erin Young
How was your month? Any plans for May.

31 comments:

  1. I'm impressed with 15 books. Great job. And looks like books you mostly enjoyed. Glad you were able to enjoy Easter with your family. I got to enjoy mine with some friends, which was nice.

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    1. Hi Mark, glad you were able to get together with friends and hope May is a great month for books and you.

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  2. Your granddaughters are beautiful, Diane! I loved Project Hail Mary, such an interesting premise. I'm in Cornwall at the moment but naturally I brought books and have a backup of + 500 on my Kindle. LOL! Still on my afterlife/spirituality kick. Just read one of Shirley MacLaine's books, Out on a Limb. And I have more!

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    1. Thank you Cath! Hope you are enjoying your time in Cornwall. We can't get away without a few books can we? Hope you enjoy what you read.

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  3. You had a great reading month in both quantity and quality. I've just requested Lessons in Chemistry. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it and your other reads.

    Love the photo of your granddaughters. So glad you got to spend time with them!

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    1. Thanks Deb! I hope you love Lessons in Chemistry as much as I did. It's one I will reread in the future - something I rarely do.

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  4. Such a nice month for you with the relatives and also on your book front! I would like to read Anxious People if I get the chance and the DIamond Eye and the Lioness. I read almost all Chris Bohjalian books as they come out. And Nancy Thayer usually has good beach reads. I actually looked and saw that I have Unmasked by Holes also. I am a closet true crime podcast and book junkie, lol, but only the ones that are about the detective work or the DNA searches, not the violent kind. Have a nice week ahead and enjoy the Spring weather.

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    1. Hi Mia, I've long been a Chris Bohjalian fan and I think the only book I didn't read was one of his historical titles - something about "sand" if I recall.

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  5. Impressive! Equally impressive? Managing to write a review for the books you've read. That's one of my goals this month. Anyway, I hope you'll have a lovely month!

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    1. Hi Joy,

      Not a fan of the review process - it feels like a job that I don't get paid for LOL But, I try to do a brief review for everything I finish.

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  6. I requested The Lioness and hope I'll get it. I liked Two Nights in Lisbon and have yet to read Diamond Eye. Have a great reading week.

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    1. Hi Harvee, I recall seeing Two Nights in Lisbon on your blog and recall you loved it. The Lioness sounds very good so hoping we will both enjoy it.

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  7. Lovely grandbuns!
    I watched the series and liked it more than the book, which is super rare.
    Fantastic reading job! I still need to read Project Hail Mary. Happy May!

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    1. Hi Freda, Glad to read that you lived the miniseries Anxious People. We watched the first episode and think my husband had trouble understanding the accents so the rest of the series I'll watch alone:)

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  8. Your granddaughters are growing up so fast! Love the smiles and hope your middle grand is fully recovered now. You also read SO many good books in April. My daughter just purchased Lessons in Chemistry, so I'm sure I'll get a chance to read it over the summer. I also added both Memorial Drive and Unlikely Animals to my list. Thanks for reminding me about the Anxious People miniseries. It's in my Netflix queue, but I forgot all about it. No big plans here...we're hoping for a quiet month in FL before heading north for the summer. Happy May!

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    1. I think you will love Lessons in Chemistry when you start it - such a winner! Memorial Drove was an excellent memoir. Thanks for the comments on the grandkids - yes, where did the time go 7, 8 and 10 now.

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  9. Your granddaughter are so cute and I love their Croc's. I have to wear them for work and they are so comfortable!

    Happy Belated Birthday to the two of them!

    I love everything to do with the ocean so I would have been right there with them making a jellyfish! They did a great job!

    I loved Anxious People! I didn't even now there was a miniseries though, I'll check it out!

    I have Project Hail Mary on my list to read. I'm not familiar with some of the other books so I'll check them out .

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    1. Thanks Vicki, I've never worn Crocs but they seem like perfect summer footwear - hose them off, garden and beach in them etc. Glad you find them comfortable.

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  10. Hi there Diane! You got to spend some wonderful time with your family in April and that is so precious.

    Great reads for the month of April too! I'm eager to read Lessons in Chemistry and Unlikely Animals too.

    I'm still listening to Project Hail Mary and I hope you will enjoy it too!!

    Have a good week and month ahead.

    Lots of Love,

    Elza Reads

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    1. I started Project Hail Mary last night, I went in without reading anything other than that it had a SF theme. The audio book reader is very good so far.

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  11. You read a lot of good books in April! I hope you enjoy Project Hail Mary. And I can't wait to hear your thoughts on Metropolis. I've got that one on my TBR list. Have a great day! :D

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    1. Thanks Lark, I started Project Hail Mail on audio yesterday and I like it so far. Metropolis does sound like a good one. I hope you will like it as well.

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  12. Your Grands are so cute, bet they had some Birthday fun. Happy reading in May!!!

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    1. Thanks so much; it was a fun month with 2 kiddo birthdays.

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  13. Oh, I can't wait to see what you think of Project Hail Mary. I just got a copy of Lessons in Chemistry, which I hear such good things about.

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    1. I remember you enjoyed Project Hail Mary - so far I am enjoying audio; I started it last night. Hope you love Lessons in Chemistry - fun read.

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  14. April went so fast didn't it?! It's nice to see that you were able to see people over Easter ☺️ I want to read Lessons in Chemistry. I've read The Lost Apothecary and really enjoyed it.

    Have a great week

    Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
    https://budgettalesblog.wordpress.com/2022/05/01/sunday-salon-2/

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  15. I've heard good things about The Lost Apothecary. Glad you all had a great Easter. :)

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    1. Thanks Greg! I think it sounds so interesting (2 timelines).

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  16. I'm going to have to check out The Lost Apothecary. You've had some great reads lately. And I hope to be right behind you on several of these reads. Have a great week!

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  17. It sounds like you had a fun Easter with the granddaughters. Too bad one had been sick, though. No fun to not feel 100% on your own birthday. I'd forgotten that Anxious People was a new tv series. I didn't love the book, but maybe I'll enjoy the show. You read an amazing amount of books in April. I'm always astonished that there are those who can read more than a book a week. I happy to report that Lessons in Chemistry has picked up and I'm enjoying it quite a lot now. I haven't read any from your May list, but there are a few that I've added to my TBR list on Goodreads. Have a wonderful week!

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