April Reading Wrap Up
Welcome to my April reading wrap-up, even though I am SO far behind in my reviews it is not funny, they are a work in progress at the moment:
The total of books I read in April was: 11
Of these: 4 were Library Books, 3 were E-books and 4 were from my physical TBR pile
Then: Out of the books I read I discovered 4 ‘new for me’ authors (i.e. the first time I have read their work).
And: 6 of the books read were written by Australian authors.
Best Book of the month: May was another good reading month for me – as far as quality went. I actually had three ‘A’ reads this month. I give ‘A’s (or 5 stars) to books that, regardless of genre, are complete page turners for me, that have me reading late into the night, suck me straight into the story and leaves me wanting more at the end; and I utterly recommend it. If I give a high score to a book it means it is a top example of whatever genre it belongs to.
The genres that made it into my top 3 were two Women’s Fiction and a YA Dystopian books. The books were ‘The Chocolate Promise’ by Josephine Moon, ‘Pandora Jones: Reckoning’ by Barry Jonesberg and ‘An Enormously English Monsoon Wedding’ by Christina Jones. All three are top of their respective genre and are all highly recommended as such – but overall my book of the month was PANDORA JONES: RECKONING by Barry Jonesberg because I have been hanging out for this book as it is the final of a YA Dystopian trilogy, and as such I expected so much from it, author Barry Jonesberg did not let me down.
Least Favourite Book(s):
I say ‘least favourite’ because my lowest ‘score’ still means it is very readable, but for one reason or another I found it a bit of struggle to stay focused and finish. I only struggled with one book this month so my least favourite was Girl in the Dark by Anna Lyndsey.
Having said this, the book has received glowing reviews elsewhere, but it just wasn’t for me at this point of time – this is just my personal opinion and you may find that it may very well be perfect for you.
General Summary:
Because I am an eclectic reader I read many different genres, sometimes at the same time! This month the different genres covered were Young Adult, Romance, Mystery, Dystopian, Women’s Fiction, Magic Realism, Historical (set over 50 years ago), Contemporary Fiction (set in the last 50 years) and non-fiction. Many of the books were a blend of two or more genre.
The 6 Australian authors for April were 2 of the new-for-me authors James Bradly and Carly Lane; along with Sarah Gai, Josephine Moon, Meredith Resce and Barry Jonesberg. Just to clarify an Australian author is defined by me as either an Australian born author no matter where they live and write in the world now, or an author who currently lives and writes in Australia even though they have been born elsewhere.
Finally, the 4 ‘new-for-me’ authors this month were my two Aussie authors James Bradly and Carly Lane; along with Christina Jones and Anna Lyndsey and I would happily read all of these new authors again.
Interesting book related links that I’ve come across this month:
I thought I would share a few of my ‘Bookie’ links with you this month. Where I go to get inspired to read – my sources of information
FANTASTIC FICTION is a wonderful source – having information on over 30,000 authors and 350,000 books. There are also list about new authors, new books, books coming soon, most Popular and top authors. A favourite of mine are the countries list (want to read a book set in Eritrea or Montserrat – they’re on the list) the years list (need an author who was born or died in 1943 – it’s on the list) and the awards (which includes a list of most awarded books). The site is just information and there is no forum or chit chat – but you will spend hours wandering through it.
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/
GOODREADS is the place to go if you want to talk about books with other people. Not only will you find reviews about books – you can make friends, discover which of your friends are already there and if you like chatting books then you will find a group to suit just about every reading scenario you would like. Within the groups are reading related games, reading challenges (oh be still my beating heart) and there are even some giveaways and lists of books. You like dragons – search Listopia and there will be dragon book suggestions coming out of your ears!!! It is free to join and you can track your books on your own set of shelves – and there is an Apple application so you can tell at a glance what books you already own so there is no double ups when you’re in a book shop. I belong to a few groups and I am kept very busy reading and discussing books and off topic subjects.
MYSTERIES – if you like reading mysteries the ‘Stop You’re Killing Me’ is my favourite go to page. There is a list of authors each with a chronological list of their books which covers both their series and stand-alones. There are also indexes to help you find characters who live in particular countries (a PI from Mexico maybe) or by occupations (an investigator who is a dancer – or an Interior decorator maybe) there is even an area to search for elderly people or Amish; historical era (Ancient Egyptian mystery anyone?) as well as type of mystery – cosy, hard boiled, vampire, physiological Triller. This site will certainly fill up your notebook with new suggestions to follow up on.
http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/
The List
So let’s get onto what this post is about – what did I read during April? Here is the list of books that I read during the last month (each group is in the order I read them):
A = Excellent Stuff – a real page turner and hard to put down
The Chocolate Promise by Josephine Moon – Women’s Fiction
An Enormously English Monsoon Wedding by Christina Jones – Women’s Fiction
Pandora Jones: Reckoning by Barry Jonesberg – YA Dystopian Science Fiction
B = Really Good Read
Green Valley by Meredith Resce – Historical Romance
Clade by James Bradly – Dystopian Science Fiction
Burnt by Carly Lane – Romance
Naughty in Nice by Rhys Bowen – Historical Mystery
My Life as an Alphabet by Barry Jonsberg – Contemporary YA
First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen – Magic Realism
C = Above Average – very readable and enjoyable
Curve My Attitude by Sarah Gai – Romance
D = Average – it was OK, a bit of a struggle to finish
Girl in the Dark by Anna Lyndsey – Memoir
So onward to May – Woo Hoo! I wonder what book goodies I will discover this month? I wonder if I will catch up on my reviews!
Books and Musings from Downunder 
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