Amazeballs April

~ Jennifer @ The Relentless Reader ~ 54 Comments

So, I read a few books in April:

  1. Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
  2. Eighty Days by Matthew Goodman
  3. The Longings of Wayward Girls by Karen Brown
  4. Black Venus by James MacManus
  5. The Secret Holocaust Diaries by Nonna Bannister
  6. Mary Coin by Marisa Silver
  7. The Mourning Hours by Paula Treick DeBoard
  8. The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer
  9. Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard
  10. The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers
  11. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
  12. Amity & Sorrow by Peggy Riley
  13. However Long the Night by Aimee Molloy
  14. After Visiting Friends by Michael Hainey
  15. In The Land of the Living by Austin Ratner
  16. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
  17. City of Thieves by David Benioff
  18. Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell
  19. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
  20. The Memoir Project by Marion Roach Smith
  21. The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
  22. Garden of Stones by Sophie Littlefield*
  23. The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald*
  24. Maus by Art Spiegelman*
  25. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi*
  26. Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld

* Read during Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-Thon

I’ll be doing a Hall of Fame post in June. At that time I’ll have to pick my favorite fiction and nonfiction book for April. Right now it hurts my brain to even try. Ouch.

Wasn’t April great for readers? So many fab events! Read-a-Thons, World Book Night, yahoo!

2013 Reading Challenge

2013 Reading Challenge
You have read 83 books toward your goal of 150 books.
 
83 of 150 (55%)
Awesome, you’re 34 books (22%) ahead of schedule!

How was the month of April for you? Do you have a favorite book of the month?

Onward Readers! Let’s make May fabulous!

Read-a-Thon Mini Reviews

~ Jennifer @ The Relentless Reader ~ 39 Comments
Garden of Stones by Sophie Littlefield
This book started out quite promising. Unfortunately that promise didn’t come true for me. Around the mid point the pace went wacky fast and the end brought about so many twists and turns that I was rolling my eyes. Lovely language and a great premise didn’t make up for the eventual problems. With that said, I would be willing to give this author another try.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Oh you beautiful, beautiful book! How is it that I forgot just how fantastic this is? This might make my list of books to re-read yearly. I decided to re-read this for a number of reasons: It’s on my Classics Club list. It’s an alternate for the 2013 TBR Pile Challenge. The movie is coming soon. It’s a slim volume that works well for read-a-thons. Can I pat myself on the back for making such a brilliant decision? I can and I have.

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Graphic novels are the perfect kind of books to read for read-a-thons. They are like sweet palate cleansers between wordier novels. Persepolis first attracted my notice when it was banned by Chicago public schools. Oh you’re going to ban this book? Then I am going to be first in line to read it. DOWN WITH THE MAN! Persepolis is a brilliant tale and one that I’ll be requiring my daughter to read as part of our homeschool curriculum.

Maus by Art Spiegelman

I’ve been hearing about this book for almost as long as I can remember. I remember thinking, what’s the big whoop? It’s a comic book about mice? Huh? In my defense that was before I knew about the wonderfulness of graphic novels. This book crawled its way into my heart and I can’t stop thinking about it. The power of this novel nearly knocked me over. If you haven’t read this I’m begging you to do so. Begging.