April Wrap-Up | A Month of Reading and Music

There is only one month and three days until I am finished with my sophomore year of high school. That is kind of scary to think about. It does not feel like it’s been two years since I graduated from eighth grade. Like, where did the time go? At the same time though, last semester feels like it was so long ago. It’s weird.

April was a busy month for me, with a lot going on. I got some good reading in though, which I’m happy about.

BOOKS READ

I had a pretty good reading month, with 5 months. However, I got my first DNF in a really long time. I don’t remember the last time I DNFed a book, I think it might’ve been in fifth grade. I debated whether I should add it in to the list here, but I decided against it.

The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu|📖|★★★★|my review
This historical fiction mixed with fantasy was the perfect choice for me. Following Wolfgang Mozart’s lesser-known, older sister, Nannerl, we see what it’s like to grow up as a musical prodigy girl in eighteenth century Europe. The worldbuilding was magical, the siblings’ bond was highlighted, and the mysterious characters were intriguing.

Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga|🎧|★★★★★
My first poetry I’ve read in, like, forever. I do not read poetry that often. I loved this story. Jude was a great protagonist and I love how she embraced her heritage and was proud of it, not ashamed or afraid to be noticed.

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo|📖|★★★★.5
Ahh, this book was so good! I love how it was set in San Francisco Chinatown and how Lily grew over the course of the book. The writing fit the tone well and I liked the interspersed stories in her family member’s perspectives.

How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao|📱|★★.5|my review
This book sadly did not live up to my expectations. I still enjoyed it but I didn’t like it as much as I had anticipated to. It needed more exposition and the characters didn’t have a whole lot of depth to them. I did however like the diversity representation included in the story. I think other people could’ve liked this a lot, but it just wasn’t for me.

Lovely War by Julie Berry|📖|not rated yet
Oh my gosh, this entire book has my heart now. I don’t see many historical fiction WWI, so this was super interesting to read. And the characters! Hazel, James, Aubrey, and Colette all are amazing. The romance was a little rushed for both couples, but I still love them.

MY POSTS

• Let’s Talk Bookish: The Makings of a Great Audiobook
• March Wrap-Up | In Which Time Went Slow and Fast
• ARC Review: Love Times Infinity by Lane Clarke
• The Eximius Blogger Award
• Camping in Anza-Borrego | another trip to the desert
• My Favorite Opening Lines in Books
• Mini Reviews: The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu & How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao

AROUND THE BLOGOSPHERE

• Rania @ Moonlit Notes shared a discussion on the dos and dont’s of desi representation in media.
• Siena @ Booksophobia celebrated her two-year blogiversary and recommended books she found through blogging.
• Destiny @ Howling Libraries did the Quarter Year Crisis book tag.
• Ash @ Ink Words and Ash created the Trope Tag.
• Poorwa @ Poorwa’s blog shared 50 things that make her happy.
• Jordyn @ Jordyn Reads shared a list of book recommendations for beginning fantasy readers.

BLOGS I DISCOVERED

Howling Libraries – This blog is run by Destiny and I love the design! Her posts are engaging and I like her blogging voice.

Jordyn Reads – Another fantasy aficionado, like myself, I knew I wanted to follow Jordyn’s blog. She writes really fun posts and I’ve gotten some great recommendations from her!

I got very little done this month. I think I wrote about a page this entire month. And that was at the beginning of April, during spring break. And then, unfortunately, I didn’t have time the rest of the month or I wasn’t feeling like I wanted to write. I sometimes have times of motivation to write, but I don’t have the time, which sucks.

💫 I went camping at the beginning of the month, to Anza-Borrego, aka the desert. I had a lot of fun on it, though it was pretty hot some of the days. I don’t normally go camping in the desert and it always feels so odd to be so exposed. I’m used to trees for cover and the desert is just so open.

💫 I had two orchestra concerts this month, one for my school’s annual music program fundraiser, and one for a competition. The one for the fundraiser went pretty well. We could’ve played better but the room was a bit weird and ate up a lot of the sound, so we had to adjust to that. Our competition was a week later and we improved a lot in that week, which I’m super happy about. I think we sounded so much better, even though we rushed in some spots. Overall, the two were a great success.

April Goals:

• Read 5 books ✅
• Post 7 times ✅
• Work on WIP ✅
• Drivers ed ✅

May Goals:

• Read 5 books
• Post 8 times
• Work on WIP
• Drivers ed

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How was your April? Did you read any good books?
Do you have any fun plans for May?