Weekly Mews: Goodbye April, Hello May (Please Vote in My TBR List Poll)

I am linking up to the Sunday Post hosted by Kim of Caffeinated Book Reviewer and The Sunday Salon (TSS) hosted by Deb Nance of Readerbuzz  where participants recap our week, talk about what we are reading, share any new books that have come our way, and whatever else we want to talk about. I am also linking It's Monday! What Are you Reading? hosted by Kathryn of Book Date where readers talk about what they have been, are and will be reading.

As part of my monthly wrap up, I am linking up to Nicole of Feed Your Addiction's Monthly Wrap-Up Post and Stacking the Shelves hosted by Marlene of Reading Reality a meme in which participants share what new books came their way recently. 

What I Am Reading: After finishing Angel of the Overpass (Ghost Roads #3) by Seanan McGuire, I picked up Cheryl Wilder's Anything That Happens, which I will be reviewing Monday for a tour. It was the perfect way to close out National Poetry Month. Mouse and I finished reading the 12th Dork Diaries novel, Tales from a Not-So-Secret Crush Catastrophe this past week as well. 

I am in the middle of Black Water Sister by Zen Cho, which I was not sure about at first but is proving to be a hard book to set down. I am sure I will finish it this weekend. 

Next up . . . A Peculiar Combination by Ashley Weaver sounds pretty good. Or maybe Wendy Wax's The Break-Up Book Club. 

What I Am Watching: We reached the end of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and are now on the final season of Angel. I do not know why I got so excited seeing Harmony and Spike on Angel. There's just something about  when  characters crossover from one show to another. I have a love/hate relationship with those two characters as it is. 

Last weekend while working on Mouse's chain reaction science project, we had a musical day airring in the background. We watched Annie, Newsies and Oliver (based on Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens). It had been years since I last saw Oliver. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed that musical. I really hate Bill Sikes.

Off the Blog: Is it May already? April was one of those months that seemed to drag in spots and race by in others. The CDC has loosened mask wearing mandates for outdoors in the U.S. California continues to see a decline in COVID cases and increase in vaccinations. My husband said today the grocery store has taken out the floor stickers where people were to stand to remain six feet apart in line. I am not sure I agree with that move just yet but hopefully people will still adhere to social distancing guidelines. The county I live in is staying pretty steady metric wise, but we have been watching the numbers go up in other parts of the country and world, wondering if our  luck will hold. My heart aches for those in India. The crisis there is horrific, and I hope they are able to get the help they need. 

After much consideration and mental handwringing, my husband and I decided to take a calculated risk and started Mouse back at the dance studio where masks and social distancing are required. The classes are fairly small as capacity is limited. The students' temperatures are taken at the door and they have a fairly strict safety protocol in place. She still attends dance classes via Zoom too sometimes. At this point the studio has no plans to stop the Zoom option, and so we can switch back completely to those with some ease if need be. Mouse is super happy to be able to go in-person again. She has a spark in her I have not seen in a long while. I am missing the extra free time I had when she was solely at home though. I have been taking advantage of the waiting time by reading in my car or on a bench outside the studio. 

Mouse has less than four weeks of school left this school year. It's been quite the year. We had such a rough start to this new-to-us world of virtual learning, but it turned around for us somewhere in there and has been easier to navigate these past few months. We may even miss it next school year when Mouse returns in-person. Or maybe not. 

I have been having some minor health issues and had a couple of doctor appointments this past month, including a biopsy that came back normal (yay!). I have more testing scheduled later this month. 

We are enjoying warmer temperatures, although those two days it got into the 90F's we could have done without. It was an early taste of the summer to come no doubt. 

Nina trying not to look guilty. 

Earlier she'd been playing with the clock. 

I came across this old photo of Mouse and Parker not too long ago. 

It's one of my favorites.

New to the Shelves in April:

New books on Mouse's Bookshelves: 

Fearless (#1) by Mandy Gonzalez

A Dash of Trouble (Love Sugar Magic #1) by Anna Meriano

A Sprinkle of Spirits (Love Sugar Magic #2) by Anna Meriano

A Mixture of Mischief (Love Sugar Magic #3) by Anna Meriano 

(Thanks for the recommendation of the Love Sugar Magic series, Caspette!)

Primer by Jennifer Muro & Thomas Krajewski, illustrated by Gretel Lusky (Illustrations)

Amazon had their annual World Day giveaway and I picked up the following (all free): 

The Strange Journey of Alice Pendelbury by Marc Levy, translated by Chris Murray

The King of Warsaw by Szczepan Twardoch, translated by Sean Gasper Bye

You, Me, and the Colors of Life by Noa C. Walker, translated by Lisa Reinhardt

At the End of the Matinee by Keiichiro Hirano, translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter

Amora: Stories by Natalia Borges Polesso, translated by Julia Sanches

Return to the Enchanted Island by Johary Ravaloson, translated by Allison M. Charette

The Broken Circle: A Memoir of Escaping Afghanistan by Enjeela Ahmadi-Miller

(I already owned a couple they were offering)

Here is what I finished reading in April:

• Tales from a Not-So-Dorky Drama Queen (Dork Diaries #9) by Rachel Renée Russell
•  The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba (Cuba Saga #4) by Chanel Cleeton
• The Borrow a Bookshop Holiday by Kiley Dunbar
• Tales from a Not-So-Perfect Pet Sitter (Dork Diaries #10) by Rachel Renée Russell
• Shadowed Steel (Heirs of Chicagoland #3) by Chloe Neill
• The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
• Tales From a Not-So-Friendly Frenemy (Dork Diaries #11) by Rachel Renée Russell
• Angel of the Overpass (Ghost Roads #3) by Seanan McGuire
• Anything That Happens by Cheryl Wilder
•  Tales from a Not-So-Secret Crush Catastrophe (Dork Diaries #12) by Rachel Renée Russell

I was not the best blogger (or commenter) in April, but I did fit in quite a bit of reading. Mouse and I knocked out four Dork Diaries novels together and I read a fair amount on my own. The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo was by far my favorite read. 

This Past April In Reading Mews:

• Where Is Your Bookmark? Spring Flowers / Reading Now / Reading Then / BBHOP
• Weekly Mews: Marching Into April (March Wrap Up & April's TBR List Poll)
• Waiting to Read Wednesday: Arsenic and Adobo /The Bookshop of Second Chances / No One Can Pronounce My Name
• Where Is Your Bookmark? (A Bookstore Vacation / Spelling the Month in Books / BBHOP)
• Weekly Mews: Just Another Week & Cat Pictures (because there can never be enough)
• Bookish Mewsings: Passiflora by Kathy Davis
• Waiting to Read Wednesday: Swimming Back to Trout River /Black Water Sister / Lost in a Good Book
• Where Is Your Bookmark? (Road Trip Anyone? / Reading Now & Then / Meme Addict)
• Weekly Mews Poetry Corner Edition: From the Inside
• Bookish Mewsings: The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna
• Waiting to Read Wednesday: A Peculiar Combination / Happy Endings / Drowned City
• Where Is Your Bookmark? (What I Was Reading Then & Now / My Poetry TBR / BBHOP)
• Waiting to Read Wednesday: The Beach House / The Invisible Husband of Frick Island / Sea Creatures
• Where Is Your Bookmark? (Reading Then & Now / Spine Poetry)

Tell me what you have been up to! What are you reading, listening to and watching? How was your April? Do you have anything planned for this month?

Thank you for helping me decide what book from my TBR collection I should read next: 

My TBR List is hosted by the awesome Michelle at Because Reading. It’s a fun way to choose a book from your TBR pile to read. The 1st Saturday of every month, I will list 3 books I am considering reading and take a poll as to which you think I should read. I will read the winner that month. My review will follow (unfortunately, not likely in the same month, but eventually--that's all I can promise). 

It is that time again! I considered going with historical fiction this month and then thought I really should go with nonfiction given I am behind on that challenge. Alas, fantasy and science fiction won out. All three of these books are sounding like a good fit right now. Not to mention they are actual physical books from my TBR shelves rather than the easier to go to e-books sitting on my e-reader. I could use your help in deciding which one I will read next though!

Spin the Dawn (The Blood of Stars #1) by Elizabeth Lim

Project Runway meets Mulan in this sweeping YA fantasy about a young girl who poses as a boy to compete for the role of imperial tailor and embarks on an impossible journey to sew three magic dresses, from the sun, the moon, and the stars.

Maia Tamarin dreams of becoming the greatest tailor in the land, but as a girl, the best she can hope for is to marry well. When a royal messenger summons her ailing father, once a tailor of renown, to court, Maia poses as a boy and takes his place. She knows her life is forfeit if her secret is discovered, but she'll take that risk to achieve her dream and save her family from ruin. There's just one catch: Maia is one of twelve tailors vying for the job.

Backstabbing and lies run rampant as the tailors compete in challenges to prove their artistry and skill. Maia's task is further complicated when she draws the attention of the court magician, Edan, whose piercing eyes seem to see straight through her disguise.

And nothing could have prepared her for the final challenge: to sew three magic gowns for the emperor's reluctant bride-to-be, from the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of stars. With this impossible task before her, she embarks on a journey to the far reaches of the kingdom, seeking the sun, the moon, and the stars, and finding more than she ever could have imagined.

Steeped in Chinese culture, sizzling with forbidden romance, and shimmering with magic, this young adult fantasy is pitch-perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas or Renée Ahdieh. [Goodreads Summary]

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers #1) by Becky Chambers

Follow a motley crew on an exciting journey through space-and one adventurous young explorer who discovers the meaning of family in the far reaches of the universe-in this light-hearted debut space opera from a rising sci-fi star.

Rosemary Harper doesn’t expect much when she joins the crew of the aging Wayfarer. While the patched-up ship has seen better days, it offers her a bed, a chance to explore the far-off corners of the galaxy, and most importantly, some distance from her past. An introspective young woman who learned early to keep to herself, she’s never met anyone remotely like the ship’s diverse crew, including Sissix, the exotic reptilian pilot, chatty engineers Kizzy and Jenks who keep the ship running, and Ashby, their noble captain.

Life aboard the Wayfarer is chaotic and crazy—exactly what Rosemary wants. It’s also about to get extremely dangerous when the crew is offered the job of a lifetime. Tunneling wormholes through space to a distant planet is definitely lucrative and will keep them comfortable for years. But risking her life wasn’t part of the plan. In the far reaches of deep space, the tiny Wayfarer crew will confront a host of unexpected mishaps and thrilling adventures that force them to depend on each other. To survive, Rosemary’s got to learn how to rely on this assortment of oddballs—an experience that teaches her about love and trust, and that having a family isn’t necessarily the worst thing in the universe. [Goodreads Summary]

The Map of Time (Trilogía Victoriana #1) by Félix J. Palma, translated by Nick Caistor

A skeptical H. G. Wells investigates time-travel mysteries including an aristocrat's love affair with a murdered prostitute from the past, a Victorian woman's escape to the future, and a plot to murder celebrated authors to steal their written works.

Set in Victorian London, with characters real and imagined, The Map of Time is a page-turner that boasts a triple play of intertwined plots in which a skeptical H. G. Wells is called upon to investigate purported incidents of time travel and to save lives and literary classics, including Dracula and The Time Machine, from being wiped from existence.

What happens if we change history? Félix J. Palma explores this question in The Map of Time, and he weaves a historical fantasy as imaginative as it is exciting, a story full of love and adventure that transports readers to a haunting Victorian London for their own taste of time travel. [Goodreads Summary] 

Thank you for voting! I hope you all have a wonderful week! Happy Reading!

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