Weekly Mewsings: April Wrap Up and It's Time to Pick My Next TBR Book (Please Vote!)

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.

May snuck up on me. April had its ups and downs. We are still dealing with the bees in our wall problem, the pressure and volume at work has been relentless, and then all the health stuff. About the middle of April, we went to see my mom perform in a skit at her neighborhood community's Masquers Club variety show. She did a great job and it was a fun show. Anjin had jury duty this past week and spent a good part of four days listening to the lawyers question people as part of the selection process. I think he was relieved when he was finally dismissed. Today we attended a self-defense class with Mouse and her Girl Scout troop. One of the troop members attends the dojo where they held the class, and Mouse's troop invited several other local troops to attend as well. They had quite the turn out! Anjin even got to take part in some of the exercises as a target. It made for an educational and fun afternoon.

Gracie took advantage of the open drawer as is her right as a cat

May means the end of the school year for Mouse is close at hand--a little less than four weeks left. It will be a busy month! I hope you all have a wonderful May! 

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Books Read in April

April proved to be a more average reading month for me quantity-wise, but I made it through another month without a bummer in the bunch. I revisited the second book in the Innkeeper Chronicles, this time in graphic audio version. That was quite fun! I also listened to the science fiction classic, Dune, a book which lived up to the hype and then some. I was sad to see the end come to the Heirs of Chicagoland series, but I thought the characters got a good send off in Cold Curses. I love books about books and reading, and Why We Read definitely got me thinking more about my reading habits and the types of books I read. I jumped back into my daughter's favorite middle grade fantasy series and had a great time reading about Sophie and friends in Legacy. One of my most anticipated reads was An Inconvenient Wife by Karen E. Olson, a modern re-imagining of the Tudors, which did not disappoint. I loved Olson's characterizations of the wives. In fact, I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. Three of the books I currently am reading have carried over from April into May.  

• Sweep in Peace (Innkeeper Chronicles #2) by Ilona Andrews (re-read/audio)
• Dune (#1) by Frank Herbert (audio)
• Legacy (Keeper of the Lost Cities #8) by Shannon Messenger
• Cold Curses (Heirs of Chicagoland #5) by Chloe Neill
• An Inconvenient Wife by Karen E. Olson
• Why We Read: On Bookworms, Libraries, and Just One More Page Before Lights Out by Shannon Reed

Like last month, I had a hard time selecting a least favorite and favorite book of the books I read in April. They all were good in their own ways. I decided on Why We Read by Shannon Reed as my least favorite. While I highlighted quite a few quotes from this book that resonated with me and came away with a few book and essay recommendations, there was also the occasional essay I did not care for as much as others. As for my favorite book of the month, it came down to two, and picking just one of those was soooo hard! I am going to with Frank Herbert's Dune. From the world building to the characters, to the depth and complexity of the novel, I found it entertaining and thought provoking.

What was your favorite book read in April? Did you have a good reading month?

I am farther in David Copperfield by Charles Dickens than I expected to be at the moment. I am just past the 60% mark. David is all grown up and trying to make his way in the world. I try to read a chapter a night, which isn't too hard given the chapters are not very long. In early April, I decided to finally pick up Menopause Manifesto by Jen Gunter, which, like Dickens' book, I am slowly making my way through, reading about a chapter a day.

Although I got to it later than I anticipated, I am also reading Yangsze Choo's The Fox Wife. Everyone! It is so good! I really hate that I have not been feeling well and so have not been able to make more progress in it.  

What are you reading right now?

My TBR List is hosted by Michelle at Because Reading. The 1st Saturday of every month, I will list 3 books from my TBR pile I am considering reading and let you vote for my next read during that month. My review will follow (unfortunately, not likely in the same month, but eventually--that's all I can promise). 

I cannot decide what I am in the mood for. Something light with a good dose of humor would be good. These three books all came to mind: romance, mystery, or horror. Please help me choose which of these I should read next!  

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Happily Never After by Lynn Painter

Their name? The objectors.

Their job? To break off weddings as hired.

Their dilemma? They might just be in love with each other.

When Sophie Steinbeck finds out just before her nuptials that her fiancé has cheated yet again, she desperately wants to call it off. But because her future father-in-law is her dad’s cutthroat boss, she doesn’t want to be the one to do it. Her savior comes in the form of a professional objector, whose purpose is to show up at weddings and proclaim the words no couple (usually) wants to hear at their ceremony: “I object!”

During anti-wedding festivities that night, Sophie learns more about Max the Objector’s job. It makes perfect sense to her: he saves people from wasting their lives, from hurting each other. He’s a modern-day hero. And Sophie wants in.

The two love cynics start working together, going from wedding to wedding, and Sophie’s having more fun than she’s had in ages. She looks forward to every nerve-racking ceremony saving the lovesick souls of the betrothed masses. As Sophie and Max spend more time together, however, they realize that their physical chemistry is off the charts, leading them to dabble in a little hookup session or two—but it’s totally fine, because they definitely do not have feelings for each other. Love doesn’t exist, after all.

And then everything changes. A groom-to-be hires Sophie to object, but his fiancée is the woman who broke Max’s heart. As Max wrestles with whether he can be a party to his ex’s getting hurt, Sophie grapples with the sudden realization that she may have fallen hard for her partner in crime. [Goodreads Summary]

Bless Your Heart by Lindy Ryan

Rise and shine. The Evans women have some undead to kill.

It’s 1999 in Southeast Texas and the Evans women, owners of the only funeral parlor in town, are keeping steady with…normal business. The dead die, you bury them. End of story. That’s how Ducey Evans has done it for the last eighty years, and her progeny―Lenore the experimenter and Grace, Lenore’s soft-hearted daughter, have run Evans Funeral Parlor for the last fifteen years without drama. Ever since That Godawful Mess that left two bodies in the ground and Grace raising her infant daughter Luna, alone.

But when town gossip Mina Jean Murphy’s body is brought in for a regular burial and she rises from the dead instead, it’s clear that the Strigoi―the original vampire―are back. And the Evans women are the ones who need to fight back to protect their town.

As more folks in town turn up dead and Deputy Roger Taylor begins asking way too many questions, Ducey, Lenore, Grace, and now Luna, must take up their blades and figure out who is behind the Strigoi’s return. As the saying goes, what rises up, must go back down. But as unspoken secrets and revelations spill from the past into the present, the Evans family must face that sometimes, the dead aren’t the only things you want to keep buried.

A crackling mystery-horror novel with big-hearted characters and Southern charm with a bite, Bless Your Heart is a gasp-worthy delight from start to finish. [Goodreads Summary]

Nosy Neighbors by Freya Sampson

Two neighbors-at-war band together to stop a dangerous criminal in their midst in this enthralling new novel from the USA Today bestselling author of The Lost Ticket.

Twenty-five-year-old Kat Bennett has never felt at home anywhere, and especially not in crumbling Shelley House. According to her neighbors, she’s prickly and unapproachable, but beneath her tough exterior, Kat is plagued by guilt from her past.

Seventy-seven-year-old Dorothy Darling is Shelley House’s longest resident, and if you believe the other tenants, she’s as cantankerous and vindictive as they come. Except there’s a good reason Dorothy spends her days spying on her neighbors—a closely guarded secret that no else knows and the reason Dorothy barely leaves her beloved home.

When their building faces demolition, sworn enemies Kat and Dorothy become unlikely allies in their quest to save their historic home. But when someone starts to play dirty and viciously targets one of the residents, Dorothy and Kat suspect foul play in their community. After the police close the investigation, it's up to this improbable pair to bring a criminal to justice.  [Goodreads Summary]

Thank you for voting!

I hope you have a great week! Let me know what you have been reading!

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