Month: April 2026

I want to start this by giving a huge shout-out to my big boy, Mister Sissy, who turned 16 on April 6th!  He was born to a feral cat under our house and spent his first 9-10 years living outdoors.  He is huge (well over 20 pounds), and now spends his days demanding scratches and taking over the entire couch.

Now, on to the books!

What I’ve Been Reading

PROJECT HAIL MARY by Andy Weir — 5 out of 5 stars

“Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission – and if he fails, humanity and Earth itself will perish.”    I loved Andy Weir’s The Martian, both the book and movie.  For whatever reason, Project Hail Mary slid through my reading radar when it was published in 2021 (I’m guessing the whole global pandemic thing may have had something to do with that).  Anyways, after hearing nothing but praise about the movie since it came out March 20th, my interest was renewed and I picked up a copy.  I am so glad I did!!  I absolutely loved this story.  I really don’t know what more I can say without giving away a lot of the plot, so I will say this is definitely one of my top reads of the year, and one that I highly recommend to everyone.

A COURT OF MIST AND FURY by Sarah J. Maas — 4 out of 5 stars

Feyre, granted the gifts of the High Fae and haunted by her time Under the Mountain.  An upcoming marriage, a bargain with the Dark Lord…..    Okay, anyone who remotely knows me knows that I have never been a fan of romance, romantasy, etc..  If you had told me ten years ago that I would be reading this series and actually LIKING it (!) and looking forward to reading the next book, well, I probably would have laughed and went back to whatever genre I was reading at the time.  So why do I like this series?  Because there is an actual story that intrigues me and it doesn’t revolve around sex 24/7.  Plus the whole bad boy with a good heart named Rhysand.  God, I’m getting soft in my old age.

DIAVOLA  by Jennifer Thorne — 3.5/4 out of 5 stars

Anna, the black sheep of the Pace family, is not looking forward to the yearly vacation with the fam.  What makes it even worse?  The destination is a “modernized” castle-like home in a remote Italian village.  Locals warn the family about staying there, and there is the mysterious key that the caretaker insists should not be touched…ever!!  What could possibly go wrong??       I had some mixed feelings on this horror novel, but let me start with the positives.  I love haunted house stories, and this really hit the mark for me on that aspect.  I enjoyed the building sense of dread and certain imagery.  What brought it down for me was the cast of characters.  I did not like any of them, even the kids annoyed me for some reason.  I also felt that there were a lot of loose ends and unanswered questions.  However, I did round up to four stars on Goodreads simply because I really enjoyed the horror aspect, just not the dysfunctional family part.  A great read for Halloween.

Here’s some other titles worth checking out:

Welcome Home:  Travels in Smalltown Canada by Stuart McLean (Nonfiction)

Nightbloom by Peace Adzo Medie

Bat-Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker

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What have you been reading?  Drop me a line and let’s talk books!

Support your local library.

Stay safe, and Happy Reading!

In the past, I used monthly themes to plan my reading.   Then after a really bad reading slump last June or so, I started going through my unread books and prioritizing them.  Do I want to continue this series?  This title has been on my shelf for years, do I still want to read it?  And so on.  I pulled out a journal and started making lists of what I really wanted to read and wound up starting a monthly goal of two to four books from these lists that I wanted to tackle each month.  It helped tremendously with my reading slump…plus, I just love making lists, there’s something immensely satisfying crossing items off as they are completed.  I still plan on continuing my 31 Books of Halloween for September and October…I’m already putting together my reading list for that!

So, with that being said, here are my selections for April…

I have several library holds that should be coming in over the next few days, so I decided to keep my list down to two.  Wolf Totem by Jiang Rong is fiction “…drawing on the author’s experience during the Cultural Revolution of the late 1960’s and ’70’s” (from the cover).  A college student is sent to Inner Mongolia as part of a modernization movement.  His admiration for the nomadic herdsmen and his fascination with the Mongolian wolf will soon be tested by government policies.     I have been obsessed with Eastern Asia, especially Mongolia, ever since I can remember, and I’m really looking forward to this one.

I learned about Lenin’s Kisses by Yan Lianke through an online course I recently took, ChinaX Book Club.  The plot is pretty wild:  After a bizarre summer snowstorm ruins their crops, a village of mostly disabled people, led by their county official, start a traveling performance show to raise money to buy the corpse of Lenin from Russia so they can create a tourist attraction to compensate for the lost crops.  Like I said, pretty wild.  What really sold me on this book was the interview with the author that was part of the course.  It’s something that I would recommend trying to find if you are interested in reading this book.

This month, I also want to make some progress, or actually finish, my other current reads…

I’m about halfway through A Court of Mist and Fury, so I should wrap that up in a week or so.  I’ve been a bit disappointed with The Curse of Oak Island.  I’m not quite at the DNF stage yet, I just keep hoping something interesting will finally happen.  And as for Fucked Up?  I’ve been working on that one for several months now.  Not that it’s bad, it’s just been a lot to deal with.  Once I hit page 300 or so, it did seem to pick up more momentum so I’m hoping to finish it by the end of the month.

What are your reading goals for April?  Drop me a line and let’s talk books!

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Support your local library.

Stay safe and Happy Reading!

This past Saturday, I was able to attend the annual used book sale put on by the local chapter of American Association of University Women (AAUW).  The volunteers collect thousands of used books over the course of the year for this three-day event, with all the proceeds going towards various scholarships.   (This photo courtesy of The Chronicle)

On the final day of the sale, Saturday, they have the best pricing of all:  fill a bag for $5.00!!  So, of course, my bookaholic self went a bit overboard…

And what treasures did I come home with?  Let’s take a look!!

First up, all the nonfiction…

Cookbooks, true crime, the arts, memoirs, natural science…I truly picked up a little bit of everything!  A couple of these are replacement copies that are in better shape than the copies I already have.  I am especially intrigued by 100 Great Operas and Their Stories, Boy from Karelia, and How to Get Run Over by a Truck.  Not pictured are two cookbooks:  The Exotic Kitchens of Peru by Copeland Marks and Dishing Up New Mexico by Dave DeWitt.

Now, for the fiction!

My top find was a brand new copy of Ocean Vuong’s new novel, The Emperor of Gladness (and my apologies to the ladies near me who may have overheard me say “holy shit!” as I was reaching for it).  Laird Barron and Cherie Priest were a couple of other authors I was surprised to find.  And one can never have too many epic fantasies on hand!

Now comes the task of reorganizing and reprioritizing my TBR shelves…

While this may seem excessive, it is probably the only chance I’ll have to splurge on books for some time.  And hey, you really can’t beat getting 70 books for $25!!

Have you brought home any new reads?  What’s the most surprising book you’ve found at a used book sale/store?  Drop me a line and let’s talk books!

Until next time, stay safe and Happy Reading!