Well, April went by in a flash. So much for getting my posts back up to speed, haha. I don’t have much to update for April… I certainly don’t have any excuses for the low number of posts last month 😛 Perhaps I’ll blame it on the improving weather and the fact that I’ve started going for bike rides? Plus that anniversary post alone took me a week to pull together! Anyway, I’ve got a full schedule with a few things already drafted for May, so perhaps I’m on the up and up now.

Books Finished

• Keeping Pace by Laurie Morrison
• A Grandmother Begins the Story by Michelle Porter
• Victory of Eagles (Temeraire #5) by Naomi Novik
• Of Salt and Shore by Annett Schap

Books Reviewed

• Keeping Pace by Laurie Morrison (MG contemporary)

Posts Written

• Celebrated my 10th blogiversary with a retrospective
• Posted “I Can’t Believe I Haven’t Read That Yet” #26 (check it out to vote on which work of curious fiction should I read next)

Challenges Check-In

This section tallies up my annual goals. (Posts and views are the only two metrics which are per month.)

• 6/30 middle grade fiction novels (excluding rereads)
• 3/9 Family Reads
• 2/6 “I Can’t Believe I Haven’t Read that Yet”
• 25/81 books read
  • Only one book behind ‘schedule’ at the moment! I feel like that’s rare for this time of year… usually I’ve fallen slightly further behind by April.
• Reviewed 48%/40% of what I read (that’s 12/25)
  • I’m counting two of the five ‘reviews’ I wrote in a Round Up post for this stat
• Reread The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings – have not started but see my below plans for Wyrd & Wonder 👀
• 4/8 posts in April
  • …I have no comment on this lol.
• 2,719/2,200 views in April
  • I wasn’t expecting the views to keep climbing, but Google search continues to drive substnatial traffic to some of my older posts.
• RIP 2024 Booktempter’s TBR Challenge
  • I’m pulling out of this one. I’ve got enough reads on my plate this year, it feels like!

On My Radar in May

Wyrd & Wonder

May is the time for one of my favourite blogging events, Wyrd & Wonder! I haven’t participated since 2021, but I am keen to give it more attention this year. If you’re not familiar with the event, Wyrd & Wonder is a monthlong celebration of all things fantasy. Hosted by Imyril @ X+1, Annemieke @ A Dance with Books, Ariana @ The Book Nook, Lisa @ Dear Geek Place and Jorie @ Jorie Loves a Story, you can visit their blogs to sign up and learn more about participating in activities such as prompt challenges (look at this lovely map that Ariana created!!) or read alongs (The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and The Sunbolt Chronicles by Intisar Khasani).

I will be focusing on my participation on reviewing and reading fantasy books. Keep an eye out for my reviews of Seanan McGuire’s Tidal Creatures (Alchemical Journeys #3) and Rosalie M. Lim’s Daughter of Calamity, as well as some thoughts on Katherine Arden’s The Warm Hands of Ghosts. My sister and I will also be discussing Kelly Barnhill’s When Women Were Dragons for this month’s Family Reads.

In keeping with this year’s theme (comfort reads), I’ve decided this will be a good month to finally start my Tolkien rearead with The Hobbit. Other fantasy books on my TBR this month include The Butcher of the Forest, When Women Were Dragons, and the aforementioned Daughter of Calamity. And if I am feeling really ambitious, we’ll see how far into The Spear Cuts Through Water I get.

How was your April? What new books, or bookish events, are you looking forward to this month?