Kendo kept me pretty busy in April. I practiced 13 days last month, including a local tournament and grading. I’d been on and off with kendo for a number years, but have been practicing regularly for the past year and finally went for grading after ten years (I passed). I should keep it up now so that my next grading won’t be another ten years away 😋 Work also kept me busy for a few weeks as I helped train a new hire and acted at a level up for a couple weeks.
My reading pace took a hit due to the above factors. But I still managed two reading highlights in April! My reread of The Lord of the Rings progressed nicely. I finished The Fellowship of the Rings. I also completed a buddy read with Mayri @ Book Forager. And thankfully we didn’t get hit with tarriffs on books! But who knows what will happen in the future…
Books Finished
- It’s All or Nothing, Vale by Andrea Beatriz Arango (middle grade contemporary novel-in-verse)
- Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen (adult contemporary cozy fantasy)
Posts Written
- Reviewed Don’t Sleep with the Dead by Nghi Vo (adult historical fantasy)
- Reviewed Accidental Demons by Clare Edge and Splinter & Ash by Marieke Nijkamp (middle grade speculative fiction)
- Reviewed My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix (adult horror)
- My sister and I discussed Stolen Pride: Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild for Family Reads (adult non-fiction)
- My mom and I discussed Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen for Family Reads (adult contemporary cozy fantasy)
Challenges Check-In
This section tallies up my annual goals. (Viewcount is the only monthly metric.)
- 24/82 books read
- 9/30 middle grade fiction novels
- 0/10 owned books
- 3/9 Family Reads
- 1/4 “I Can’t Believe I Haven’t Read that Yet”
- Reviewed 46% of what I read (goal = 50%)
- I said I would boost this in April and I actually did 🥳
- 24/66 posts
- 6/6 posts in April
- 2,613/2,600 views in April
Shared on Bluesky
On My Radar in May
- Monthlong – Wyrd & Wonder. If you’re not familiar, Wyrd & Wonder is a monthlong celebration of fantasy books, movies, shows, and games hosted Imyril @ One More, Annemieke @ A Dance with Books, Ariana @ The Book Nook, Lisa @ Dear Geek Place and Jorie Loves a Story. Check out this post for details on all the ways you can join in. This should be the year I’ve ‘participated’ the most since that banner year of 2020… I’m pretty stoked about the nautical theme 😄
- I’ll be reading All the Murmuring Bones by AG Slatter. Leave a comment if you’d like to join in a buddy read!
- 6 May – Release date of A Spell for Change by Nicole Jarvis (adult historical fantasy) and The Manor of Dreams by Christina Li (adult gothic thriller)
- 13 May – Release date of The Gate, the Girl and the Dragon by Grace Lin (middle grade fantasy) and The Incandescent by Emily Tesh (adult fantasy)
- 20 May – Release date of The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling (adult historical horror)
How was your April? What new books, or bookish events, are you looking forward to this month?
Congrats on passing your Kendo grading😁 I’m also reading A Spell For Change this month, hopefully we will both enjoy it.
Thank you! 😊
I’m looking forward to reading The Incandescent. And of course All the Murmuring Bones 😉
Congrats on your kendo grading. That is awesome.
Thank you! 😄 I just finished The Incandescent last night and am ready to pick up Murmuring now.
I’m so excited for W&W! Been working on my magic systems and magical abilities lists all year!
And I’m reading Incandescent and Starving Saints atm and adoring both!
I will def keep an eye out for those posts! The Incandescent was a bit of a surprise for me – I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
Since I’m halfway through it now, I’m extra glad to hear it!
Since hearing Emily Tesh on the brilliant Eight Days of Diana Wynne Jones podcast, I’m interested in reading her work!
Oh neat! I noticed that podcast when I was looking for some info about Tesh. I just finished The Incandescent last night and enjoyed it quite a bit. You might like that one – it has quite a bit to say about education as well.
[…] Next month I really will get back to reviewing some books but for now, here’s what I got up to in reading and blogging last month. Template inspired by Jenna @ Falling Letters. […]
It was a busy month but filled with good things! Congrats on passing your kendo test!
That’s for sure! Thank you! 😊
I see The Ghosts of Bitterfly Bay in that book haul!
Yes, I finally started it a couple days ago! I am enjoying it more than The Curse of Eelgrass Bog so far. I have a hunch about what’s actually going on with these ‘ghosts’ so I’m curious to see if I’m correct or not haha.