Thursday, May 4, 2023

April Wrap-Up & May TBR

It's freakin' May. What the heck. How is 2023 going by so fast?! And now I'm sad because ApollyCon is over, and I have nothing to look forward to within the next two months until A Soul of Ash and Blood releases in July. Which is soooo far away. Ugh. The post-vacation blues is real right now.

In this wrap-up, I’ll list the books I read, the books I reviewed, the books I bought/received, and my TBR for next month. Now, let’s get this bookish party started!

Books Read in April

The Bone Shard War: 3.5 stars (my review)
A River Enchanted: 4 stars
Fall of Ruin and Wrath: 4 stars (my review)
Defend the Dawn: 4 stars
What Lies Beyond the Veil: 4 stars (KU ebook)
Head Above Water: 3 stars (KU ebook)
Violent Desire: 3.5 stars (KU ebook)
Violent Mistake: 3.5 stars (KU ebook)

I read eight books in April, which is pretty good considering I was prepping for a vacation at the end of the month. Two of the books I read were physical ARCs, The Bone Shard War by Andrea Stewart and Fall of Ruin and Wrath by Jennifer L. Armentrout. I also had two library Libby holds come in. One was for A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross, and the other was for Defend the Dawn by Brigid Kemmerer. The rest of the books were all from Kindle Unlimited and those included What Lies Beyond the Veil by Harper L. Woods, Head Above Water by C.E. Ricci, and Violent Desire and Violent Mistake by Ariana Nash. None of these books were ones I owned prior to 2023, but I did own the ARCs, so that cuts down on my physical TBR a bit.

Books Bought/Received in April


April was a baaaaad month. Or, really, it was a very good month. But it just shows me that I have no self-control. In total, I purchased nine books in April and I received 30 books within the month, most of which were from ApollyCon.

The books I bought in April include one ApollyCon preorder that I picked up at the event, A River Enchanted, and two books I purchased at ApollyCon. Those include A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire, the hardcover, and the special paperback of What Lies Beyond the Veil that I bought at the author's table. The other books I bought and actually received in April include the Bookish Box edition of Untainted by Lilian T. James from a BST Facebook group, and The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent, which I purchased from Barnes & Noble when I was preordering another book. I also preordered FairyLoot's edition of The Iron Vow by Julie Kagawa and paid for my April Adult FairyLoot book, which hasn't arrived yet. Oh, and I have two French editions of FBAA books that I was charged for in April. I think one of them may have been delivered to my parents' house, but I'm not sure yet. 

As for what I received in April, that's where things get interesting. I have three non-ApollyCon books I got in April. Those include The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten, which was the March Adult FairyLoot book, as well as two review copies from Orbit, The Blighted Stars and The Pariah. Now, for books I received at ApollyCon, I have two groups. Group one is my preordered books and group two consists of the freebies I got at the event. In group one, we have Fire Heart by Emma Hamm; House of Beating Wings by Olivia Wildenstein; The Witch Collector and The Wolf and the Witch by Charissa Weaks; An Heir Comes to Rise by Chloe C. Penaranda; Untainted and Untamed by Lilian T. James; A Light in the Flame ApollyCon edition, Scorched, Frost and Fire Brunch ApollyCon edition, and A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire ApollyCon edition by JLA (three of these were paid with my ticket purchases); The Book of Azrael ApollyCon edition by Amber Nicole; A Fate of Wrath and Flame by K.A. Tucker; and Knight of Sword and Shadow by Ava Speirs. For group two, the freebies, I received The Longing of Lone Wolves special edition by Lana Pecherczyk, Magical Midlife Madness by K.F. Breene, A Dash of Salt and Pepper by Kosoko Jackson, A Court So Cruel and Lovely by Stacia Stark, My Luck 13 by Piper Rayne, A Crown of Ivy and Glass ARC by Claire Legrand, and We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian. All together, with the Orbit and FairyLoot books, that's 25 books received (not paid for) during the month of April.

Currently Obsessed With

Just like the past couple of months, I was rewatching The Office in April, especially when I was eating meals. It's just easy to flip on something I know I'll enjoy versus surfing between apps and content.


I honestly don't think I watched very many other shows in April. I believe I started Black Sails on Amazon, but it turns out that was only episode one. To watch the whole season, you have to subscribe to Starz, so I gave up on that. Other than Black Sails, I did forget to mention last month that I watched Shadow & Bone season two. And I enjoyed it. It had its odd moments, but, for the most part, it's a solid, fun fantasy show, and I hope more seasons and the Six of Crows spinoff happens. Though, with the writers' strike, it seems unlikely.

May TBR


I'm finally done reading books for ApollyCon! Hurrah! But I do have some things I desperately need to review. That includes A Door in the Dark by Scott Reintgen, The Blighted Stars by Megan O'Keefe, The Pariah by Anthony Ryan, and Gwen & Art are Not in Love by Lex Croucher (NetGalley ARC). I also want to read A Dragon's Promise before the FairyLoot sale for Elizabeth Lim's new book set in the same world. I read the first book, Six Crimson Cranes, a while back, and it was alright. I'm going to decide if I need the new book's special edition based on the ending of this duology, though. I'm also currently reading Cast in Firelight by Dana Swift. I've been reading it for a couple of months now. I put it down to focus on ApollyCon titles, but I'd like to pick it back up soon. There a few additional titles I'd like to read, but the ones pictured are the priorities.

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Okay, well, that's the month of April, plus some May sneak peeks, all wrapped up into one post. Do you have a wrap-up post for last month? If so, share in the comments!

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