Monthly Recap: April 2016

Happy last day of April! Are you excited to for May, aka the month in which so many books are being published? I sure am.

Today, I’m sharing the books I read, updates on challenges, what music I listened to, what shows I watched, and my TBR for May!

I read a total of 9 books, which I’m very happy about! I also beta-read for the first time for S. Usher Evans for her new novel coming soon in the fall, so pretty good reading month, I think.

HIGHLIGHTS

Favorite | Disappointed

BOOKS READ THIS MONTH:

I also beta read SPELLS AND SORCERY by S. Usher Evans, which is coming out in October of this year! (It doesn’t have a Goodreads page yet so I include it in the mosaic.)

REVIEWS:

• ESSENTIAL MAPS FOR THE LOST by Deb Caletti
• TELL ME THREE THINGS by Julie Buxbaum
• DON’T GET CAUGHT by Kurt Dinan
• MY KIND OF CRAZY by Robin Reul
• THE ISLAND by S. Usher Evans 
• QUEEN OF HEARTS by Colleen Oakes
• A WALK IN THE SUN by Michelle Zink
• RUINED by Amy Tintera
• THE WAY BACK TO YOU by Michelle Andreani & Mindi Scott
• ASK ME HOW I GOT HERE by Christine Heppermann
• WHISPER TO ME by Nick Lake

For 2016, I signed up for 4 year-long challenges. You can see my overall progress here.

THIS MONTH

ARC April | Hosted by: Read.Sleep.Repeat | Goal: 10 | 9 read

• A WALK IN THE SUN by Michelle Zink
• RUINED by Amy Tintera
• THE WAY BACK TO YOU by Michelle Andreani and Mindi Scott
• SPELLS AND SORCERY by S. Usher Evans (beta-read)
• ELEMENTALS: BLOOD OF THE HYDRA by Michelle Madow
• OUTRUN THE MOON by Stacey Lee
• WHISPER TO ME by Nick Lake
• ASK ME HOW I GOT HERE by Christine Heppermann
• THE CROWN’S GAME by Evelyn Skye

YEAR LONG

Flights of Fantasy | Goal: 20 | 3 read this month

• RUINED by Amy Tintera
• ELEMENTALS: BLOOD OF THE HYDRA by Michelle Madow
• THE CROWN’S GAME by Evelyn Skye

Contemporary Romance | Goal: 20 | 2 read this month 

•  A WALK IN THE SUN by Michelle Zink
• THE WAY BACK TO YOU by Michelle Andreani and Mini Scott

Debut Author | Goal: 20 | 2 read this month 

• THE WAY BACK TO YOU by Michelle Andreani
• THE CROWN’S GAME by Evelyn Skye

Discussions | Goal: 25 | 2 written this month

• Should Blogging Be Stressful?
• Reading as a Blogger vs. Reading as a Reader

• I participated in the THE WAY I USED TO BE blog tour! I presented a playlist that author Amber Smith put together.
• I also did the HAMILTON book tag! I’ve been absolutely LOVING Hamilton lately, so this was super fun to do!
• I interviewed Julia Ember, author of UNICORN TRACKS, as part of SST.
• I did the Harry Potter spells book tag, which was very fun to do!
• I participated in the meme, When I First Saw You, in which I made a synopsis for the upcoming book, GEMINI.
• I listed Ten Books That Will Make You Laugh (or at least chuckle) for Top Ten Tuesday.
• I discussed blogging’s stresses and whether blogging should be stressful.
• I discussed reading as a reviewer vs. a reader.
• I talked about 6 types of young adult novels that I want to see more of. 
• Finally, I announced my semi-hiatus.

I didn’t realize that the majority of my TBR in May was going to be contemporary until I put it together… hopefully all of these are amazing! I’ve heard lovely things about THE UNEXPECTED EVERYTHING and GIRL AGAINST THE UNIVERSE, so I’m pretty pumped.

• I have a review of OUTRUN THE MOON by Stacey Lee coming up tomorrow for Sunday Street Team.
• I’m also reviewing the second installment of ELEMENTALS: THE BLOOD OF THE HYDRA by Michelle Madow for the blog tour on May 2nd.
• I’m posting dream casts for WHISPER TO ME by Nick Lake for my blog tour post on the 12th.
• I’m promoting a lovely contemporary book, THE SEASON OF YOU & ME by Robin Constantine on the 14th.
• Finally, I’m interviewing SUMMER OF SLOANE’s author: Erin L. Schneider!

How was your month? Let me know in the comments below or link me to your own monthly wrap-up post!