Sunday, May 06, 2012

Sunday Salon: April Reading Reflections

Doesn't the year go really quickly? How can it be May already? It is getting much colder here and the heater has been on the last few days. Winter is on it's way so I am starting to think about spending the weekends curled up in the chair or in bed with a good book and about cooking soups and stews for dinner.

The highlight of this month was definitely the book Me Before You by Jojo Moyes - my first 5/5 read for the year. I will have a discussion type review up of the book tomorrow, but I would preempt that by saying I loved that book!

Here are the books that I read during April:

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons 4/5
Ride for Rights by Tara Chevrestt 4/5
MoVida: Spanish Culinary Adventures by Frank Camorra and Richard Cornish 4/5
Thief of Lives by Lucy Sussex 3/5
Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett 4.5/5
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes 5/5
The Diplomat's Wife by Pam Jenoff 4/5
The Firefly Dance Anthology 2.5/5
Twice Tempted by a Rogue by Tessa Dare 4/5
The Iron Hand of Mars by Lindsey Davis 3.5/5
The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott 3/5
Changeless by Gail Carriger 4/8
Rainshadow Road by Lisa Kleypas 4/5
Can't Stand the Heat by Louisa Edwards 4/5
Ride with Me by Ruthie Knox 4.5/5
The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff 4/5
Hot Under Pressure by Louisa Edwards 4/5
The Novel in the Viola Natasha Solomons 4
The Shoemaker's Wife Adriani Trigiani 4.5

This was a pretty good month for my challenges as well. Technically, with the last couple of books that I read in May, I think I have now completed quite a few of my challenges.

Thief of Lives counted for both the Australian Women Writer's Challenge and the Aussie Author Challenge. I have a couple more books to read for AWWC, but I have completed the requirements for the Aussie Author Challenge.

I have also completed the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge with The Diplomat's Wife, The Iron Hand of Mars, The Dressmaker, The Novel in the Viola and The Shoemaker's Wife all fitting the criteria for the challenge in this month.

I also counted The Shoemaker's Wife for the War Through the Generations challenge which means I have now completed it but I will keep reading for both this and the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.

Guards! Guards! was my one read for Once Upon a Time challenge and I didn't read anything for the What's in a Name challenge.

How was your reading in April?

20 comments:

  1. Yay for having an excellent reading month! April was the month I finished 2 reading challenges too, and I made good progress on a few others.

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    1. It's nice to be able to see that you are making progress isn't it!

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  2. I forget that you're on the other side of the world - we're heading into summer! Although, we're having a very chilly spring. You had a great month - I usually post my monthly reading stats on the first Sunday of the month, too, but completely forgot this time. :)

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    1. I try to do it on the first Sunday but sometimes other stuff just gets in the way.

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  3. What a great reading month! I recently started reading Pratchett, so now I'm curious about Guards! Guards! I hope May is a great month for you.

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    1. Guards! Guards! is now one of my favourite Discworld books.

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  4. I loved Me Before You, too. Did you cry at the end as I did? I suppose I'll have to wait until your post to find out, but I agree wtih you that it was a tremendous novel. So much to think about.

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    1. Yes! Sobbed my heart out. I think we forgot to mention crying in the discussion.

      I knew that Bree had finsihed the book when I got a tweet from her that just said *sob*

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  5. Sounds so strange to my L.A. ears to hear you say winter's on it's way in May! I hate the heat so I need to spend my summers over there with you! Happy reading, soups & stews!

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    1. I would probably go for summer or autumn spent in another country and then come back here. Our winters would be pretty similar too I would think - maybe a little cooler here, but no snow etc

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  6. What an awesome month you had!! I bookmarked this page for some books to read...you read some really great ones :D

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    1. It has been a pretty good year really.

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  7. Wow you really have been reading a lot!! And most seem to be good reads, I must check your reviews and see which ones to add to the TBR pile.

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    1. I have had a good six months or so in terms of reading, which is nice. (Add Me Before You to your TBR pile!)

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  8. It's getting colder here in the UK too. We're getting the same temperatures in May as we had in December. That's so wrong. Anyway, great reading month there. I just bought Cold Comfort Farm and am looking forward to finding out whether it's as funny as everyone says.

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    1. I liked Cold Comfort but not as much as others.

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  9. You really did have a productive April! I am hoping that will be my May...

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