They said ‘It’s gonna be May’ and they were right. It is May.

What I read

More than I thought, given that one of them was a smidge over 1000 pages.

Quick stats:
17 books read
64 out of 150 so far
14 ahead of schedule
1 (!) BABAL* (One about a magazine, and two where the MC happens to own a bookshop, but it’s not really important to the plot).
0 Val McDermids
3 new authors
5 library books

April’s five star reads:

None!

April’s four star reads:

The Rockingdown Mystery
The first of the Barney Mysteries, which introduces us to Roger, Diana, the irrepressible Snubby, the mad Looney, Barney and Miranda. Not my favourite of the series, but a solid start with a good mystery and a classic bit of misdirection.

Alchemised – SenLinYu
This was the 1,000 page book. Originally, this was a Draco/Hermione fanfic – and yes, of course I had already read it. At first I struggled to get into it, as I kept trying to remember/work out who all the characters had originally been. Obviously, Helena was Hermione, and Kaine was Draco. As it turns out, though, many of the other characters were not just renamed – their roles were altered, divided and otherwise rewritten, which is why I was having so much trouble identifying them.

Beyond that, I found it a little harder to care about the characters. Reading it as a fanfic following on from the seven Harry Potter books, I knew the characters and cared what happened to them. I didn’t have that connection to these new characters.

Saying that I did end up loving the world-building in the book, and also ended up caring a lot about the characters. I don’t know if my experience of the book would have been different had I not read the fanfiction before it.

Dear Miss Lake (Emmy Lake #4) – AJ Pearce
The final book in the series about Emmy and the good folk at Women’s Friend magazine, as the war draws slowly to an end. A great blend of light-hearted moments and heartbreak, just like the other books in the series. I was so attached to the characters already that I shed several tears while reading, and I wish there was still another book to come!

The Warwick Shield (Curse Breaker Witches #4) – Claire Robyns
This one takes place almost entirely in a dungeon – and is a magical locked room mystery. Ross now believes in magic (to a degree) but is still sceptical about almost every magical thing that they encounter, from the invisible barrier keeping Maddie and all the other magical suspects in the dungeon to the enchanted medieval horror museum props down there with them.

Subtle Blood (Will Darling Adventures #3) – KJ Charles
The final book in the Will Darling trilogy. This time, Kim’s boorish brother has been accused of murder. Kim can’t let him hang because then he’d inherit the family mansion and the title that goes along with it, and that would ruin what he has with working-class bookshop owner Will. Another clever mystery, and good to see Kim finally coming up trumps against his awful father and brother.

Wayward Son (Simon Snow #2) – Rainbow Rowell
I really enjoyed the first Simon Snow book, but I read it ages ago, so thankfully, there are at least a few reminders in this one as to what happened in it! This time, Simon, Baz and Penny are off on a road trip across America – it reminded me just slightly of the second arc of the Miss Peregrine’s books – and learn (often the hard way) that the magical structure of the US is very different to that in the UK. This was a fun read, and the multiple POVs in short sections made it even harder to put down.

Who’s Been Sleeping in My Porridge – Colin McNaughton
I found this in a charity shop, which I only popped into to kill time before my bus was due. I recognised it immediately from the houses printed down the side, as we have There’s An Awful Lot of Weirdos In Our Neighbourhood and have read it nearly to death. (I’m not kidding – it’s practically falling apart.) This is another fun collection of bizarre poems for children with wonderfully detailed illustrations.

Have You Seen Who’s Just Moved in Next Door to Us? – Colin McNaughton
After discovering that There’s an Awful…etc was not the only Colin McNaughton poetry collection, Brodie persuaded me to look and see what else there was, and within a few days, this one arrived from eBay. It’s one long poem that tells the story of who’s moved into the neighbourhood. Although there isn’t much reading on each page – just 4-8 lines – we spent ages poring over the illustrations and reading all the speech bubbles, signs and posters.

The Grumbly Jumbly – Don S Roth
Full review is here.

March’s three star reads:

A Farewell to Charms (Mystic Bayou #8) – Molly Harper
I think this series has maybe gone on a bit too long, as without the main plot of the dangerous rift in the bayou, there’s not as much going on. I had a hard time with the pairing in this one as Alex was painted as a bit of an idiot, and not all that nice (not to mention lusting after another character) in a couple of the earlier books, while Eve didn’t seem like she’d be a romantic interest.

Arson at the Ashmolean (Oxford Keys Mysteries #3) – Lynn Morrison
This was fine, but a bit repetitive at times, and it also seemed like the main characters didn’t take it seriously enough that a woman had been wrongfully arrested for murder. They were 100% sure she was innocent, and very gung-ho about investigating, so it felt incongruous when they kicked back and joked about in between. Also had some annoying Americanisms from supposedly British characters.

The Coo of Warning (Chronicles of St Mary’s short story) – Jodi Taylor
A rare near-miss for one of my favourite authors. Story was a bit too silly – but it does hint at the end that it was an April Fool’s.

Secret Seven on the Trail (Secret Seven #4)
The Secret Seven were never my favourite, and in this one, they are particularly slow on the uptake. The girls are left at home for the main action, too.

Plot and Bothered (Nevermore Bookshop #10) – Steffanie Holmes
Another series which maybe should have ended already. Mina is getting married – to her three fictional book boyfriends come to life no less – but someone is out to ruin the wedding. Somehow these nasty pieces of sabotage get mixed up with accidental duck damage and although they check to see if any of the people they’ve had arrested/convicted for murder have been released or escaped, none of them connect the dots between the dangerous escapee from a secure institution and the sabotage?

Dust Off Your Magic (Shadow Vale Witches #1) – Claire Robyns
I liked the idea of this – a reaper witch being haunted by her ex-husband – but that was rather a background plot which I assume will be properly dealt with in a later book. The main story was about Heather – a former high school mean girl and now mean woman – who is killed and somehow our main character gets accused. This is a short book so there wasn’t much time to develop a real mystery, there were only about three suspects and the guilty one came and attacked Kristen thus proving their guilt.

First edition dust jacket illustrated by George Brook

April’s two star reads

Flying Angels – Danielle Steel
On paper something I should have liked. Now I know why Danielle Steel has the reputation she has. This was lacklustre at best. Lots of telling and hardly any showing. We spent several chapters getting to know various characters who would then die in a brief paragraph, then we’re told how sad everyone is. This could have been really interesting as this is an element of WWII that I haven’t read much about, but instead it was repetitive and lacked detail.

April’s one star reads

Five Go Off in a Caravan Graphic Novel – Beja and Natael
Full review here – but definitely the worst one so far. Barely resembled the original book.

Not yet rated, as I didn’t finish them in April:

• The Borrowers (Borrowers #1) – Mary Norton
• Rivers of London (Rivers of London #1) – Ben Aaronovitch
• Any Way the Wind Blows (Simon Snow #3) – Rainbow Rowell
• Women Don’t Owe You Pretty – Florence Given

What I watched

Another month where I’ve hardly had the TV on.

• A few episodes of The Simpsons
• A few episodes of Richard Osman’s House of Games
• The latest series of Taskmaster
• A truly terribly shark movie called Thrash

What I did

• Started on a bookshop model I got for Christmas. So far, I’ve put together some of the furniture.
• Found 16 geocaches over a few different walks, including one where we saw newts and a pine marten.
• Went beachcombing in St Andrews and had a wander around the University Museum
• Visited House of Dun
• Visited Fife Zoo
• Went to see the Magic Faraway Tree movie
• Bought myself a Zuru Max brick build of a little bookshelf, and built it.

What I bought

The two Colin McNaughton books, obviously. But they were for Brodie more than me, so do they really count?

I also managed to find the final issue of the Enid Blyton Magazine. Sadly a little damaged on the front but it’s the only copy I’ve seen fore sale in the several years I’ve been collecting so I’m unlikely to find a better one any time soon! I now only need two more to complete the collection.

How was your April?

*Books About Bookshops and Libraries