Sunday, April 30, 2023

April Wrap Up - Welcome May!

April has come and gone like a swirl. So many things had happened, it seemed. First half of the month there's the Easter week, then my Mom was hospitalized for 3 days for observation after a week of severe vertigo. Thank God she's alright, but I've had to catch up with some jobs and chores at work and at home, to compensate those three days. Not mentioning the mini-menopausal depression, urghh! Then the second half of April I had 11 days of holiday, hurrah! This month's random selection of reading reflected very much of my chaotic April!

πŸ“š Books Read in April

The Ladies' Paradise by Γ‰mile Zola - a re-read
(started in March)
Read from: audiobook

The Stone of Chastity by Margery Sharp
(started in March)
Read from: e-book

Pigeon Pie by Nancy Mitford
Read from: e-book

N or M? by Agatha Christie - a re-read
Read from: audiobook

Some Tame Gazelle by Barbara Pym
Read from: e-book

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto (not reviewed yet)
Read from: e-book

The Faraway Tree series by Enid Blyton (not reviewed yet)
(#1) The Enchanted Wood
(#2) The Magic Faraway Tree
(#3) The Folk if the Faraway Tree
Read from: audiobook

Chef Maurice and a Spot of Truffle by J.A. Lang (not reviewed yet)
Read from: e-book

El Dorado, A Kansas Recessional by Willa Cather (short story)
Read from: e-book


πŸ“šReading Events Attended/Hosted

Zoladdiction 2023 (hosted by me)


I've planned to read 2 books, but managed only 1 book. My posts:
* an open letter to one of the characters in The Ladies' Paradise
* reviewing The Ladies' Paradise -a re-read
* character analysis of Denise Baudu from The Ladies Paradise
* answering The Γ‰mile Zola Tag

It's been fun! The proper wrap-up will be published tomorrow.


The 1940 Club (hosted by Simon @ Stuck in Books & Karen @ Kaggsy's Bookish Rambling)


I've somehow managed to read 2 books:
* The Stone of Chastity by Margery Sharp
* Pigeon Pie by Nancy Mitford
 
I've had so much fun, many thanks to Simon and Karen! Can't wait to the October's #1962Club!


πŸ“š 2023 Statistics

πŸ“Š Total books read so far: 19
πŸ“Š Total short stories read so far: 4
πŸ“Š Challenge progress:
* 2023 TBR Pile Challenge: 5
* 2023 Victorian Reading Challenge: 2
* 2023 Audiobook Challenge: 8


πŸ“š What's happening in May

πŸ”Έ️ Will be reading Willa Cather for my annual #CatherInMay. The book is: The Professor's House

πŸ”Έ️ Will read the only F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel I haven't read: The Last Tycoon

πŸ”Έ️ Will keep listening to the audiobook of Agatha Christie: An Autobiography

10 comments:

  1. I'm glad to hear your mom is ok <3
    This sounds like a very productive reading month! I hope you enjoy The Last Tycoon. I thought it was a rather neat look at old Hollywood. :)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Marian.
      Glad to hear a good thing about The Last Tycoon. It's difficult to find a nice Fitzgerald novel beyond The Great Gatsby.

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  2. Glad your mom is doing ok; and that you had a good reading month in April. I am yet to catch up with your reviews, but I've been having some busy times with work. So happy to see you read all the Faraway Tree books. I loved them as a child and still do.

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    Replies
    1. I'll be back to work the day after tomorrow, and would certainly be catching up quite a lot too! But I have written some posts during holiday to be published within the next one or two weeks. Not bad ;)

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  3. Despite all that was going on, you had a great reading month. Glad your mom is okay!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, JoAnn! Yes, reading is always my consolation in rough times.

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  4. Sorry to hear about your mum, I hope she's doing ok now? Look forward to hearing hat you think of the Vera Wong book as I've been seeing it everywhere. Also hope you're enjoying the Agatha Christie autobiography, I loved that book so much!

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    Replies
    1. My mum is okay now, thank you!
      My Vera Wong's review will be up on Monday, I can't wait to share it to you, it's a very pleasant read!
      I am enjoying Agatha Christie autobiography; it feels like listening to an old aunt telling stories of her times (I'm listening to audiobook).

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  5. Glad your mum is OK, and that's a lovely lot of reading done. I enjoyed 1940 club and have already bought a book for the next Club (it's a Dean Street Press one so I'm allowing myself that, as I normally only use books from the TBR for challenges!). I hope your May reading is going well.

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    Replies
    1. I'm so lucky that a book I've planned to read in October was actuqally published in 1962! So I only have to find another one (or two).

      There's always a reason to buy more Dean Street press, right? ;)

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