My Monthly Wrap-Up: April 2025

April is such a pretty month here in the PNW. Lots of trees bloom and then of course there are the other early spring flowers as well. It always makes my daily walks all that more enjoyable. My reading this month was good too. I completed my April TBR, with some time to spare to get a few more books than normal done. I had quite a few 4 star and many 5 star read this month. I read a total of 17 books, 6 of them were audiobooks. I did do several rereads this month, but I’m ok with that. Here is my ratings collage from Storygraph.

I also did well with making sure I wrote a review for all of the new books too. All of the titles below should take you to my reviews.

Favorite ARCs

Parents Weekend while predictable, was still a really good read. I still enjoyed watching the Special Agent Sarah Keller solve the case of the five missing students.

Marble Hall Murders was also a well written murder mystery with a story inside a story. I loved both plots and had a really hard time figuring out the ending.

My Friends was a good read that I did enjoy. I liked the characters and the writing was excellent.

Reading Challenge Books

Go to Hell (Nonfiction Reading Challenge) was an interesting look at all of the different places in the world associated with hell or the underworld.

How to Solve Your Own Murder (Buzzword Cover Challenge) was a cozy mystery that I picked for this month’s prompt of having an animal on the cover. It was a good story too!

The Crime Brulee Bake Off (52 Book Club Challenge) was originally picked for the pun in the title prompt, but one of the bonus mini challenges this month was the phrase “let out a breath they didn’t know they were holding”. I don’t think this exact phrase was used in this book but their ‘breathing’ was mentioned constantly!

Favorite Reads

The Fallow Year was a collection of short stories from the Little Thieves world that take place between books two and 3. I loved this as we finally get some stories from Emeric’s point of view.

The Bug Bandits was a really sweet and a fun middle grade book about a young girl trying to save her father’s bug museum from being robbed.

The Wolf Tree was a very atmospheric and complex mystery that I really enjoyed. The ending was quite the surprise.

Favorite Audiobooks

The Ragpicker King was a excellent sequel to Sword Catcher. I just loved the narrators and the story was fabulous. It is going to be a long wait for the next book.

None of This is True was a very well done audiobook, with two main narrators, but a host of other actors taking on smaller roles. This is a story that is truly messed up ad will keep you guessing as to who was telling the truth.

Painted Devils was a reread, but this time I did the audiobook and I just adored it. I had forgotten how funny this book in the trilogy was. Of course the ending was sad and a bit horrifying, but I loved the rest of it.

Well that is a wrap for the month of April. It was a good reading month with only a couple of books that were less than stellar, but nothing too bad. I am looking forward to May, as it is off to a good start with my current reads. Until next time…

Happy Reading!