Reading so very hard in April

Briarheart wasn't bad, but I found it pretty meh. It had the potential to be exciting, but the style of storytelling felt almost clinical to me, and while the buildup and mystery of what was going on had me hooked, the ultimate payoff was a little bit of a letdown. Glad I read it, at least, so now it's off my list. I also started Oathbound and picked up Persepolis from the library, and I read the second book I had chosen for promp #24, a book of ghost stories, some of which were truly creepy. Good for me, reading TWO books for two prompts instead of reading books for other prompts!

I haven't gotten any better at keeping notes on my plans, either. I'm going to level with you, I joined a few committees for our state book awards, because my students LOVE voting for this award every year, and it's possible that in my enthusiasm for something I know my kids enjoy I bit off more than I could chew. So unusual for me, overextending myself? Not something I'm known for! 

Anyway, I swear I went back and tried to untangle everything with my last Read Harder post, but now I can't find those notes, and on the PDF that I use for tracking which books I choose, I have one listed for January but for a challenge that I'm not sure I'm actually doing yet? So...I don't know, I'm just muddling my way through. Look, with any luck I'll finish Persepolis in May and make decent progress on Oathbound (truly such a long book), and then school will be out and I can try to really straighten myself out. Until then, I'm out here building the plane as a fly it. It'll be fine.

Ahhhh, time isn't real

I really thought I had posted last week, but truly the last few weeks have run together. I can tell it's nearing the end of the school year because I am VERY tired. Could also be the lingering effects of being sick over spring break, but no...that's impossible.

Anyway, missed a post, it happens. I finished my mystery read for this month, and WHEW it was good. BUT. The whole time I thought it was a standalone, and then at the very end...I don't think it is. Or maybe it is and they wanted to leave you with an "and then..." Hold for research.

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Nope, confirmed, it's the first book in a series. The age-old curse of fantasy, even realistic fantasy, everything has to be a series. Yet another book for me to decide if I read the sequel. Le sigh. I'm glad it was an enjoyable book, at least, and honestly even though it's part of a series I do feel like it was satisfying even as a standalone.

Now, related to reviews, if you can count this as a review, an announcement!

My household has recently gotten into puzzles, and I think we're going to post some puzzle reviews for funsies. So hey, if you like puzzles...keep an eye out for those.

Monthly Mystery Read - April

Before we get into which book I unwrapped for April, I'm gonna take a moment to say that if you have a big backlog of TBR books on your shelf and can't summon the motivation to dive into it...this is such a great way to get yourself reading them. Not only are you tricking your brain into being excited about a book you've probably owned for years, but who doesn't love unwrapping presents?! I might start wrapping other already-owned things for later use. Shirt I haven't worn in a while? That's a gift for future me now. Pair of shoes I forgot I owned? Merry Christmas in July to me! You get the picture.

Anyway, March's book was pretty solid, although I discovered that it's a duology. 🤦 So now I have to decide if it was solid enough that I read the second book. I mean...I do want to. If my library had it on audiobook, I would already be listening to it. So I guess more accurately I should say I need to find the energy to read the second book, because energy is in low supply at the moment. I'll get there.

For now though, we're not talking about Illusionary, sequel to Incendiary! We're talking about April's mystery book, a.k.a. The Buried and the Bound.

A little haunting, a little spooky, a little mysterious...I'm already almost a quarter of the way through, and I'm very intrigued so far. I'm also crossing my fingers that this is a standalone, because please, authors. Please. There are so many great books waiting to be read, they can't all be series books, I'll run out of tiiiiime!