Whew! My April 2023 reading month was an absolute whirlwind in the best way possible.
If I thought the previous three reading months were good, April definitely blew them out of the water. I read 27 books this month, which is tied with December 2021 as being the most I’ve ever read in one month. Now, I will say that a lot of the books I picked up were graphic novels, and I had my fair share of rereads, which helped me fly through. But this was one stellar month.
I DNF’d (did not finish) 2 books (The Co-Op and The Cartographers), both of which I will probably pick up again in the future. I reread 7 books, including all of the Heartstopper graphic novels, which make me so dang happy – especially with the news about season 2 of the show! The stand-out titles were definitely Happy Place, Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, and On the Come Up. Honestly, with how wonderful April was, I’m somehow even more excited for May! I might not read as many books, but I have high hopes for them all.
Keep on scrolling to see my ratings for all 27 books I read during April!
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The 27 Books I Read in April 2023
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April 2023 Reading Stats
Books That Got a 5-Star Rating (*rereads)
The Tea Dragon Society (The Tea Dragon Society #1)
by K. O’Neill
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The Tea Dragon Tapestry (The Tea Dragon Society #3)
by K. O’Neill
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Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1)*
by Leigh Bardugo
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Heartstopper, Volume 1*
by Alice Oseman
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Heartstopper, Volume 2*
by Alice Oseman
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On the Come Up
by Angie Thomas
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Heartstopper, Volume 3*
by Alice Oseman
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Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers
by Jesse q. Sutanto
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Archenemies (Renegades #2)*
by Marissa Meyer
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Heartstopper, Volume 4*
by Alice Oseman
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Happy Place
by Emily Henry
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Books That Got a 4 or 4.5-Star Rating (*rereads)
Story Thieves (Story Thieves #1)
by James Riley
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The Tea Dragon Festival (The Tea Dragon Society #2)
by K. O’Neill
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Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves
by Meg Long
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The Vanishing Stair (Truly Devious #2)
by Maureen Johnson
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All the Tides of Fate (All the Stars and Teeth #2)*
by Adalyn Grace
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The Hand on the Wall (Truly Devious #3)
by Maureen Johnson
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Georgie, All Along
by Kate Clayborn
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Bleeding Heart (The Cardplay Duology #2)
by Brittany M. Willows
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The Foxglove King (Nightshade Crown #1)
by Hannah Whitten
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Books That Got a 3 or 3.5-Star Rating
These Hollow Vows (These Hollow Vows #1)
by Lexi Ryan
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A River Enchanted (Elements of Cadence #1)
by Rebecca Ross
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Flowerheart
by Catherine Bakewell
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The Crossover (The Crossover #1)
by kwame alexander
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Stealing Infinity (Stolen Beauty #1)
by Alyson NoΓ«l
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Books That Got a 2 or 2.5-Star Rating
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (The Hunger Games #0)
by Suzanne collins
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May 2023 TBR
These Twisted Bonds (These Hollow Vows #2) by Lexi Ryan
Fable (Fable #1) by Adrienne Young
Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2) by Leigh Bardugo [reread]
There Will Come a Darkness (The Age of Darkness #1) by Katy Rose Pool
The Cheat Sheet (The Cheat Sheet #1) by Sarah Adams
If the Shoe Fits (Meant to Be #1) by Julie Murphy
The Box in the Woods (Truly Devious #4) by Maureen Johnson
The Stolen Chapters (Story Thieves #2) by James Riley
Only When It’s Us (Bergman Brothers #1) by Chloe Liese
Fall of the School for Good and Evil (The School for Good and Evil #0.75) by Soman Chainani
Supernova (Renegades #3) by Marissa Meyer [reread]
Change of Plans by Dylan Newton [ARC]
Swift the Storm, Fierce the Flame by Meg Long
Forget Me Not by Julie Soto [ARC]
Solitaire by Alice Oseman
Built to Last by Erin Hahn
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coffee & chocolate c/o LitLove Box (STEPH5) | coconut wax bookish candle (ESPRESSO10) | single-serve French press | cappuccino mugs & saucers | wooden cake tray | faux pine cones | sweater | burlap ribbon | similar birdcage | plaid scarf
27 books in one month is pretty impressive! My favorites this month were Better Off Wed by Portia MacIntosh and The Key To My Heart by Lia Louis.
I haven’t heard of either of those! I’ll have to check them out π
Ah! You read a couple of books that I absolutely ADORE. Georgie, All Along is my new fav contemporary romance. I fell head over heels for that one when I read it. The Foxglove King is a book I read WAY back in December, and just lost myself in. I think I devoured it in less than 24 hours. I’m so glad you liked both!
Ah! I love that! To be honest, I haven’t finished The Foxglove King yet (so I added a note about that), but that’s my prediction rating. I hope I do love it that much! xx
Happy to see that Emily Henry work so well for you. I know fans are really enjoying that installment.
She’s definitely my favorite romance author. Happy Place was absolutely wonderful!
That’s an impressive amount of books read in one month even considering some of them were rereads! Reading this list reminded me that I have COLD THE NIGHT, FAST THE WOLVES on my TBR…but who knows when I’ll get to it, lol. And I’m surprised you DNF-ed (for now) THE CO-OP! I read that one almost immediately after I read FUNNY FEELINGS. I enjoyed it, but I thought FUNNY FEELINGS was better. I’d read her other books, too, but I just canceled my KU subscription for a little while since I rarely use it and I have so many physical books I need to read first.
I wanted to love The Co-Op, and did the same as you, starting it immediately following Funny Feelings. However, the beginning felt like it was glorifying gaslighting (I mean, the FMC spent so long talking about how manipulative and awful her ex was) and then you come to find out that’s the love interest? Unless there was a HECK of a lot of character development and apologies and work done to rectify their relationship, I just couldn’t justify that as a quality romance. Plus, for some reason, the audiobook narrator had the weirdest “accent” (I think they were trying for a New York accent but it wasn’t happening) for the MMC and it made the whole thing flop even more. I would pick it up again in the future if I heard enough things about a better relationship than what’s given at the beginning. I don’t do toxic!!
That’s true, The Co-op starts out as something that seems toxic. But I promise it’s not a toxic relationship kind of romance. There is communication later on about misconceptions they had about each other earlier, if that helps with your decision to pick it up again. And they both take a step back and learn not to fly off the handle. It’s definitely not anything abusive or controlling or anything like that. I guess it just seems like that at the beginning because they both have their hackles raised.
Sounds like you had a great reading month! You read so many of my favorite titles: Six of Crows, Renegades, Truly Devious, I feel like rereading all of these again now!
Whoa so many 5 stars read! Tea Dragon Society is one of my comfort series so I’m glad you liked it too! Story Thieves looks great!