April 2015 Monthly Round-Up

April was all about finding books to go on my upcoming Summer Reading List…which meant lots of lighter fare, page turners, and sampling. I found some good ones for the list, which will be coming out towards the end of May. Since I’ve been reading so much lighter fare lately, I’m looking forward to getting back to some more “literary” books for a bit. I’m all about the change of pace these days!

I also debuted a new, notes-style review format called Sarah’s Snippets. If you find yourself frequently scanning book reviews (rather than reading every word), then this is right up your alley!

Best Book of the Month

The Dinner, Herman KochThe Dinner by Herman Koch (February 12, 2013)
Fiction, 306 Pages

My Review
Affiliate Link: Buy from Amazon

Other April Reviews

Bones & All by Camille DeAngelis (Mini Review)
Pretty Ugly by Kirker Butler
The Bone Tree by Greg Iles
The Bullet by Mary Louise Kelly (Mini Review)

The Children’s Crusade by Ann Packer (Mini Review)
The Great Beanie Baby Bubble by Zac Bissonnette (Mini Review)
Where They Found Her by Kimberly McCreight (Spoiler Free Review, Spoiler Discussion)

Top 5 Non-Review Books on my “To Be Read” List

Astonish Me by Maggie Shipstead
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith
Find Me by Laura Van Den Berg
Mosquitoland by David Arnold
Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller

May Releases I’m Excited About

Beneath the Bonfire, Radiant Angel, The Shore

Beneath the Bonfire: Stories by Nickolas Butler (May 5)
Radiant Angel by Nelson DeMille (May 26)
The Shore by Sara Taylor (May 26)

Top Ten Tuesdays

All-Time Favorite Authors (And a Few to Watch)
Books that Feature Athletes
Inspiring Quotes from Books

April Weekend Cooking Posts

Experimenting with Whole Fish
The Magpie (Richmond Restaurant)

Special Posts

Looking Back: Do Your Past “Best Books of the Year” Stand Up Over Time?
The Alarming State of My Book Memory

Favorite Posts from Fellow Book Bloggers

  • Julianne at Outlandish Lit takes the creativity cake by pairing “books with their reality TV soul mates” in her new feature, Grapes of Trash.
  • I loved Tanya at 52 Books or Bust‘s unique review of Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum, a book that has already been reviewed in the traditional way many times over.
  • I found out that Ann at Books on the Table shares my hobby of “book stalking” at the beach and loved how she told the Washington Post to “lighten up” (in reference to its likening of Bill Bryson to a Danielle Steel novel, among other things) in her Vacation Version of Waiting on Wednesday.

What was your favorite book of April?


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11 Comments

  1. Diane wrote:

    I loved The Dinner as well. My Appril was disappointing in terms of the numbers of books read. Happy May.

    Posted 5.1.15 Reply
  2. I’m totally a person who skims reviews, so I love your Sarah’s Snippets. Keep it up. And thanks for including my review of Hausfrau.

    Posted 5.1.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Thanks so much! I’ll be doing some more in the next few weeks. You’re welcome – loved how you took a different approach with your Hausfrau review!

      Posted 5.1.15 Reply
  3. I’ve been wanting to read The Dinner for a while. You’ve convinced me to add it to my wish list.

    Posted 5.1.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I’ve heard it’s a love/hate type of book…and definitely features some unlikable characters. But, I adored the writing style and am firmly in the “love” camp! I think you should give it a try for sure!

      Posted 5.1.15 Reply
  4. You’ve definitely got me thinking about Beneath the Bonfire now, especially after finishing The Wonder Garden; I’ve heard some great things about The Shore (I read Shannon’s review at River City Reading, among others), and it sounds like it could be a keeper. My favorite book of April was definitely My Sunshine Away! Hope you have a great weekend and what a great reading month!

    Posted 5.1.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Did you read Shotgun Lovesongs..Butler’s debut novel? I loved it and that’s the reason why I’m trying Beneath the Bonfire…I’m usually not a big short story fan, but loved his writing so much that I figure this is a good one to try 🙂
      About The Shore – if you consider reading it, talk to me first!! I wish I’d known some things going into it that would have made things a bit smoother. I’m about 3/4 through now and have gotten the lay of the land and am now really liking it, but I wish I’d had a different mindset/expectations going in. It’s definitely a book that takes a bit of work and commitment!

      Posted 5.1.15 Reply
  5. Oh my goodness, thank you for the shout out!! I have another Grapes of Trash post up my sleeve, if you need more pairings. Which I assume everyone does haha.

    Ok, I know absolutely nothing about The Dinner, which seems very foolish. I don’t know how I’ve avoided it. But I already have your review of it open in another tab, so I will go read that noooow. Happy May!

    Posted 5.1.15 Reply
  6. I’m hoping to get to The Dinner before it’s feature on The Socratic Salon… and will also be reading The Shore this month! I just discovered your blog, and am having fun going through some of your previous posts 🙂

    Posted 5.1.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Thanks so much for stopping by! I just checked out your blog and added you to my feed! The Dinner is SO good – I wish there were more books like it out there. Superb writing and biting social commentary…that combo always gets me 🙂

      Posted 5.2.15 Reply
  7. Not surprised The Dinner made your best read of April, a really good, if somewhat disturbing book. I’m a book stalker too so love that you highlighted Anne’s post.

    Posted 5.2.15 Reply

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