Monthly Wrap-Up: April 2014

April 2014: The Overload of MEH ARCs

Obviously, April on the blog was a slow month, as I took a three week hiatus! It was a good move though, gave me room to breathe and also recover from the kind of blogging slump I was in – and I did manage to make some progress on my thesis. That’s moving along now, and hopefully that means that I’ll be graduating in JUNE. I’m kind of terrified. On the reading front… not a good month for me. So many review copies that just seriously disappointed me. BUT I’m down to three review copies to read before BEA. Oh yeah.


I am this elephant, and you are the animals. I can feel your hate.

April Reads

Books Read: Hourglass by Myra McEntire Exile by Kevin Emerson Sleep No More by Aprilynne Pike Losing It by Cora Carmack Meridian by Josin L. McQuein Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly The Secrets of Lily Graves by Sarah Strohmeyer Faking It by Cora Carmack Guy in Real Life by Steve Brezenoff Eon by Alison Goodman A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin	Book of the Month:
April Stats Total books read: 11 Total pages read: 4,510 Average rating: 3.14 0 2014 debut authors read (but 2 previous debuts) 3/11 (28%) standalones, 8/11 (72%) series 5/11 (45%) paper, 6/11 (55%) pixels	2014 Stats Total books read: 43 Total pages read: 16,457 Average rating: 3.3 3 2014 debut authors read 42% standalones, 58% series 53% paper, 47% pixels

Yes. That second row is a new addition. I just like statistics, okay?
It’s good to use my spreadsheet for something.

April Reviews

• Monthly Wrap-Up: March 2014
• Announcements: A Hiatus and a Monthly Project
• Don't Call Me Baby by Gwendolyn Heasley ★½
• Top Ten Boys Who Made Me Swoon
• Exile by Kevin Emerson ★★
• I Wish You’d Stop Using That Word..
• Sleep No More by Aprilynne Pike ★½
• Book Haul #9: In Which I Uphold The Boozy Book Haul Standard
• Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly ★★½
• Top Ten Books If You Like Doctor Who
• Royally Lost by Angie Stanton

April Posts

• Monthly Wrap-Up: March 2014
• Announcements: A Hiatus and a Monthly Project
• Don't Call Me Baby by Gwendolyn Heasley ★½
• Top Ten Boys Who Made Me Swoon
• Exile by Kevin Emerson ★★
• I Wish You’d Stop Using That Word..
• Sleep No More by Aprilynne Pike ★½
• Book Haul #9: In Which I Uphold The Boozy Book Haul Standard
• Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly ★★½
• Top Ten Books If You Like Doctor Who
• Royally Lost by Angie Stanton

April Obsessions

• Black Books/Dylan Moran: I just adore Dylan Moran’s sense of humor, because it’s so much like my own. I like to be cynical and hate on the world. *cough* Also drinking wine is one of my hobbies. So yeah, I binge-watched his sitcom, Black Books, at the beginning of the month. It was the best kind of series to have on while doing other things (i.e. eating dinner, writing blog posts). Though it did get me drinking more. Oops. Need to not copy everything I obsessively watch.

• Melissa and Joey: This show started airing on Comedy Central around the time that I usually turn it on for easy giggles. I’d never really seen it before but I just LOVED the dynamic between Melissa and Joey and just unf. I started shipping it. And then I just had to binge-watch. I may have watched 70+ episodes over the course of a week or so. I regret nothing. But not only is the humor good, but it’s so awesomely different – with a non-traditional but totally loving family, feminism, diversity (a lesbian couple!), sex POSITIVE about TEENAGERS and just UGH I LOVE THIS SHOW. (Also, more excessive wine drinking. Oops.)
• Game of Thrones: Not only is the show FINALLY back, but I devoured the book this month. I love the fan culture around Game of Thrones though. I actually watched the epic 2nd episode together with other interns at work. We took over a conference room after work and ordered pizzas and watched it there. Pretty fun! (Also the department CEO walked by and saw us… but he gave us a thumbs up LOL)
• Nashville: I’ve been on edge about Nashville this whole month. It’s really becoming one of my favorite running TV shows. BUT THAT CLIFFHANGER DUDES. Also, I finally got my hands on the soundtrack and have been listening to that A LOT. My love for country music is reignited. Just, just… okay?

In Real Life

• So way back at the beginning of the month I had the uber scary encounter of being grabbed in the dark while walking to the station after my cousin’s birthday party (which I referenced in my review of Sleep No More). Um. Not fun. But on the plus side, my dad is the best support system ever and I managed to recover okay.
• Super fun book club this month! We read Eon and everyone loved it! We actually gushed about it and probably spent at least 15 minutes talking about it, instead of the usual 5. *cough* Also we had pancakes. Yummmm.
• I completed my monthly project of reading A Game of Thrones! I’m very proud of myself. NGL. I’ll have a post about the project hopefully on Saturday 🙂 (Why is this under IRL? I dunno. Go with it.)
• Guys, did you notice that BEA IS AROUND THE CORNER?!? When not reading like crazy or working on my thesis, I’ve been prepping for BEA. I got my business cards printed (and I love them!!!), got some new pretty and professional clothes, got my accommodations totally figured out… I’ll be spending three days with my sister in NYC for touristy stuff, so I’m starting on a plan for those days. (P.S. What should I definitely go see in NYC???) In any case, she’s taking me to Koreatown and Broadway (Newsies!) and she’s insisting on having good NYC brunch multiple times and on going to karaoke (ahhhhh). Then I shall attack Gaby with my presence, and she’d better have read Pivot Point by then or THAT GIRL IS GETTING NO COOKIES NO MA’AM.

That’s it for me. How was your month?