The Looooong and the Short of It: April 2025 Wrap-Up Post and Looking Forward to May

Once again I’m joining up with the Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up which is hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction and Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight.

Can I just say that the month of April can go you-know-what itself? April for the last three years has just sucked in so many ways! In 2023 both of my parents ended up in the hospital, I think 2024 was the year that both dogs got tummy sick and I took them to the vet who charged me emergency prices and really did nothing for them. Not to mention last year in April was the time my current AP started gaslighting me about not doing my job. This year has been the gaslighting/getting written up for daring to voice how I do things in the library and not immediately just saying “yes, ma’am” to a new AP who wanted me to do something in my library that added more to my job and really wasn’t necessary to be done. And now Dora hurting her neck and scaring me. Ugh. Hoping this May will be better than last May though too, when I lost my stepdad.

Once again my reading was down, even with my trip to the library conference where I usually get what feels like TONS of reading done. I’m blaming the room not having a balcony that made me want to sit outside and read, as well as the graduate class I was taking that had coding assignments that I struggled with. I did have one really long ARC I picked up too.

I got 11 books finished, that’s 4 less than last month. I used the Storygraph cover collage instead of making one in Canva this month.

Here are my StoryGraph stats for March in the graphic they now provide. I’m playing around with that, as it still doesn’t include the graph for the ratings, and I like to see that too.

My April Reviews

Of the 11 specific titles listed last month, I got 8 read and reviewed, had 1 DNF, and one I didn’t get started till the end of the month, so I’m still reading it. No more Beat the Backlist titles read, and still no more for my COYER goals.

• [1 Apr] King's Legacy by Lev A.C. Rosen ★★★★
• [2 Apr] Kindred Spirits at Harling Hall by Sharon Booth ★★★★
• [8 Apr] Too Hot to Handle by Portia MacIntosh ★★★★★
• [10 Apr] Empty Net by Teagan Hunter ★★★★★
• [15 Apr] Bridesmaid by Chance by Meghan Quinn ★★★★★
• [17 Apr] Love at Second Sight by F.T. Lukens ★★★★★
• [25 Apr] Hot Shot by Staci Hart ★★★★½
• [28 Apr] Payback Girls by Alex Travis DNF
• [28 Apr] Messy Perfect by Tanya Boteju DNF
• [29 Apr] Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Luen Yang, LeUyen Pham ★★★★★
• [29 Apr] When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi ★★★★★
• [29 Apr] I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman ★★★
• [29 Apr] Tangled Up in You by Christina Lauren ★★★★★

Challenge Wrap-Ups

Trying to shorten up my end of month post by using the graphic below to show this.

No new books for my ABC challenge, so I still have 5 letters to do for the year: G, M, U, X, and Y

Once again I am doing the Chapter Break Bingo Challenge for April, and here are my books that fit each spot. I didn’t do so great this month. Probably because lack of books read. Only got 23 plus the free square.

• Bridesmaid by Chance – Siblings, Manipulation, Rom-com
• Empty Net – In a series
• I Who Have Never Known Men – Military/CIA/FBI/Police, Wilderness
• Too Hot to Handle – Water on the cover, Book club read, Egg – Actual or Easter
• Tangled Up In You – Character feels invisible, audiobook
• Lunar New Year Love Story – Not in a series, library book, read a physical book
• When the Moon Hits Your Eye – Author you have read before, museum or library
• Kindred Spirits – Read an ebook, family secret
• Love at Second Sight – Academic setting
• Hot Shot – Free book
• Shield of Sparrows – Character’s name in title

I also gave in and joined the 2025 Romance Reading Bingo Challenge hosted by Blodeuedd @ Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell, Jen @ That’s What I’m Talking About, and Carole @ Carole Rae’s Random Ramblings. Got 2 more boxes checked off this month, leaving only 2 more for the rest of the year. One I think will be taken care of this month, and the other probably not till closer to October is my guess.

What to Expect in May

May looks to have a lot of review books scheduled possibly? Or maybe a lot of ARCs. I’m doing better I think about not accepting or requesting new books. But still seem to have quite a few this month. However school is over in a little over 3 weeks and since I’m not doing summer school, hoping for more reading time!

Here is my proposed TBR for May:

1. Eliza From Scratch by Sophia Lee – an e-galley review I’d hoped to finish in April, but am still reading, review on the 3rd maybe?
2. Nun the Wiser (The Bad Habit Book Club #2) by Lissa Sharpe – e-galley review hoping to get done on the 5th?
3. Jilted by Vi Keeland – e-galley for maybe a blog tour review on the 6th
4. The Romance Rivalry by Susan Lee – an e-galley I requested, hoping to read to post a review by the 8th
5. Death in the Cards by Mia P. Manansala – an egalley I requested a while back and am really excited to read because I finally read the first book in the author’s adult mystery series and liked it. Hope to read and post my review by the 10th
6. Love, Canter, Action by Katie Gilbert – an ARC I got from the publisher and I hope to read and post my review by the 12th
7. What If It’s You by Jilly Gagnon – egalley I requested on Edelweiss and almost forgot about! Hope to read and post a review by the 16th
8. This Could Be Forever by Ebony LaDelle – so I think I’m getting a finished copy of this one from the publisher maybe? If so, I hope to read and post my review by the 19th
9. The Friendship Fling by Georgia Stone – I won an ARC of this on Goodreads. Hoping to read and post my review on the 21st
10. All Joking Aside (Slippery Slopes #2) by Piper Sheldon – I’m on the author’s review team and planning to be able to fit this one in for a read and review on the 23rd
11. Make You Mine (Honeybrook Hollow #2) by Nora Everly – another author team I’m on that I’m going to hope to have time to read and post my review on the 27th
12. A Master of Monsters by Liselle Sambury – I love this author, and was sent an ARC from the publisher. It is a big ARC, so hoping to read and post my review on the 29th
13. A First Time for Everything by K.L. Walther – got an ARC of this from the publisher, and I’ve read and enjoyed this author before, so looking forward to reading this and hopefully posting a review on the 31st
14. I’ll finish up the audiobook I started at the end of April, The Failing Hours by Sara Ney. And will probably listen to at least one or two more, especially since I’ll be driving to Branson by myself, so that means many hours in the car, usually completing at least one audiobook!
15. With this list I doubt I’ll get to any BTB books off my TBR. Would love to get the second book after Fourth Wing read though, especially after the romantasy ARC I picked up this past month and got swept into.

Final Thoughts

How was your April?

I hope it was way better than mine. Weather wasn’t terrible, a lot of cloudy and rainy days. I got some stuff done around my house. Spent time with my mom. Got to go to my library conference and feel like a librarian for a change. Took part in a Zoom event with the AASL committee I’m on. Got my hopes up with one interview for what would have been my dream job even with a pay cut, but didn’t get it. Went to another interview that reminded me I may be better off where I am until I can retire. Worried about my Dora and her back and if she needed surgery, knowing it wouldn’t be something I could afford to do, and probably wouldn’t want to put her through at her age. But at least she seemed to keep improving as I kept her with the strict crate rest and medicine the vet gave us.

As I mentioned maybe before, I’m looking forward to our annual trip to Branson on Memorial Day weekend, even if it is going to probably be pretty emotional to be there without my stepdad. Looking forward sooooooo much to the end of the school year.

What are you looking forward to in May?