I can’t believe it’s already time to wrap up April 2024. It feels like this year is flying, and the pinch to get more done feels stronger than ever as we prepare for our family to grow this fall. 

In April, I entered my second trimester and with it, I finally got some of my energy back (thank goodness). I’ve got all kinds of lovely new symptoms, mostly around my sore and growing body, but none of these are preventing me from reading, so it’s been nice to regain that aspect of peace in my life. I’m still not reading nearly as much as I’m used to, but what I did read this month was fantastic, so I’ll call that a win.

Books Read in April 2024

This month I made some progress on my TBR and honestly, it might be one of the strongest reading months I’ve had in a long time. Because of my lack of energy and focus, I’ve homed in on only picking up books that make me excited to read, and the results definitely show that.

This month I read:

1. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells: this is the second book in the Murderbot Diaries and it was easily just as good as the first. I love this series and find it’s perfectly delivered via audiobook. An easy 5 stars on this one with a full review to come.
2. Heartless Sky (Zodiac Academy 7) by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti: this book had me laughing one minute and sobbing uncontrollably the next. It was an absolute beast of a novel to get through, and also an excellent addition to the series. I rated this one 4 stars and you can find my full review here.
3. Painted Devils by Margaret Owen: this has quickly become one of my favourite YA fantasy series, it’s just so good. It’s such an original premise, and I loved that this second installment was a wholly contained story beyond the first. I rated this one 4 stars with a full review to come.
4. Happy Place by Emily Henry: I’m behind by 2 full books on Emily Henry, but of what I’ve read so far, Happy Place is easily my favourite of her works. The story was both heart-warming and wrenching and I was in my feels the whole time. I rated this one 5 stars with a full review to come.
5. Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett: I absolutely LOVED this book, it was such a cozy fantasy and fun premise. The audiobook narrator was top notch and I couldn’t stop listening for like 3 days straight. I can’t wait to continue reading this series, this book was an easy 5 stars with a full review to come. 

Season of Series Update

As I talked about in March, I’ve been making my way through all of the open series that I have on the go right now in an attempt to get caught up. I’d originally intended to read straight through the series until I was done, but then I remembered I’m a mood reader and there was literally no way I could do that without falling off of a reading slump cliff.

Now that I’m feeling more self-aware, I’m working instead at knocking out a few books from this initiative per month. In April, this was my progress:

1. Zodiac Academy: while I managed to read the absolute behemoth of a seventh book, Peckham and Valenti then released a ninth book that, of course, I have also not read. So while I managed to knock one more out, it was really a zero-sum gain. I still loved it though and will definitely be picking up book eight in May.
2. Little Thieves by Margaret Owen: I’m now up-to-date on this series after completing book two! There is a third one slotted for release in April 2025 but that’s future Sarah’s problem. This has been an excellent YA fantasy series and it’s one I’ll heavily recommend go-forward.
3. The Murderbot Diaries: Artificial Condition was the second of seven in the Murderbot Diaries, so I’m slowly picking away at them. Most of the books in this series are novella-length, so my only barrier to knocking them out quickly is my library’s availability. I’ve got the third one on hold and am hoping it frees up in May. 

For May, my biggest goal in terms of the Season of Series is to get through the fifth Outlander book, which is due to hit my Libby shelf in about a week. It’s an insane 56+ hours of listening though, so it’s likely to be equivalent to a part-time job for the full 21 days that I have it on loan. I love the Outlander books, the stories and the romance are so engrossing, but they are major commitments, so I’m keeping my expectations realistic in terms of what else I’ll be able to accomplish next month.

What I’m Loving Right Now

This month I felt more like myself than I have in a long time. Regaining some of my strength and capacity has been a game-changer and I’m feeling excited and optimistic about the coming months for so many different reasons.

Some of the major things bringing me joy right now:

Preparing for Baby G’s Arrival

Now that I’m coming around the second-trimester bend and we get more and more information and glimpses of Baby G, the more excited I get. We’ve started planning and purchasing for the nursery, I’ve read about eight different books on pregnancy and motherhood, and we’ve been able to celebrate with our friends and family. This is our first baby, so the learning curve feels steep, but it’s been such a long journey for us that we’re feeling joy in every little moment of it. I’ve loved incorporating baby prep into our daily lives and I’m so excited for some more glimpses of Baby G in May.

Reading Without Pressure

I’m a data person. I love tracking and measuring outputs, I love comparing and contrasting datasets, and I love optimizing performance based on what I see. In the past, I’ve applied this approach to my reading life too, religiously tracking and planning my reads and related stats, but with my drop in capacity and energy in 2024, I was finding that all it was doing was stressing me out because I was reading so little.

In April I took a new approach where I just…. Read. I did track on Goodreads and Storygraph like I normally do, but I didn’t use a monthly reading tracker, I didn’t journal about it, I didn’t set any goals and I didn’t keep track of my quantity. I didn’t even know how many books I’d read this month until I tallied them for this article.

And you know what? It felt really, really good. 

I think there will be a time when I’ll go back to my intense tracking, just because when I’m really on a roll, it does feel really good. For now though, in my more limited reading season, I’m just reading what I feel like, when I feel like it, and not putting any pressure on myself. I’m happy with whatever I get to, and whatever I do read is enough. 

The End of Endless Winter

Living in eastern Canada means that winter feels never-ending. From about October until late April every year, it’s cold, rainy or snowy, and if the sun does make an appearance, it isn’t for warmth. 

Now that we’re headed into May, we’re finally headed out of that season, and it’s amazing to me how every year that change feels unique and new. 

This past weekend, my husband and I set up our patio furniture and sat outside with our animals while we cooked dinner, and I’m not sure that there’s anything that could have been more relaxing for me. After so many months of the air hurting my face, it’s so lovely to sit with your face upturned to the sun, soaking in a little moment of pleasure. I’m very excited about all the outdoor reading I’ll (hopefully) be able to accomplish this spring before our weather switches to being so hot you can’t function. 

So all in all, April was a fantastic month! I’m headed into May with a full heart and some reasonable reading expectations, and I can’t wait to see what the month brings.