Monthly Wrap-Up – April 2024

Books Read – MONTH 2024

Books

Title links (if there are any) go to my reviews.

I read fewer books this month, but I wrote more words (see below.)

1. Foundation (Mercedes Lackey) – reread
2. Intrigues (Mercedes Lackey) – reread
3. Changes (Mercedes Lackey) – reread
4. Redoubt (Mercedes Lackey) – reread
5. Bastion (Mercedes Lackey) – reread (reviewed 11/25/2013)
6. Closer to Home (Mercedes Lackey) – reread (reviewed 10/07/2015)
7. Closer to the Heart (Mercedes Lackey) – reread (reviewed 11/17/2015)
8. Closer to the Chest (Mercedes Lackey) – reread (reviewed 11/30/2018)
9. The Love Remedy (Elizabeth Everett) – ARC
10. Exile’s Honor (Mercedes Lackey) – reread
11. Take a Thief (Mercedes Lackey) – reread (reviewed 2/05/2016)

Audiobooks

I’m currently in the middle of two (Bookshops & Bonedust and The Cartographers), but I didn’t finish any audiobooks in April.

Challenges

These are the books I read for various challenges. Since I have not written or posted all the reviews yet, some may not show up on my 2024 Challenges tracking page (which isn’t working yet anyway.) All links go to my reviews .

Goodreads Challenge 2024: 11 books read or listened to in April. 63 books read this year so far, toward my year-end goal of 125 books. (Titles listed above.)

The Backlist Reader Challenge 2024: 0 books read or reviewed in April. For the year so far, 5 books read and 3 reviewed, toward my year-end goal of reading and reviewing 16 books.

Audiobook Challenge 2024: 0 audiobooks completed or reviewed this month. For the year, I have listened to 3 books and reviewed 3, toward my year-end goal of 10 books.

Library Love 2024: 0 books read in April, but I reviewed 1 library book that I read earlier in the year (Inheritance.) So far this year, I have read and reviewed just 1 book toward my year-end goal of 12 books, which is pretty dismal. However, one of my current audiobooks is a library book, so that will help.

NetGalley & Edelweiss Challenge 2024: 1 books read in April, but not yet reviewed (The Love Remedy.) I also posted 1 review for a book I read earlier in 2024 (A Midnight Puzzle). That makes it 15 books read and 6 books reviewed, toward my year-end goal of reading and reviewing 15 ARCs. Current NetGalley percentage: dropped to 51%; I started the year at 52%.

COYER Unwind, Chapter 2 (Spring): This “chapter” of the COYER Unwind Challenge began on April 1 and ends on June 30. I read 1 qualifying* book in April (The Love Remedy), but I have not yet reviewed it. I did post 1 review for a book I read for Chapter 1 (A Midnight Puzzle); while I am counting that one for Chapter 1, COYER actually counts it toward Chapter 2. For the Chapter 2 challenge so far, I have read 1 qualifying* book and reviewed none. My 3-month challenge goal is to read and review 10 qualifying books by the end of June.

*To qualify for the Spring COYER challenge, (A) the book can be in any format, including both digital and print. (B) I must own it or borrow it (from the library, Amazon Prime, or a friend.) ARCs count, but books from subscription services like Kindle Unlimited or Audible Plus do NOT qualify. (C) If I paid for it, the book must have cost less than $5 for an ebook or print book, or $7.50 for an audiobook.

Resolutions (this month)

Writing: Days I wrote: 27. Number of words written: 18,672. This was a really good month, despite still having my hand in a wrist brace for most of the month. (I got better at typing with it on, and used dictation software as needed.)

I used Camp NaNoWriMo, 4theWords, and a fanfic I started several years ago to jumpstart myself into writing regularly. I set a daily goal of merely 250 words, figuring that was low enough that it wouldn’t feel overwhelming, which would make me more likely to write at all. The combination of these motivations and tools worked really well. The words are flowing (some days better than others), and on my best day, I wrote over 1,600 words. I plan to continue with the fanfic first draft as long as it’s fun, but I’m starting to feel the itch to get back to drafting my novel. (If you want to friend me on Camp NaNoWriMo, 4theWords, or AO3, let me know in the comments and I will email you my username. And if you want to try out 4theWords yourself, let me know and I will send you a referral code.)

Reviews posted this month: 2 (Inheritance; A Midnight Puzzle), so I failed to meet my goal of one review per week.

Reviews of ARCs from 2023 or earlier: None, so I failed my goal of one overdue ARC per month. So far this year, I’ve written 1 review for an overdue ARC from 2023 or earlier.

Prioritizing reading time over screen time: Actually, I prioritized writing over either reading or screen time. Well, over reading and watching shows, at least. I’m still scrolling Instagram and news outlets much too much.

Pruning and reorganizing my book collection: This didn’t happen in April; it’s hard to go through books with your hand in a brace, and I couldn’t drive to the bookstore or the library.

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