April is always an exciting month for me because of Independent Bookstore Day! Libro.fm had a huge audiobook sale the Friday before as a special to celebrate and I got 13 audiobooks for $50! Each one was $3.65-4.99! My thought was I would stock up in case I didn't find a golden ticket this year to get a year's worth of audiobooks for free. I went to Magic City Books right when they opened and searched for a solid 45 minutes, but never found it so I gave up. My mom went to Literary Cat Co and found a golden ticket which she was so very sweet to gift me with! So I have all the audiobooks I got on the cheap as well as 12 free from Libro.fm so I am one lucky lady! That puts me at 3 years running for the golden ticket which is just wonderful!
Books:
- The God of the Woods by Liz Moore- This book sucked me in from the first page. I loved how she told the story from so many different perspectives, always keeping you enough in the dark to be somewhat confused until closer o the end of the book. She did a great job of showing how being wealthy can keep justice from occurring. It was also interesting to see the role women were forced into in the 60's and 70's. It was a nice touch having a female investigator in the 70's.
- Say You'll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez- What I love most about Abby Jimenez's writing is the humor. This book started off so good with their meet cute, but then the humor was spread pretty thin thereafter with the majority of the book being frustrating situations and sad moments. This was my least favorite of her books. Xavier's friends all seemed awesome and she's said this i the first book in a new series, so I'm hopeful they will get their own books which will be more her usual style.
- The Housemaid is Watching by Freida McFadden- I got a little bored with this around the halfway point and then it really picked up steam and I could not stop reading. She has a way of doing that!
- Wild and Wrangled by Lyla Sage- I've been waiting for this book since Dusty's character was first introduced and it did not disappoint. I had to re-read that first chapter because I loved it so much. I didn't think she would be able to write their breakup and make it believable that they would stay apart for so long, but it actually made sense. Who is ready for that kind of relationship so young? I also loved the snippet that explained Cam and Gus. I'm holding out hope that Amos will get his own love story, even though she said this was the last book in the Rebel Blue Ranch series.
- The Perfect Divorce by Jeneva Rose- I love how she always takes her books right to the wire where you aren't quite sure what is going to happen. I knew Sarah, the sociopath, would come out on top, but wasn't quite sure how she would pull it off. I was excited to read in the acknowledgements that this isn't the last we will hear from Sarah Morgan.
eBooks:
- The Love of My Afterlife by Kirsty Greenwood- This was a rough start because the main character was so hard to like, but it really turned around. I enjoyed seeing her character blossom throughout the book and it had a sweet ending.
- The Housemaid's Wedding by Freida McFadden- I really enjoyed this one! She still kept it thrilling, even with just a short story. I was worried it would be too sweet and venture too far from what I love about her books since it was Millie and Enzo's wedding, but it wasn't at all.
- Evidence of the Affair by Taylor Jenkins Reid- This was also a short story. It was a quick read and I liked that the whole story was told through letters.
Audiobooks:
- The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman- This was my favorite book in the series so far. These are so much fun. The little snippets he puts in them that get me giggling are the best. One of my favorites was, " I was sitting next to a man dressed as a banana, eating a banana." And, of course, the mysteries in the stories are always top notch!
- Scythe & Sparrow by Brynne Weaver- Book 3 in the Ruinous Love trilogy. I really enjoyed the trilogy. It amazed me how Weaver can pull together these characters with such off the wall character traits, but they somehow work and make sense. This book was as humorous as it was dark. Barbara the trash panda may have been my favorite character.
- Babel by R.F. Kuang- Being the word nerd that I am, I absolutely loved all the discussion of languages and etymology. This was such an interesting and fresh idea for a story.
- Can't Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne- There were some very cool parts to this, I just never really got super into it. I liked the characters enough that I think I'll give book #2 a try.
