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Alright everyone! New month, new thread! Last month we read a whopping 50 books!!! That is amazing!!! We almost hit our goal of 53! Lets keep shooting for that number :D Happy Reading!

Read Did You Ever Have a Family So poignant and really pulled your heart strings. Definitely not a happy ending but there was closure. I really liked this book!

Just finished The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor. It was okay. 3.5 out of 5.

Finished The Paris Mysteries by James Patterson. 3 Stars. I originally rated it 4 but I changed my mind. It was just average.

Just finished 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff. I think 3.5 Stars. The format was letters back and forth which took some getting used to. But it was interesting. And it was about a bunch of book lovers.

Finished The Greatest Salesman in the World by Oh Mandingo. 5 Stars!!! It was wonderful!

So far, I have four...

Binti and Home are 2 short stories I read for a scifi/fantasy group read... Not my normal read. I am trying to broaden my horizons a bit, but sci fi is never going to be my go to. The 2nd book is better, but would make no sense without the background of #2. Not bad reads, but not great.

Seeing Red is a typical Sandra Brown. I happen to love these, so it was a very good read for me. The romance aspects seemed a little over the top... No one has that much good.... you know. BUT, the story line was very good and kept me guessing until the end.

Lastly, The Next Always is a re-read (listened to the audio). I LOVE this Nora Roberts trilogy It is one of my absolute faves. Every one of these will get a 5 star from me.

Eden wrote: "Finished The Greatest Salesman in the World by Oh Mandingo. 5 Stars!!! It was wonderful!"

Have never heard of that one! I'll have to add it to my list :) We seem to enjoy similar books - LOL.

Finished Murder of an Angel by James Patterson. This was the last book in the confessions series and it was VERY underwhelming....3 stars

Memphistigergal wrote: "Eden wrote: "Finished The Greatest Salesman in the World by Oh Mandingo. 5 Stars!!! It was wonderful!"

Have never heard of that one! I'll have to add it to my list :) We seem to enjoy similar book..."

We do!!! It was very good! And such a quick read.

I finished Across the Universe by Beth Revis. And I give it 4.5 stars. It was NOT the ending that I expected. But I was pleasantly surprised.

Also just finished Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz. Absolutely fascinating look at what our Google searches, etc say about us. I'm also wondering how this post will be counted, tabulated, and used to tell us about our society. 0_0

Finished The Last Boyfriend and The Perfect Hope by Nora Roberts. These are re-reads, but I just love this trilogy. I love how she weaves all the stories together and then also adds the mystery element of the ghost. I finish her books and feel like these are people that I know and would say hi to if I passed them on the street - lol

Next was a re-read (listen) of Falling Kingdoms. I am trying to get back into this series and wanted to refresh my memory. I have heard that this is like a "Game of Thrones" for YA. Not a bad comparison, actually. I really enjoyed it. Not sure if I gave it 4 or 5 stars.

Lastly, was The Trials of Morrigan Crow. THIS WAS AMAZING!!! I have been waiting for years for a middle grade series to grab me the way Harry Potter did. I don't know that there will ever be something to match it, but this was way up there. I cannot wait for the next book. The magic and just hijinks that go on in this book were just so much fun. I bought this on my nook and I'm going out to buy the physical copy so my kids can read this... Five stars all the way.

Memphistigergal wrote: "Finished The Last Boyfriend and The Perfect Hope by Nora Roberts. These are re-reads, but I just love this trilogy. I love how she weaves all the stories together an..."

OMG I LOVED Falling Kingdoms!!! I'm not caught up with them. I haven't read 5 or 6. But I adore the series. I think I've given them all 5 stars :D Amazing series!

I'm excited to finish up that series Eden :)

I just finished Mask of Shadows. I had high hopes for this one, but it severely disappointed me. I kept seeing comparisons to Sarah J Maas and Leigh Bardugo and thought "YES!!!"... It didn't deliver. The writing was just blah, the character development and world building were just blah.... just blah.

I just finished Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson. 4/5 stars. It was pretty emotional for me. It was a good contemporary.

I’ve read Scarlet by Marissa Meyer. Great follow up to Cinder 4.5 stars and will definitely read Cress (the third book in the series).

Fairytale by Danielle Steel. Light reading 😊

I just finished Stealing Snow. This book was not a favorite of mine. I gave it 2 Stars.....

It's a Snow Queen retelling, and I usually love retellings, but this was not done well. I have a review going up soon if anyone is interested.

I just finished The Mr. X Stitch Guide to Cross Stitch last night and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I also finished The High Mountains of Portugal today and it was awful. 2 stars. Ugh.

Michelle wrote: "I just finished The Mr. X Stitch Guide to Cross Stitch last night and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I also finished The High Mountains of Portugal today and it was awfu..."

Aww man! The High Mountains of Portugal sounds so interesting. Was it not as adventure-y as it sounds??

Read The Good Daughter. Not a feel good book -rather sad- but very suspenseful. I gave it 5 stars.

Ok. Here we go.

Read The Stone Sky. This is not my normal genre, but I had previously read books #1 and 2 for other read alongs. This was a fantastic ending to an epic series. It was heartbreaking but so well done. This is NOT a light read. I had to re-read parts of it to wrap my head around it. If you like high fantasy or sci fi, this is a great series.

Next, was Lies She Told. If you like a non-dependable or inconsistent narrator, this one is for you. Reminded me of the feeling I got when I read Girl on a Train. I don't want to spoil this, but if you like suspense or thrillers, read it.

Next was Murder on the Orient Express. This was my first Agatha Christie and I did surprisingly enjoy it. I didn't see the ending coming at all. I was cracking up at all the politically incorrect stereotypes. Who knew Italians were more murderous than Brits?

Lastly was The Lightning Thief. I had seen the movie, but never read the book. I really liked the movie and didn't see why so many people griped about it. Now I get it. The book is TONS better than the movie adaptation. I'll continue this series.

Okay, I doubt I'll finish anything else this month so here goes....

Dear Leader: Poet, Spy, Escapee—A Look Inside North Korea - the North Koreans have it rough, thats all I have to say....

The Good Ghouls' Guide to Getting Even - this was better than I thought it was going to be (when I picked it up at the used book sale). No ghouls in it though, only vampires.

Redacted - it was alright, but I think I'm just going to have to accept that poetry is not my thing.

The Memory of Earth - not my favoutite. Very slow moving and dry, even for scifi.

The Fall of Hyperion - tbh I would probably read and love Dan Simmons shopping lists if he published them. This was a wonderful conclusion to the first duology and I look forward to starting the next.

MiStory - my boss lent me this one. A 1984-esq style distopian set in not only New Zealand, but in our city - yes please

1984 - I can see why this stood the test of time, but did we really need a 40 page chapter of info-dumping?

Daughter of Smoke & Bone and Days of Blood & Starlight - I dont know what I was expecting of this trilogy, but loving it this much was unexpected and wholely welcome

Vlad the Impaler: A Life from Beginning to End, Mao Zedong: A Life From Beginning to End and Vikings: A Concise History of the Vikings - these little hourly histories that I found for free on Kindle are shaping up to be wonderful little time fillers when I just have a few minutes to pick something up. They are very basic in detail, with being so short, but definatly enjoyable introductions.

What I read for April

1. The Tea Gardens by Fiona McIntosh
2. Let Me Lie by Clare Mackintosh
3. Third Time Lucky by Karly Lane
4. March Violets by Philip Kerr
5. Final Appeal by Joanne Fluke
6. The Accident by Linwood Barclay
7. Finding Gobi by Dion Leonard
8. American Blood by Ben Sanders
9. The Country Girl by Cathryn Hein
10. Blind Rage by Michael W. Sherer
11. A Place to Stay by Jennie Jones
12. Dark Water by Robert Bryndza
13. Touching Evil by Kay Hooper
14. Coming Home to Island House by Erica James
15. The Port Fairy Murders by Robert Gott
16. Upstaged by Murder by C.S. Challinor
17. Redemption Point by Candice Fox
18. Dead Girl Walking by Christopher Brookmyre
19. Sky Garden by Jenny Schwartz
20. Bones Don't Lie by Melinda Leigh

The Stranger in the Woods. It was interesting - read like fiction.

I think I have them all up to here.

Let me know if I've missed any!

Ok. Finished On These Courts. Here is my review I posted. This book REALLY hit home for me...

I borrowed this book from my Dad because Penny Hardaway, Hometown Hero and NBA Superstar, has just been named the Head Coach of the University of Memphis Tiger Basketball team. I was born and raised in Memphis, TN, so I have known about Hardaway since he played for the Tigers back in the 90's. I was looking for fluffy entertainment and instead found a deep, impactful story of the inner city of Memphis. Talk about humbling... This story focuses on the Lester Middle School basketball team. This school is in the middle of the "hood" for lack of a better term. This is one of the poorest and roughest areas in Memphis. You might see 20 people packed into a tiny home where people struggle to put food on the table. This is the world Penny Hardaway grew up in. He became one of the biggest NBA stars with a shoe line second only to Michael Jordan. Literally, he is the richest African American to ever come out of the City of Memphis.

What makes him different from any other NBA star??? He came back. He quietly embraced and lifted up a community where every one else had given up. He drilled into these kids the importance of education and became a father and disciplinarian to them. In so many ways this book is heartbreaking. They spend a lot of time talking about Dez. Shortly after this book was written, Dez passed away. Hardaway later moved to East High School and just won 3 straight State Championships. He will tell you it was all for Dez. They mention other Memphis greats, namely Lorenzen Wright. I found it interesting that Chris Garner makes the comment in this book that he never believed that Lorenzen was killed because he was involved in drugs. As of today, Wright's ex wife and another man are being charged and tried for his murder in Memphis courts.

I see other names I recognize. Some of these high schoolers are now making names for themselves. One of them, Dedric Lawson, played for Memphis for 2 years before transferring out. But, a 6th grader on this Lester Middle School team, Alex Lomax, just committed to play for the Memphis Tigers starting this fall.

Memphians often say outsiders don't understand what Memphis Basketball means to this city. They are correct. This book paints the best picture I have ever seen. What is amazing, is the book is written by someone who grew up in East Memphis, the affluent area on the "other side of the tracks". Memphis is plagued by racial tension and divides. There is no getting around it. This book made me appreciate the many blessings I have, but also made me vow to look around me and make a difference. Even if it's just one person I can help, I can do SOMETHING!

I HIGHLY recommend this book for any sports fan, but also for anyone who wants an honest look into an inner city community.

Also finished Rebel Spring.

I really loved this installment and can't wait to see where this story goes from here.

Memphistigergal wrote: "Also finished Rebel Spring.

I really loved this installment and can't wait to see where this story goes from here."

So glad you enjoyed this one too! Usually sequels disappoint me but this one didn't at all!

In April I read High Voltage by Karen Marie Moning. I really wish I could get back to reading regularly.

Michelle wrote: "In April I read High Voltage by Karen Marie Moning. I really wish I could get back to reading regularly."

I hope you're able to soon! I hate it when its crazy busy and I don't have any time to read and stitch. It's my relaxation.

I forgot to add my books from this month!

So we have

Born at Midnight by C.C. Hunter 4 out of 5 stars

Prophet, Judge and King by R.J. Larson all 5 out of 5 stars. Great books!

The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter 5 out of 5. Another great read!