On Wednesday I shared with you how I did with the books I planned to read in April. I read 4/7 of them, which isn't awesome. But! I did read another 6 unplanned books, for a grand total of 10, which is pretty great. Here are the ones that snuck into my month! A very high percentage of them were AWESOME books, which is why I let them sneak in and mess up my plans.
The Winner's Kiss by Marie Rutkoski was great. It's the final novel in her Winners trilogy, and I really enjoyed it. They're set in a fictional world where the dominant nation, Valoria, obviously reflects Ancient Rome. Kestrel, daughter of Valoria's most illustrious general, ends up falling for Arin, her Herrani slave. But then the Herrani revolt against Valorian rule, and Kestrel and Arin end up on opposing sides in a war. The books are quite poetically written, and I enjoyed the whole series. I gave this one 4.5/5.
Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard is actually quite good, it just pales a bit in comparison with all the AMAZING books I've read this month. I'm only about halfway through it, but I still have a day left in April, so I think I'll finish it. 3/5 (so far).
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. This was amazingly good. It's about a curmudgeonly old man with a heart of gold, and it made me laugh out loud so many times, and made me cry a lot, and you HAVE to listen to the audiobook. It's just so so so good. 5 out of 5 stars. Plus an extra credit star.
Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater. I'd been waiting for the final book in the Raven Cycle for so long that the fact that it's publication date was FINALLY arriving, kind of caught me off guard! I'd meant to read the first three books again, but since I was short on time I just re-listened to BLLB. It's just as good the second time around - actually the hilarious interactions between Blue Sargent and her sort-of-aunt Calla and the teenage boys who are at the heart of the story were perhaps even better the second time around. I'm happy to report Stiefvater's brilliant way with words is equally delightful in print and on audio. 5/5
My Kitchen Year by Ruth Reichl. This was a lovely read, as are all of Reichl's books. It's quiet, and full of delicious recipes, and a nice antidote to all the sprawling, epic fantasy I read this month. I was really tempted to buy this one, so as to have the recipes for later, but I might just snap a few pics of the library book, and actually make sure I like the recipes before I splurge on a hard copy. 3/5
Have I talked you into the Raven Cycle yet?
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