Read and TBR for April and May

Another month in 2020 down; another month at home.

I’m grateful that I’m still employed, as difficult as it is to try to continue doing the job while managing childcare activities every waking hour. Said children, started their online schooling a couple weeks ago. It’s been a bit of a relief to have that responsibility taken over by the professionals. Lol. I keep saying there’s a reason I teach adults, not kids. Although, we still have to supervise their lessons to make sure they’re paying attention and actually doing the lessons. They’ve really taken to the classes, thank goodness, and don’t need too much prodding to get their supplies ready before each session. I love that I can still sleep a bit late and get them to school on time 😉.

I’ve also gotten the boys to keep up with their daily silent reading… more or less. Now that school has re-started, they’re wanting to do away with my timetable completely. Sorry kiddos, silent reading is part of your everyday life now. The almost nine year old is reading Melissa De La Cruz’s Descendants. They loved the movies so Santa brought them the books. Since he started it, I’ve heard many complaints about how it’s the biggest book he’s ever had to read… yes… in his whole, long almost 9 years 🙄. He’s determined to get through it though, because his younger brother currently holds the record for longest book, having completed The BFG by Roald Dahl a few weeks ago. Whatever keeps them reading!

We’re supposed to have an update on our stay at home guidelines by mid-month. We’ll see what happens, but I don’t expect too much to change for us as all schools will remain closed until September, for the earliest. And quite frankly, I’m not too interested in venturing out anyways. My husband keeps teasing me that I should do one of the grocery trips… at least for the experience, as I’m a history teacher! Lol.

Anyways, my reading reading list was again 11 for the month (of April). I keep thinking I won’t have time to get through too many and then I have those days where I’m so frustrated I just need a couple hours (sadly not uninterrupted) to lose myself in another reality. So I’m killing that Goodreads goal. I have hopes of doing a challenge update soon.

Here’s what I read in April.

The cozy mysteries were Deep Fried Revenge, Third Knock The Charm, Pig Little Lies, A Poisonous Journey (also historical cozy), New Media & Old Grudges and Queso de Muertos. I got my historical fiction fix through When We Left Cuba. Romance books included The Wild One and Secrets of a Summer Night (also historical romance). Avocado Bliss was my foray into YA contemporary and I got another YA, fantasy this time, in Shadow and Bone. Four of these I read via my Kindle Unlimited subscription and two came off my physical shelf.

I’ve decided on six books to start with. Three are on my NetGalley- two of them carded for blog tour reviews as well. I’m determined to make a dent in my physical bookshelf (to re-add… haha) so I’m going to read Jackaby, which has been on there for some time now. I’ve seen lots of great reviews for the Winston Brothers series so I’m starting that this month, and I’ve put the Sophie Kinsella novel on the list as part of the romance book reading challenge.

Deception by Gaslight by Kate Belli

I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

A Sprinkling of Murder by Daryl Wood Gerber

Truth or Beard by Penny Reid

Jackaby by William Ritter

JoJo’s French Escape by Lorraine Wilson

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I expect to get through these and I also procured two historical fiction eBooks (with audio) during Amazon’s World Book Day giveaway. Maybe I’ll get to at least one of those as well.

What about you? What are you looking forward to reading this month? Feel free to share links to your April reading lists in the comments.