April was an underwhelming reading month for me, majority of the books I read felt very “meh” and it was not for lack of doing my research before reading them. Overall, I read 15 books with a few standouts and a lot of underwhelming reads.
My only five stars read was The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here for? By Rick Warren. This is a book I re-read every year during Easter. The book is divided into forty chapters, so I read one chapter a day- perfect right?! Of course, I am still trying to figure out my purpose for being here on Earth, I am open to suggestions if you have any. ????
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There were some books that surprised me by being really good and living up to all the hype. The two books that comes to mind are Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell and Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins-Reid. My friend recommended Then She Was Gone as a psychological thriller I would love; I took the recommendation with an open mind and I am happy I did. I read this book in one sitting, it was intoxicating, and I was kept guessing for the entire time. Creepy and immersive, if you are looking for a far out, really great thriller I highly recommend picking up Then She Was Gone.
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I could not open my Instagram or Goodreads page without seeing Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins-Reid. I admit, I read this only because of the hype. I also started it thinking, “I know I am not gonna love it and I am going to be annoyed for falling into the hype!” Happy to report, I was absolutely enthralled by the story of Daisy Jones and The Six, Taylor Jenkins-Reid did an amazing job with this novel! The book is told in an interview format and I felt it worked really well. I was totally immersed in this Rock group story.
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Another favourite of mine this month was When Death Becomes Life: Notes from a Transplant Surgeon by Joshua D. Mezrich. I think I may have a thing for medical memoirs and this read was no different. Dr. Mezrich gives an in-depth and interesting look into the field of Transplant Surgery. He balances the history of the field with real life stories from his experience as a surgeon. If you loved reading When Breathe Becomes Air, I think you will enjoy this book.
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Special mention goes to Terra Nullius by Claire G Coleman. I read this book in one sitting on a plane ride from Port of Spain to Panama City. I read Terra Nullius as part of the #AussieApril challenge put on by one of my favorite Bookish friend. This book explores colonization in an interesting way, we are told about an alien race who visits Earth and decides to take over the planet by making humans work for them. For some reason this book remains me of Hunger Games in some way, maybe because of the resistance that was explored in the book. Some part sci-fi, other parts a thrilling read, overall interesting.
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There you have it, some of my favourite reads for April. Below are books in order of ratings.
Five Stars
- The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here for? By Rick Warren
Four Stars
- An Untamed State by Roxane Gay
- Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell
- Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins-Reid
- When Death Becomes Life: Notes from a Transplant Surgeon by Joshua D. Mezrich
- The Perfect Fraud by Ellen LaCorte
Three Stars
- Terra Nullius by Claire G Coleman
- A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum
- Emotional First Aid: Practical Strategies for Treating Failure, Rejection, Guilt and Other Everyday Psychological Injuries by Guy Winch
- The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray
- Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson
Two Stars
- The Better Sister by Alafair Burke
- Cygnet by Season Butler
- The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
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