April 30, 2022 – Life and Other Disasters

April, true to its name, was a wild month for me. I really surprised myself with the amount of books I read, even though I’m still a couple books behind what I wanted to achieve. I’ve been working hard on getting ready for the next installment in the reading experiment series and I ~~think~~ hope you will all love it! Let’s take a look at some books I devoured:

One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid (4 stars)
In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan (1 star)
Utter nonesense.
For Every One by Jason Reynolds (5 stars)
So beautiful and timely for me, I broke out into tears.
Notes on Camp by Susan Sontag (3 stars)
Not entirely applicable today anymore, but still interesting enough.
You Get So Alone at Times That It Just Makes Sense by Charles Bukowski (2 stars)
A reread that didn’t work any better the second time around.
Essays in Love by Alain de Botton (2 stars)
As much as I like de Botton’s style of writing, I do not vibe with his statements.
Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield (4 stars)
A really beautiful tribute to a loved one.
My Policeman by Bethan Roberts (2.5 stars)
Pretty iffy for the most part.

As per usual, click on the covers to get re-directed to Goodreads, where you are always welcome to add me as a reading buddy! OR find me on Storygraph, where I’m more active this year. My own reviews you’re able to find by clicking on the titles in the list above, if there are posts for them.

In terms of stats, I’m really on top of my reading goals and even have some leeway. However, and this is my predicament, I’m quite on a time crunch with three more books, which I sort of have to finish by May 15. I don’t know if I took on too much, but I’m going to try my best to get it done. Maybe the above list partly gives away who the reading experiment will be about, but I just cannot wait to actually share it with you!

Reading stats taken from The Storygraph App for my progress on my yearly reading goals

I’ve complained a lot these past months and you know what? I just don’t wanna do that anymore. April was full of surprises – some good, some bad – and that’s just how life goes sometimes. It wasn’t my most creative month in terms of blogging, writing or drawing, but I can feel that hunger coming back. That need to write down a story or capture an image in my own style. I’d say that’s a good sign and maybe if things calm down a little over the summer, I’ll get a chance to do more again.

Speaking of summer – I’ve made quite the plans for myself. I want to teach myself how to rollerskate! I know how to iceskate … in theory. I haven’t done it in a really long time, but I need to get back into finding activities to do outside. And while I really enjoy my regular trips to the zoo, as soon as the weather gets better it’s just packed and I have no desire to be among the masses. So … now I just need to find a shop that sells rollerskates here (harder than you might think), because I don’t want to order them online and gamble on the size fitting.

MY FAVORITES OF THE MONTH

This VERY clearly has to go to Heartstopper! I cannot remember the last time I was so enarmored with a show and felt so happy watching it. At first, I was a bit worried that I might be too old for it and that it might hinder me from really getting into it, but I ended up just falling head over heels for the entire thing.

The main cast of the show Heartstopper — credit: Netflix

A lot of the time these days, queer representation in media is either super traumatic, dark and gritty or glorifies the coming out experience that is rare for most people in real life. With Hearstopper, it really felt like they balanced genuine struggles with wholesome and positive vibes. You knew not everything was going to be sunshine and rainbows all the time, but simultaneously, it had a precious and uplifting message. I’m glad kids growing up now get to see content like it. Also, I have officially adopted Nick Nelson as my fictional son. I’m sure his brother August Flynn will be happy to welcome him in the family.

Nick Nelson portrayed by Kit Connor — credit: Netflix, he’s just my fave!

ELSEWHERE ON THE BLOGOSPHERE

Please also visit some fellow bloggers and share the love! Here are some posts I enjoyed in the past month:

This ties in with what I said above, but Maria really captured why Hearstopper was so fantastic!
Stephanie talked about some poetry, which is a soft spot of mine!
Sabrina and Vera were kind enough to include me in a post about their favorite book bloggers and consequently melted my heart.
Lay discussed some scary books (and we’re not just talking horror here).
Sophie created a super fun summary of book to screen adaptations she watched.
Caro recommended some historical fiction. (I’ve actually read a couple of those, which was a shock to me!)