Monthly Wrap Up

I am posting this a day earlier than usual as I have a blog tour post scheduled up for tomorrow.

I had plans to read a book a month in April so that I can cut down on my TBR but things don’t usually go as we plan, do they? I read 14 books this month, so that comes to like two days per book? I read a rom-com and I liked the story so much that I thought of trying books of the genre Romance. This totally backfired and I took four days to complete one book! Having read more of crime and mystery, I don’t think I would like books of the genre Romance. I find them too cheesy! I like Rom-coms though.

Speaking of romance, I recently watched the movie Crazy Rich Asians. I haven’t read the book yet and I only watched the movie because it’s mostly shot in Singapore. I always dream of going to Singapore and maybe settle there, like, forever or something. Ahem. So, I thought before I visit the place, maybe I should just see how it looks like and hence the movie. There wasn’t much of Singapore in the movie, except for a scene or two in the Gardens by the bay. The only thing I ended up liking about the movie was the actor. Henry Golding looks posh! So, nope, not going to read the book – not my kinda story – cheesy, a tad bitchy too – nopity, nope.

OK, End of Rant!

I participated in four blog tours this month. Chutes and Ladders by Marc Jedel, The Hidden Corpse by Debra Sennefelder, A Clean Canvas by Elizabeth Mundy and A Little Hotel in Cornwall (the post schedueld for tomorrow).

All the above mentioned books were unique in their own way. Chutes and Ladders was about a techie guy solving murder – super hilarious and super cool! Super Agent Marty is always in action! The Hidden Corpse was about a food blogger who gets caught in a murder mess. By the way, did you know that even bloggers have agents?

A Clean Canvas was about an immigrant who works as a cleaner for a living. When her cousin is a suspect in an art theft case, Lena decides to solve the case anc clear her cousin’s name. A different kind of story and very entertaining, this one. Coming to the last book, A Little Hotel in Cornwall, this was one of the ‘feel good’ stories. The ending was something different and I really liked it.

Chutes and Ladder

The Hidden Corpse

A Clean Canvas

I also read a couple of Classics this month. I read my first Patricia Wentworth book – The Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith – and I loved it! DSP reprint by Moray Dalton – The Strange Case of Harriet Hall – was an entertaining golden age mystery. And of course, how can I not mention George Bellair’s Death Treads Softly!! He’s one of my favourite authors!! Smallbone Deceased by Michael Gilbert was yet another classic gem!

The Strange Case of Harriet Hall

Smallbone Deceased

The Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith

Death Treads Softly

Now coming to the disappointing reads of the month. I usually don’t have a lot of disappointing reads, mainly because I am very, very choosy when it comes to selecting books. And if I find the story to be okay but lacking in character portrayal, I usually term the book as an okay read. I have been experimenting on different gernes. I read non-fiction as long as the content is good. When it comes to fiction, I look for either a good story or a good character portrayal. Romance, especially cheesy or emotional ones, are a big no. Am I the only one who doesn’t understand romance? So, the two books in the disappointing reads:

Summer at Wishing Well Cottage by Pippa Summers

A Summer to Remember by Sue Moorcroft

Charlie Laidlaw’s new book, The Space Between Time, is releasing in June 2019 and I had an opportunity to read it. This is one of the books that you must read in a lifetime. A perfect combination of humour, life and love. I felt I saw a part of Emma (the main character in the story) in me. Also, I got a chance to interview Laidlaw – my first author interview ever! Yay!

An Interview with Charlie Laidlaw

Review: The Space Between Time

Cover Reveal of The Space Between Time by Charlie Laidlaw

I read the fourth book in the Jenny Starling series by Faith Martin. I love the series and I was tad disappointed that Jenny has lost some of the enthusiasm she had in the first three books! One of the book blogger said, when we like a series, we make no compromises when the story isn’t to our expectation and I cannot agree less! I know this sounds a bit harsh because every author works really hard to make their book interesting. People do anything when they love a book series, right? 😉 ( I am not going to start a conversation here saying why Dumbledore shouldn’t have died in the sixth book and all that… just saying)

The Castle Mystery by Faith Martin

Honour the Dead by John Anthony Miller was a very good read. A psychological + Historical thriller, this book was just superb, especially the ending!

Honour the Dead by John Anthony Miller

I read How (not) to Date a Prince by Zoe May. I will be reviewing this book as a part of the blog tour. Again, another Rom-com, really good on the com part, rom part was all about, as the title suggests, a lovely-dovey, mushy-cushy fling between a commoner and a prince! I have started to read The Last Straw by Ed Duncan.  So, the total count for this month is 14 books, not bad but could have been better! Hopefully I get to read more books in May.

There is a possibility that messages of those who use your contact form to get in touch with you will be marked as spam. I had two such review requests in my spam folder and I checked it almost a month late. Go to my sites -> feedback – there is a spam folder here! I guess one has to keep checking it often so that they do not lose any review requests.

That’s all for now! Ciao!