April was the quietest month so far this year. It almost felt like the calm before the storm because things are picking back up again and I’m starting to get a little nervous but we got this, right?! I indulged in a good bit of retail therapy in April and got myself new headphones, new glasses (boo, poorer eyesight but yay for snap-on sunnies), and books—lots and lots of books. Other than that, my days continued to be a monotonous cycle of work, eat, sleep(ish) and repeat. With my sister gone to Japan for uni and my parents continuously travelling, this big house has been pretty quiet with just me and the doggos! Looking forward to when my parents get back in the first week of May so the house will be livelier, at least for a little bit.
April was my best reading month so far in 2023 and I managed to read 21 books! It felt good to fall back into books and reading again and with five 5-star reads and a majority being 4 stars, it’s safe to say that I had a pretty great month, even with one DNF. Out of my top five reads in April, I think my favourite would be The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston. I loved all of these books fiercely though and would highly recommend them!
April was also the month of The Magical Readathon: Spring Equinox and I’m happy to say that I passed all of my classes. I also started the quest storyline which I only finished after April but luckily, the quest extends beyond the term! I’ll be posting a detailed wrap-up on Saturday.
**BOOK COVERS are linked to Goodreads and the TITLE TEXT is linked to my review if available!**
5 pandas
(KU) Perfect Match
The Dead Romantics
Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake
(ARC) Untethered Sky
4.5 pandas
First Meet Foul
Royal Rebel
(ARC) First Meet Foul
(ARC) Royal Rebel
4 pandas
Small Miracles
(ARC) Hollow
A Marvellous Light
3 pandas
less than 3 pandas (+ unrated)
(ARC) Romancing the Heiress
- Goodreads Reading Challenge → 50/150 → I’ve caught up on my GR challenge this month! The image below shows my progress past April (screenshot from 3 May) but basically, I’m back on track!
- Project Backlist Reading Challenge → I’m aiming for the Committed Reader + ARCrasinator badges
- Committed Reader: 50% of my reads this month were from my backlist!
- ARCrasinator: I slowed down and only read 4 ARCs this month.
- Magical Readathon: Choose Your Own Adventure → 3.5/12 → I finished Jan + Mar, Feb is still in progress but Apr was a break from adventuring!
- 12 Book Challenge → 3/12 → Still behind but… Slowly catching up!
- Shazzie and Emma both shared their thoughts about the Star Rating System!
- Celeste wrote a thoughtful commentary review of Spare by Prince Harry.
- Kat talked about The Lovelight Series and why it’s so endearing 😍
- This review of Dragonfall from Becky’s blog made me really keen to read it.
- This blog by author Maggie Tokuda-Hall riled me up, broke my heart and was powerful!
- Looking for Spring Book Recommendations? Caro and Suhani share some titles to add to your list.
- I’ve got The Karma Map on my TBR and Jennifer’s review got me excited to pick it up!
- Julie made this fun Top Ten Tuesday post of 10 Books w/ Alliterative Titles!
- Jodie’s post talks about Mental Health and Fantasy and which books do it respectfully.
- Do you love Beauty & the Beast retellings? Jordan made a great list for ya!
And that’s it for April, friends! Can you believe it’s already May now?! I hope everyone’s doing okay so far this year and that you’re enjoying your reads, too! How was your month of reading and what was your favourite read? Here’s to a happy May for all! 😂
dinipandareads 
I bet you do miss your family! Hope everyone returns soon and fills that big house with love and laughter.
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Thanks for the shout out, lovey! You had a GREAT reading month, I’m so happy for you!
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I am so hoping I read The Dead Romantics in the next couple of months – it looks like it would be the perfect spring/summer read! You had a great month! Hope May is even better!
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You had a fantastic month! So many high rated books. I feel like I need to indulge in retail therapy haha, but I do have some books coming this month so I am super excited for them. I hope that May has been going well for you!
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I love seeing so many of the books I have loved getting high ratings for you this past month. I hope you enjoy the quiet before your parents return.
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Five stars for The Dead Romantics and Untethered Sky makes me happy! Both are high on my TBR. I just bought A Marvellous Light, so I am thrilled you enjoyed that one too!
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Wow Dini! Looks like April was a brilliant month for you – 21 books with 5 being 5*!!! Thanks so much for linking to my review, and I hope you enjoy Dragonfall if you get to it… have a brilliant May 😀
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Hooray for a great reading month. Lizzie and Dead Romantics were big hits for me, so I am excited to see them at the top of your heap. Two books ahead in your reading challenge is great too
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Thanks for the shout-out, Dini! Looks like you had a great reading month!
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I’m so glad you adored Lizzie Blake as much as I did. I’m still in love with that story. The Plus One (the next in that series) is okay but Lizzie Blake is better.
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Yay for good books! I hope April isn’t just the calm before the storm for you, but you’re right. You got this! ❤
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I’m glad April was a good month for you. And retail therapy is so important, even if it’s just new glasses. I have to go shopping for a new pair soon. I hate it because they are so expensive (even with insurance), and it’s hard to see how they look until you’ve already bought them.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
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Looks like you had a great reading month, Dini! I’m so, so happy that you loved The Dead Romantics, it’s one of my faves. And yay for The Serpent and the Wings of Night too! Hope you’ll have an amazing May ❤
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Not you reading 21 books when I only got to 3 *sobs in the corner* – no, I’m really happy for you. I just miss the times when I’d at least devour 10 books per month instead of barely managing 2-3 haha good on you, really!! And I LOVE that you loved The Dead Romantics. I adore Ashley Poston and that was one of my favorite books last year. I can’t wait to read her new one that is releasing this year – The Seven Year Slip, if I remember correctly. She said it has vibes of the movie The Lake House and YES PLEASE!!!
Also, thank you so much for featuring my post ❤ ❤ ❤
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[…] Monthly Wrap-Up: April 2023 […]
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Yay for all of the five star reads. I hope May treats you well!
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Looks like you had a great reading month!! 💕 I loved The Dead Romantics as well, it’s such a good book! Wilderlore is still on my TBR! Thank you so much for featuring my post 🥰
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