April wound up being a great reading month for me. I am driving to the office now and then, therefore audible books for my commuting time are once again a thing! Additionally, I have been less than enthused with most TV programming, so my evenings are spent with my nose in a book or in front of my kindle. There was one television exception, we dove into Severance on Apple+ and it indeed was fabulous. My husband and I were very sucked in once we hit episode 3 and watched it all within a few days. Besides Severance, reading has consumed what free time I have. I completed ten books in April and had one DNF. My DNF did surprise me as many have raved of it but it was too out there for me and I couldn’t connect. I did have one 5🍷 and seven in the 4🍷 range – which feels like a stellar month of picks. A few of the books that I read are from my 2022 Reading Goals & Hopeful planning list, so it is nice to get some of those checked off. I am hopeful that once the weather starts to get warmer in May I will be able to bring my reading outside more regularly and perhaps read even a few more.
Here is what I read in April.
The Violin Conspiracy – Brendan Slocumb
I was drawn to this book immediately when I first heard about a book of music meets mystery. And then that cover! Gorgeous! Ray, a Black accomplished classical violin soloist, is about to compete in the world’s biggest competition, yet his very unique and very expensive family heirloom Stradivarius goes missing. But let’s back up, as the book does jump the timelines a bit. Ray is raised in a family that doesn’t feel the same about music as he does. Ray loves the violin and he will do anything to keep playing. His mom wants him to drop out of high school, get his GED and get a job. His aunts and uncles are mostly unsupportive of his talent as well. His Grandma is the only one that supports his interests and gifts him his great-grandfather’s fiddle. Ray discovers with the help of his mentor that the old fiddle is a $10 million dollar Stradivarius upon having it restored. Add to all of that the racism that Ray encounters pretty much every day. I would not necessarily call The Violin Conspiracy a mystery or thriller, but it is more of a coming of age story of a Black classical violinist. I enjoyed this one tremendously and urge you to not miss the author’s notes at the end. Bravo!
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All This I Will Give To You – Dolores Redondo
I have had this one on my TBR goal list for quite a while now so I was thrilled to finally dive in. This was a heavy read – and a long one that was at times emotionally exhausting. I recently read another long one that was a character driven masterpiece in empathy (The Heart’s Invisible Furies) so it may have been too soon to tackle this one. With that said, I thoroughly enjoyed spending time in Manuel’s world and garnered great sympathy for him as he tried to piece together the hours before the death of his husband, Alvaro. He learns upon Alvaro’s death that he has been living a double life and is not the man he knew. This leads him to Galicia, Spain where the secrets keep on coming.
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More Than You’ll Ever Know – Katie Gutierez
I requested this ARC after an author I very much enjoyed recommended it and over all I am glad I did. More Than You’ll Ever Know follows 2 women and 2 timelines and is a complex, multilayered tale of love, murder, families, double lives, deception, devotion, abusive relationships…. I could go on. But for a rarity it is a woman that is the main character leading two lives in two different countries and I did find this fascinating. I found the complexities of being a mom, wife, daughter, sister, student, business woman, partner…. right on. But I could never picture the extremes that occur as realistic, although as Guiterrez points out we see them week in and week out on Dateline and other true crime shows. I had a hard time putting this one down and it was a perfect beach read while on vacation. Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow Publishing for a free advance e-copy in exchange for my honest opinion. More Than You’ll Ever Know will be available on 6/7/2022.
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The Overnight Guest – Heather Gudenkauf
This selection was a definite case of Bookstagram made me do it. I had not even heard of this book and then I kept seeing it everywhere. True crime writer Wylie has retreated to a desolate farmhouse rental, where a previous crime has occurred, for research and solitude while she writes. While she is enjoying the isolation and silence, a blizzard descends and Wylie locates a small boy freezing to death outside in the storm. She searches for answers to find out who is this child and where did he come from. I enjoyed The Overnight Guest on audible and my home enjoyed it too as I was repeatedly looking for any tasks at home such as dusting and scrubbing that allowed me to listen while I cleaned.
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Blush – Jamie Brenner
3.5 ~ A book about books, wine & cheese? Sign me up. I enjoyed Blush on audible – it is an easy, flowing story line about a generational family running a winery. I enjoyed the references to the trashy romance novels of the 70’s & 80’s. Nice palette cleanser between heavier books.
🍷🍷🍷1/2
I’ll Be You – Janelle Brown
This was definitely unputdownable for me and I found it entertaining. I did enjoy the 1st half of the book more than the second, but it was a good escape read for me. I don’t know if I would have loved this one if I had twins, lots of dissecting of this unique relationship. Elli and Sam are the twins and were also child actors and now have gone their separate ways. Sam is a recovering alcoholic and Elli has just adopted a daughter but is also newly separated from her husband and in very deep with a women’s self help group. All of this equates to a big hot mess. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an early release copy in exchange for my honest opinion. I’ll Be You is now available.
🍷🍷🍷1/2
The Book of Cold Cases – Simone St. James
The Book of Cold Cases is another selection about a true-crime writer and have to admit I am starting to feel like I am ready to avoid this storyline going forward for a bit. Shea Collins is medical receptionist by day, true crime blogger by night. Crime blogging is a passion that is fueled by her escape of an attempted abduction when she was a child. There is time jumping from present to 1977 when the LadyKiller murders took place in Claire, Oregon. Shea digs in to the case and learns all about it and interviews heiress Beth Greer of the Greer mansion. This one jumped into the unrealistic and I had a hard time suspending my disbelief. It was engaging enough to keep me going and I enjoyed a good amount of it.
🍷🍷🍷1/2
The Book Woman’s Daughter – Kim Michelle Richardson
I did enjoy The Book Woman’s Daughter but it did not hold the same feelings for me as the the first in the series. As fas as the sequel part of things, there was much repetition to bring non-readers of the first up to speed – a bit too much for my enjoyment. This is the story of Mary Cussy’s 16 year old daughter as she faces further discrimination and mistreatment in the Kentucky hills after her parent’s arrest. I did enjoy her fighting spirit as she never gave up and followed the same path as her mother. Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an early release copy in exchange for my honest opinion. The Book Woman’s Daughter is now available.
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It All Comes Down to This – Therese Ann Fowler
This one was just ok for me. It All Comes Down to This is a bit all over the place. I never connected to the characters as the transitions were choppy. Entertaining enough to finish but not much more than that. If you enjoy family dramas it may be a bigger hit for you. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion. It All Comes Down to This will be available on 6/7/2022.
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Dial A For Aunties – Jesse Q. Suntanto
If you are looking for a very light rom-com, this may be it. I did like it, but a little too goofy for me overall. I likely will not continue with the new sequel.
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DNF – The Cartographers
Generally I don’t write anything about my DNFs. However I am making an exception. This book is getting very good reviews. It just didn’t work for me due to a low interest in the content and some magical realism involved. I would encourage you to give it a try and not listen to me on this one.
Book of the Month: The Violin Conspiracy
