Book Nook Cafe discussion

Here is the Folder and thread to tell us what your monthly reads for April 2024 were.

Please provide:
~ A GoodReads link
~ A few sentences telling us how you felt about the book.
~ How would you rate the book

Hello everyone! For the month of April, I read a lot more books than I expected to read. More specifically, I read six books.

First was Digger: Volume One by Ursula Vernon. My review can be found here.

So this is part one of a series and the plot of this first entry is "I'm lost and need to get home." Or... at least the start of it.

Much like with A Man and His Cat: Volume One, it's such a simple story, but by God is it told so well. Some of my favorite characters are Digger and the shadowchild because of how cleverly it conveys who they are as characters and in creative and distinct ways as well. Speaking of creative, using maps as a way to aid Digger in other ways besides getting from Point A to Point B was a great touch and I think it also contributes to the clear and balanced worldbuilding. So this is a comic (or graphic novel) and there are times where there will be a panel that feels like a rough sketch was left in for whatever reason and never got polished before publication. While they're not super frequent or super egregious or anything, they do stick out.  

Rating: A

The second book I read was Dowsing The Dead by Ali Sparks. If you want to know my full thoughts, go here.

This is the fourth entry in The Shapeshifter series and it's half "year in the life of Dax" and half road trip story. Basically, Dax and the gang find out that Catherine and Luke are still alive (yes, really) and they have to rescue Luke from Catherine.

So this is the weakest entry by far, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's bad. Far from it despite its flaws. Despite the plot being a bit of a hodgepodge, the book is able to make the two plot types mesh really smoothly. I think part of this comes down to the fact that personality wise, ability wise, it has some of the best character development in the entire series. No joke, there were times where I was like, "Oh my God! They actually went there and committed to it?"

That being said, my problems with it seem to stem from how it seems as though the author kind of got cold feet in certain areas. For example, for whatever reason, it doesn't seem to remember certain events from the previous entry and the entry before that, creating a soup of contradictions and leaving me to say, "Wait. Which is it then?" Also, to quote my full review on this book, "So not only is it revealed that Catherine and Luke are alive, but in chapter seventeen, it's revealed that Catherine was indeed the orb thing responsible for destroying the electrical pylons and following Dax and the gang. She was able to do this by using Luke as a battery. Oh and the only reason they survived was because a series of contrived coincidences. Oh there just happened to be a huge piece of furniture floating by to grip. Oh there just happened to be a yacht around to save them. It's cheap, it's lazy, and it robs the ending of Running The Risk of all emotional impact. Honestly, it would've been way better to just have a different villain altogether." Needless to say, this decision pissed me right off.  

Rating: B+

Another book I read was Nimona by N.D Stevenson. Full review here.

A man named Lord Ballister Blackheart teams up with a shapeshifter named Nimona to prove he's not a villain by taking down the actual villains, Goldenloin and the Institution.

I had a great time reading this. From the legitimately funny moments to the balanced and believable dynamic between Blackheart and Nimona to the moral ambiguity of the characters to the extremely creative layout of some of the pages, the author's clear passion leaps off the pages and in turn, leaped onto me. To tell you the truth, I had a hard time putting it down. The only real things that kind of held it back for me were the frustratingly hard to read font choice and some other questionable choices (like having Nimona's shark form have actual boobs for three panels and three panels only for no apparent reason and portraying how Nimona's shapeshifting power works in a somewhat inconsistent fashion).        

Rating: B+

Fourth up was Theo Tan and the Fox Spirit by Jesse Q. Sutanto. I go into more detail about my feelings on it here.

A boy named Theo Tan investigates the cause behind his brother Jamie's death and what's going on at the company he worked for. Jamie's fox spirit named Kai helps, despite the rocky relationship between her and Theo.

As I've basically pointed out in my actual review, this is from the same author as Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers. But I'm glad to report that Theo Tan was more enjoyable. For one thing, Kai and Theo were wonderful characters in their own right and I think this made the moments of them growing closer and working together all the more awesome. Also, the book has a massive respect for the reader's time and intelligence and it really comes through in how it doesn't feel the need to bog itself down with unnecessary stuff and how it has no fear in setting things up and delivering the payoffs at just the right time. I also love how clever it was with its magical elements and how there was a clear sense of balance.

I do have a couple problems with it though. So despite the fact that this is a murder mystery, there were only about two suspects (which include the company Theo and Kai investigate and some no-name guy who Jamie stood up to after nearly running over his brother with his magic bike) and that's it. I know I tend to complain about murder mysteries having too many characters, but having too few is just as bad. Also, (view spoiler)[one of the employees turns out to be the mastermind (hide spoiler)], but their motivation feels half-finished, leaving me feeling confused and unsatisfied.    

Rating: B+

The fifth one was The Shifter Plague by Sherry D. Ramsey. Check out my review on it here.

This is a murder mystery that involves shapeshifters. That's it. That's the plot.

I think one of the strongest aspects of this book was how charming it could be, especially in the worldbuilding department and its clever little touches. Like, the way the shapeshifter village is described is not only a nice contrast to what is initially presented, but it's the kind of place that you'd want to move to as soon as possible and stay there for the rest of your life if it actually existed. It also has a knack for hooking the reader and laying the groundwork for things to come and maintaining a natural rhythm for the actual mystery.

On the flip side, I really wasn't invested in the dynamic between Acacia (the main character) and her cousin Oliver because of how it didn't really improve from the painfully generic initial description of their relationship. I don't know if this is because I haven't read the other entries in the series, but it did have an impact on my enjoyment. Second, this book shoves the "our shifters are different" thing in the reader's face way, way too many times. Yes, the shapeshifters in this book are portrayed differently from shapeshifters in other media, but was it really necessary to never shut up about it? I mean seriously. It's annoying at best and egotistical at worst. If you're gonna be different, just be different. Also, this book makes some baffling choices with a fae character named Heather that just feels really dumb and creates a bunch of needless plot holes.  

Rating: B-

The final book I read for April was Happiness Falls by Angie Kim. I wrote an entire review on it and you can read it here.

This one is a little difficult to sum up, but the best way I can describe it is that it's part missing person's mystery and part "disabled kid finds his voice" story.  

Honestly, this was a really good book to end the month on. The best way I can describe this book is "smart". It's smart in how it utilizes the 2020 COVID lockdown thing in an actually meaningful way, it's smart in how it portrays the flaws of its characters, and so much more. It also has some additional re-readability value compared to most other books in how it allows the reader to choose if they want to read the footnotes and how much information they want in their first or additional read-through without punishing them for their choice. However, the conclusion to the mystery just gave off a very "Wait, that's it? But what about this thing?" kind of vibe and for whatever reason, it actually spoils its own twists at times.  

Rating: A-

Overall, a surprisingly solid month considering the sheer number of books I read.

You had a solid reading month, Hailey. Well done !

The shape shifting books I would think might give you ideas for your own book as you also have that theme.

Happiness Falls by Angie Kim sounds like an interesting book.

I see it was a GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK and OPRAH DAILY’S #1 NOVEL OF THE YEAR • ONE OF PEOPLE’S TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR .

I'm going to put it on my TBR list. Thanks !

Alias Reader wrote: "You had a solid reading month, Hailey. Well done !

The shape shifting books I would think might give you ideas for your own book as you also have that theme.

Happiness Falls by ..."

You're welcome, Alias! Happiness Falls is indeed an interesting book.

As an author, I do find it helpful to read books that are in the same genres or contain elements that a book I'm working on has (such as I'm Pursuing a Monster) in order to better understand the genre conventions and how certain elements can work well and how they can absolutely flop.

Hailey wrote: "Hello everyone! For the month of April, I read a lot more books than I expected to read. More specifically, I read six books...."

What a terrific reading month, Hailey. I also appreciate the fact that you basically create two reviews for posting. The "hidden", which is fuller, but also the synopsis and your thoughts on each book. Thank you for taking that time.

I like reading the extended versions because you note aspects which intrigue you, as a writer. Cool. Then there are the points wherein you question the choices (or, worse, lack of) made by the writer. They tickle me in some way, too.

The other aspects, such as the font for Nimona being hard to read and the pleasure of the maps in Diggers, are fun to learn. And, then, in your review for Happiness Falls, "I loved how this novel handled its footnotes. Basically, when it comes to certain concepts, the main story provides just enough context for the reader to understand them, but if they want supplemental information, they can refer to the footnotes. This is a really smart approach. It provides a neat little Choose Your Own Adventure kind of thing."

Love that idea and that it brought those Choose Your Own books.

Thanks for sharing with us, Hailey. All these books AND you made significant progress in your own novel writing. What a month!

Here are my April reads. I gave a full review of each during the month. All in all it was a good month with no rating below 3.
My ratings are: 3/ 5 is good. A 4/5 above my expectations. 5/5 very well done.

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston
eBook
Fiction
Rating 3/5
This is a fast paced thriller. Nothing is what it seems. No one is who they say they are. The book has enough twists and turns to satisfy hardcore thriller readers.

The central character is a con women of multiple names who works for a mysterious Mr. Smith. She has a sidekick that is a computer wiz that helps her out of jams. The reader learns about her through multiple flashbacks to previous criminal jobs she handles for Mr. Smith.

The only thing that stopped this from being a 4 star read for me was the relentless timeline flips back and forth. There are a lot of threads and characters to follow and I found it a bit confusing. After awhile I just decided to suspend belief and go with the flow. In the end I would say it's a good beach read thriller and a solid debut for an author who previously wrote YA novels. I gave it 3/5 stars

The Power Foods Diet: The Breakthrough Plan That Traps, Tames, and Burns Calories for Easy and Permanent Weight Loss by Neal Barnard
Rate 3
Non Fiction
eBook
I've read a few of Dr. Barnards other books so I am familiar with his program. He advocates for a vegan diet. I think the book would be of good place to start if you are thinking of changing your diet to one that is more plant based or just looking for motivation to clean up your diet. The book title mentions weight loss. However, he explains how this diet would also benefit those with heart disease, diabetes and brain health.

What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World's Most Enigmatic Birds by Jennifer Ackerman
Rate- 5/5
eBook
Non Fiction
Jennifer Ackerman is an award winning science writer and bestselling author. I thought this book was excellent! It was well written and very informative. The book also includes some beautiful photos. If you are interested in owls, you can't go wrong selecting this book.

Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
Fiction
eBook and Audio
Rate: 3/5
The narrator Marin Ireland did a vey nice job.

The book touches on racism, consumerism, illness, climate change, and possible world war or nuclear war. The reader is left in the dark as much as the characters are.

The book is more of a character study in how we deal or don't deal with uncertainty and helplessness.

I thought the set-up was very good. I did look forward to picking up the novel to see what would happen next. That said, there were some very odd moments that didn't seem to make sense to me. I also found the ending quite abrupt.

There is a Netflix movie based on the book with Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke. Unfortunately, I don't have Netflix. My understanding is the movie deviates from the novel. If it comes to another streaming service I would definitely watch it.

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King
Fiction
Rate: 5/5
eBook
This was quite the page turner. One would expect no less from Stephen King. It isn't what one may typical think of a Stephen King book. It's not a supernatural horror novel. It is more in the genre of detective fiction, thriller or horror fiction. This is book one in a trilogy. The book won the 2015 Edgar Award for Best Novel from the Mystery Writers of America. It's about a retired detective, Bill Hodges. He is being taunted by Brady Hartsfield, a murdering psychopath, who plowed a Mercedes into a crowd killing a bunch of people waiting in line at a job fair. Can Hodges stop Brady before he commits a major terrorist attack? As the clock ticks down, King, who is the Master of Horror, will keep you on the edge of your seat.

I do plan on reading the rest of the trilogy.

I was surprised to learn that i read 10 books in April. To be fair, four were so short i read them within 24 hours...and one was a play. I believe most of them were for our Challenge, so i've will post the page where the book is found for a fuller review, plus which post on that page it is found.

The first four are on this page:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

POST 90.
Dead in Long Beach, California--Venita Blackburn. I'm still unsure whether i liked the overall novel but the writing, when not frustrating, was inventive.

Oops. I forgot i stopped to read TWO Simon Brett mystery series. The first was more my style, The Clutter Corpse, set in the UK, where the main character has a business decluttering homes for customers (or their families), encouraging no backslides and investigating mysteries.. In this case, a murder mystery.

The second was Mrs Pargeter's Patio, about a wealthy widow, whose late husband was a somewhat "connected" man. She's charmed by the characters she meets from his "little black book". I liked this less. Perhaps because i'm quite the cluttered person myself?

POST 97.
The American Indian Craft Book--Marz Minor and Nono Minor. Along with details of how to recreate some items used in dance, song, daily life, etc., of various tribes, history is given.

The rest of the list reviews may be found here--https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

POST 101. 12.21--Dustin Thomason. A plague, of sorts, somehow connected to a recently recovered ancient Mayan book.

POST 104. We Run the Tides--Vendela Vida. Two teenage best girlfriends have a major falling out in mid-1980s San Francisco.

POST 111.
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop--Satoshi Yagisawa. A charming book about falling in love with books, after living almost 20 years without liking them.

POST 117. Information Desk: An Epic--Robyn Schiff. A book of poetry about the author's time at the Metropolitan Museum in NYC. She was all over the place and much seemed disconnected. But when she struck the right chord, i was all in.

POST 120. King Nyx--Kirsten Bakis. I was hoping for more about mythology but i can see the appeal of this book to readers who like mild thrillers. I'm not one, it seems.

Another which wasn't for my Challenge was The Man Who Fell Through the Earth--Carolyn Wells. As i mentioned last month, i only knew Wells as a poet of poetry, based on famous poets, but featuring a Purple Cow. She was a good mystery writer for her era but that time may have passed.

POST 123. Blood of My Blood--Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. A book Rawlings wrote for a competition she didn't win. It is an autobiographical look at her parents and the way she was raised. Rawlings is best known for writing The Yearling.

POST 127. Phaedra--Jean Racine, translated by Richard Wilbur. A play, based on the ancient Greek, about a woman who lusted after her step-son.

Alias Reader wrote: "Here are my April reads. I gave a full review of each during the month. All in all it was a good month with no rating below 3.
My ratings are: 3/ 5 is good. A 4/5 above my expectations. 5/5 very w..."

Really solid month! Surprised you liked the first one as much as you did.

madrano wrote: "I was surprised to learn that i read 10 books in April. To be fair, four were so short i read them within 24 hours...and one was a play. I believe most of them were for our Challenge, so i've will ..."

Another impressive set of reads! I read Brett's "Fethering" series, featuring next-door neighbor amateur sleuths who are "Odd Couple" opposites.

Long Day's Journey Into Night by O'Neill, Eugene Gladstone ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


One People by Guy Kennaway ⭐️⭐️⭐️


https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


Less by Andrew Sean Greer ⭐️⭐️⭐️


https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

John wrote: "Long Day's Journey Into Night by O'Neill, Eugene Gladstone ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


One People by Guy Kennaway ..."

You had a nice month, John. You also were able to tick off prompts for our reading challenge.

Thank you for the review of Less I've been on the fence with that one and now I think I'll take a pass.

madrano wrote: "I was surprised to learn that i read 10 books in April. To be fair, four were so short i read them within 24 hours...and one was a play. I believe most of them were for our Challenge, so i've will ..."

Look who has been a busy reading bee ! :)

From your list I've put a library hold on:
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop--Satoshi Yagisawa. A charming book about falling in love with books, after living almost 20 years without liking them.

John wrote: "Another impressive set of reads! I read Brett's "Fethering" series, featuring next-door neighbor amateur sleuths who are "Odd Couple" opposites..."

Thank you for that tip, John. I hadn't really explored the other options from him. I'm #1 on the hold list, as we speak. Thanks.

John wrote: "Long Day's Journey Into Night by O'Neill, Eugene Gladstone ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


One People by Guy Kennaway ..."

You make a good point about being able to stop while reading that particular play, John. It is heavy and there are occasional veiled references, which i would follow backward to figure out.

The less reply to the Jamaican book, the better. When such a book happens, i wonder if the fellow citizens who seem to like it are really just glad they are noticed at all. It's hard for me to imagine being pleased with it.

When i read that turning 50 was deemed a downer in LESS, i knew the book wasn't for me. It seems that those who look at mid-century as bad news, probably led a life where "thing", including people, have limited value beyond looks. I absolutely loved the freedom 50 gave me and didn't dread it at all. Then or now. Perhaps there will be room for a follow-up, wherein the discovery is gained?!

Thanks for sharing about these books, John. As usual, i like reading the variety of topics you cover with your reading.

Alias Reader wrote: "Days at the Morisaki Bookshop--Satoshi Yagisawa. A charming book about falling in love with books, after living almost 20 years without liking them. ..."

I hope you like it as much as i did. I'll add that learning more about Japan was a pleasure, too.

madrano wrote: "Hailey wrote: "Hello everyone! For the month of April, I read a lot more books than I expected to read. More specifically, I read six books...."

What a terrific reading month, Hailey. I also appre..."

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed reading my reviews, madrano! April has certainly been a month for me.

Hailey wrote: "Hello everyone! For the month of April, I read a lot more books than I expected to read. More specifically, I read six books.

The final book I read for April was Happiness Falls by Angie Kim. ..."

Great choices, Hailey!

I put Happiness Falls on hold at the library. It sounds really interesting.

Alias Reader wrote: "
Happiness Falls by Angie Kim sounds like an interesting book.

I'm going to put it on my TBR list. Thanks ! ..."

I put it on my library list, too. It sounds very good.

Alias Reader wrote: "Here are my April reads. I gave a full review of each during the month. All in all it was a good month with no rating below 3.

Mr. Mercedes (Bill Hodges Trilogy, #1) by Stephen King Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King
Fiction
Rate: 5/5.."

Nice month, Alias!

I'm particularly interested in Mr. Mercedes. King books are hit or miss for me but this one sounds interesting.

madrano wrote: "I was surprised to learn that i read 10 books in April. To be fair, four were so short i read them within 24 hours...and one was a play. I believe most of them were for our Challenge, so i've will ..."

You've read a lot of books! They are quite varied. You reminded me that I enjoy reading plays occasionally. I used to read one a month. I should try doing that again.

John wrote: "Long Day's Journey Into Night by O'Neill, Eugene Gladstone ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
..."

John, I always enjoy reading your reviews.

Petra wrote: "I used to read one a month. I should try doing that again..."

That's a good goal. I never set a number, just read when i ran across them. Of course, this one was for our Prompt Challenge. When i first began reading them, i would check out yearly anthologies such as, "Best of Broadway, 1977". That's not the title, though. Apparently, i listed the play titles but not the book from which i read them.

ANYway, i still like reading them in bunches, particularly by author. It gives me a better flavor for those i barely know.

I knew April would be a slower month for me with our move towards the beginning of the month and then visiting my son towards the end. But with the passing of my mom, I did even less. I only managed one book in April, but I'm hoping to get back on track in May.


The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
4 Stars

I really enjoyed hearing Britney's side of her life. The media has made her out to be such a loonie in the last several years and with her story, you understand a lot of her actions and behaviors. Her family has really treated her awful for most of her life and it was really sad to read about some of the things they did/said to her. There were times in the book that I just wanted to give her a big hug.

Kim, I see the book at the top of many bestselling lists. I'm glad to see you gave the memoir 4 stars.

I had a slow month last month - well one book was near 500 pages so that took up most of my month. lol :)

April reads:

PENTAGRAMS by J.D. Allen - 5 stars. (the 500 page book - lol)
My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Evil Within the House by Thomas Michael Thomas - 4 stars.
My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

That is all I read for April. :)

Thanks for sharing, Marie.

It's nice that the two books you rated well. That's all that counts.

~*Kim*~ wrote: "I knew April would be a slower month for me with our move towards the beginning of the month and then visiting my son towards the end. But with the passing of my mom, I did even less. I only manage..."

I only know what i see about her on the Nightly News. From those, she has my sympathy. For this reason, i appreciate your observation about the book, Kim. Thanks.

Marie wrote: "I had a slow month last month - well one book was near 500 pages so that took up most of my month. lol :)

April reads:

PENTAGRAMS by J.D. Allen - 5 stars. (the 5..."

Thanks for the update, Marie.

From your first review, "Another great book by this author and this one was right down my "shivering street" as I love reading about occult stories that keep me on the edge of my seat..."

Love Shivering Street and am wondering if it is anywhere near Frightening Lane?

madrano wrote: "Hailey wrote: "Hello everyone! For the month of April, I read a lot more books than I expected to read. More specifically, I read six books...."

What a terrific reading month, Hailey. I also appre..."

Thank you, madrano!

Alias Reader wrote: "Thanks for sharing, Marie.

It's nice that the two books you rated well. That's all that counts."

Thank you, Alias! :)

madrano wrote: "Marie wrote: "I had a slow month last month - well one book was near 500 pages so that took up most of my month. lol :)

April reads:

PENTAGRAMS by J.D. Allen - 5...
Thanks for the update, Marie.

From your first review, "Another great book by this author and this one was right down my "shivering street" as I love reading about occult stories that keep me on the edge of my seat..."

Love Shivering Street and am wondering if it is anywhere near Frightening Lane?"

LOL!!! Could be Deb! Might be one block over! 😂😂

This makes sense to me, Marie. :-)