April Wrap Up & May TBR (2025)

 Hey guys, this is Abi here, 

And since most of my month has mostly been re-reads, I will be including my TBR for May as well- which means I'm in this for the long haul! 

I don't really have anything else to say so, without further ado, I hope you enjoy. 

~April Wrap Up~

I read a total of 7 books in April, and frankly, I needed a good reading month, since I was struggling to keep up with my Goodreads goal- thankfully I'm now a book ahead and plan to keep it that way. 

1. Rachel's Holiday (Walsh Family #2), by Marian Keyes

What do I say about this book? Fantastic. Gripping. Emotional. It may have taken me over a fortnight to finish, but I felt so satisfied when I did. Rachel's Holiday tells her story of being admitted into a Rehab centre, in denial that her drug habit is completely normal. When she's dropped off, she plans to treat it all as some big holiday- just a break, in a centre that has a Spa, Gym, and celebrities in every room. She's in for quite a shock. Instead, she finds herself in a facility that has no secrets, no spa, no pool, and worse of all, not a single celebrity.  As she's forced to endure the public humiliation of forms, filled out by the people that have seen her drug problem first hand read out in front of the entire group, interviews in Group from her family and loved ones, she finally see for herself through the eyes of others. 

I asked for this book as a present about a year ago, unaware that it was the second book in a series. I've since found out, after starting Rachel's holiday, that she has two sisters, and each book in the series centres around a different sisters, so they can really be read in any order. 

Marian Keyes is an excellent writer, and one I always knew I wanted to continue reading after I finished Grown Ups- I've already seen Watermelon, the first book in the Walsh Family trilogy, in Asda, and I intend to read it before too long. 

2. Slated (Slated #1), by Teri Terry 

3. Fractured (Slated #2), by Teri Terry 

4. Shattered (Slated #3), by Teri Terry 

On my TBR, I hadn't decided between re-reading Slated, or The Hunger Games. Honestly, when I finished Rachel's Holiday, there was only one book I wanted to read. 

I finished Slated in 2 days, I was that invested in it. 

Slated is, and probably always will be, one of my favourite series' of all time. I read it for the first time when I was 15, and still to this day, I have never read a book like it. Slated is from the POV of Kyla- who has no idea who she is. The Government claim she was a terrorist. Because of this, she has been slated- given a second chance- all of her memories have been wiped away, and she's been given a new life, with a new family. 

But Kyla remembers things- memories that don't make sense, from her past life. She knows someone- someone close to her- is lying to her. Who can she trust in her search for the truth?

Such a fantastic trilogy- I was so happy to read them all again, straight through. I finished them all in 9 days. 

5. The Austere Academy (A Series of Unfortunate Events #5), by Lemony Snicket 

6. The Ersatz Elevator (A Series of Unfortunate Events #6), by Lemony Snicket 

7. The Vile Village (A Series of Unfortunate Events #7), by Lemony Snicket

 

It was such a joy to get to these three books- The Austere Academy in particular introduces the reader to three very important characters- 2/3 of the Quagmire triplets. The triplets serve as a source of comfort for the Baudelaires, that have had nothing but misery since the death of their parents. The Quagmires are like them- orphans, with a large inheritence, and just longing for some comfort. From The Austere Academy onwards, the story changes from the somewhat repetitive storyline of the first four books, as the Baudelaires try to uncover the secret of V.F.D, outsmart Count Olaf, and get their new found friends to safety. But the more information the Baudelaires uncover, the more questions arise. The next book in the series is called The Hostile Hospital, and it also happens to be the first book I read in the series. I'm so excited to get to it. 

Okay! Those are all the books I read in the month of April! Like I said, mostly re-reads, but they needed to be if I'm ever going to be successful in my reading goal for the year. Now that I'm a book ahead, I'm going to try and fit more new reads into my TBR- even though I'll still be continuing on with A Series of Unfortunate Events for the next couple of months. 

~May TBR~

1. Howl's Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones

My colleague Kia lent this to me- which was so nice since she received it as a birthday present. I started it on tuesday, and I'm 16 pages in due to work and having no free time. 

When I was given it, I knew the name sounded familiar, maybe it was the name of an anime- I wasn't sure though. Turns out, I was bang on. (Though most of you might not recognise the book cover, but this is the anime cover:)

To be honest, I knew squat about what this book was about, all I even know now is that Sophie, the protagonist, is cursed by a witch and must travel to the legendary Howl Castle, which can change location in the blink of an eye, and contains the wizard, who devoures the hearts of young girls. 

It's the first book in a trilogy, and hopefully I enjoy this as much as I think I'm going to, and continue on with the series at a later date. 

2. The Hostile Hospital (A Series of Unfortunate Events #8), by Lemony Snicket 

3. The Carnivorous Carnival (A Series of Unfortunate Events #9), by Lemony Snicket

4. The Slippery Slope (A Series of Unfortunate Events #10), by Lemony Snicket

In truth, I don't remember a whole lot about book 9 onwards for this series, so it'll be nice to have a refresher. What I do remember is that these three books are some of the most dramatic of the series, complete with head surgery, arson, murder, kidnapping and a lion pit! 

We're slowly getting closer to the end of the series, with just three books remaining after I tackle these three, and I'm half/half on wanting to find out what happens next, but also never wanting it to end! 

It's been great to see the Baudelaire orphan's daunting journey turn them into the daring, capable children I'm reading about in book 8- but I do wish them some happiness soon. 

5. American Gods (American Gods #1), by Neil Gaiman

I'm adding this onto my TBR because I'm determined to read all the birthday/christmas presents I've received in the last year or so. As I said before, I am aware of the allegiations directed at Neil Gaiman, but that doesn't mean I can't still enjoy his work. 

American Gods is about Shadow, a prisoner, who on the verge of being released from prison, receives the news that his wife Laura has passed away. Numbly, he boards a plane home, where he meets an eccentric character called Mr. Wednesday, who just happens to be a refugee from a distant war, a former God, and the King of America. 

With little direction, the two men set out on a road trip across America, whilst all around them, a storm- an unnatural, and of epic proportions- threatens to break around them. 

There are extremely mixed reviews on this book, all one and 4/5 stars, so I'm not sure what I'll make of it. But I'm determined to give it a try. 

6. The Earthsea Quartet (Earthsea Cycle #1-4), by Ursula Le Guin

One of my work colleagues (a different one to the colleague that lent me Howl's Moving Castle) had a second copy of this- I am now the proud owner of said second copy (couldn't be happier as Earthsea is one of the most classic fantasy series of all time). 

It definitely isn't a small book, given it's just shy of 700 pages, but as the name suggests, it's four short stories, rolled into one. 

Like with Howl's Moving Castle, I have no idea of what this book contains, but it's never a bad thing to be compared with Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, so I'm ready to commit to what could be considered one of the best novels released in the twentieth century. 

7. The Wake-Up Call, by Beth O' Leary 

I think this is the third time I've added this book, most likely on the end, each time. But it doesn't matter, because I will be picking it up as soon as I finish my CR. 

If you didn't know what this book is about, allow me to express it in bullet points:

• Hotel is threatening to close. 
• Two members of staff, who hate eachother, find a ring and return it to the missing couple. She's gives them an extremely large reward. 
• There are several other rings in the lost and found. Izzy and Lucas hatch a plan- if they locate the owners of these rings- they might just save the hotel. 
• Also, they can't seem to stop flling in love with one another. 

That's basically the bare bones of the story, I'm sure there's a lot more to it, but that's basically the premise. I really need to get to this soon, because I know I'm going to love it. 

Okay! That's me done! I was always considering posting these two together, as most of the books I finished in April were re-reads, but I definitely wasn't banking on the second part taken the best part of three days to complete! 

Nevertheless, it's finally done, and I can get started on my review for Rachel's Holiday, which will be coming to you soon! 

As always, feel free to comment what you all got up to last month, I'll start: 

I FINALLY RAN BOSTON MARATHON (Lincolnshire) AND HAVE SIGNED UP FOR LONDON NEXT YEAR (99% sure I won't get in as over 1 million people signed up, but I can dream). 

Okay! That is all I have for you today! I hope you have a wonderful evening, and I'll see you all soon! 

Byeeeee! 

-Abi xxxx