Hi everyone! To continue Goal “Read 50 Book in 2016” here’s my April books! So far I’m at 17 read books. I’m also including my May TBR and some books that I’m currently reading but probably won’t finish by June. Here we go! (And I’ll try to avoid spoilers!)

April Wrap Up

The first book I read in April was The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I actually read this book in one day, which was something I hadn’t done in awhile. It is under 200 pages so that’s why but it was still very satisfying. I mostly only read it because I am trying to read more classics that I missed out on and didn’t expect to like it. I actually really enjoyed it and really liked the story and the persistence of the main character. The main character, Santiago, is very content with his life as a sheep-hearder and so very excited to see a girl in a village that he has a giant crush on. However, as he’s heading to the girl’s village he’s given his life’s Personal Legend, which is essentially his life’s goal and has to decide at various points in his life if he wants to continue towards his Personal Legend or settle for what he has at that point in his life.

My mom the habit of saying (in Spanish) that when something is meant for you then it’ll come even if you try to get out of it’s way, and when something isn’t then you won’t get it, even if you try to plant yourself right in front of it. It was a nice read and I enjoyed the message. It read like a fairy tale and although I did feel impatient by the end I had a fun time reading it and I would recommend it.

I read a comic book this month, Batman Noir by Eduardo Risso and Brian Azzarello. I don’t think comics are for me but I still liked this book. The entire book is in black and white, very fitting for Batman although some of the more (literally) colorful characters get lost a bit. I feel like the lack of color distracted somewhat from the story at times as well. This is a collection of different stories and while I liked them overall they were a little hard to get into. The Joker did make an appearance which I enjoyed, Commissioner Gordon and Penguin were also in there, and so was Martha. Honestly I’ve jumbled the stories up by now so I can’t tell you much more than that.  I found myself liking the end of the stories more than I liked the beginning of them. I don’t really recommend this one unless you’re a huge comic book fan.

The next book I read was The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly. I found this book through one of the BookTube channels I watch on YouTube. Unfortunately I don’t remember who it was who recommended it but I’m glad I found this one. The main character, David, suffers the loss of his mother at 12 years old. His father then marries the woman who ran the home where his mother spent the end of her life and he is moved to his new stepmother’s home. He and his new stepmother do not get along at all which only worsens when his half brother is born. His visits to his psychiatrist don’t really help him and he starts to hear books talk and see someone he refers to as “The Crooked Man”. Eventually he goes through a sort of portal to another land where the portal closes and he has to journey through this mysterious world to try and find another way home.

I do recommend this book if you like fantasy and fairy tales with a very dark twist. It is a great adventure that David goes through and you see him grow so much in the story. There were some parts that dragged or I wanted to get through a little faster but overall the story was great and I agree with other reviews I read on Goodreads that this is not a children’s book or even a young adult’s book. It seems this book has been categorized as a children’s book, which I found odd because it definitely does not read as one and it was in the adult fiction section of my local library.

And the final book I read in April was You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day. I went to one of her two Chicago stops on her paperback book tour in April as well. Her book signing was great and so is her book! Unknowingly I’ve been following Felicia’s career for a long time. I say unknowingly because oddly enough I didn’t realize that the redheaded actress I enjoyed in many different roles in the geek world was the same person. Her book was very candid, going into great detail on her home schooled education, early acceptance into college as a violin prodigy, her work on The Guild, being a girl gamer, and much more.

I recommend her book, especially if you’re a fan of Felicia Day already. I think it’s inspiring how honest she is when speaking of how she made the decisions that she made, her anxiety along the way, and how she accomplished her goals despite the many obstacles she faced.

May TBR/Currently Reading

My May TBR includes:

• Miss Peregrine’s Series by Ransom Riggs(all three books, currently almost finished with the first)
• The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
• Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow (Currently reading but barely started)
• La Sombra del Viento by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Currently reading but on pause right now to finish the Miss Peregrine’s series)

Hopefully I get through all these books this month, or at least make a good headway into them (Hamilton I’m looking at you). Feel free to let me know what you’re reading or if you’ve read any of these books yourself.

Thanks for reading!