Nightstand Books April 2021
April has arrived! And you know what this means! A new month, a new list of books to read (or continue reading).
It has been a fantastic reading year for me already. I’ve found some new favorites, and I’ve already read 31 of the 50 books-goal I set over at Goodreads.
But a dear friend reminded me last week in her blog post about the need to not run the creative well dry. Last year saw me struggle a lot with this, and although I’ve started out strong in 2021, I will confess that I started to feel the ripply edges of burnout flickering about my heart and soul in the second half of March.
And though I have taken steps to help protect my creative well from running dry, I am starting to realize that these steps may need to be periodically re-evaluated and re-adjusted. Currently, I’ve taken the following steps:
Made Fantasy Month far more laid-back and wrote fewer posts for it
Planned blogging only once a week
Stepping completely away from Twitter except for the occasional round of #1LineWed and allowing my blog to post there automagically
Pretty much allowing my Jenelle’s Dragon Wards fb group to fall off the interwebs map
Writing more mini-book-reviews in my monthly wrap-up posts rather than trying (and failing miserably) to do big in-depth reviews for every book I read.
This month, I’m also going to keep my reading goals light and allow for “whim” or “mood” reading.
The Nightstand
Snuff by Terry Pratchett
Yes, we are still working our way through this one. This is my husband’s and my nightly read-aloud, so we only make it through about 2 pages per night before someone falls asleep. But I don’t mind that it’s taking a bit longer, because we’ve been loving the City Watch arc of the Discworld books and this is the last one where we’ll get to hang out with Commander Vimes cue hysterical sobbing so I’m in no hurry to rush through this story.
Reborn by H.L. Burke
On my kindle, I’m reading through this really fun super hero series and thoroughly enjoying it. Even though I follow this author and read all her snippets, there are some twists and turns I didn’t expect, so that’s exciting.
Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones
I’m not sure I’ll get to this one, but since I didn’t actually read it DURING March Magics, and I still WANT to… it’s on the nighstand.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition
Okay, so technically this is a school read-aloud with the kids, not at all spec-fiction related, and generally not one of the books I’d include, but ever since I read Stephen Ambrose’s Undaunted Courage in high school (kind of on a dare from my teacher… long story) I’ve been fascinated by anything Lewis and Clark related. So… it’s not technically a “for fun” book, but I’m enjoying it.
Not Pictured
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
This is my current audio book listen and I’m enjoying it immensely. I’ve got about 7 hours left, so I’ll probably finish it by the end of April, as I listen to about 30 minutes per night to help me fall asleep (it may sound crazy, but it works!) I’m really excited to finish because this is a re-read, but we also have A Wise Man’s Fear in audio and I haven’t read that one yet.
Midnight for a curse by EJ Kitchens
This is the Fellowship of Fantasy indie book club pick for the month of April. Currently, I’m already like 77% of the way through it… I really enjoy this author’s stories and her multiple perspectives on the Beauty and the Beast story. I enjoyed To Catch a Magic Thief and The Rose and the Wand, and this one has been exceptional so far as well… though this does not appear to be set in the same B&B-verse as the other two… at least, quite a few things don’t match up… but maybe I’m mistaken.
Have you read anything particularly beautiful or poignant or fun this year so far? Do you enjoy my mini-reviews? Is there anything I’ve read that you’d particularly like to see a more in-depth review of? What are you planning to read this month? I’d love to hear from you, dear Reader!