Hi everybody, and welcome to my April wrap up!

Let me just say that it feels like April lasted FOREVER. It’s just that sooo much seemed to have happened. I started with some reading trouble and DNF’ed my first book of the year, Kitsune by Nicolette Andrews, because I just couldn’t get into the story. Thankfully, I read the cutest manga afterwards which seemed to get my reading groove back. I also read the latest novel by my favorite author (you-know-who 😉 ), listened to LOADS of new music and discovered my new favorite kdrama. Not too bad for one month, now is it?

Here’s what I’ve been up to this month:

Demon MAgic and a Martini by Annette Marie

Whoa… Demon Magic really upped the stakes and felt like a season finale indeed! This fourth installment to the Guild Codex series is darker, grittier and more intense than any of the previous installments, while still maintaining the humor that makes it such a fun ride. Questions are answered, mysteries are revealed and yet there is so much more to still look forward to.  October can’t come fast enough!

Rating: 5 stars

The Night CIrcus by Erin Morgenstern

OH WOW. I really shouldn’t have procrastinated so long in picking this one up, because it is worth all the hype. Though admittedly it took me a bit to get into it, once I was I was hooked to every single word. This is such a magical, whimiscal read that really manages to take you away into the fantastical world of the Night Circus and its characters. Highly recommend. Also, I really want a movie or tv show now.

Rating: 5 stars

Going Off-Script by Jen Wilde

I received the ARC of this from Xpresso Reads and I will be a host on the official Book Tour, so expect my official review on May 24th! For now I can already say that I highly enjoyed this fun LGBTQ contemporary about a girl interning as a script-writer for a tv-show, who fights against the straight-washing of a beloved new character.

Rating: 4 stars

I hear the sunspot by Yuki Fumino

Thanks to Jolien @ The Fictional Reader for the recommendation of this amazing manga! Check out her review for this, because it’s what got me to pick it up and I agree completely with every word! If you love manga, m/m friends-to-lovers romances, hearing disability rep and all the adorableness, go check out  I Hear The Sunspot! Only downside is that I need more and I don’t know when or if that will happen…

Rating: 4 stars

TOP TEN TUESDAY

• 2 April 2019: Things That Make Me Pick Up A Book
• 9 April 2019: So Do You Also Read Real Books… And Other Outrageously Annoying Things People Tell Readers
• 16 April 2019: Magical and Whimsical Rainy Day Reads
• 23 April 2019: My Ten First Blog Posts
• 30 April 2019: Ten Inspirational Quotes For Introverts

Quote It Wednesday

On hiatus…

CALENDAR GIRLS

Calendar Girls – April 2019 – April Fool’s Day: Favorite Book With A Surprise Ending or Twist

April was the month two of my favorite kpop bands had a comeback, so I have lots of thoughts!

BlackPink – Kill This Love

Honestly, I disliked this song at first. I was really disappointed with the chorus and the lyrics. BUT then I listened to it again and again and now I can’t get this song out of my head and I am in love.

BTS feat Healsey – Boy With luv

Hmmm, don’t shoot me for this please, but as much as I ADORE BTS, Boy With Luv is not, nor will it ever be, my favorite BTS song. It’s just a personal preference, as I’m not really into these kind of cute songs in general and I was expecting a collab with Halsey to be more deep and intense, not fluffy and cutesy. That said, the song did grow on me, I love that they collaborated with Halsey, I love the fun choreo and I am so proud of these boys for all their accomplishments.

BTS – Dionysus

Easily my favorite song from the new album. I mean, just look at this live version. It’s so EPIC. I especially love the part at the end where they’re all sitting at the table and doing the bit of choreo while sitting down. I rewind this part to watch it again and again every single time.

Stray Kids – Victory Song

Who is still listening to the Miroh album non-stop in April? MEEE. I love Victory Song for the badassery. Also, the abs. Not gonna lie.

Stray Kids – Chronosaurus

More Stray Kids because I’m obsessed. (What else is new?) Chronosaurus is another favorite.

One OK Rock – Wasted Nights

I’ve also been listening to One OK Rock’s new album this month and I’ve been really loving it. I have so many favorites as the entire album is amazing, but Wasted Nights may have been played the most…

Romance is a Bonus Book

I AM IN LOVE. This may be my new all-time favorite kdrama of all time. And it doesn’t even have any aliens, mermaids, goblins, superpowers or anything fantastical. Romance is a Bonus Book is just a soft, slow-paced, character-driven, sweet story about a woman who has gotten into some troubles in life. After her divorce from her husband and a long time in which she didn’t work in order to raise their daughter, she is having trouble getting a job. With a few lies about her degree, she ends up working in the publishing company of her lifelong best friend. There are so many things I loved about this show, so I’m thinking of doing a whole review just so I can rave about it some more. But let me tell you already this to convince you to give it a try: friends-to-lovers, amazing secondary characters and SO MUCH BOOKISH LOVE!

ALSO…

Game of Thrones. I watched the first 3 episodes of season 8 and I. AM. NOT. OKAY.
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. I haven’t watched the entire season yet, so I’m keeping my full review for next month when I finished it, but I’m still loving it so far.

April was a very mixed month for me. I had some great things happen, which I will close this post with below, but also some not-so-great things. In the not-so-great department, my mother has got some serious health problems. She has been a diabetic for most of her life, which has really affected her kidneys after all that time. You can view website here that helps you to get better day by day. This month she hasn’t been feeling well, and basically her kidney function has gone downward so fast that she urgently needed to start dialysis treatment. She’s been in the hospital for two weeks. Now she’s home again and doing okay, thankfully, but she’ll need to have the treatment for the rest of her life. And honestly, it really freaked me out. I know that the treatment is supposed to be a good thing as it means she will have better life quality because of it, but the severity of it all has just really, really hit me.

I’ve also been feeling very overwhelmed with everything that’s been going on and have been feeling exhausted. I think the past few crazy months have just finally caught up with me, with completely renovating a house with a tight budget and deadline, quitting my job and starting a new one, my mother’s health issues and just general life stuff. Thankfully, some good stuff happened as well this month to balance it all out  bit:

Things that made me happy this month:

• Good news at work! Through a combination of luck (a coworker quitting because he wants to travel the world) and effort, I got a promotion! I’ll be able to get back into e-mail marketing and digital marketing, which I love and really missed doing in the past few years. And I’ve just gotta say, after my year of extremely low self-confidence, it feels REALLY nice.
• Berlin trip. Since we just bought a house, big travels or vacations aren’t in the picture anytime soon, but because a cousin lives in Berlin, my husband and I got to go over there and stay with him for a few days last week. I highly recommend the trip, because it is a gorgeous city which is surprisingly spacious, clean and green for a capital. Plus there is just so much history and areas to explore.
• BFF date. I got to see my best friend after hardly having been able to meet up for the past few months of renovating madness, and it was everything. I’m definitely not one of those ‘Oh we don’t see eachother often, but we’re still so close’ type of people. I’m high maintenance. I need to see my people. I need to hear about their lives. Share the little things. The little things are so crucial, but they tend to get skipped when you don’t see eachother often. So I’m hoping to get some more regular BFF dates in again from now on <3
• So much music. My playlist this month has been on fire.
• So much TV. My new favorite kdrama, plus Game of Thrones and Sabrina? So much epicness.

THINGS I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH:

• SO MANY BOOK RELEASES. I don’t even know which one I’m most excited about. Red, White and Royal Blue, The Unhoneymooners, The Bride Test, We Hunt The Flame, Aurora Rising or The Candle and the Flame.

HOW WAS YOUR April? WHAT DID YOU READ? WHAT DID YOU LISTEN TO AND WHAT DID YOU WATCH? WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR May?