April was a struggle. I think that is a good summary of my fourth month of 2020. The slump of 2020 just keeps on giving and I jumped right off the deep end. If that sounds depressing it was because that was how I felt.
The Numbers
In April I read a total of 11 books which makes the total of 2020 50 books read.
Of the 11 books 6 books were fantasy and 5 books were sci-fi.
Out of the 30 days of April I read 14 days which amounted to a total of 2011pages. My best reading day was April 19th with 405 pages.
The rating average of this month was 4,3.
- Ghost Squad by Claribel Ortega / 4 stars
- All Systems Red (Murderbot Diaries 1) by Martha Wells // Reread // Novella
- Killing Gravity (Voidwitch Saga 1) by Corey J. White / 4 stars // Novella
- Iron Cast by Destiny Soria / 4 stars
- The School of Magical Animals (The School of Magical Animals 1) by Margrit Auer / 4 stars
- Artificial Condition (Murderbot Diaries 2) by Martha Wells / Upped to 5 stars // Reread // Novella
- Guards! Guards! (Discworld, City Watch 1) by Terry Pratchett / 5 stars
- Rogue Protocol (Murderbot Diaries 3) by Martha Wells // Reread // Novella
- Shorefall (Founders 2) by Robert Jackson Bennett / 5 stars
- Exit Strategy (Murderbot 4) by Martha Wells / 4 stars // Novella
- Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia / 4 stars // ARC
Read: 1
Total: 4/15
May Plan: Wyrd Sisters | Witches Abroad
Read: 1
Total: 4/15
My E-arc copy of Shorefall was just over 500 so that counted.
May Plan: I have a few big tomes on my tbr for Wyrd and Wonder so we will see if I can get to them.
Read: 2
Physical: 2
Ebook: 0
Total: 15
May TBR: The Bone Witch | The Shadow of What Was Lost | Black Prism
| Subject | Prompt | Book Read | |
|
Magizoologist |
|||
| Care of Magical Creatures | Creature with a Beak on the Cover | School of Magical Animals | |
| Charms | White Cover | Ghost Squad | |
| Herbology | Title Starts with an I | Iron Cast | |
| Potions | Book under 150 pages | Exit Strategy | |
|
Merpeople Linguistics |
|||
| Herbology | Title Starts with an I | Iron Cast | |
|
Animagus Training |
|||
| Arithmancy | Read a Book Outside of Your Favorite Genre | Killing Gravity | |
| Potions | Book Under 150 Pages | Exit Strategy | |
| Transfiguration | Book that has Shapeshifting | Mexican Gothic * | |
|
Dragon Taming |
|||
| x | Read a Dragon Book | Guards! Guards! | |
*I’m just going to pretend that that weirdo old man was a shapeshifter because he had certainly changed his body lol. If you’ve read it you will know what I mean
⌘ I swear, my 3yo is going to give me early gray hairs. One night in April I was sitting with him on the couch, he turns to me in tears and says: I can’t get it out. I thought he meant a booger at first until I saw he stuck something up his nose!
It was still at the edge so I tried getting it out, but as I was alone with him I could not get him to be still enough and also pluck it out of his nose. He sniffed a few times and up up it went. We ended up at the emergency room in the evening to get it out. Not where you want to go during covid-19. Meh.
And of course as talented as he is, as I was putting down the phone, with discussing the situation with a doctor’s assistant of the emergency room if we needed to come in, he fell down the couch on a table and had a big ass bruise on his jaw. I cannot with this kiddo sometimes.
⌘ And this really wasn’t the best month for me either. I struggled hard. Especially nearing the end. (TW for depression and all that entails: highlight to read) I had a lot of negative thoughts that included thinking of ways to hurt myself and in one case I automutilated. I guess everything just kind of came out? I did start a process for treatment and had my intake this month. Currently working on the diagnosis portion but it is heading towards generalized anxiety disorder. Because of the above I have been pushed forward and will start treatment in May instead of being put on the waiting list after the diagnosis portion.
⌘ So this is just the weirdest time with everything. I haven been having a hard time with juggling all things like household chores. But also i am struggling to replying to comments on this blog. I hope you all know that I truly appreciate every comment I get, but at this point it just isn’t in my abillity to go back and reply on all your comments. I’ve been liking a bunch of them because I generally save comment notifications in my mail so that I feel like I have at least shown you all that I have seen them. And I appreciate them, I really mean that!
⌘ The May school vacation ends on May 11th and it looks like part time schools will be reopening. Likely Merijn will be returning to pre-school as well but not everything is set in stone.
Announcements and the Like
⌘ Raise the Banners | Wyrd and Wonder 2020
⌘ 23 Interesting Books Released in March, April, May and June| #toptentuesday 235
⌘ Bring Me Latinx | #ConSaborReadingChallenge 2020
Wrap Ups and Other Memes
⌘ Dancing Out of March 2020
⌘ Best of the Bunch // March 2020
⌘ Show Your Bujo Theme | April // Link-Up
Reviews
⌘ Tilly and the Lost Fairytales (Pages & Co. 2) by Anna James
⌘ Holy Sister(Book of the Ancestors 3) by Mark Lawrence
⌘ The Girl and the Stars (Book of the Ice 1) by Mark Lawrence | ARC
⌘ Ghost Squad by Claribel Ortega
Top Ten Tuesday
⌘ Next Books I’d Like to Borrow From the Library
⌘ Five Books I Enjoyed But Rarely Talk About
⌘ 10 Titles That Would Make Good Band Names
⌘ 23 Interesting Books Released in March, April, May and June
Discussions, Topics and the Like
⌘ Discworld Side Books | Turtle Recall Guide
⌘ Book Haul # 52 | Where I Keep on Haulin’ Ebooks…
⌘ How to Procastinate | Procastination Book Tag
⌘ Ratatouille | Movie | Rewatch
With Merijn. I think he liked it.
⌘ Happy Feet 2 | Movie
Meh, it couldn’t quite hold my attention.
⌘ The Rise of the Planet of the Apes | Movie
I’ve been wanting to watch this one since it was rebooted, again. Now to go watch the rest.
Blogs
⌘ The hosts of Wyrd and Wonder were interviewed on Armed with a Book.
⌘ CW from The Quiet Pond shares books about the magic of food. Yum! She also shares books by Muslim authors for #RamadanReadathon.
⌘ Jenna from Falling Letters shares 6 books by Asian-American and Asian-Canadian Authors she’s enjoyed but rarely talks about.
Dutch Blogs
⌘ Liesbet from Zwartraafje organized A Hug Per Post that I took part in and summarized it in this post.
This monthly wrap up will be linked up with the monthly one by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction. This so we can blog hop to each others wrap ups easier.
A Dance With Books 
I’m so sorry to hear that April was such a difficult month–you still did amazing with your reading and blogging though! Don’t you worry about catching up and responding on comments and the like. It’s such a weird time for everyone and I think we all get that we’re all dealing with it differently, and your well-being is definitely priority! I hope that May is a better month for you ❤
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Thank you!
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*hugs* I’m so sorry April was so rough, hope things start looking up in May!
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Thank you!
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Several months ago, one of our daughters stuck a lima bean up her nose. We couldn’t figure out what was wrong, and then I thought I saw something move in her nostril when I used a small flashlight. We went to the emergency room and they COULDN’T GET IT OUT. It was the weekend and a holiday, so we had to wait THREE DAYS before being referred to a specialist. She was able to pull the entire thing out, and the smell… apparently, it went in as a small lima bean (from her brother’s tambourine that he’d made at school), and had grown (as beans do) in the moisture of her nose. So it was good and stuck up there. They tried at the ER for several hours. It was AWFUL. One of the worst parenting experiences ever.
Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear?😷 💬
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Oh my gosh that has to be the worst! So glad they were still able to get it out.
Also kids are just disgusting. Why stick something up your nose?
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Our daughter is also three, so maybe it’s an age thing?
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I never did that at 3 though haha. But apparently it is yeah.
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Oh! A girl in our son’s class stuck a pencil in her ear and the tip broke off. I can’t decide if that’s worse… KIDS!
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What? I…why? Seriously, kids!
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Thanks for sharing my post! I’m sorry to hear April was such a difficult time for you. I hope May picks up. ♥
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Thank you!
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I’m sorry April was a rough month for you. Here’s hoping May is an improvement! Also, please never feel like you have to reply to everything; the blog should be here for fun, and not added stress. ❤
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Thank you! ❤
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Oof, what a tough month! I hope your May is much better for you.
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I hope so too.
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Man, it seems like 2020 is hitting a lot of people hard in terms of creative (and reading) energy. I hope May ends up better for you.
I’m reading Ghost Squad now, so I’m excited to see that it was a good read for you! Oh man, I saw the ER trip on Twitter, but I’m still sorry you had to go through that! I was sooo lucky in that my daughter was never a shover of things up her nose (thank goodness). She did other weird things (like ate cat hair). I have cousins who had to make the same ER trip for their kids … but not during a pandemic, at least.
Do whatever you need to take care of yourself, and never apologize for not having time outside of that. ❤ I hope your plan going forward helps with things. I'm also in the "behind on blog comments" category, so I get it. xD
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Thank you! ❤
I had hoped he wasn't one of those but apparently, yes. Mine likes cat food but cat hair is a new one for me. Kids are so weird!
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Ik weet dat ik hier steeds opnieuw in herhaling val maar tot nu toe heeft het jammer genoeg geen effect gehad. Misschien moet ik een massa kaarsjes voor je beginnen branden of de hele tijd met gekruiste vingers gaan rondlopen want ik hoop toch echt dat je ook een keer een fijne maand mag beleven. Wel goed dat het intake gesprek er voor zorgde dat je naar voren werd geschoven op de wachtlijst. Dat toont toch alvast aan dat ze je ernstig nemen hé. Ik hoop dan ook echt dat zowel je behandeling als het feit dat ik Merijn binnenkort waarschijnlijk terug naar school mag er voor kan zorgen dat de rust en structuur een beetje kunnen terugkeren voor jullie allebei. Dikke knuffel!
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Knuffel ❤
Ik hoop het. Het is nog wat wisselend maar ja zo snel werkt het nu ook weer niet. Het wat meer rust helpt wel en ik was gisteren zowaar productief. Vandaag niet haha.
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Hier wisselt de productiviteit ook behoorlijk. Ik ben het wandelen wat aan het proberen opbouwen in de hoop dat ik dan weer wat meer zal aankunnen maar voorlopig put het me nog steeds uit in plaats van dat het me energie geeft. Maar ik blijf alles dat ik gepresteerd krijg in mijn agenda neerpennen zodat het lijkt alsof ik elke dag productief ben geweest. Dat motiveert me dan weer wel. 🙂
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I’m sorry April was such a rough month for you *hugs* I hope you’ll start to feel better soon, especially now that you could have started a process for treatment. And of course, please don’t worry about the blog and comments. We’re all here for you and will still be when you feel better ❤
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Thank you Lindsey ❤
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I too am sorry you struggled so much. This is the hardest thing/the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced and I know I’m not alone in hoping we never have to go through this again. Going to the ER is scary, especially now. On a positive note, you had an amazing reading month. I’m glad you were able to escape through books. I hope your May is going much better. Best wishes for health and safety for you and your family.
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