I am that person who loves data, charts, and lists. So every month, I recap what I read and what books I acquire along with anything else I think is of value or interest. Let me know if you have any ideas!

I was hoping to read more books than last month, but I again read nine books in April. I am not disappointed with that number by any means. I am, however, still behind pace for my annual reading goal. Instead of reading more this month, I participated in a number of bookish events!

Breakdown

• Books read: 9

• Pages read: 3,124

• Percent female authors: 60%

• Percent BIPOC authors: 40%

These charts are primarily from the Storygraph app, which is an alternative to the Amazon-owned Goodreads.

Books read

• White Hot Hate: A True Story of Domestic Terrorism in America‘s Heartland by Dick Lehr | 🎧 ⭐⭐⭐💫
• The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui | ⭐⭐⭐
• Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld | ⭐⭐⭐💫
• Our Best Intentions by Vibhuti Jain | ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Book Lovers by Emily Henry | ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫
• Biting the Hand: Growing Up Asian in Black & White America by Julia Lee | 🎧 ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫
• Camp Zero by Michelle Lin Sterling | ⭐⭐
• The Last Word by Taylor Adams | ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Rikers: An Oral History by Graham Rayman & Reuven Blau | 🎧 ⭐⭐💫

Books in progress

I started one book in April that I plan to finish in May.

• The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane

Books acquired

In addition to my Independent Bookstore Day Haul and a big order from Book Outlet, I acquired the following books this month.

Aardvark Book Club

• A Likely Story by Leigh McMullan Abramson
• A Brief History of Living Forever by Jaroslav Kalfar

Book of the Month

• Adelaide by Genevieve Wheeler
• Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling
• The House Is on Fire by Rachel Beanland

Gifted Physical Copies

• Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
• On the Line: Two Women’s Epic Fight to Build a Union by Daisy Pitkin
• Small Joys by Elvin James Mensah
• Pathogenesis: The History of the World in Eight Plagues by Jonathan Kennedy
• Twelve Hours in Manhattan by Maan Gabriel
• I Am My Country: And Other Stories by Kenan Orhan
• Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture by Virginia Sole-Smith
• Project 562: Changing the Way We See Native America by Matika Wilbur
• The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian
• Rogue Justice by Stacey Abrams (Pub: 5/23/23)
• In the Blood: How Two Outsiders Solved a Centuries-Old Medical Mystery and Took on the U.S. Army by Charles Barber (Pub: 5/30/23)
• Do Tell by Lindsay Lynch (Pub: 7/11/23)
• Sleeping with the Ancestors: How I Followed the Footprints of Slavery by Joseph McGill Jr. & Herb Frazier (Pub: 6/6/23)
• Book of Queens: The True Story of the Middle Eastern Horsewomen Who Fought the War on Terror by Pardis Mahdavi (Pub: 8/22/23)
• The Stockwell Letters by Jacqueline Friedland (Pub: 8/29/23)

NetGalley Approvals

• Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of “Latino” by Héctor Tobar (Pub: 5/9/23)
• The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue (Pub: 6/27/23)
• Goodbye Earl: A Revenge Novel by by Leesa Cross-Smith (Pub: 7/3/23)
• Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen (Pub: 8/1/23)
• The Traitor by Ava Glass (Pub: 9/19/23)

Bookstore Buys

• Pod by Laline Paull
• The Last Housewife by Ashley Winstead
• Happy Place by Emily Henry