April 2020 Wrap Up

Posted May 1, 2020 by Carole in Monthly Wrap-Up / 21 Comments

April 2020
I am pretty sure that April 2020 was one of the strangest months that I have lived through.  Honestly, I like staying home so that part was easy.  I did worry anytime I needed to venture out to get supplies and I hate the fact that people around the world are sick and dying.

I spent the month juggling work and my responsibilities at home (sometimes both at the same time).  I found that while I like the idea of working from home, it is really hard to do when you don’t have the tools you need to do your job readily available.  Spending an hour to do a task that would only take 5 to 10 minutes in the office gets really old quickly.  After a few weeks, I found myself heading back to the office for a half day of work everyday which is safe since I work in a very large building with only 3 other people and it freed up some time in my schedule.

We focused on eating the food in our freezer and pantry, picking up fresh milk, fruits, veggies, and dairy from the local food co-op twice monthly.  We did break down and go on one big trip to Costco at the end of the month.

Reading wise, I ended up reading 14 books in the month of April which is pretty close to my normal reading level.  It sure would have been nice to make a big dent in the review pile but at least my reading hasn’t fallen behind. 

I am linking this post to the Monthly Wrap-Up at Feed Your Fiction Addiction.

Books Read
A Plague of Giants by Kevin Hearne – My Review
An Heiress to Remember by Maya Rodale – My Review
Forever Strong by Piper J. Drake – My Review
A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones – My Review

The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith – My Review
Whisper to Me by Nick Lake – My Review
Vamped by David Sosnowski – My Review
Starbreaker by Amanda Bouchet – My Review

The Brightest Darkness by Kate L. Mary – My Review
Days Since…: Xavier: Day 853 by Robert Wilson – My Review
Junkyard Cats by Faith Hunter – My Review
Scent of Darkness by Christina Dodd
Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey
The Other People by C.J. Tudor

Reading Stats
Books Read: 14
Audiobooks: 4
Digital Books: 6
Print Books: 4
Re-Reads: 2
Book Source for Books Read in April
NetGalley: 4
Edelweiss: 2
Direct from Publisher/Author/Narrator/Publicist: 6
Purchased/Freebie: 4
Kindle Unlimited: 0
Borrowed/Library:  0
*Some books may fit into more than one category

Challenges
Goodreads: 60/100

Library Love: 0 read toward the challenge in April / 5 total for the year
Audiobook Challenge: 4 read towards the challenge in April / 27 total for the year
New Release Challenge: 5 read towards the challenge in April / 29 total for the year

End of the Month NetGalley Stats
Feedback Ratio: 88% (Up 1%)
577 Approved | 505 Feedback Sent

End of the Month Edelweiss Stats
10 books to review | 98 downloaded

Favorite of the Month

Up Next

How was your month? Do you have any reading or blogging goals for May?

21 responses to “April 2020 Wrap Up

  1. RO

    You did a great job with reaching your goals, and love many of your book choices too. I wish I was organized enough to keep track like you do. Kudos on that! Hugs and Happy Friyay! RO

  2. Anonymous

    Sounds you did really good on your reading this past month! Hope you have a great weekend.

  3. right now my reading goals center around kindle unlimited. i got the two months free, so i'm trying to take advantage of it. your books look really good and congrats on reading 14. be safe
    erry @ fundinmental

  4. The Other People is one I want to check out. I can relate to the challenges of staying home, but mine were complicated by the fact that I live in a senior residential facility, and while I had considerable freedom to come and go, that all changed with the Stay at Home orders.

    Now I am settling into it, and it is certainly less challenging for those of us who are retired. Not being able to go shopping has been difficult, but eventually, between staff and occasional family help, I have been able to get what I need.

    I love Amazon, and receiving packages has been a great help!

    I only read 13 books this month, but that was more than I had read in the previous month.

  5. Bea

    You had a good reading month even with all the weirdness. I'm working on my stock of pantry foods too, with occasional trips to get fresh food. I'm anxious to get back to work, but enjoying the time to read and to work on my blog.

  6. I think you did really well! I really enjoy reading all your posts and hearing about you and your reading and books!

    Anne – Books of My Heart

  7. I'm really eager to read your review of The Other People! I enjoyed that one a ton.

    I never thought the most stressful part of my day would be grocery shopping, but here we are. Hopefully things will start to ease up a bit this month.

  8. It is tricky trying to accomplish things outside the office. I am on a laptop with one small screen, whereas at work I had two large monitors, and I was also doing my own job, not helping another team. The tech is definitely slowing me down. I don't blame you for going into the office. I am impressed you only have 10 books to review on EW. I have so many. That ratio staring me in the face on NG keeps me in line, without it, I forget about all those EW books. I am working on it though.

  9. Great job with your reading! And I can't imagine how frustrating the work issues are. Hopefully you'll be able to go back more often soon!

  10. Congrats on getting so much reading done! April was a strange month. Iā€™m not working, so Iā€™m mostly just sitting in the house, feeling squirrely. I hope you have a good May!

  11. I must say that I think April went by a lot faster than March did…lol. I can't believe it's already May and the world still stinks. You read a cool variety of books! Hope May is a good one!

    • I definitely agree on that – It feels like April just started. Part of it for me is that not only do I not get to finish the year with my 6th graders going on to middle school, but school is ending a week early for students, so staff can start doing professional development related to distance learning and be prepared for whatever school will look like in August. I miss my kids a lot, and I am heartbroken for my baby girl who ends first grade this way.

  12. I'm getting so much anxiety over just going to our quiet local shop for essentials. It's scary out there in virus world and I agree, it's upsetting to hear the stories of those dying around the world. Staying home is the easy part-it's the mental stuff that's harder. I'm glad I'm not working as I don't drive and going on public transport daily would've made me sick with fear. I hope your family stay safe.

  13. We have been staying home as much as possible. I ordered some non perishables online and had it delivered. I haven't gotten in many books this month.

  14. Yes, it has been an odd few months.
    New blog decor. Looks like a spring change up. šŸ™‚ Glad you worked out how to get more productive with work and way to go using up pantry/freezer items. You did great on your reading and reading goals though it always feels like one should do more. šŸ™‚

    Have a great May, Carole!

  15. I have found that too about working from home. I miss having all my tools and resources that are so readily available in the office. But working from home has its advantages too.

    Yay for reading! I am glad you had a good reading month. I read Starbreaker this past month as well and enjoyed it. I haven't yet read your review because I haven't written mine yet. Once I do, I'll see what you had to say. šŸ™‚

    I hope you have a good May! Happy reading.