Monthly Catch Up #4 – April 2018

In the third week of April, summer has arrived to London quite abruptly. On Monday I was still wearing my winter coat, and then Thursday found me almost half naked, getting a tan in the parking lot on our smoke break at work. Anarchy in the UK, pretty much.

We are back to shitty weather though, so all is well.

So let’s see what happened in April on Reading Under the Blankie, shall we.

On account of having three days of summer, I haven’t read a lot this month. Excuses, am I right? After a mediocre start with The Good Twin I managed to pick some truly awful books, but then Baby Teeth swooped in, and saved the day. The Other Couple was pretty awesome too, however now I can’t stop obsessing about my upcoming holiday and how I’ll be murdered there.

 

Skin Deep by Liz Nugent
A dark, chilling story about the most despicable women I’ve come across for quite some time.
Meet Me In The Strange by Leander Watts
A super bizarre story about strange teenagers in a weird setting.
Ragdoll by Daniel Cole
Blood, gruesome murders and a bunch of wiseass characters. Much love!
Autumn Killing by Mons Kallentoft
An atmospheric Nordic noir, third in the Malin Fors series.
The Other Couple by Sarah J. Naughton
A twisty, uncomfortable holiday suspense.
Savage Spring by Mons Kallentoft
Family secrets, vicious killers on the loose… Fourth in the Malin Fors series.

My Husband’s Lies by Caroline England. I went as far as 30% before dropping it like a hot potato. I expected an intimate first person view on some sinister secret, but instead I got a messy story of a bunch of irritating people I could not connect with. I must say, the husband’s lies were the least of our concerns in this one.

The Suicide Forest by Jeremy Bates. I was intrigued by the premise: Aokigahara, a forest just outside Tokyo, where every year a lot of people commit suicide. Expecting a gruesome horror, I was disappointed to find some boring group of people arguing about stupid shit, and being annoying tossers right from the beginning. There were just so many of them, and I was like “Who dat… and why should I care?” But it’s set in a real place, and it’s scary! Yeah… don’t think so.

So, The Ninth Rain by Jen Williams is still on the table. I’ve been going at it for a solid month now, without much success, but I refuse to drop it, because Vintage… she’s awesome.

Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson is not something I’d normally read, but I needed a break after the abundance of thrillers I consumed recently. I only just started it, so we’ll see how it goes. Love the song with the same title, so that’s promising…

 

None of the books I’d read this month would fit into the Popsugar Reading Challenge prompts (I think…?), but I made a list of books written by local (London) authors for future reference.

Reading Challenge Prompt #20: A book written by a local author

I also participated in #ApTHRILL, but it didn’t go as I planned. I’m not usually good at setting a TBR, but I managed to go through most of the books I thought I will be reading for this one. Two of them were downright terrible! Like, so bad, I would probably set fire to them if they weren’t digital copies. Ugh. I did read some thrillers I originally hadn’t thought I will, so I guess I’m still winning?!

I still haven’t gotten over my obsession with dystopia, and in April I made a list of some adult dystopian books, and got quite a few nice suggestions from you guys as well. Thank you! Also, I’m doomed…

I also made a list of things I do when I’m in a reading slump, or trying to avoid getting into one. I think we all agreed that watching TV series is one of the winning option! On that note, all you crime-mystery fans: watch Marcella on Netflix if you haven’t yet. It’s awesome!

7 Tips For Getting Over That Reading Slump
20 Books To Satisfy Your Cravings for Dystopia

Kathy @ Books & Munches has come up with yet another brilliant monthly theme. Moody May was literally invented for me. Moody is my middle name! Well, not really, but it really should be.

The Outsider by Stephen King is coming out on the 22nd May! I repeat: a new Stephen King book is coming! I’m clearing my calendar for that week, and my clients can forget about me.

My birthday at the end of May! Cheesecake, ice cream, all the jazz! I don’t normally throw a party with friends, instead, for the last couple of years I’ve taken up the habit of going on a lil’ trip to celebrate. Last year I went to Lisbon with my bestie, and the year before that I visited Cornwall. Took me eight bloody hours to get there, but fuck it. I got the most amazing tan, and everyone in the office thought I was on some exotic beach.

Trip to Brussels! That’s my birthday trip this year, and I’m super excited about all them waffles and beer. I don’t particularly like chocolate, but when I went to Belgium a few years ago, I found (in the grocery store, of all places) a nice one with lavender. I love weird shit!

Continue improving on my Greek skills… Although, ever since I learned that cheesecake in Greek is also cheesecake (just with cute accent), I pretty much feel like I don’t need to know anything else…

I look forward to seeing what you guys are up to!