April 2023 reading list – Which books are worth the read and which should you skip?
One of my 2023 goals is to read 50 books this year. Yes, it’s the same as last year and, yes, that’s okay. You can review a list of all the books I rate 5 stars in 2022.
1. Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo
Category: Fantasy
This is the second book in the Alex Stern series. I read the first book in December and added the second one to my to-read list. I like the first one, but this one fell a little short for me. I might try some of her other books.
Find a gateway to the underworld. Steal a soul out of hell. A simple plan, except people who make this particular journey rarely come back. But Alex is determined to break Darlington out of purgatory―even if it costs her a future at Lethe and at Yale.
2. One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle
Category: Romance
I had a hard time with this audiobook because it was read by Lauren Graham and I am working through the Gilmore Girls this spring. I couldn’t accept her as the lead in this book because I kept picturing Lorelai being her whiny self in the role. It was a struggle to get through.
When Katy’s mother dies, she is left reeling. Carol wasn’t just Katy’s mom, but her best friend and first phone call. She had all the answers and now, when Katy needs her the most, she is gone. To make matters worse, their planned mother-daughter trip of a lifetime looms: to Positano, the magical town where Carol spent the summer right before she met Katy’s father.
3. You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero
Category: Nonfiction
I found the book a little annoying, but the chapter when discusses her trip to India is really good. I often forget to live in the moment.
I do to much and I burn myself out. During my day I have too much on my schedule. When unexpected things come up I’m often short and take these things as negative impacts on my progress. I react bad because I’m trying to make the most out of my day. Instead of living in the moment and dealing with what’s happening right here, right now. That resonated.
You Are a Badass will help you: Identify and change the self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviors that stop you from getting what you want, blast past your fears so you can take big exciting risks, figure out how to make some damn money already, learn to love yourself and others, set big goals and reach them – it will basically show you how to create a life you totally love, and how to create it now.
4. One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus
Category: Mystery
This book was enough to keep me interested, but it was a little slow in some places. The narration comes from each of the four high school students accused of murdering another student, Simon, during detention. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder.
Wrap Up
What’s on your reading list this month? Let me know in the comments below!
XOXO,
Katie
If you’re on Goodreads, add me as a friend and join me as I reach my reading goal!
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