Saturday, April 01, 2023

The Bookish Books Reading Challenge: April Book Ideas and Link Up for Reviews


Although I had every intention of reading more than one bookish book in March, it just did not happen. I very much enjoyed the one I did get to, though:


Murder Off the Books is the third installment in Tamara Berry's By the Book cozy mystery series. I'm loving the series because it's just so much fun. Easy, entertaining reads are exactly what I need sometimes.

April is already shaping up to be a good month for bookish books because I'm already reading these two:


Smile Beach Murder is the first installment in Alicia Bessette's cozy mystery series set in North Carolina's Outer Banks area. It stars Callie Padget, a city reporter who's just been laid off. With nowhere else to go, she returns to her hometown temporarily to regroup. Soon after she gets hired at a local bookstore, she runs into an old friend, who soon ends up dead. The police think she jumped from the lighthouse because she wanted to kill herself; Callie refuses to believe it. Someone killed Eva Meeks, just like someone killed Callie's mother—in the exact same place—26 years ago. It's up to Callie to figure out what really happened to the dead women. 


Emily Henry's name is all over the book blogosphere. Everyone seems to adore her books, so I knew I had to give them a go. I was excited when I saw that Book Lovers was available on audio from my library. I'm only a few chapters in, but so far it's super fun. I've already laughed out loud several times, which bodes very well.

I just found out about this book, which is a potential bookish read for April:


Dear Reader: The Comfor and Joy of Books is a memoir of the reading life of Cathy Rentzenbrink, a bookseller who became a professional writer. 

I might also get a jump on this one since it's my book club's May pick:


Everyone's probably already read The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson, so I won't give you a plot summary. I adore this book, but it's been a minute since I read it so I'm going to re-read it so it's fresh in my mind for book club and so I can finally pick up the sequel:


As the title indicates, The Book Woman's Daughter is the story of the daughter of the beloved Troublesome Creek book woman. When Honey Lovett's parents are imprisoned, she has to fight to keep her own freedom. She starts running her mother's packhorse library route, delivering books to eager patrons in the remote hollers of Appalachia. Just as it did for her mother, the job changes Honey's life forever.

We'll see how many of these I actually get read, but this is a good tentative plan for April. We'll see how it goes. How about you? What bookish books did you read in March? Which are you planning on for April?

For those of you who are participating in the Bookish Books Reading Challenge, here's the Mr. Linky to use for linking up March reviews. If you've not yet signed up for the challenge, what are you waiting for? Join us in this low-key challenge that celebrates a genre we all love: books about books. It will be fun, I promise! 


11 comments:

  1. I'm doing around 6 challenges, and a couple of personal ones, but your Bookish Books challenge has become my favourite of all of them. I love it. I read two for it in March, A Killer Read by Erika Chase and Camino Island by John Grisham, both were excellent. Not sure about April, possibly Death of an Author by E.C.R. Lorac. I'm going to go and Look up Smile Beach Murder.

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    1. Awww, I'm so glad to hear this! I'm having fun with it, too. I haven't read A KILLER READ or CAMINO ISLAND. I'll ahve to look them up.

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  2. I liked the Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, but haven't read the sequel. And Book Lovers is super fun, as are all Emily Henry's books. Enjoy!

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    1. I've been tempted to read the sequel without re-reading the first book, but my book club is reading it soon and a refresher will be good. Plus, I loved the book the first time I read it.

      I'm really liking BOOK LOVERS so far. I will definitely be reading more by Henry.

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  3. Book Lovers is a fun one! And I still need to read The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. I have it sitting on my shelf waiting for me, but other books keep getting in the way. ;D

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    1. I can't believe you haven't read it yet! It's a great read. One of my favorites. I can't wait to hear what you think of it.

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  4. I'll have to come back to this for my April link up but I think I'll probably read the first in the By the Book Mystery series. It sounds like a lot of fun! I read Book Lovers last year and it was excellent! I'll check out the other recommendations.

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  5. I need to get more bookish books for the challenge. Thanks for this list.

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  6. I have read a few bookish books recently and need to catch up on the links, sigh.

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  7. Book Lovers is one of my favorites! Hope you'll enjoy all of these!

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  8. I am finally catching up on links :)

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