Let me tell y’all, April was one of my busiest months and normally that means my reading suffers, but this past month was a FAB reading month for me! I read my first serious contender for my favorite book of 2022 AND I read what I’m pretty sure will be my favorite book of the summer. I cannot wait to share these 7 books with y’all!
Groundskeeping by Lee Cole
I always like to check out the Read with Jenna bookclub selections and when I saw the cover of March’s pick, I wasn’t that impressed. But then I read the synopsis and I was sold. It’s about a guy who moves back to his small hometown in Kentucky right before the 2016 election. He lives with his Trump supporting grandfather and uncle and works as a groundskeeper at the local community college. He meets a visiting writer who is teaching for the summer and falls in love. The writer is from Boston and comes from a family of immigrants. This was such a fascinating story that I related to on so many different levels. I found some of it to be a little slow and at times the writing was a little too literary fiction for me, but overall I really enjoyed it.
Rating: 4 stars
Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach (Release Date: 5/17/22)
My first serious contender for my favorite book of 2022. I went in thinking this was one thing and then halfway through I realized it was something else and I loved it even more. It’s about a girl and her sister in the 90s. The sister is about to start high school and has a crush on a boy who is a lifeguard at the community pool. The two start dating, and then the sister dies during her junior year of high school. The story is narrated by her little sister and we get to see her life before, during, and after her sister’s death. I absolutely loved this book. It was phenomenal. Highly, highly recommend!
Rating: 5 stars
Thanks for my early copy, Henry Holt!
Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman
I had been seeing Funny You Should Ask alllll over bookstagram. Everyone was raving about this rom com, and while the cover isn’t my fav, I decided to pick it up and see what all the fuss was about. Turns out, the hype on this one is very much deserved! I loved this story! It’s about a journalist who interviews an actor one weekend. Something happens and they don’t speak for 10 years. Because the interview was so popular, they recreate it 10 years later and we get to see what happens in present day as well as what happened that one weekend years ago. I loved this one so so much!
Rating: 5 stars
Every Summer After by Carley Fortune (Release date: 5/10/22)
This book. Ugh. This book. Y’all, my hopes for Every Summer After were sky high. It sounded like the perfect summer romance and I was so excited to read it. I cannot adequately express how much I loved this story. It exceeded my expectations tremendously. I wanted to reread it as soon as I finished it. I loved it so much that I picked it as our May selection for LaLa Life Book Club. Even though summer hasn’t technically started, I can’t imagine loving another book this summer more than I loved this one. If you read one book this season, it needs to be this one. I lovvvvvvvvved it!
Rating: 10 stars!
Thanks for my early copy, Berkley!
The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka
The Roughest Draft has been on my TBR since it came out in January. It sounded like Beach Read by Emily Henry, which I LOVED. I really liked this one, but I didn’t looooove it. It was like Beach Read if Beach Read was written by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Does that make sense? It wasn’t as swoony as I wanted but at the same time, I really enjoyed it and I still think about the characters and plot even though it’s been 2 weeks since I read it.
Rating: 4 stars
In a New York Minute by Kate Spencer
Our April romance selection for LaLa Life Book Club was In a New York Minute. This has been getting really good reviews so I was excited for it. Sadly I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I found it to be a little boring and the main characters were sorta dull. It also lacked in the swoon department. It wasn’t a horrible book though. I just wanted more.
Rating: 3 stars
Thanks for my copy, Forever Publishing!
The Night She Went Missing by Kristen Bird
I finished the month with our mystery/thriller selection for LaLa Life Book Club. The Night She Went Missing was such a good read. It’s perfect for fans of Big Little Lies. If you’ve read The Hunting Wives, you’ll like this one! It’s about a group of mothers in a small exclusive community in Texas.
Rating: 4 stars
That’s what I read in April. Have you read any of these?
Check out my past month’s book reviews here:
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