April Adventure Log // Excellent Books & Lots of Animal Crossing
The Adventure Log is my monthly wrap-up post!
Another month has come and gone. Did April both speed by and last 84 years for anyone else? It was so weird because the first half of the month was over in the blink of an eye, but I feel like it’s been April 28th for 3 weeks.
The weather has been getting lovely here in San Diego, which makes being inside a bit more difficult. I’m sneaking away to the rooftop patio of my apartment building on occasion (mask on) to soak up some sun, which is nice.
Reading
Another slower reading month for me, but I am so excited that all of these books were incredible! I can’t remember the last time that I truly enjoyed everything that I’ve read. I’m so thankful and hope this trend continues.
Books Read
Pages Read
Average Rating
All April Reads
I just realized that all of the books I read in April were standalones! What a wonderful time to be alive, my friends. I had an incredible reading month full of only mood reading ARCs.
Click on the titles to go to the Goodreads page. ARCs and review copies from author or publisher are noted below by an asterisk *
* The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller
* I Killed Zoe Spanos by Kit Frick
📖 Review coming on June 9th!
I’ve been in the mood for mysteries, and my goodness does I Killed Zoe Spanos fill that need nicely! This is a captivating YA debut full of twists and turns that kept me guessing until the very end. I highly recommend that you preorder this one, friends!
* The Silence of Bones by June Hur
📖 Review coming on May 5th!
The Silence of Bones is a haunting and heartbreaking YA historical mystery debut.From the beginning, I was filled with a sense of foreboding that built as I became more and more invested in the story. I love Seoul so much and honestly, this book broke my heart into a billion pieces and the end chilled me to the core.
* The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu
The Kingdom of Back is clearly a passion project for Marie Lu. The author’s note brought me to actual tears when I learned just how much of the story is based on fact. This portal fantasy gives a voice to Maria Anna Mozart, the sister lost to history who was also a child prodigy in her own right. Powerful and ethereal, this book is infused with magic that seems to react to injustice of society.
ARC Mountain Update
I put myself on an ARC Ban on July 12, 2019. Back in July I wrote a post about the ban to hold me accountable, and I’m reporting on the mountain each month.
ARCs Read
ARCs Hauled
ARC Mountain (total)
As you can see, the ARC ban is going swimmingly. 😬 I’ll dive deeper into these new ARC additions in my April book haul post, coming sometime soon.
Personal Update
April was another difficult month for me, and I’m sure that I’m not alone in that. My heart goes out to everyone because these are difficult times! I sincerely hope that you and your loved ones are safe and healthy.
Over the Mountains
Of the Moon,
Down the Valley of Shadow,
Ride, boldly ride,
If you seek Eldorado #AnimalCrossing #ACNH #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/0bOA3BLoNG— kal @ eldorado 🍎 (@eldorado_ac) April 29, 2020
I always struggle to read when my anxiety and depression are especially riding high, so I’ve mostly been playing a lot of Animal Crossing and rewatching Community and Veronica Mars. I’ve gone next level and created a separate Twitter account for my AC Shenanigans, and if you want to visit my island give me a poke for my Dodo code!
Read Voraciously Book Club Pick for May!
Did you know that I run a Discord server dedicated to nerding out about all the things you’re passionate about? It’s a fun and lowkey place were we organize voice chats, games, and even group readalongs!
This month we will be reading Want by Cindy Pon, which is free to read via RivetedLit! We’ll be reading at our own pace with a channel dedicated to spoilery discussions, and at the end of the month we will have a book club voice chat to discuss the book.
We’d love to have you join us in the server~
April Posts
I recently ran a poll on Twitter and people overwhelmingly let me know that they love to see a list of the posts from the month in wrap ups.
In case you missed it, here are all of my April 2020 posts! Click on the image to be taken to the post. (Let me know if you hate this addition.)
How was April for you? What were your favorite reads of the month & what’s your favorite post that you want me to check out?
Drop in the comments so we can chat!
Let’s go on another /adventure together!
Evelyn
May 3, 2020 at 12:32 AMLooks like you had a good readnig momth!
(www.evelynreads.com)
Kal
May 17, 2020 at 12:56 PMDefinitely the best quality-wise in a long time!!!
bookishgiuls
May 3, 2020 at 9:01 AMI loved I Killed Zoe Spanos!! Can’t wait to read your review!!
Kal
May 17, 2020 at 12:58 PMIT WAS SUCH AN AMAZING BOOK! I have two copies preordered, the hardcover and the audiobook. My review will go up on June 9th.
Kal
June 2, 2020 at 5:43 PMI loved it too, I can’t WAIT for more people to be able to read it!
Dedra @ A Book Wanderer
May 3, 2020 at 9:55 AMThere’s not much better than being able to mood read and loving everything you pick up! Congrats on a great reading month. I hope May treats you just as well. <3
Kal
May 17, 2020 at 1:12 PMThank you so much, Dedra, I was definitely blessed by the Reading Gods last month! I hope you are having a lovely May
Kal
June 2, 2020 at 5:45 PMHonestly, mood reading is such a blessing and I need to do it more often! Thank you so much and I hope you had a good May all things considered.
Dianthaa @ Dianthaa Dabbles
May 3, 2020 at 10:28 AM| April both speed by and last 84 years for anyone else
exactly 84, yes
Really liked What My Favorite Characters Would Do in Quarantine // Original Book Tag
Kal
May 17, 2020 at 1:23 PMHAHAHA, yes. 84 years. Glad you enjoyed the tag!
Kal
June 2, 2020 at 5:54 PM2020 has been the longest decade of my life lmao
Glad you enjoyed the quarantine tag, Dianthaa!!
May @ Forever and Everly
May 3, 2020 at 8:20 PMi definitely agree that april went by super quickly in the beginning and then lasted for a long time in the last few days 😭 i’m so happy you loved the silence of bones!! i’m super excited about it and i’ve heard amazing things about it. i can’t wait for your review on it! and i’m glad that animal crossing has been getting you through some of your anxiety and depression!! i sadly do not have a switch but playing pocket camp has been comforting haha. i hope you have an amazing may!! 💗
Kal
May 17, 2020 at 1:26 PMApril was such a WEIRD month, and I’m oddly relieved that I’m not the only one experiencing time oddly. The Silence of Bones was so good, I hope you enjoy it when/if you pick it up! I am so happy for my Switch and Animal Crossing, though — pocket camp is fun, too! I thought I was going to stop once ACNH came out but lol, nope. I hope YOU are having a great May, May!
Kal
June 2, 2020 at 5:55 PM*Kal, one month in the future* April was merely just preparation for May, my goodness this year is the longest decade of my life. I REALLY hope you enjoy The Silence of Bones as much as I did, it was such an amazing read for me! Pocket Camp is also a blessing!!!
Tasya @ The Literary Huntress
May 3, 2020 at 10:01 PMI’m so happy you enjoyed Silence of Bones and Shadows Between Us! It seems like you had a great reading month as you really love all the books you read 🙂
Kal
May 17, 2020 at 1:28 PMMy reading last month was most definitely blessed! I hope you’re having a great May, Tasya!
Kal
June 2, 2020 at 5:57 PMApril was such a good reading for me, I was so blessed! I hope you had an okay May all things considered, please stay safe
Mere
May 4, 2020 at 9:44 AMI am excited to read Zoe Spanos!!!
Kal
May 17, 2020 at 4:48 PMIt’s so good!!!
caitlin @ caitlin althea
May 5, 2020 at 8:33 AMah, congrats on loving everything you read this month!! i can’t remember the last time that happened to me lmao. also, I relate so much to turning to TV shows in these trying times. I feel really bad that reading and blogging have started to feel a little bit like chores, but… it is what it is. at least i consider them fun chores. I hope you have an amazing May!
Kal
June 2, 2020 at 6:02 PMI know, I was so damn blessed?!?! Like I can’t think of another time that I loved everything I read when I wasn’t re-reading lol. I hope you are taking care of yourself and not putting too much pressure on yourself.
Lindsi
May 5, 2020 at 6:07 PMI plan on reading I Killed Zoe Spanos next week! Bonus: It’s going to be released on my birthday! I’m happy to see you enjoyed it, and I just added The Silence of Bones to my TBR. It’s awesome when you have a great reading month. I feel like it’s been ages since I read something truly exceptional. 🙂 Yay for some sunshine on the roof!
Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear?😷 💬
Kal
June 2, 2020 at 6:09 PMWhat a good birthday present for you!!! I hope you enjoy(ed) I Killed Zoe Spanos, Lindsi! I hope you have some truly exceptional reading soon
Jenna @ Falling Letters
May 7, 2020 at 9:17 PMWow, The Kingdom of Back sounds really interesting! I hadn’t heard of it before, and I haven’t read anything by Lu, but I might have to check this out.
Kal
June 2, 2020 at 6:25 PMKingdom of Back hasn’t gotten nearly enough hype or coverage and it is a damn shame! This was my first read of Lu’s and definitely won’t be my last. I hope you enjoy it if you do pick it up!
Destiny @ Howling Libraries
May 7, 2020 at 10:47 PMHow did I not know you made an AC twitter account?!?! That’s amazing. April flew by for me, so I feel you. And yay for having so many good reads! <3
Kal
June 2, 2020 at 6:37 PMI need to use my AC Twitter more frequently… and play more ACNH because it has been a minute.
Marie @ Drizzle & Hurricane Books
May 9, 2020 at 8:00 AMahh I’m so, so happy you had a good reading month, kal, that’s wonderful and yay for mood reading. I’ve been getting a little less hard on myself lately too and binging books I want to read and just shutting off that little voice telling me I have to read this or that. No time for that ahah 🙂
I hope that May will be kind to you, take care of yourself <3 <3
Kal
June 2, 2020 at 6:45 PMThank you so much for this lovely comment, Marie! I am SO HAPPY to hear you’ve been doing better with being so hard on yourself and getting the joy from mood reading. It’s hard enough in the world right now! I hope you had an okay May all things considered and are doing well into June
Haley
May 18, 2020 at 7:30 AMI literally cannot remember what all I read in April, though I did read The Shadows Between Us and loved it so much!! As you know, I’m now reading Caraval, and I’ll focus on it more after I finish Empire of Gold which is currently killing me lol, I think the fact that you read 4 books that you enjoyed, well, that’s a win, who cares what the numbers were?
Kal
June 2, 2020 at 7:48 PMIf I didn’t have a spreadsheet I would never remember what I read haha. The Shadows Between Us was SO GOOD! And I’m loving that you are reading Caraval now because GOOD.
Jayati
May 20, 2020 at 12:38 AMApril was a slow reading month for me as well, I think I read 3, maybe 4 books?
Lmao, this it even an arc ban at this point?
Hope you’re staying safe and healthy as well! Take care!
Kal
June 2, 2020 at 7:54 PM3 or 4 books is still good, and I hope you enjoyed what you read! and LOL JAYATI HOW DARE YOU COME FOR ME LIKE THIS!?!?! (but no this arc ban has failed)