April Reading Wrap Up 2011

26 books this month for the fourth time in a row in 2011.

1. Underground: A Novel- Antanas Sileika (April 2 2011)
2. Double Shadow- Carl Phillips (April 3 2011)
3. Better Living Through Plastic Explosives- Zsuzsi Gartner (April 4 2011)
4. The Summoning- Kelley Armstrong (April 4 2011) 
5. Stay- Deb Caletti (April 5 2011)
6. The Awakening- Kelley Armstrong (April 6 2011)  
7. Wake- Lisa McMann (April 7 2011) Audiobook
8. The Reckoning- Kelley Armstrong (April 7 2011)
9. The Lipstick Laws- Amy Holder (April 8 2011) 
10. The Pun Also Rises- John Pollack (April 9 2011) + Author Guest Post
11. Fade- Lisa McMann (April 10 2011) Audiobook
12. Small Mechanics- Lorna Crozier (April 11 2011)  
13. Separate Kingdoms- Valerie Laken (April 11 2011)
14. Small Memories- José Saramago (April 13 2011) 
15. Bees: Nature's Little Wonders- Candace Savage (April 16 2011)
16. Wrecker- Summer Wood (April 18 2011) + Author Interview
17. Folk- Jacob McArthur Mooney (April 19 2011)
18. The Sky is Everywhere- Jandy Nelson (April 22 2011) 
19. Bird in a Box- Andrea Davis Pinkney (April 22 2011)  
20. Two Kisses for Maddy- Matthew Logelin (April 24 2011)
21. Anatomy of a Disappearance- Hisham Matar (April 25 2011) 
22. Promise Not To Tell- Jennifer McMahon (April 25 2011)
23. Russian Winter- Daphne Kalotay (April 28 2011)  
24. Origami Dove- Susan Musgrave (April 28 2011) 
25. The Peach Keeper- Sarah Addison Allen (April 29 2011) 
26. Far To Go- Alison Pick (April 30 2011) 

Some April Stats:

• Adult Fiction: 7/26
• Memoirs: 2/26
• Non-Fiction: 2/26
• Young Adult: 9/26
• Short Story Collections: 2/26
• Poetry: 4/26
• Audio Books: 2/26
• Favourite Adult Book of the Month: Wrecker by Summer Wood
• Favourite Poetry of the Month: Small Mechanics by Lorna Crozier
• Favourite YA of the Month: The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
• Nearly Favourite Books of the Month: Darkest Powers Trilogy by Kelley Armstrong, Separate Kingdoms by Valerie Laken, Bees by Candace Savage, Promise Not To Tell by Jennifer McMahon, Origami Dove by Susan Musgrave, The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

It was a good though unusual month reading wise. I read mainly YA at the beginning after getting hooked into two series (Darkest Powers by Armstrong and Dream Catcher by McMann) and I also made sure to pick up some more poetry in honour of National Poetry Month. I read two short story collections, including the first one I really enjoyed so far this year (Separate Kingdoms), but fewer normal novels than any other month. Most of those were outside my normal genres, but a couple like Promise Not To Tell (mystery) and The Peach Keeper (magical realism/romance) really surprised me with how much I enjoyed them and I will definitely be picking up other books by the authors. I also picked up two non-fiction and learned quite a bit, I especially enjoyed Bees, it being full-colour certainly didn't hurt, and I'll definitely be reading more by Savage in the future.

In terms of May, I have my largest review stack ever so I'll definitely be focusing on that although they are all books I am looking forward to. My only concern is that I'm also the furthest behind on reviews I've been in as long as I can remember, right now I have ten where I have finished the book but not written the review yet which is almost half the books I read this month... so I'll definitely have to put down the books and catch up on reviewing very soon, possibly today.

How did April treat you reading-wise? Any plans for May?