April Reading Wrap Up
Yes, I’m aware the month of June is right around the corner, but I realized I forgot to share my April reading wrap up, so I’m squeezing it in before I post May’s. April was a super slow reading month for me — slower than usual. I’ve got a lot going on at the moment, and reading is a passion not a contest, so I’m not mad about it. Altogether, I finished 2 books — 1 physical book and 1 audiobook. Let’s recap!
Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala
Book thoughts — Arsenic and Adobo was, at best, a mediocre reading experience. The cover? Excellent. The opening scene? Intriguing. The plot execution? Questionable and completely void of any believability. I get books like this require some degree of imagination (and I tried to imagine!), but the main character, Lila, was literally meddling in a murder investigation for which she was the main suspect! She was nonchalant about the whole ordeal too. If that were me, I’d have been freaking OUT. Equally bizarre was the fact that people in the town kept dying and no one seemed to care. In fact, they showed no alarm and continued to hang out with each other as if it’s perfectly normal for the people closest to you to drop dead. Like hello, serial killers are real!
My rating — 2 stars. It’s not the worst thing I’ve read, but I definitely won’t be reading any other books in this cozy mystery series.
The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman
Book thoughts — Looking for your new favorite cozy mystery, look no further than the Thursday Murder Club series. The synopsis says it best: “It is an ordinary Thursday, and things should finally be returning to normal. Except trouble is never far away where the Thursday Murder Club is concerned.” I’m sad to have finished The Bullet That Missed, because 1) I loved it and 2) it means there’s no more Thursday Murder Club until the fourth book releases later this year. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim, and Ron continue to be some of my all-time favorite book characters; I can’t get enough of these clever, witty septuagenarian sleuths! This time around, in The Bullet That Missed, the old crew decides to investigate a decade-old cold case surrounding the unsolved (suspected) murder of a young journalist whose car was found driven off a cliff. Because no body was ever recovered, no charges were ever filed. Of course, the Thursday Murder Club cracks the case back open, starts digging into the details, poking around and meddling as they do best, and soon enough, they start piecing together a what-really-happened scenario. On top of the general plot mystery, as is usually the case for this series, there’s a lot more going on on the side too — this time featuring a kidnapping and blackmailing sub-plot involving Elizabeth and Joyce. Cover to cover, I thoroughly enjoyed The Bullet That Missed!
My rating — 5 stars. The whole series is a joy, such a welcomed change of pace from your everyday thriller. If you plan to read, which I wholeheartedly recommend you do, make sure to read the books in order (The Thursday Murder Club and The Man Who Died Twice being books one and two). Characters and storylines carryover, which will leave you in a web of confusion if you don’t.
That’s a wrap on what I read in April. My favorite book was The Bullet That Missed, my least favorite was Arsenic and Adobo. As always, much respect to the authors of each book. Whether I loved, liked, or disliked a book, it’s important to acknowledge that writing and publishing a book is an incredible feat in and of itself.
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Enjoy!
JB