Let’s Rewind: April 2021

This whole time, I thought this year was taking its time to sidle along. But now that April has passed, it suddenly seems as if time is speeding up. Smh. I think my perspective of reality is a bit off now that the season has officially flipped to spring. I blame my allergies.

Let’s Rewind is a monthly wrap up but instead of talking about only books, I include all types of other stuff, like articles… bookish news… commercials… random-ass links… movies… art… podcasts… cartoons… and whatever else happened to me in the month. You know, the usual stuff that people talk about in monthly wrap ups. So read on to see what I did and read this month. You might stumble upon something that interests you.

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Ahh… April. Not much happened except planning for things to come. One year cooped up in the house has made this homebody restless, so I’ve put plans in motion to visit NYC in the coming months. I can’t remember when last I’ve gone this long without a quick trip to that big, busy city.

I also managed to get my first corona vaccination shot and boy was I paranoid, lol! It actually wasn’t bad, went faster than I expected, and the sore arm wasn’t horrible or lasted long. BUT my dramatic self was convinced I could feel the damn thing coursing through my veins making my head hurt and my stomach rubble and putting me in a bad mood until I realized that I was just hungry, smh. I blame my allergies.

It was the Jinster’s (the cat) birthday as well. Since he’s not my cat, I didn’t know this. My brother (the owner) informed me and I dutifully gave the Jinster extra petting that day, but he didn’t care. I don’t think he even noticed. I could blame this on his catitude, but I’m gonna blame it on my allergies, my awful seasonal allergies.

Anyway, other than all that, I just linked up with friends a few times, attended a virtual conference (am SO ready to get out the house and go somewhere… just… not back to the office) and didn’t do anything else. It was a chill April.

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(Boy am I behind on reviews!) I keep thinking I read less than I actually did every month. For example, I was pretty convinced that I didn’t finish any books this month. I blame my allergies.

I buddy-read The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner with Millie at Milliebot Reads and we both enjoyed it. It’s Waggoner’s second novel set in the same world as her first, Unnatural Magic. I really liked the protagonist. It’s a fantasy novel featuring a female-female romance about a young woman who leads a hard life and gets the chance to do something different, albeit dangerous. …It’s so hard to summarize this in a few words.

Next, I completed Dragon Wing by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, which I buddy-read with Emily from Embuhleeliest. It’s a fantasy novel set in a world with floating lands so dragons or dragonships are needed to get around. The story follows Hugh the Hand, a notorious assassin who’s hired to murder a prince, and a dwarf named Limbeck, a dreamer who sparks a revolution among his people when he begins to question their beliefs. The story started out good but became a twinge inconsistent toward the end.

Maggie Finds Her Muse by Dee Ernst was next. It’s contemporary romance about a woman who’s a romance author working on the last book in a series but doesn’t have the motivation to continue with it. She goes off to Paris with her agent and finds inspiration there. The beginning of the story turned me off, so I was surprised that I liked the story by its end.

I wanted more romance after Ernst’s book, so I borrowed The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn, narr. by Rosalyn Landor, from the library. It’s the second novel in the Bridgerton series and it focuses on the eldest Bridgerton brother, Anthony, who believes he will die at a young age like his father did, and Kate, a young woman from less wealthy background who’s often overlooked because her little sister’s beauty is dazzling. I enjoyed the story because I liked Kate’s character. I didn’t like Anthony much.

After rewatching the Deadpool movies, I read Deadpool: World’s Greatest, Vol. 1: Millionaire With a Mouth by Gerry Duggan, illus. by Mike Hawthorne. In this volume, Deadpool is financing the Avengers and has created “Deadpool for Hire,” which is exactly as it sounds except that he got a couple guys to act as him so he can hire them out. The story was entertaining but wasn’t what I was looking for in my first Deadpool read.

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(I didn’t read any noteworthy articles this month.)

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AROUND THE BLOG-O-VERSE

Welcome to Wyrd and Wonder (onemore.org)

— Wyrd & Wonder, that amazing event held each year to celebrate all things fantasy all month long, has begun. Check out this post to see who’s participating and to get more info about it.

Discussion Post: Should We Be Supporting New Releases over Backlist/Older Titles? (eustaciatan.com)

— I can always find an interesting discussion post over on Eustea Reads. In this one, she talks about whether to prioritize new release books over backlist ones, and what reading diversely means for her.

How to Run a Book Blog… Seriously (Not Serious) (theorangutanlibrarian.wordpress.com)

— I always enjoy reading the Orangutan Librarian’s sarcastic posts. This is seriously a good one about book blogging.

2021 R/Fantasy Book Bingo Reading Challenge (waytoofantasy.com)

— Lisa shares this year’s r/fantasy book bingo reading card.

Bibliophile Tips: Websites to Buy New & Used Books (lifeofafemalebibliophile.com)

— Check out Rachel’s post on where to buy new and used books.

SOME STUFF I PUBBED

Wyrd & Wonder Is Coming | Here’s My TBR

— My fantasy-filled TBR for May

Top 5 Tuesday #52: Graphic Novels Not Often Mentioned

— A couple graphic novels I don’t often see mentioned on bookish social media

Weekend Reads #119: Why Do I Procrastinate on Books I WANT to Read

— I explore why I do this.

2021 Reading Wrap-Up: First Quarter

— My wrap-up post of this year’s first quarter

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Big Sky

— The new episodes are out and I’m really liking it so far. I don’t watch much TV other than this, Big Bang Theory, and the news.

Deadpool (1 & 2)

— I watched and enjoyed them and wanted more, which is why I read that Deadpool comic book I mentioned above. I want to try another comic book. (Really like Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool)

The Punisher

— I can’t believe I waited this damn long to watch it! Oh man! WHY did I do that??!! I’m hooked. I love the Punisher TV show. I love it even more that Daredevil, which is damn near blasphemous for me to say because I fucking LOVED Daredevil. But, man, the Punisher season 1 was so good!

Daredevil

— Since I’d only watched season 1, I went back to rewatch that and then move on to season 2. And, OH MAN! Punisher versus Daredevil was SO dope! Those were my favorite parts and, so far, the only things I liked because the developing romance confuses me because it’s so different from what was set up in the first season.

Friends With Benefits

— I liked this back when it came out in… 2011 and now I don’t.

Mortal Kombat

— I was disappointed by this. I didn’t have high expectations going in and largely avoided the previews. I like how it begins, which, to me, promised a show that would be good with interesting plot and characters with depth, but I got none of that. It was overall quite uninteresting except for the fight scenes between Scorpion and Sub-Zero. After the beginning (the prologue, I guess), the show gave me the impression that the Cole character would be the protagonist, but he didn’t stand out as such. I was disappointed.

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That was April for me.

What have you been up to lately?

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