April was all about the love for my library. I discovered that in addition to having a subscription to OverDrive, my library also has a subscription to RB Digital (a service that has some book choices that overlap with OD, but also has more offerings, including magazines).

Books attached to the post are my favorites for the month.

Dewey Read-a-thon stats: 5 books, 279 pages read; one mini-challenge completed; 6 hours and 41 minutes reading time. 

Challenges:

BL/GR: 42/75 - I increased by goal by 23 books and I am already over the 50% mark!

Pop Sugar: 10 new prompts filled; 24/50 prompts filled total

Read:

1. It's in His Kiss (Lucky Harbor #10) by Jill Shalvis - 3 stars

2. Paper Girls (Book One) by Brian K. Vaughan et al - 4.5 stars

3. George by Alex Gino - 3.5 stars

4. Once Upon a Spine (A Bibliophile Mystery #11) by Kate Carlisle - 1 star

5. Witches of East End (The Beauchamp Family #1) by Melissa de la Cruz - 5 stars

6. Barefoot Season (Blackberry Island #1) by Susan Mallery - 5 stars

7. The Irish Americans: A History by Jay P. Dolan - 2.5 stars

8. Hospitality and Homicide (Tourist Trap Mystery #8) by Lynn Cahoon - 3 stars

9. Three Sisters (Blackberry Island #2) by Susan Mallery - 3 stars

10. Wonderment in Death (...In Death #41.5) by J.D. Robb - 3 stars

11. Evening Stars (Blackberry Island #3) by Susan Mallery - 5 stars

12. Island Girls by Nancy Thayer 3.5 stars

13. One Wish (Thunder Point #7) by Robyn Carr - 2.5 stars

14. Winter Eve (Shifters of Ashwood Falls #0.5) by Lia Davis - 3.5 stars

15. Catherine Finds Love (Ruby Springs Brides #1) by Karla Gracey - 3 stars

16. Desperate (Lipstick and Lead #1) by Sylvia McDaniel - 2.5 stars

17. Doc's Town (Prossers Bay #0.5) by Cheryl Phipps - 1 star

18. Three Fates by Kate Quinn - 4 stars

DNF'd:

1. I Contain Multitudes by Ed Young - I couldn't make it through the first chapter. Sorry Flat Book Society. 

2. Death on Tap (Sloan Krause Mystery #1) by Ellie Alexander - Boring, badly drawn characters and lots of details about things that don't matter. Suffers greatly from first book-itis. Still no dead body at the 20% mark so I cut my loses there.

3. Driftwood Cottage (Chesapeake Shores #5) by Sherryl Woods - Stupid morons, their poor kid who is already one year old and looking for an escape away from his parents, and his meddling family left me cold at the 15% mark. Couldn't care about any of these characters to read their stories, so I am DNF'ing the whole series. 

It was hard to put this book down, even to just fold laundry. However, it should be noted that de la Cruz has a particular writing style - very short chapters, heavy on plot, rotating third person POVs (in this case Freya, Ingrid, and Joanne), and for an adult book, very little sex on the page. I was familiar with de la Cruz's writing after reading three books in her YA vampire series (with one of those vampires making a guest appearance in this book), and it suited to the story she was telling in this book.

And what a book it was - a mix of lessons from early American history (the Salem witch trials in particular), Norse mythology (yeah, with names like Freya and Ingrid kind of give it away), and straight up paranormal. Joanne, Freya, and Ingrid are witches and mother-daughters that were exiled by The Council and banned from using their gifts. After a few centuries, each woman was tired of keeping herself on the down low and starting using her gifts for the good of others - honest intentions to help people. As they continue to use their powers, equally crazy shit happens and it is up to the women to find the source and stop it. 

I just loved this book. The women were intelligent, thoughtful, and worked together while still being themselves and the romantic elements were there, but not the focus of the book. It was a joyride with heart. I am definitely going to continue reading this series. Forewarned: you have to read the series in order because the end of one book sets up the next book. So although the problem the women faced ended at the end of this book, the epilogue dropped a big plot line for book two.

This weekend I downloaded three contemporary romances from OverDrive. Two I read in about 24 hours each; the third I DNF at the 9% mark. I think I got my reading mojo back. Today I went to volunteer at the library (something I haven't done all March because of adult taskings); after, I decided to browse the fiction side for a change. 

I came home with 12 books (8 adult fiction titles, 1 middle grade that will fill a PS prompt, 1 graphic novel) plus I still have four books coming to me via ILL. In my defense, I was left unsupervised in a library.

Here's what I brought home:

1. George by Alex Gino (the MG for PS prompt)

2. Paper Girls (Book One) by Brian K. Vaughn et al (collects the first 10 issues)

3. Death on Tap (Sloan Krause Mystery #1) by Ellie Alexander

4. Once Upon a Spine (A Bibliophile Mystery) by Kate Carlisle

5. A Perfect Proposal by Katie Ffjorde

6. Witches of East End by Melissa de la Cruz

7. Dark Harbor (Stone Barrington Novel) by Stuart Woods

8. The Miner's Lady (Land of Shining Water #3) by Tracie Peterson

9. One Wish (A Thunder Point Novel) by Robyn Carr

10. Island Girls by Nancy Thayer

11. Family Tree by Susan Wiggs

12. Night Road by Kristin Hannah

I started off watching the show when it became available on Netflix, and it wasn't bad, but it definitely wasn't great either. I picked up the book, thinking it couldn't be any worse than the show and was rather surprised.

First, the whole genre itself was changed to adapt it for television. The book is pretty solidly a mystery with a dash of romance and fantasy elements, while the show focuses more on romance than anything else. Second, the main characters' powers are far more pronounced than they are in the show. This makes them far more interesting than in the show.

One thing that really surprised me was how badly dumbed down the book was during the adaptation process. There is so much to the plot based in history and mythology that is largely glossed over. Considering that other shows have focused on Norse mythology and been relatively successful, it wouldn't really be much of a stretch to say that the Norse mythology elements could easily have stayed in and been successful. It's almost like the networks assume anything geared toward women has to be vapid and shallow because our little minds can't handle anything smart.

In short, I recommend skipping the show and picking up this book instead. You'll enjoy yourself far more than binging the series.

This review can also be found at MissKatiEllen.

Everything is perfect in the magical, off-the-map New York town of North Hampton. And the equally magical women of Beauchamp family intend to keep it that way. Or is something darker waiting for the witches of east?

If I’m going to be honest this book is pretty dull, not a awful lot happens. It very much feels like a middle book, unfortunately paving the way for things to come in the final installment. I was hoping this book would have move drive to it compared to the first book Witches of East End,which again felt like it leading to bigger things to come. But I keep asking myself, when the heck are these things coming?! 

After the events of the last book Freya is living happily with Killian, until her twin brother escapes from his banishment claiming it was Killian who destroyed the Bridge not him. With this seed of doubt planted Freya finds herself questioning the man she loves, but there is no sense of real urgency. Her and Freddie are keeping his return a secret whilst she discovers the truth to his downfall, but it almost feels like his return is hindrance not a god send.

Ingrid is finally embracing a love life, but it almost seems like the smallest thing and she doubts everything by the, which if I’m honest will get annoying. Matt is willing to go as fast or as slow as she wants and is happy to share his life with her when she’s ready. You just want to shake Ingrid and get her to embrace this moment and charge at it head on.

Joanna too has things going on with her love life, and whilst dealing with the two gentlemen in question she is also trying to contact a witch hanged during their time in Salem who is making her presence noticed.

There is so much in this book that would make for a kiss-arse book, one that proved reading the first would be worth it, but unfortunately it falls short. It is desperately in need of a kick up the bum and some much needed oomph.