Hi Friends – I hope you’ve had a great month. How is your spring going? I’ve enjoyed seeing so many wildflowers this month and I think our backyard is overrun by rock roses, which I do love, but we may need to do a bit of work out there before it becomes unbearably hot. Although we did hit 90 degrees on Monday and that’s way too hot and way too soon already.

When it comes to reading, it was a great month. I can’t believe I finished so many books although some were quite short but still. I read one poetry collection, I Hope This Finds You Well by Kate Baer, in honor of National Poetry Month. I really enjoyed it and highly recommend checking it out. Her poems are very accessible and I enjoy them.

I also finished, Flores and Miss Paula by Melissa Rivero, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman, Boulder by Eva Balthasar, The Guest List by Lucy Foley and My Brilliant Friend by Chiara Lagani (this is the graphic novel version of the novel by Elena Ferrante). My favorite was Lessons in Chemistry but overall I really enjoyed my reads.

On the personal front, I am just really struggling with motivation and/or energy. Which is why I’ve just had such a hard time finding the words to blog or blog visit, exercise or do much of anything. I am still participating in my Wanderlust yearlong artsy class so that is at least one creative thing I look forward to doing at least once a week. I was supposed to go to a bookbinding class but it got rescheduled to June so that was a bit of a bummer but something to look forward to, right?

Other things I’m looking forward to is a visit from one of my dear friends later this week and hopefully some time off too. Let me know if you have some tips on how you boost your energy. I think I’m relying way too much on caffeine. Anyway, I wish you a wonderful month ahead and filled with lots of great reads!

One again I’m quite behind on posting my new releases round up but didn’t want to miss out on sharing about these new titles. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for these copies:

There’s Going to be Trouble by Jen Silverman. The intertwining stories of two women, Minnow and Keen take the reader through the turmoil of the late sixties student movements and into the chaos of the modern world. On sale 4/9/2024.

While We Were Burning by Sara Koffi. After her best friend’s mysterious death, Elizabeth Smith’s picture-perfect life in the Memphis suburbs has spiraled out of control—so much so that she hires a personal assistant to keep her on track. But her assistant also has questions? On sale 4/16/2024.

Butter by Asako Suzuki; translated by Polly Barton. Gourmet cook Manako Kajii is in a Tokyo Detention House convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen, whom she is said to have seduced with her delicious cooking. The case has captured the nation’s imagination, but Kajii refuses to speak with the press. That is until journalist Rika Machida writes a letter asking for her recipe for beef stew, and Kajii can’t resist writing back. On sale 4/16/2024.

Crooked Seeds by Karen Jennings. In her crumbling corner of a public housing complex, Deidre van Deventer receives a call from the South African police. Her family home, recently reclaimed by the government, has become the scene of a criminal investigation. On sale 4/16/2024.

Indian Burial Ground by Nick Medina. A man lunges in front of a car. An elderly woman silently drowns herself. A corpse sits up in its coffin and speaks. On this reservation, not all is what it seems, in this new spine-chilling mythological horror. On sale 4/16/2024.

Granite Harbor by Peter Nichols. In scenic Granite Harbor, life has continued on—quiet and serene—for decades. That is until a local teenager is found brutally murdered in the Settlement, the town’s historic archaeological site. On sale 4/30/2024.

Have you already heard about some of these or have already checked them out?