April 2023 Wrap Up

April was pretty busy. Tennis was in full swing (Get it? Get it?) so I had a lot of meets. It’s a lot of work being a star JV tennis player. Plus it’s nearing the end of the school year so I had a lot of tests and homework. I also went to prom with one of my friends this month. It was a lot of fun and we had a great time. Also I became a volunteer for The Young Writers Initiative as a part of their ARC team which has been really cool.

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Posted This Month:

• Books That Just Scream Spring
• How to Get Out of a Reading Slump
• Book Series I Need to Finish

Music

I didn’t listen to much music this month so most of the songs on this list are from the playlist my dad made that we listen to at the gym, but here are the top ten songs I listened to this month according to Receiptify:

• Hard to Handle – The Black Crowes
• Speak Now – Taylor Swift These next two are from my music. I love this song so much. I want it played at my wedding. It might raise some questions, but it would be worth it.
• Better Than Words – One Direction This song is such a vibe and the lyrics don’t matter so I listen to it while doing homework a lot.
• The Lumberjack – Jackyl And we’re back to my dad’s music. This one’s kind of fun. One of the singers plays the chainsaw which is vibey.
• Heavy Metal – Sammy Hagar
• Die From a Broken Heart – Maddie & Tae Hey, this one’s mine!
• Stranglehold – Ted Nugent Yeah, I couldn’t tell you anything about this song. I don’t pay that much attention when listening to my dad’s music tbh.
• Paradise by the Dashboard Light – Meat Loaf
• Whiskey in the Jar – Metallica
• Never Enough – L.A. Guns I don’t remember this one either, but surely it’s not as good as it’s name-twin by One Direction.

Books Read

Game is the sequel to I Hate Killers that I read last month. I didn’t like it as much as I Hate Killers, but I still enjoyed it. Jazz, son of notorious serial killer who is now on the run (the serial killer, not Jazz), teams up with the NYPD to find the Hat-Dog Killer. This book felt overly long, and the middle was pretty slow. Also I didn’t think the plot was as interesting as the last book. There was one line that was really ablest which I didn’t appreciate. I did like how this book followed Connie more though since she’s one of my favorite characters. There were some chapters in her perspective instead of Jazz’s which was interesting. Also the ending was really suspenseful and I couldn’t put it down towards the end.

Everything, Everything is about a girl named Madeline who can’t leave her house because she has Severe Combined Immunodeficiency. When a cute boy named Ollie moves in next door, Madeline starts IMing him. He makes her want to see the world outside of her house and she’s left with many impossible decisions to make. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Everything, Everything, and to be honest I was a bit disappointed. Madeline made a lot of rash decisions without thinking things through. Also the plot twist at the end seemed overly convenient. Never has a plot point seemed so much like a plot device lol. I really loved reading about her relationship with her nurse, Carla, and her and Ollie were cute together, although their relationship was quite insta-love-y. This book was really emotional, but I don’t think I cared enough about the characters to really be invested.

Caraval was the only physical book I read this month. (The others were audiobooks.) It’s about a magical carnival in which the spectators are a part of the show. This year’s show is a competition to find Scarlet’s sister, who has gone missing. I got this book for my birthday last month. I didn’t know much about it, but now I’m really glad I got it. I love Scarlet so much and the other main character, Julian. They were both so fun to read about and had really intriguing backstories. I think the storyline was super intriguing too. The world building was so, so good. This book was a bit slow, but the last hundred pages I couldn’t put it down. There was so much suspense and I didn’t guess the ending at all. I enjoyed reading it a lot and felt really immersed in the story. The ending was so good and now I can’t wait to read the sequel!

I read the first book in this series, Daughter of the Pirate King, last fall. I didn’t love it (I think I gave it two stars), but I thought the ending was intriguing enough to read the sequel at some point. Plus, I’ll kind of read anything with pirates in it lol. I won’t say much about the plot since most of it would spoil the first book, but it follows Alosa, whose father is the Pirate King. He is in charge of many of the pirates on the high seas and is both feared and respected. I liked the plot of this book more than its predecessor, but it still wasn’t my favorite. I find Alosa kind of annoying and I just didn’t care that much about what happened to her. I really like Riden though and I liked reading scenes where they were together. I think I enjoyed the first half of this book, but by the second half I was getting a bit bored and kind of quit caring. I’ve heard from some other people that they loved this series. It’s just not for me.

This is a memoir about a teenager named Maya who follows a popularity guidebook from the 1950s to climb the ladder of modern middle school popularity. I went into this book expecting it to be pretty average but I actually found Maya to be so inspirational. This book was really thought provoking and I found myself rooting for Maya the whole time. The fact that this book is not only a true story but also was written by Maya when she was fifteen absolutely blew my mind. I think this is a wonderful book that really highlights the challenges of growing up. It also raises a lot of questions about the legitimacy of popularity and I just thought it was really cool overall.

Looking Forward to May

I am so ready for May! My AP test is at the beginning of the month so after that I shouldn’t have much homework. Plus May is the last month of school and I can’t wait for summer. Tennis season ends in early May which I will miss. Hopefully the weather will be decent. April was a mess, man. It was a mix of hot and cold with no in between. In other words, spring in Iowa.

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Make sure to tell me how your month went and/or plans you have for May down below. I love to hear from you! As always, I hope this post finds you well and you’re having a great day!