April 2026 reading wrap-up

You know those books that sound really promising, but when you starting reading them, they simply fall flat?

At one time or another, most of us readers have either struggled through a book, or wondered at what point to give it up. Should we read just another chapter? Will the pace pick up soon? Will something interesting or exciting happen in the next chapter?

The reason I’m thinking about this is because I struggled through a book this month. Now, I’m usually pretty good at DNFing (did not finish) a book, but for some reason, I refused to give up on this one. I kept hoping for some brilliance, but it just kept disappointing.

So my question for you this month is, how do you decide when to DNF a book? Tell me in the comments?

April reading wrap-up

Despite the absolute snooze-fest of a book I struggled through in early April, overall, I’d say it was a pretty good reading month.

I read 5 books, of which 3 were for the Book Bingo challenge. This month’s reading saw me walking down the streets of Savannah and across the gothic campus of the Warren University, exploring San Francisco’s Chinatown, and hanging out at a small Irish village.

This Wasn’t The Plan (Apparently it’s Love) by Laura Ashely Gallagher (A book released in the month of your birth)

Fun fact: I came across this book on Threads, courtesy this thread by the author. When I started reading the thread, I had no idea it was a teaser for her book. By the time I finished reading it, I knew I had to read the book — it sounded like it would be a laugh riot!

Needless to say, I wasn’t disappointed.

By day, Madison Callahan is a crisis manager. She can spin a narrative and bury a scandal without breaking a sweat.

By night, she’s arguing with a treadmill-thudding trauma doctor living in the apartment upstairs.

Beckett Lawson doesn’t do messy. He fixes what’s broken and keeps his emotions locked down tight. But the fiery redhead in apartment 3B is rapidly becoming the most complicated case of his life.

Between midnight stairwell showdowns, political firestorms, and a family history Madison is desperate to outrun, neither of them planned on this. They definitely didn’t plan on each other.

But they’re about to learn that the best things in life rarely stick to the plan.

The Searcher by Tana French

Cal Hooper thought a fixer-upper in a remote Irish village would be the perfect escape. After 25 years in the Chicago police force, and a bruising divorce, he just wants to build a new life in a pretty spot with a good pub where nothing much happens.

But then a local kid comes looking for his help. His brother has gone missing, and no one, least of all the police, seems to care. Cal wants nothing to do with any kind of investigation, but somehow he can’t make himself walk away.

Soon Cal will discover that even in the most idyllic small town, secrets lie hidden, people aren’t always what they seem, and trouble can come calling at his door.

Well, this was rather disappointing. Billed as a mystery/thriller, I was expecting more action, but it’s a very slow-moving tale with most of the action building up in the last 20% or so of the book.

Even if you set aside the expectations of action, or try and ignore the fact that you’re supposedly reading a mystery, the book plods through unending descriptions, there isn’t enough conflict, and I didn’t really care about any of the characters.

I can’t tell you why I didn’t DNF (did not finish) the book, but I wanted to, so many times!

Hard pass from me!

The Witch and the Wolf by Lindsey Kelk

Since arriving in Savannah, Emily Bell has faced prophecies, werewolves, family secrets and her own grandmother’s attempt to take her life. But, strangely, surrounded by her friends and new family, Savannah has never felt more like home.

Now, faced with the absence of her love, Wyn, as he wrestles with his new abilities as a werewolf, and burdened with the task of finding her fellow witches to avert the prophecy that surrounds her, Emily is attacked by a new threat. A lone wolf that will stop at nothing to destroy her.

Emily must act fast and find out the wolf’s identity before it kills her and all those she cares about. She will soon find out she can’t do everything alone, and that a burden shared is a burden halved…

I’d been waiting for the sequel to The Bell Witches, and it did not disappoint! If you want a bit of escapist fantasy, love witches and warewolves, and enjoy a bit of a gothic atmosphere, pick this up!

An Arcane Inheritance by Kamilah Cole (Gothic vibes)

Warren University has stood amongst the prestigious elite for centuries, built on the bones – and forbidden magic – of its most prized BIPOC students…hiding the rot of a secret society that will do anything to keep their own powers burning bright. No matter who they must sacrifice along the way.

Ellory Morgan is determined to prove that she belongs at Warren University, an Ivy League school whose history is deeply linked to occult rumours and dark secrets.

But as she settles into her first year, something about the ornate buildings and shadowy paths feels strangely…familiar. And, with every passing day, that sense of déjà vu grows increasingly sinister.

Despite all logic, despite all reason, despite all the rules of reality, Ellory knows one thing to be true: she has been here before. And if she can’t convince brooding legacy student Hudson Graves to help her remember a past that seems determined to slip through her fingers as if by some insidious magic…this time, she may lose herself for good.

OK, this one was really interesting! Very atmospheric, very gothic, very twisted — in a good way. For a book billed as a dark academia/fantasy, it tackled some heavy issues — classism, racism, the burdens faced by immigrants, and the entitlement of old white men — without going into preaching or taking away from the story in any way. If you’re at all interested in, or curious about, the genre, this is an excellent book!

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murders by Jesse Q. Sutanto (Mystery, but make it cozy)

60-year-old self-proclaimed tea expert Vera Wong enjoys nothing more than sipping a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy ‘detective’ work on the internet (AKA checking up on her son to see if he’s dating anybody yet).

But when Vera wakes up one morning to find a dead man in the middle of her tea shop, it’s going to take more than a strong Longjing to fix things. Knowing she’ll do a better job than the police possibly could – because nobody sniffs out a wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands – Vera decides it’s down to her to catch the killer.

I really don’t know why it took me so long to get to this book, but it was an absolute delight! Vera Wong has to be one of my favorite literary characters this year — she’s spunky, pushy, and nosy, but has a heart of gold.

And the quirky, oddball characters, most of them Vera’s murder suspects, are endearing in their own ways. Each of them is struggling with something — Sana is a blocked artist, Oliver is dealing with a traumatic childhood, Julia with a husband who has isolated her and eroded her sense of self. But Vera has a way of getting people to open up and tap into their potential.

The pacing is engaging, the cast of characters endearing, and the story heartwarming. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend this book!

Over to you: What was on your reading list this month?