Which April Book means the most to me?

[@glossy1068]

Underground Barbie by Maša Kolanović is awesome! I've read it in Croatian a few years ago and it positively surprised me. I hope the translation will be as good.

[@fayesparallelstories]

Oh that’s amazing! I always find it difficult to judge how widely read book titles from other countries are. That’s so cool 🥹

[@ulbaboomsbooks]

Ha! I guess non-fiction writing on art and also New York in the 1980's are my favourite tropes. I was touched by two novels from the women's prize longlist: Nightbloom by Peace Adzo Medie and Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan. Both unfortunately didn't make it onto the shortlist. ...and thank you for the bookshop company compliment 😍

[@fayesparallelstories]

Easiest compliment I ever made 😊 Yeah… I do now completely understand why you love Olivia Laing. I think I was expecting more of a memoir and then took quite a while to adapt 🙃

[@fayesparallelstories]

I always feel once the shortlist is announced I am less likely to read the books that didn’t make it. A real shame… I will try to get to those two!

[@drawyourbook876]

I did not like how did you lose the time war. But love soldier sailor. I do not get why people would be annoyed that she did not say anything about how she feels. She did! And having been in that position and seen other people be in that position, no matter how you talk to their partner, they just don't seem to get what it is to become a mother and a primary parent!

[@zachreads]

I read 12 books 4375 pages. Ranking by meaning would be umpossible for me bc i couldn't prioritixe one type of meaning over another. My top 4 were -Godzilla x Kong by Greg Keyes (movie novelization, the books add to the films and give much needed deph, also feels spetial bc Godzilla turns 70 this year) -The Hidden Guardian by J.D.L Rosell (book 3 in a series that caught me totally off gaurd and made me cry) -Nightbitch (felt like peices from many lesser books finally being put together properly) -The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston (solid romance with a time travel aspect, but also deals with grief/letting go and choosing happiness over expectations) Bridge to Terabithis by Katherine Patterson was interesting bc i gave it 4.5☆ and hated every second of it. It heavily focuses on a boy trying to fit society's mold at the expence of himself, add philosophically it's postmodernist and there are few things I dislike more than postmodernism. I have read This is How you lose the Time War. I was prepared for the writing to be so purple it hurts, and for it to be the kind of book where there isn't much to hold on to and it's up to you to sink or swim on your own.

[@fayesparallelstories]

Did being prepared for the type of book This is How You Lose the Time War is help you enjoy the book more? 🙃 Because I am really unsure about my final (star) rating. I think you have a really good point about Nightbitch doing some things right, others didn’t quite achieve. I do think, I need a bit of break from the unhappy mothers theme though! And thank you for mentioning a romance book. I don’t read many but every now and then I do feel like one. Besides seeing the Seven Year Slip in the book shops I hadn’t heard much about it yet. Happy reading! :)

[@zachreads]

@@fayesparallelstories Yes being warned about the writing and ambiguity in TiHYLtTW helped, I think the audiobook with 2 narrators helped too. I'll mention more romances (sneak peek The Romance Recipe by Ruby Barrett will be my next one)

[@fayesparallelstories]

I think had I listened to Tihzlttw on audio I would have understood even less 😄 Oh well, now I know why all the reviews I had seen beforehand were so vague!

[@novelish_nyiestra7060]

Har Har - each month I am just waiting to see how you decide to rank your books this time. 😅 I listened to How to lose the time war about two years ago and was reaaaaally underwhelmed. I did not like the language either 🤷🏻‍♀

[@fayesparallelstories]

Please give me your suggestions on how else I could rank my books 🤓 you are the stats queen! And thank you for relieving my confusion on How To Win- I thought maybe I am just not sensitive enough for it… but oh wait… that’s very unlikely 😂

[@HeatherGashgarian]

In February I read Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and the day I finished it I started reading it again. I felt like she wrote the book for me, but that seems highly unlikely. I guess it was just the right book at the right time.

[@fayesparallelstories]

That sounds absolutely perfect! I have so far only read the author’s short story collection, which I liked so I should definitely check out Half of a Yellow Sun!