April was the kind of month where I did a lot more reading books than finishing books. Does this ever happen to you? I know it’s totally normal to not finish every book in progress by the end of the month, but now that I’m writing monthly recaps, this drives me crazy! Anyway, I’m solidly in the middle of three books right now: The Perishing, Atomic Habits, and Cultish. Cultish was on my goal list for April, but as things turned out, it was a big fiction month for me. Sometimes, non-fiction just takes me longer to finish (even if it’s amazing, which Cultish totally is).

This month I tried again to dip my toes into some spookier books and… I don’t know, friends. I still want to love horror and be fun-scared, but I’m not sure yet if I’m sold on the genre. Otherwise, I’m really happy with my choices this month!

THE BOOKS I READ IN APRIL 2022

MYSTERY

The Book of Cold Cases / Simone St. James (my March Book of the Month pick)

Shea Collins is a receptionist by day and a true crime blogger by night. So when she runs into Beth, a former suspect in a famous 1970’s serial killer case, Shea can’t help but ask her for an interview. Beth is notoriously private and reclusive, but – much to Shea’s surprise – she accepts the invitation. Through her interviews with Beth, Shea is drawn into a decades-old web of family secrets as she unwinds the real story of the murders.

This was a huge comfort read for me! I’m a sucker for true crime and ladies who are obsessed with it. Throw in a dash of spookiness and dual timelines, and this is everything I loved about The Sundown Motel that made me want to read another Simone St. James book.

Rating: 4/5

Magpie Murders / Anthony Horowitz

Editor Susan Ryeland is excited to receive the manuscript for the final novel in her star author’s wildly successful English mystery series. But when she settles in to read it, she discovers the last few chapters (and the solution to the mystery) are missing. Things only get more complicated when, shortly after, it is discovered that the author committed suicide – or was he murdered?

I love a smart mystery, and this book has two of them! First, we have the novel-within-a-novel, Magpie Murders, an Agatha Christie-style English murder mystery. Second is the “real life” mystery of what happened to the book’s author and missing chapters. Unsurprisingly, when Susan starts to investigate things for herself, things do not go as elegantly or simply as they do in a cozy English whodunit. 

Rating: 5/5

HISTORICAL FICTION

The Song of Achilles / Madeleine Miller

In this reimagining of the Trojan War story, we hear the Iliad from the perspective of Patroclus, Achilles’ companion. Every time I read a well-done take on an ancient myth, it’s so cool to see timeless characters and storylines come to life in a new way. Even though I’m familiar with the plot (so I knew who was going to die and how it would happen), it still felt fresh. Miller makes Patroclus and Achilles into authentic and human characters – reading this adaptation is the first time I’ve cried over a Greek myth!

This book has been on my reading list for a while. A couple of summers ago, I bought Circe, and immediately procrastinated reading it when I realized it was the sequel to this book. Back when I was a homeschooling mom, our year was focused on Ancients for history and literature studies, so I’ve read a lot of myth retellings this year: Daughters of Sparta, Ariadne, and now, The Song of Achilles.

Rating: 4/5

SCI-FI

The Need / Helen Phillips

Molly is a paleo-botanist who’s been finding strange things at the dig site where she works: plants that don’t fit into our known fossil record, an Altoids tin with different dimensions than any she’s ever seen, a Coke bottle with letters slanted to the left rather than the right. One evening after work, she’s alone with her children and hears an intruder enter her home. Or does she? Maybe she just imagined it. When she gets brave enough to check it out, things get very, very weird.

What a fun coincidence that I ended up reading this after The Echo Wife last month! This book also explores themes of womanhood and motherhood, this time with a weird fiction twist. 

Rating: 4/5

HORROR

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke / Eric LaRocca

Whooo…this book is short, but it’s a doozy. It’s written as a collection of chat room transcripts and emails between two women who met on the internet in the early 2000s. Fairly quickly, these women begin to bond and share intimate details of their lives, and things do not go well! In fact, things go downhill – fast! – as the relationship spirals into control and manipulation. Oh, yeah, and body horror. Lots of body horror.

First of all, how great is the premise for this book? I was totally drawn in when I heard the story was told via early 2000’s internet artifacts. Who among us elder millennials did not overshare with an internet stranger back in the day? That said, I know myself, and that body horror isn’t usually my thing, so why did I come here?! There are also a few plot choices I didn’t love; I wish so much of such a short story hadn’t been spent on what’s essentially creepy pasta emails passed between the two women. Despite that, this book is super compelling and a page-turner (I finished it in half an hour). I can see why it has so many fans!

Rating: 3/5

Clown in a Cornfield / Adam Cesare

Moving to Kettle Springs is an adjustment for Quinn Maybrook and her father, but it’s exactly the kind of place they need following the death of Quinn’s mother. It’s a typically quiet, rural Midwestern town: full of cornfields, abandoned corn syrup factories, and creepy clown mascots for said abandoned corn syrup factories. Oh, and everyone hates teenagers. So it’s really only a little surprising when a homicidal clown decides to take revenge on them all to protect the town’s legacy.

This novel is basically a silly slasher movie in novel form, and it’s a fun, quick read if you’re feeling a little spooky. I didn’t realize until after reading this that it is a YA novel! Give it a shot if you’re like me and aren’t sure you want to get full-on with some of the heavier content in modern horror.

Rating: 3.5/5

WHAT’S NEXT ON MY TBR

The Perishing / Natasha Deon

This was my October Book of the Month pick, and I’m still working on finishing it for May!

Hell of a Book / Jason Mott

I’m so looking forward to reading this one! It got so much praise and has been on my list since last year.

The Hacienda / Isabel Cañas

My Book of the Month pick for May, which I’ve seen described as a little like Mexican Gothic, which I absolutely loved!