Hi everyone and welcome to April. No April Fool’s jokes in here, so don’t worry about that!

The only joke is my reading over the last month! I legitimately only read one new book, which was The Guest by B.A. Paris.

It’s a standalone thriller about a couple who come home from a vacation after their own drama to discover one of their best friends in the house. She has left her husband, who is also their good friend, after he announced that he had a secret child.

B.A. is one of my favorite authors, but I’m not rushing out to recommend this one. While it had me hooked, and my rating is a solid 7/10, it fell into that “unreliable narrator” trope, which really bothers me. Still worth a read, but she has written much better.

The reason for my lack of reading new books was because of various trips. I was in Columbus, Ohio, attending a couple of NHL games and a crazy MLS game. What a fun crowd that was. I was also in Chicago as my wife and daughter were attending a convention for the TV show Teen Wolf.

On top of that, I had multiple trips within Canada, and I was finding it hard to read without getting disrupted due to that. Plus, all this travel just means I have a lot of work to deal with when back, and believe me, Book Notification keeps me very, very busy!

I tried to get some short story collections going. On my Kindle, I have Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger on the go right now, and I’m also listening to The Collected Works of Philip K. Dick.

In situations like that, I go back and just read books that I have already read and that I can generally speed-read.

So it was random books like Rogue Lawyer by John Grisham, Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child, and Trust Your Eyes by Linwood Barclay.

Back in the day, Linwood was my favorite standalone author and was on my blindly buy list. It’s funny though, what can make you stop reading an author. It’s nothing negative about Linwood. He just briefly switched from standalone novels to the Promise Falls book series.

The problem was the Promise Falls book series is all tied together, and with yearly releases, I’d find I was forgetting what happened in the prior book. So I decided to stop them until they were all released, then read them all at once in a binge.

Unfortunately, I haven’t found the time to do that, and he has released multiple standalones since then. Reading that book reminded me just what an enjoyable writer he is, so hopefully, I will get back to reading him soon.

The big news this month at Book Notification was launching our book search, where you can now search for books as well as authors. I also was able to sit down with the co-founder of Book Notification in Columbus, where we mapped out the next few months. A lot of big features are coming, and I am very excited for it all.

If you aren’t signed up yet, head on over to BookNotification.com so you can track your reading lists, get notified of new books, and much more.

What I love about this newsletter is it always reinvigorates my passion for reading. Looking above at the pitiful reading list in March, I plan on a big reading month in April. I have no trips until mid-June, and I plan on taking full advantage and getting into a nice boring routine which involves reading, reading, and more reading.

That’s about it for me. Hope you all had a nice Easter.

Each month we give away 5 $25 Amazon gift certificates to random subscribers.

To win all you have to do is be a subscriber. Nothing more! When we go to hit “Publish” we take a list of all of our subscribers, throw them into a random draw and those are the winners.

Our winners this month are:

Janice from Mountain Pine, AR
Beryl from Melbourne, FL
Jon W. J from Tucson, AZ
Rita Lea F. from USA
Libby N. from Hermosa Beach, CA

All of you have been e-mailed. If you don’t see anything, check your junk folder or contact me.

Graeme
OrderOfBooks.com

Quotes of the Month

“Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between.”
– From I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

“I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world.”
– From The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

“It was always better to be lucky than good. Because no matter how good you were, there was always someone better.”
– From Rising Tiger by Brad Thor

Submit your own quotes; just hit reply. Book-related is great but happy to share non-book related too! Thanks to Tony and Sandra for this month’s submissions. Love seeing quotes from books!

Brenda also sent in this one titled “Book Group” and written by English poet Brian Bilston.

The last Thursday of every month was Book Group, when the books would gather together to discuss Graham.

“It’s no fun here any more,” remarked Bleak House, glumly.
“Why doesn’t he read us?” whined the Grapes of Wrath. “It makes me so angry!”
“I’m sure he only bought me so he can show me off to his friends,”
complained Ulysses, in a stream of self-consciousness.

“I bet he can’t even remember my name, The Idiot,”
muttered a voice from the Russian literature section.
“That’s because he avoids you like The Plague,” said another.
“C’est vrai!” came a cry. “It is like I do not exist.”

“Let’s not give up on him yet.” It was Brave New World.
After some Persuasion, they agreed to give him one last chance.
“Be quiet!” cried Waiting for Godot with Great Expectations.
“Here he comes now!”

Graham entered the room, with his phone.
He sat down and watched some videos of baby pandas falling over.
After an hour or so, he started googling cats dressed as celebrities.

On the shelf, the books waited with uncracked spines,
their silence speaking volumes.

Book Recommendations

In this section, I give 3-5 random book recommendations from readers of the newsletter. They can be old books, they can be new. Feel free to e-mail suggestions to me. Just hit reply. If you wish to add a description for the book around the same size as the ones below that’d be great too!

Red Queen by Juan Gomez-Jurado: This is the first book a series of three so far, titled the Antonia Scott series. Please note: only the first two books have been translated at this time.

Ed wrote in to recommend this one:

I came across the Red Queen by Juan Gomez-Jurado and was pleased with the book and its characters. I am always captivated by savants of any degree or specialty.

The Red Queen is an organization that works outside Interpole, and Spain’s Red Queen is crime savant Antonia Scott. She is partnered with Bilbao Police Inspector Jon Gutierres, who has some legal issues ahead of him. Together, they investigate several gruesome murders requiring all of Antonia Scott’s talents and Inspector Gutierres’s patience.

I enjoyed the book and the unusual characters and will read the second volume shortly. I mention all this because two nights ago, I discovered the first book had been made into a series on Prime Video. So far, it has followed the book very closely, and I’m enjoying seeing the characters brought to the screen.

Shutter by Ramona Emerson: This is Ramona’s debut novel, and the first book in the “Rita Todacheene” series. No follow-up has been released at this time. Keith wrote in to recommend it, writing:

A recurring theme in books / movies can be summarized as “I see dead people”. In this case, first-time author Ramona Emerson offers a few twists on the standard trope.

Rita Todacheene is a forensic photographer working for the Albuquerque police force. However, Rita is a young Navajo woman who has been seeing and having conversations with ghosts since she was a baby (well before she could talk to the living).

While growing up on the Reservation this was usually a benign experience – although it terrified the grandmother who raised her and deeply concerned the tribe’s medicine man. Now, Rita uses her ability to find evidence at crime scenes and help the police uncover the truth. The trouble is that after a while the ghosts realize that she can see and hear them, so Rita is hounded by dead people seeking justice or vengeance.

Sounds very interesting and one added to my TBR for sure.

Tales of the City Series by Armistead Maupin: Mike wrote in to recommend this great series. If you are an audiobook listener, the author also narrates them which I always enjoy. The majority of the series has been adapted as well.

The setting of the series is at 28 Barbary Lane in San Francisco, California. Here you will find such characters as a pot-growing landlady, a hippie bisexual, a lothario, a cagey roof tenant and a sweet gay man nicknamed “Mouse.”

April Book Of The Month

Toxic Prey by John Sandford: John Sandford began the Letty Davenport series last year to much critical acclaim. This month, he is releasing the 34th novel in his famous Prey series of books, called Toxic Prey.

This one is actually billed as a Lucas AND Letty Davenport novel.

The two are going to team up in this thriller and attempt to track down Dr. Lionel Scott, a scientist who is working on a project that could endanger the entire world.

10 More Notable Books Releasing in April

And don’t forget you can get updated on all the upcoming books by your favourite authors with your own personalized calendar at BookNotification.com.

April Charities

While I appreciate all offers of donations to show your appreciation for the site and newsletter, I’d much rather you do that by supporting some great causes.  Each month I pick a few select charities broken down by our most popular countries or topics that you can support instead..   Thanks!

I rotate this list each month.  Feel free to suggest a favourite charity – hit reply.

Pictures of the Month:


Submitted by Cathi


Submitted by Donna


Submitted by Christine.

Send in your own to site@orderofbooks.com or by replying! Images, jokes, etc. We’ll take it all! Bit of a backlog but working my way through it.

New Content Added to OrderOfBooks.com

Your Thoughts!

Last month I asked ‘what books did you read in school that you actually enjoyed reading?’. The replies are later in the newsletter.

This month, the question is:

“How do you read? Physical? ebook? Audio? And what services do you use to acquire books?”

I personally read on my Kindle. I made the switch many years ago and couldn’t be happier, especially when it comes to traveling and having thousands of books in my pocket at any time.

There are just so many positives to it, such as not needing a book light at night, the large print option, and the ease of holding it. I usually end up reading one paperback or hardcover per year, and I find it so difficult to hold compared to the Kindle.

I get all my books via Amazon. The convenience factor, plus the vast majority of the time, they have the same or best price compared to other sites. I purchase books, and I use Kindle Unlimited.

I also listen to books via my phone. I have an Audible account and a bunch of credits, but that is a last resort. I always go through Libby first, the library app. Unfortunately, it’s not connected to Kindle in Canada, so I can’t get ebooks via it. It’s connected to Kobo, and I must admit I’ve been debating buying a Kobo for that reason.

What I love about it is being able to connect to various different libraries and search for the books they have as well.

What about you? How do you read? Physical? Ebook? Audio? And what services do you use to acquire books?

E-mail us your feedback to site@OrderOfBooks.com  or just reply to this e-mail, and we’ll pick the best comments and feature it in next month’s newsletter.  Five people will also randomly win a $25 gift certificate to Amazon.

Reader Mailbag!

Click here to read.

Book Notification
Order of Books » Newsletter » OrderOfBooks April 2024 Newsletter

One Response to “OrderOfBooks April 2024 Newsletter”

  1. Polona Straus Filpi: 8 months ago

    Loving your page! I have loved reading novels since I was in High School! Never had too much time time then or when I got married! I was Blessed with a wonderful husband and six terrific children in 8 years! Now I am retired, and gratefully living with one of my sons, his terrific wife and their terrific children (2)! I can finally read all I want to. Thanks be to God!!! My Dearest Mom also loved to read, but unfortunately she developed Macular Degeneration, so I we able to get books on tape for her!. I am also able to get books on tape! Thanks be toGod! Keep up the great work and continue recommending books! Bless you All! Polly

    Reply

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