Top Ten Tuesday: My Ten(-ish) Most Recent Reads

                    "Top Ten Tuesday" is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl!

April was actually, for me, a pretty exceptional reading month. The entirety of Spring usually is, as the sunny days start pulling me out of a winter-long reading slump, but these past few weeks proved especially beneficial. In total, I started about ten books, DNFing two of them, and still being in the process of reading two more. Then, in the last 24 hours, I tacked on another title to the list. 

That's not half bad, for someone who managed to finish all of one book back in February! (My success is no doubt thanks to the reading hacks from my Lawful Good and Chaotic Neutral blogposts this past month, too.) 

So, here's a sentence or two each about what I managed to read in the month of April... plus one bonus installment from May that I managed to read in less than a day, because yes, it was, in fact, that great. 

cover to cover

1. Rogue Protocol (Murderbot #3), Martha Wells

Murderbot continues to track down answers to his questions by following the classic "explore the abandoned space station" adventurer's track.

2. Exit Strategy (Murderbot #4), Martha Wells

Murderbot, now with answers, continues to track down his friends and rescue the humans from certain danger... again. 

3. 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice Inside My Head..., Dan Harris (audiobook)

Network news anchor kicks a drug habit and chronic anxiety by getting into meditation; spends the rest of the memoir trying to make Buddhist practices more palatable for Americans. 

4. Kitchen Counter Cooking School, Kathleen Flinn 

Perfect Food Memoir is perfect: when a Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef decides to use her forces for good, to train a batch of novice chefs to make their kitchen a healthier, happier place. 

5. Wolf-Speaker (Immortals #2), Tamora Pierce 

Perfect YA Fantasy series is perfect: Daine begins to come into her own powers, while protecting the animals of a region from an environmental threat from the people who rule there. 

last month's sole completed romance read

6. Touch the Dark (Cassie Palmer#1), Karen Chance

The first in a now-twelve-plus installment Paranormal Romance franchise, a Chosen One is tasked with dealing with a bunch of absurdly horny vampires, an insurrection from Rasputin, and entirely too much info-dumping. 

(Read more of my thoughts on this novel and more, by checking out my most recent post here!) 

DNFs

7. My Fair Succubi (Succubi Diaries #3), Jill Myles (20.5%)

A Jessica-Rabbit-style newly-formed Succubus contends with the patriarchy, misogynistic angels, some missing halos, and a love triangle. (I wouldn't know what else happens, because I DNF'd.)

8. Everything is F*cked: A Book About Hope, Mark Manson (audiobook, 26%)

Unconventional self-help guru is unable to help much of anyone figure out the sociological implications of Hope, because he's clearly got a lot going on himself. (I wouldn't know what else happens, because I DNF'd). 

still in the process

9. Best Food Writing 2017, ed. Holly Hughes

A collection of articles, introductions, and other similarly snack-sized pieces into a portable reader of some of the best Food Writing from 2017. But you could probably tell that from the title. 

10. King of Scars (King of Scars #1), Leigh Bardugo

Continuing on in the successful - and now Netflix-worthy! - Grishaverse, Prince Nikolai has some monster-adjacent stuff to take care of, with Zoya and Nina coming along for the ride. 

extra eleventh installment because I accidentally read a novel in the last 24 hours oops

11. Cemetery Boys, Aiden Thomas

Everything you've heard about this much-hyped YA Urban Fantasy book is correct. I had so much fun reading about East LA brujx, a ghostly teenage prankster, and a plot to unmask a murderer, that I was able to complete this read in less time than it usually takes me to write a blogpost! 

What's in your Top Ten today? Let me know, in the comments below!