April 2019: Recap + On My Shelves

April 2019: Recap + On My Shelves

• May 6, 2019

I started April by spending the day in Paris – how was the rest of the month ever going to top that experience? But while it wasn't strolling down the Champs-Élysées, I had some amazing adventures back home in Georgia, too.

1. Paris with Kelly – I may have included my trip in my March recap, but it had to have a spot in this post, too! I spent the first two days of April in Paris and London before heading home on the third, and it was an incredible way to start the month. I'd planned to go to Paris while studying abroad in college but was ditched by my friend instead... I'm glad now that my first experience with the city was with Kelly in celebration of my 30th birthday.

2. Petting Zoo in Our Neighborhood – Our neighborhood celebrated the start of spring with an Easter egg hunt, pony rides, and a petting zoo. I think you can imagine where our little animal lover ended up! The day was cold and rainy after weeks of great weather, but it worked in our favor because there wasn't a crowd. My son's favorite was the little black cow, but I was partial to the donkey. She got jealous when the other animals got more attention!

3. Botanical Gardens with My Boy – One lovely spring day, I decided I wanted to spend the morning outside. Since I didn't want to drive all the way to Atlanta, we went to a smaller branch of the Botanical Gardens and had such a blast! The small size was perfect for multiple laps to use up some toddler energy, plus there was a model train that my son loved watching. Add in a little arts and crafts time, and it was a perfect adventure.

4. Wild Animal Safari – One of Nick's friends told him about a drive-thru animal park in south Georgia that had been a huge hit with their family. With our son's birthday approaching, we decided to surprise him with a day at the safari as part of his gift. He was in heaven! We rented one of the park's vans, though you can drive your own car, and got to feed a huge assortment of animals out the windows. One favorite was this giraffe!

Read 26 Books | Favorites:

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

Don't You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane

Lovely War by Julie Berry

Circe by Madeline Miller

“Unbeknownst to me, I was a treasure trove of interesting things,
once someone turned up to be interested in them.”
Don't You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane

“Being 'in love' is a contented kind of bored with each other.
You're not going to find someone who sets you on fire and is also a good idea
and you know why? Because being on fire isn't a good idea. It's destructive.
When anyone describes love nowadays they usually mean lust.”
Don't You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane

“I love that every generation thinks they’ve invented it.
They think they’re the first ones to fall in love and get their hearts broken,
to feel loss and passion and pain. And in a way, they are. We’ve been there before, of course.
But for young people, that doesn’t matter. Everything is new.
Which I love, because it means everything is always beginning again.
It’s hopeful, I think. At least to me.”
Field Notes on Love by Jennifer E. Smith

 “If I’m going to have regrets in this life, I’d rather them be for the chances I took
and not the opportunities I let slip away.”
When We Left Cuba by Chanel Cleeton

 “It was the dimples. Empires have swiveled on less.”
Lovely War by Julie Berry

“There are stories that may be told aloud, and stories that must be told in whispers,
and there are stories that are never told at all.”
Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield

“I'll never know, and neither will you, of the life you don't choose.
We'll only know that whatever that sister life was, it was important and beautiful and not ours.
It was the ghost ship that didn't carry us. There's nothing to do but salute it from the shore.”
Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed


“But in a solitary life, there are rare moments when another soul dips near yours,
as stars once a year brush the earth. Such a constellation was he to me.”
Circe by Madeline Miller

April was a slower blogging month for me, but I'm not mad about it. Sometimes I just need to take a break from it all! But I've lots of ideas brewing, so let's hope that I can get some of those written in May. Though it wasn't my first post of the month, I've got to start with my March 2019 recap. I also shared Quick Lit review round-ups: February 2019 Part One and Part Two, and closed the month with March 2019.

My most popular photo of the month was my book cart filled with faves, though I didn't think the photo was that great. And my favorite photo of the month, of Persuasion by Jane Austen, was my least popular... so I clearly don't understand Instagram! I could write a whole post about it, honestly. Anyway, this was my second fave photo – mostly because I love my library and had fun sharing bookish facts about myself in the caption. • @soobsessedblog

  Favorite Album #1: Moonlight by Johnnyswim
I was obsessed with Maren's previous album and had it on repeat the entire summer it came out.
This one feels a more pop-y, but I don't mind it. The songs are so catchy! "Good Bones" is my fave.



Favorite Album #2: The Hurting Kind by John Paul White
I never cared about The Jonas Brothers when they were popular, but dang if I don't love this song.
I can't stop listening to it! And y'all, I'm even more in love with the music video for it.

The Perfect Date (2019) starring Noah Centineo and Laura Marano – Oh man, I was so excited for this Netflix release (teen rom com! Peter Noah!), and then it was just... blah. It wasn't notably bad, but it sure wasn't good either. And honestly, I think Lana Condor must have brought out Noah's dreaminess because I wasn't feeling any chemistry here at all. Whomp whomp! Oh well, on to the next thing in my queue...

Game of Thrones, Season 1 – Nick and I tried this years ago and barely made it twenty minutes into it before we turned it off. With all the hoopla surrounding the final season, we decided to try it again. And while we did finish it, we still... didn't really like it. I know, I know! That's like sacrilege on the Internet. It was just so graphic, and I could barely focus on the story without zoning out. I've been told to give it a little longer to win me over, but we'll see. 

UK Trip (Pt. 2): Orgueil et préjugés by Jane Austen (1), The Railway Children by E. Nesbit, Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling, Meet Me at Beachcomber Bay and This Could Change Everything by Jill Mansell, The Rise & Fall of Becky Sharp by Sarra Manning, State of Sorrow and Song of Sorrow by Melinda Salisbury, and Orgueil et préjugés by Jane Austen (2)

Book Depository: The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary

Book of the Month: Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, Miracle Creek by Angie Kim, Beyond the Point by Claire Gibson

Thrift Store Finds #1: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate, As Bright as Heaven by Susan Meissner, You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott, What We Were Promised by Lucy Tan, The Perfect Couple and The Rumor by Elin Hilderbrand, The Winter Rose by Jennifer Donnelly, The Doll People and The Runaway Dolls by Ann M. Martin, All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda, Where Love Lies by Julie Cohen, Hot Mess by Emily Belden, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed, On a Beautiful Day by Lucy Diamond, King Arthur & His Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green, and Troy by Adèle Geras

Thrift Store Finds #2: The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo, Swear on This Life by Renée Carlino, The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory, and The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly

For Review: Westside by W.M. Akers and The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters by Balli Kaur Jaswal

Audible: Circe by Madeline Miller

Kindle: Because of Miss Bridgerton by Julia Quinn

Edelweiss: The Golden Hour by Beatriz Williams and Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson