This has been a great month on my blog. As some of you will have already noticed, I gave my blog a big makeover at the weekend. My lovely husband, who is a great photographer, took some fab photos of my books for me to use on my blog – his photo is now my blog header and I’m over the moon with it. You can read my post about my blog makeover here.
I also decided to register my blog’s domain so I now own rathertoofondofbooks.com and am really happy about that. It just cements that I’ve been blogging long enough now to know that it’s something I want to keep doing in the long term.
I started using dictation software in April and this has made a massive difference to me, it means I can write blog posts even when I’m unable to type. I also learnt how to schedule my blog posts, and found some software that allows me to schedule unpublished blog posts links on social media in advance. All of this combined has made blogging so much easier for me and means I can achieve more in my day.
My TBR is even more out of control than it was last month due to April bringing lots more new books my way. I’m in the middle of sorting out my enormous TBR into recent purchases/review books and then a separate TBR for books that I’ve been keeping for the right time (see my post on this here). I’m still trying to come up with a way to challenge myself to read these books because if I could stop myself waiting for the right time and just read them it would really help me clear my TBR! If anyone has any ideas for this please share in the comments below. I’m planning on making a TBR jar once I’ve finished my lists but I want a challenge to go with that.
Otherwise life is same old same old really. I’m still struggling to get my pain levels under control but I do finally have an appointment to see a specialist this month so I’m really hoping that something can be done to help me. If I can get my pain better controlled and I can find a medication that doesn’t make my head feel like it’s stuffed full of cotton wool then I’ll be able to get back to reading at my normal speed and will finally be able to start making headway with my TBR.
I managed to read fifteen books this month (three were short stories and two were novellas, and ten were full-length novels):
(Click the orange links to read my reviews; the titles in turquoise are books I’ve read but not yet reviewed)
The Swimming Pool by Louise Candlish
The Summer I Met You by Victoria Walters
The Boy with the Boxes by Katey Lovell
The Boy on the Bus by Katey Lovell
Peter and Alice by John Logan
The Second Love of My Life by Victoria Walters
Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell
Shame by Jasvinder Sanghera
Twisted River by Siobhan MacDonald
Wonder Cruise by Ursula Bloom
The Real Book Thief by Ingrid Black
Shtum by Jem Lester
The Ice Twins by S. K. Tremayne
I also reviewed six books that I finished before April
Out of the Darkness by Katy Hogan (re-blog)
The One-in-a-Million Boy by Monica Wood
Between You and Me by Lisa Hall
Firsts by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn
When She Was Bad by Tammy Cohen
I was very lucky this month that I got to interview six authors:
Jannie Lund, author of Vintage Dreams
Sherry Mayes, author of Stop the World
Katye Nunn, author of Rose’s Vintage
Mike Russell, author of Nothing is Strange
Siobhan MacDonald, author of Twisted River
Greg Cope White, author of The Pink Marine
I also was delighted to have three authors write a guest post for my blog:
Rosy Stewart, author of Hope: Stories from a Women’s Refuge Rosy Stewart are a husband and wife writing team. They wrote a great post for my blog all about how it is to write as a duo.
Heidi Perks, author of Beneath the Surface Heidi Perks wrote a brilliant guest post for me in April all about marketing a book on a limited budget. It’s a really interesting post and I recommend reading it.
Sandra Nikolai, author of Fatal Whispers Sandra Nikolai wrote a great guest post for my blog all about how murder mystery writers keep one step ahead of readers. If you’re a fan of thrillers than I’m sure you will love reading this post.
Also in April, I was very honoured when I was asked to guest post on Laura at 125 Pages blog as part of her first blogiverary celebrations. Laura asked me to write about how the way I approach blogging and how I’ve built my blog up. You can read the post here.
So, that was my month! How was your April? Has it been a book-filled month for you? Please feel free to share in the comments below, or to leave a link to your own April Wrap-Up post.
RatherTooFondofBooks 
You have had a busy week! Fifteen books is fantastic! I wish I could consistently read 10 books each month. It would be wonderful! So glad you have been making gains and progress with your blog. I love the new look!
I love the new look – it really makes the books and your writing stand out, uncluttered and light-filled as it is!
Thank you so much. I’m over the moon with it, I never thought my blog could look like it does now. I never liked my old theme but didn’t have the confidence to change it so it’s great to have finally been able to get it done.
That is what I call a busy month! It’s good you found tools to make blogging easier, and congrats on owning your domain now, it’s exciting! 🙂 I can’t help for the TBR. So far my budget did not allow much buying, I only added on my wishlist to buy later, but last month was big on new books and now I have no idea how to choose between all the books lined up on my shelf. I am still picking according to my mood but this is made harder by books I received for reviews. How do people keep track of everything?! Let’s hope we find a way 🙂
Thank you. I’m really pleased with my blog’s new look and it feels good to own the domain name now too. Figuring out how to make blogging easier has definitely made a huge difference to me, it means on the days when the pain is too bad for me to do anything my blog keeps going. It’s so hard to pick books when you have review books to read. I’m struggling to read very much in one go at the moment and it does make it harder when I’m having to read something I maybe aren’t in the mood for but a review is due. I’ve been going easier on myself a little and reading the odd book based on my mood but then I stress about being behind with reviews! I’m sure we’ll find a system that works in time! 🙂
Being easier on you is good, that’s all you need! 🙂 I keep trying to catch up with reviews. I read faster than I write so I always end up a couple of reviews behind and I find it so stressful because I don’t want to forget everything that I wanted to say, but I don’t want to have to wait to start a new book. Book blogging is a complicated job! 🙂
When I first started my blog I was so good and would make sure to write a review before I started a new book but over time I let that slip and now I’m always behind with writing reviews. I do try to note my initial thoughts down quite soon though so that I don’t forget what I wanted to say. It is way more complicated than I’d ever realised! 🙂
I jot down my impressions as soon as I’m finished, too! 🙂 I wish the inspiration for reviews would come faster once I’m done with a book, but my brain needs some time to gather all the info and make something of it.
Same here, I definitely need to digest a book before I can review it properly.
Looks like you had a great book month! I wish I could read fifteen books a month haha
Thank you, it was my best reading month in a while but quite a few were really short reads so it wouldn’t have been as many if I’d only read full-length novels.
What a busy AND successful month. You certainly have had a lot going on – and reading 15 books is a great achievement, as well as hosting a variety of authors and intervewing them about their books. Congratulations:)
Thank you so much, April certainly was a lovely month on my blog. 🙂
I agree:)
Congrats on your blog makeover…I love it! Nothing makes us feel better than spiffing up our surroundings, including our blog(s).
You had a great month, too, and you should be proud of your progress! You haven’t been blogging that long, but your site is very professional. It took me a lot longer to even find my footing…so enjoy!
Thank you so much. Yes, a good spruce up makes everything feel brighter and better, I’m so pleased with how my blog looks now. That’s really kind of you to say, thank you.
Congrats on your busy but successful month. So many achievements and fifteen books is quite awesome.As always, you always seem to find the best books. The blog looks really good, good job.
Thank you so much.
Epic post in terms of inspiration, content and overall look. Fair dues and well done on getting your head around all the scheduling stuff, that’s something I’d love to be able to do! Also, of course, love the new blog and yay to your hubby for the pics:)
Thank you so much. Just ask if there’s anything I can help you with re. scheduling – I found some software that helps me so am happy to tell you about that. 🙂
Oh I wish I could have the time to organize my blog like you did. I have been using my Kindle and iPhone’s dictator, so I hear you about how easy that’s made things. I just wish I also had more time to read my tbr books. Jealous that you read 15.
I loved re-vamping my blog but it was very time consuming – it took a full couple of days in the end and I wasn’t expecting it to take that long. I’d decided at the start of April to do the overhaul and had planned on spending maybe one afternoon on it so it was way over that. It’s meant I’ve hardly had time to prepare posts for this week and have been struggling to keep up. It was worth it though as I’m so happy with how it looks now. Hopefully I can be caught up this weekend and be back to scheduling in advance for next week! Dictating posts make so much difference, as does scheduling in blocks of time to write posts ready for scheduling, it’s definitely less time-consuming and stressful this way. I hope you find time to do what you’d like to with your blog soon.
Ugh I don’t think I have enough time right now to do any revamping with my blog. Well done and good luck in getting caught up before next week.
It’s very time consuming, definitely something to plan for when you have a bit more free time.