Sometimes, I think I need an award for all the creativity I put into blog titles.
Anyhoo…
I don’t generally do wrap-ups, but this is one of the aforementioned “new things”. Like every other wrap-up post in the blogosphere, we will be looking back at everything that happened in April.
Books read
This poignant and sad story quite accurately captures the emotions of an anxious and depressed person. I participated in the blog tour for Drift Stumble Fall hosted by Hideway Fall and I really enjoyed it.
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The Pleasures of the Damned is a collection of Buk’s poems from 1951 to 1993. I really loved reading this book and can’t wait to read more of Buk’s works!
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I finally read Simon Vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda and I cannot stop fangirling over this book! It’s been WAY too long since I read YA, and this book was the best pick to return to that genre! I laughed out loud, I teared up, and I loved, loved, loved this book!
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Review to come.
Go Ask Alice has been lounging around my TBR for a while now and I finally got around to reading it. This cautionary tale against drug use is actually one of the most frequently banned books of the 21st century. While the authenticity of this book has been challenged several times, it’s still a good read, anti-drug propaganda or not.
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Review to come.
A lover of all things evil and macabre, I chose this short story as one of the easy reads for Dewey’s yesterday. The unreliable narrator, the pure insanity of it all, and the lyrical prose made The Tell-Tale Heart an excellent, albeit short read for the readathon.
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Other happenings on the blog
I had a little fun on April 1st with this post: How I wrote an entire novel with this AI-powered book writing software.
AuthorsGetLit finally ended with my favorite indie author, Lev Lewis, writing the last article about how, as a self-published author, he interacted with book bloggers. Read it here: AuthorsGetLit | Book bloggers and me by Lev Lewis.
I dabbled in poetry. I decided to participate on a whim and I actually wrote a poem every single day! I’m really proud of how far I’ve come because I’ve been known to give up on things too easy. You can read all my poems on Instagram.
I reviewed the French TV show, Le Chalet. The French make the best thrillers but this one was a little off the mark and had all the usual cabin in the woods tropes. I’ve been having a awful luck with Netflix these past few weeks. Recommend a good TV show in the comments, maybe?
I participated in Dewey’s 24 hour readathon and read 3.5 books! That’s another thing I’m really proud of! This was my first readathon and I can’t wait to take part in more.
Around the blogosphere
Simant at Flipping Through The Pages explains the whys and hows of writing a blog’s disclaimer.
Evelina of Avalinah’s Books discusses if book bloggers create too much content and then have too little time to socialize.
Aimee at Aimee Always writes about 5 things to include in books with POC.
Eva at Brilliantly Bookish talks about the books she buys as souvenirs during her travels.
My friend Jenn at Bound to Writing is hosting a cover reveal for her book Not Like Everyone Else. Sign up here to be a part of it!
What you can expect on This is Lit in the coming weeks.
Now that I’m done with National Poetry Writing Month, I will be trying to be more active here and on Twitter. You must have already seen my tweetstorm on Twitter for Dewey’s. No, really. They would’ve put Trump to shame, my tweets.
And now, my final announcement!
Starting this week, Chai Break will return on This is Lit!
I might change the logo, but this weird discussions feature of mine is totally returning! I stopped doing it because I was kinda going through a burnout back then, but quite a lot of my readers kept asking for it. Like, whaaat? Who knew people liked this?
And that’s the old-new thing. Seriously, though. Where’s my prize for all this creativity?
Let’s finish this elaborate rambling with my final poem for NaPoWriMo.
Can you believe I actually wrote 30 poems this month? I know I can’t.
Enough about me! What about you? How was April for you? Did you read an amazing book you’d like to recommend to me? Let me know in the comments!
~ Shruti
I’m so happy Chai Break is coming back!! You had some amazing discussion posts, and can’t wait to read them again.
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Thanks so much, Ashley! I really enjoyed all our discussions in the comments section, so I can’t wait to start doing it again! 😁
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Yay, I am so happy that you finally read Simon 😃 It was incredible, right? I had a hangover for a few days after I finished it. I remeber grinning like an idiot while reading it 😜 I am so happy that you you liked it too.
And 5 books? That’s good.
And thank you for sharing my post 😊 I am so excited about the return of Chai break 😀
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Yusss I loved Simon! And I’m totally waiting for Love, Simon to release in India. I could watch it online if any legit site releases it, but nah. Only the big screen will do justice to Simon! ❤️
Psst. First Chai Break post will be up this evening. 😉
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Yes, I am waiting for the movie to release too. i don’t want to see it on my laptop 😛
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It has been a LONG time since I read Go ask Alice!! Your post made me curious and I learned the book is older than I am and was published in 1971!
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It was! Isn’t that amazing? Some people believe it was anti-drug propaganda written for the Reagan administration. While the diary doesn’t sound very real, it’s actually a decent read. I liked it. 😁
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Chai break sounds cool! 🙂
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Thanks! The first discussion will be up in another hour. 😁
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Thank you so much for featuring my post!!💕
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Anytime! I really liked it and it needed to be on here! 😁
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Thanks *blushing*
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Congratulations on writing 30 poems! I love the one you shared! 🙂 You also read a lot of great books in April. I hope May is less busy for you! 🙂
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Thanks so much, Jenn! April was a little too busy for me, yes. But I’m going to use May to come back into the blogging world. I’ve been ignoring all you favorite bloggers of mine for a couple of months now. 🙈 I’m using this week to catch up on everything you guys have written so far. 😊
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I’m so happy you enjoyed Simon vs., that book was so cute and it made me smile a whole lot – exactly what we need and want from a book like that one 😀
Also, I LOVE that poem! It’s incredible that you wrote so many poems last month, congratulations! 😀
I hope you’ll have an amazing May 🙂 x
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Simon vs. is a great book, isn’t it? ❤️❤️
Thanks so much about the poem! April was a little hectic because I never got to do anything blogging related, and more important, blog hopping. Hope that changes in May.
Thanks for stopping by! ❤️
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It is an amazing book,I loved it so much! ❤
I hope you'll have a bit more time in May to discover new blogs and take care of your own blog, too, but take care of yourself first! 🙂
You're welcome! ❤
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Love the poem! it’s been a great month for you, Shruti – the readathon as well as your poetry journey AND the books you read… I hope that May is a fab month for you and I haven’t forgotten your kind offer to take part in a little readathon of our own during the summer holidays:))
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Thanks so much, Sarah! And yes! There are a lot of us out there who’d participate in your readathon! Say the word and we can start (or continue?) reading! 😆
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Thank you – we’re talking July/August – I break up from College during the 2nd week of July:)
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Awesome! You should make this a thing. Like, let’s promote it on twitter and such to get more people to join us. 😁
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You’re right, of course! Let me get through this week-end (I’ve got yet more deadlines smacking me in the chops…) and then, if I don’t come back to me with some likely dates – feel free to nudge me with an, ‘Oy – what about our readathon, then??’
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Haha, will do! 😁
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WOW it’s been forever since I visited your blog (totally my mistake *smiles sheepishly*)
Actually I’m at my grandparents place, there is no WiFi and I can’t view my reader on mom’s phone. And today I decided to directly go to your blog.
I finished reading Simon vs. and fjdskkgjjdgk I LOVE IT!!!!!!!
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Haha, it’s totally all right, Shreya! And you finished Simon? Yay! Such an adorable book, isn’t it? ❤️❤️
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I’m thinking of getting that other book, The downside of unrequited. Is it good?
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It’s the Upside. xD And it’s AMAZING! Some people didn’t like it as much as Simon, but I think the two books shouldn’t be compared. They’re both fluffy and brilliant in their own ways. A definite 5 star from me. 🙂
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