April 2026 Reading Wrap Up
Hey hi hello friends, and welcome back to my blog!
So. April. Remember when I said that March was a month? April was a month. Forget driving the struggle bus, I was on the hood screaming for my life. A big part of April was taken up with packing, since I am moving across the country at the end of June. My bedroom is slowly being taken over by boxes. So far I've gotten most of my books packed, as well as some miscellaneous things. I'm just glad that I don't have to bring any heavy furniture, so I can rest easy knowing I just have to pack more boxes.
Along with packing up my room, my time this month was used playing Pokopia on the Switch2. I fully recommend it, but I've logged an insane amount of hours in that game. It just sucks you in! My video game time totally borrowed from my reading time, so I didn't actually end up reading that much.
In April I read a total of 2 books: I finally finished Moby-Dick, and then I read a nonfiction. I was hoping to squeeze in one more book in the last few days of the month, but it just didn't work out. So, here's the shortest monthly wrap up ever!
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Novels
1. Moby-Dick, or The Whale by Herman Melville
Format: Physical
Star rating: 4.75 stars
Page count: 654 pages
Day(s) read: 2.04 - 4.23
Final thoughts: Read for the Game of Tomes book club.
Don't let the reading days fool you, I absolutely loved this book. I was hooked in the first 50 pages. I would say that the first 200 pages and then the last 150 pages were near perfection, 5 out of 5 stars. The middle 300 pages were less so, mostly because Melville loved a tangent and would go off on a billion little side quests, talking about the whaling industry, anatomy, philosophy, etc. Parts of it I found fascinating, but I won't lie I felt kind of bored in the middle section. Most people in the book club seemed to agree with me, too. But the actual story of the Pequod and Ahab and Ishmael, I was entranced. And the ending? Absolutely wild. If you've ever been intimidated by Moby-Dick or thought you'd find it boring (all the way though, I mean), this is your sign to pick it up!
Nonfiction
1. The Blood Countess by Shelley Puhak
Format: Physical
Star rating: 4 stars
Page count: 289 pages
Day(s) read: 3.30 - 4.27
Final thoughts: This is a nonfiction about the Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Bathory, and how she became notorious throughout history as the most prolific female serial killer. Or did she?
I am honestly ashamed at myself for having believed the whole "Blood Countess" story, because Shelley Puhak makes a rather compelling argument negating that entire urban legend. For centuries, Elizabeth Bathory was rumored to have killed over 500 young women and girls, bathing in their blood in order to achieve eternal youth. When in reality, she probably was just a widowed countess who was the victim of a smear campaign headed by a Lutheran priest, who felt that the Countess's Calvinist views were an insult to the church (and to him). Of course since this was the early 1600s, we can never know for sure which version is true, but I'm leaning towards Shelley Puhak's version. Elizabeth Bathory was a powerful woman who had ties to the Royal Hungarian family, the Hapsburgs. She was independently wealthy, and had many political allies and family members. She died the same year her nephew, Prince Gabriel Bathory of Transylvania, was assassinated. I think that if you read this book, your opinion on the "Blood Countess" will change dramatically, just like mine did.
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Total page count: 943 pages
Favorite book of April: Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
No DNFs this month
No unfinished books this month
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Aaaaaaaand, yeah. That's it for April! I hope that y'all had a more lucrative reading month than I did. At least I liked both books!
Until next time, friends!
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