Welcome to April’s Monthly Minutes at Midnight!

 Here’s the deal: I’ll share the books I’ve obtained, posts of interest from others, giveaways I have happening, and just general random shenanigans. You know I love a shenanigan.  Also, covers all link to Goodreads, because I am awesome. As always, I link up with the Wrap Up Round Up, too! 

The Books

For Review/From Publishers:

Hugest of thanks to the publishers for these (pics link to Goodreads for more info!) two hugely anticipated books!

eARCs:

Huge thanks to the publishers for these lovelies! (SO many most-anticipated books here!) 

Purchased:

I wasn’t too bad this month. I feel like I have a few pre-orders and such coming next month though, whoops. 🤷‍♀️

Waking Romeo by Kathryn Barker ♦ Girls With Rebel Souls by Suzanne Young ♦ Our Last Echoes by Kate Alice Marshall ♦ Haihefa Roan kom Azgeda & Gaia kom Trikru Funkos by Sonya Collections

Won/Gifted/Traded:

None this month! 

Shenanigans Since Last Time:

I read 16 books this month. Not bad, considering I got really sick in the middle of the month and basically read nothing!

Gah, there were some good books here! A couple of “meh”s, but nothing totally abysmal, yay! (Confession: I did DNF one of these, but I think it was me, not the book.)

Giveaways: Click Here, or on Sidebar

Blogosphere Bulletin

Here are some of the loveliest/most entertaining/super helpful/just plain interesting posts I found this month!

Fancy & New Since Last I Saw You!

I love looking at pretty covers! So here are some new ones that I have fallen in love with since our last update!

Pretty covers are pretty. (Also I know I double-dipped with Iron Widow, but in fairness, I’d made the post before I got approved for it and didn’t have time to find a new pretty cover.)

Things we need to talk about at this juncture:

  • April was weird.  I got fully vaccinated (yay!) but the kids each spent half the month in quarantine (boo!) which meant that someone was always on lockdown. This is probably because their classmates refuse to listen to the rules and regale the class with tales of their trips to the indoor water park (fucking really?), slumber parties, and other activities that probably should be avoided during the pandemic. Just a thought. 🤷‍♀️
  • As such, we spent Easter, the first time I should have been able to see my extended family in literally a year, by ourselves. My aunt did still do a mini-egg hunt for the kids, but we did it alone hah 😂 It was nice of her, regardless! So anyway, pictures are limited, but here you are!

Have a great May, loves!

Posted April 30, 2021 by Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight in Blog Recaps / 34 Comments

34 responses to “Monthly Minutes at Midnight: April 2021”

  1. ahaana @ Windows to Worlds

    thank you so much for the mention!! i hope you love we can’t keep meeting like this, because it’s super high on my tbr, and it’s one of my most anticipated releases for 2021!! iron widow and bright ruined things also sound amazing, so i hope you enjoy them!! congrats on getting fully vaxxed – i hope you’re doing okay!! 💛

    Reply
  2. Beth W

    I’m so sorry you were sick this month *and* that the kids keep getting exposed- it’s a frustration most of us feel, when the majority of us do the right thing, but enough selfish assholes do not, and because they work in service or school, they get exposed again and again. I get that overexposure to a concept desensitizes us to it, but constant awareness is a requirement for public health, for the fight against systemic racism and sexism and ableism, and even just for your own safety- WTF are these people doing??! I hope your kids are patient with it, at least, even though I’m 2 min away from driving to your town and slapping everyone I see, in principle.

    Oh hey, though- lots of interesting looking books this month! 16 is amazing- I’m lucky if I finish 4. And curious about every single one of these!

    Reply
    • Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight

      Thank you ♥♥♥ Yeah that is the biggest problem we have in the whole country, really- half the people refuse to care about other people. So that’s awesome. Bwhahah I mean, I am all for slapping, I will help you make the rounds! 😂 The kids are really good about it, but they are ALSO really over their classmates’ parents’ irresponsibility too. Like- Lena bitches CONSTANTLY about how much they break the rules- sad that a 9 year old can figure it out but grown adults can’t.

      Aw YAY I hope you enjoy them if you do pick some of them up! If you’re curious about any in particular I’ll give you my “buy it” or “nah” opinion 😂

      Reply
      • Beth W

        Hahahaha careful what you offer, cuz I’m curious about:
        How to Mars
        Our Last Echoes
        Waking Romeo
        White Smoke
        All These Bodies
        In the Watchful City
        Mercury Boys
        Reclaimed
        Bright Ruined Things
        A Spindle Splintered
        The World Gives Way
        We Have Always Been Here
        No Beauties or Monsters
        The Reckless Kind
        Sway With Me
        Blade of Secrets
        Violet Ghosts
        Anna
        Aetherbound
        The Apocalypse Seven

        So….are you scheduling reviews of any of those? 😀

        Reply
        • Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight

          Okay SO! I will definitely be doing reviews of all of them because this is what I do, BUT I will tell you, these are coming next week:
          Anna (good but BRUTAL)
          Aetherbound (meh)
          The Apocalypse Seven (LOVED)

          Blade of Secrets I won’t be reviewing actually, because I got it very last minute, whoops, but I did LOVE it! Her books always win me over.

          The Reckless Kind and Sway With Me I do not possess, so I will be no help there, unless I find myself a copy eventually ha.

          I have read Violet Ghosts and The World Gives Way, I liked them both but liked the latter more (though my mom loved Violet Ghosts), and those reviews will be next month. The rest I have not read yet but I will! And then I will let you know when I finish!

          Reply
  3. Laura @ Daydreaming Dragons

    Thanks for sharing my post!
    And yay for getting vaccinated, but that sucks that your kids ended up having to be in lockdown, especially when it’s because of classmates doing stupid things. I mean why is anyone going to an indoor water park during a pandemic? I can’t imagine wanting to go anywhere like swimming pools etc. for quite some time!
    I hope you have a great May!

    Reply
  5. Wendy Gassaway

    I think we live in a golden age of cover art. So many pretty covers. *star eyes*

    I am back in the classroom for the first time in 13 months, and am really hoping we can make it through the six weeks before the school year ends without any outbreaks. The teachers are all vaccinated, but…kids. Other people’s kids. Sigh.

    I’m going to go read both links about blogging fatigue, since I haven’t blogged since… December? Maybe?

    Reply
    • Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight

      You are SO RIGHT, they just keep getting better and better!

      Oh wow, I hope you are doing well with getting back to the classroom! That is how my kids’ schools are- luckily the teachers are all vaccinated, but the kids are a MESS. And of course, half the adults refuse to be vaccinated so it’s a whole other mess 🙄

      I feel those links about blogging fatigue SO MUCH. I have been doing it, but more forcing myself than anything at this point. Hang in there ♥♥

      Reply
  6. Greg

    Ooh love the look of Roux’s latest. I’ve been wanting to read a book of hers (I thought I had actually but I got her mixed up with someone else), and All these Bodies- is that a new Kendare Blake? Which reminds me I need to finish her witchy series!

    Gaia and roan- nice. 🙂

    I’m sorry you had to spend Easter away with family, that sucks so much (and like Beth said- you just want to slap people). Nice pic of you guys though. 🙂

    Reply
  7. Sam@wlabb

    Glad you are vaccinated, but sorry you had to spend the holiday apart from your family. It was very sweet of your aunt to set up an egg hunt, though. I just had to check out She Wouldn’t Change a Thing. I am intrigued. You all are so cute in the photo!

    Reply
  9. Aj @ Read All The Things!

    I’m glad you mostly enjoyed your April books! Congrats on being fully vaccinated. I’m fully vaccinated too. It sucks that you got stuck in lockdown for a month. I wish people would follow the rules for a little longer so we can all get vaccinated. Happy May!

    Reply
  10. Roberta R.

    Aww, sorry to hear you were too sick even for reading! Yay for being fully vaccinated though! Here I’m 54 and I don’t know when my turn will be yet…Parents, mother-in-law and husband got the vaccine though (he did at work).

    You read The Apocalypse Seven? I have a review coming! Looking forward to your thoughts on it.

    Reply
      • Roberta R.

        I rated it 3.5 – some things worked well for me, others didn’t as much (mainly, I wasn’t able to develop a strong connection with the characters). I have my review coming on the 24th!

        And I finally managed to grab a vaccine appointment! It’s on June 14th.

        Reply
  11. Lisa Mandina (Lisa Loves Literature)

    I kind of begged the publisher for a copy of We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This because I loved the last book by that author so much. You’ve got some great books! Sorry that you still had to deal with quarantining even after getting vaccinated! Frustrating when people can’t just calm down long enough to let everyone get through this and get better. Or keep their kids home from school if they can’t stay home other times and stay safe. Hope that May is a better month in all ways for all of us!
    Lisa Loves Literature

    Reply
    • Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight

      Aw I am glad you did beg though because it was AWESOME, as every one of Rachel’s books are! I hope you love it as much as I did! And seriously- at this rate the damn thing will never be over if people can’t just follow the rules! Hope you’re having a good month!

      Reply
  13. Amber Elise @ Du Livre

    I love the cover for City of Shattered Lights! I also want the new Jackson and Blake. I can’t wait for spooky season. Yay for being fully vaccinated! It’s such a weird feeling. I thought I would feel more free but really I don’t lol. I only see friends who are fully vaccinated as well, and I don’t know if I want to stop by my grandma’s for Mother’s Day because most people who will be there won’t be vaccinated/don’t care to be. And I still have a wee one. Sigh. I saw that we may offer the vaccine to kids 12 and up so maybe that will change things.

    Reply
  14. ShootingStarsMag

    Wow, your kid’s classmates really are just doing whatever they want, huh? That’s so annoying. I’m glad you’re fully vaccinated though. And yay for a pretty good reading month. I definitely want to read some of these so I’m excited for your reviews!

    Reply
  15. Karen

    #&$^%*!! people! Why cna’t we do this small thing? Then everything opens and we are ALL happy.

    I’m glad you were able to get your shot though.

    Man my reading is just in the tanks. Like 1 maybe 2 books a month. But they’ve all been good so I’m happy about that. I also don’t have any arc’s so there’s no pressure to read either.

    Karen @ For What It’s Worth

    Reply
  18. Danielle Hammelef

    We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This is definitely a book I will be reading. She Wouldn’t Change a Thing sounds really good too–I love books that make me think about my own life choices. When I see my friends post vacation photos and restaurant photos it just makes me sad. You can still get COVID even if vaccinated. I am so happy that as of yesterday teens could start getting their shots. Maybe school in the fall will be sort of normalish.

    Reply

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