Offbeat Offline: April 2024 (Back in Session)

Welcome to Offbeat Offline, where I bring you up-to-date with what went on in my life during the month just gone, give you a sneak peek of my next shenanigans, and share my favourite posts of late!

What happened last month to yours truly? The hubs finally got his pension; I had a blood check-up done (other exams are on the way) and was too tired to make much progress on the review front. The house is still a dumpster fire, BTW. I had to run more errands than usual, and when I got home I didn't have any spare time and/or energy to write reviews...let alone clean. Everything's been slipping from my grasp ever since my husband became bedridden - one year and eight months ago now. And his progress on the walking front is laughable (so to speak, because there's nothing amusing about it). Every time I go on hiatus I hope to fix part of this at least, and every time I fail. I mean...I know it's not on me, because I'm in the middle of an ongoing mess, and there's nothing I can do to make it better. Then again, whatever the reasons, it's disheartening. With this off my chest, here goes my recap of April's most notable moments...

📚 (YET ANOTHER) EPIC FAIL. Look at me, first reading only 3 books in March, then doing even worse in April with the grand total of 2 books and a half. As I said in last month's recap - it's not like I don't want to write my reviews, and heaven knows I'm NEVER not in the mood for reading (also, I can tear through a book in two days), but April was another rotten month. I devour a book, then I'm too tired/don't have time to write a proper review, or I can't seem to articulate my thoughts because I want to say so many things, but the book is tricky to talk about without spoilers (Tidal Creatures, I'm looking at you) - and just like that, two weeks have passed...Pitiful. Also...while I had 0 approvals in March, around the end of April I was granted access to 6 books (!!!), 4 of which I had requested a month before, and while I'm super grateful of course, there's no way I can keep up with all their pub dates now - one of them is an April book I only got access to 5 days prior to its release, one is YET ANOTHER June book and I already have 2 of them to review (which I haven't read yet) 😱. Anyhow, here's my monthly bookish recap...

Approvals (6):

• The Afterlife of Mal Caldera by Nadi Reed Perez (Adult, afterlife).

Mal Caldera—former rockstar, retired wild-child and excommunicated black sheep of her Catholic family—is dead. Not that she cares. She only feels bad that her younger sister, Cris, has been left alone with their religious zealot of a mother, picking up the pieces Mal has left behind. While her fellow ghosts party their afterlives away at an abandoned mansion they call the Haunt, Mal is determined to make contact with Cris from beyond the grave.

She manages to enlist the help of reluctant local medium Ren, and together, they concoct a plan to pass on a message to Cris. But the more time they spend together, the more both begin to wonder what might have been if they'd met before Mal died.

Mal knows it's wrong to hold on so tightly to her old life. Bad things happen to ghosts who interfere with the living, and Mal can't help wondering if she's hurting the people she loves by hanging around, haunting their lives. But Mal has always been selfish, and letting go might just be the hardest thing she's ever had to do…

• Coup De Grâce by Sofia Ajram (Adult, psychological horror??? - novella)

Vicken has a plan: throw himself into the Saint Lawrence River in Montreal and end it all for good, believing it to be the only way out for him after a lifetime of depression and pain. But, stepping off the subway, he finds himself in an endless, looping station.

Determined to find a way out again, he starts to explore the rooms and corridors ahead of him. But no matter how many claustrophobic hallways or vast cathedral-esque rooms he passes through, the exit is nowhere in sight.

The more he explores his strange new prison, the more he becomes convinced that he hasn’t been trapped there accidentally, and amongst the shadows and concrete, he comes to realise that he almost certainly is not alone.

• The Unfinished by Cheryl Isaacs (YA, supernatural)

The black water has been waiting. Watching. Hungry for the souls it needs to survive.

When small-town athlete Avery’s morning run leads her to a strange pond in the middle of the forest, she awakens a horror the townspeople of Crook’s Falls have long forgotten.

Avery can smell the water, see it flooding everywhere; she thinks she’s losing her mind. And as the black water haunts Avery—taking a new form each time—people in town begin to go missing.

Though Avery had heard whispers of monsters from her Kanyen’kehá:ka (Mohawk) relatives, she’s never really connected to her Indigenous culture or understood the stories. But the Elders she has distanced herself from now may have the answers she needs.

When Key, her best friend and longtime crush, is the next to disappear, Avery is faced with a choice: listen to the Kanyen’kehá:ka and save the town but lose her friend forever…or listen to her heart and risk everything to get Key back.

• The Lilies by Quinn Diacon-Furtado (YA, supernatural/mystery/time travel)

Archwell Academy is shaping the next generation of exceptional young women, and everyone knows that membership to the Lilies Society is the best way to secure your ticket to a successful future. But like every secret society, there is something dark at the Lilies’ heart—sometimes Lilies disappear.

When four Archwell students find themselves trapped in a mysterious time loop on the day after the most recent disappearance, they discover that every one of them holds a clue that will unlock the truth of the Lilies. But they're each harboring a secret of their own. Something they would do anything to hide.

• Through the Midnight Door by Katrina Monroe (Adult, supernatural?/magical realism?/mystery/horror)

The Finch sisters once spent long, hot summers exploring the dozens of abandoned properties littering their dying town―until they found an impossible home with an endless hall of doors…and three keys left waiting for them. Curious, fearless, they stepped inside their chosen rooms, and experienced horrors they never dared speak of again.

Now, years later, youngest sister Claire has been discovered dead in that old, desiccated house. Haunted by their sister's suicide and the memories of a past they've struggled to forget, Meg and Esther find themselves at bitter odds.

As they navigate the tensions of their brittle relationship, they draw unsettling lines between Claire's death, their own haunted memories, and a long-ago loss no one in their family has ever been able to face.

With the house once again pulling them ever closer, Meg and Esther must find the connection between their sister's death and the shadow that has chased them across the years…before the darkness claims them, too.

• Wink by Henry Herz et al. (YA, fantasy/sci fi - anthology) <- [I requested this one because it features a Seanan McGuire story...]

Fifteen young adult contemporary fantasy and science fiction tales that wink at classic works of children's literature. Featuring stories by: James Aquilone, Kendare Blake, Leah Cypess, Stacia Deutsch, David Gerrold, Tara Gilboy, Henry Herz, Nancy Holder, Alethea Kontis, Jonathan Maberry, Seanan McGuire, Wulf Moon, Henry Neff, Alex Shvartsman, Maggie Stiefvater.

Reads (3):

• Tidal Creatures (Alchemical Journeys #3) by Seanan McGuire (Adult, supernatural)

After the sheer brilliance of Book 1, Book 2 was a bit of a letdown, but this one was fantastic!

• Lockjaw by Matteo L. Cerilli (YA, genres not disclosed because it would be spoilery as hell)

It started slow for me, but when the twist came, I was enraptured. Plus it has a lot to say about trans youth and people who turn their back to the sufferings of children...

• The Lilies by Quinn Diacon-Furtado (see above)

To be precise, I started it at the end of April and finished it two day ago - there were things I liked about it and other things I was less keen on. I'm going to write a mini review for it.

Reviews (2):

• Tidal Creatures (Alchemical Journeys #3) by Seanan McGuire (see above)

Review coming later in the month.

• Lockjaw by Matteo L. Cerilli (see above)

Again, review coming in a few days.

Here are my scheduled reviews for this month:

• The Book of Love by Kelly Link (on Wed. 8th);
• Tidal Creatures (Alchemical Journeys #3) by Seanan McGuire (on Mon. 13th);
• Lockjaw by Matteo L. Cerilli (on Sat. 18th);
• whether a mini-review round or a full review, depending on my progress with/enjoyment of my current and future reads (on Thu. 23rd).

Reviews aside, I'll participate in the Tell Me Something Tuesday meme on the 28th (question: Which Books Are You Looking Forward to Reading This Summer? (June-August)). For the nth time: I'm so behind on ARCs that I must concentrate on reading and reviewing them, so I'll mostly skip the meme again (sorry!). In the meantime, here's the TMST prompt list for the months of May and June, in case you want to join in:.

• May 7th: Share some POC author/character recommendations you've recently enjoyed
• May 14th: Do you like to garden? Share some photos!
• May 21th: Worst character jobs: what are they and who has them?
• May 28th: Which books are you looking forward to reading this Summer? (June-August)
• June 4th: What outdoor activities do you like to do in the spring/summer?
• June 11th: Have your reading interests changed over time?
• June 18th: Share some LGBTQ-character books you've recently enjoyed
• June 25th: Mid-year check-in: what books have you loved so far in 2024?

🩸(STILL) SICK AND TIRED. I'm in the middle of my usual CLL check-ups, plus other health-related situations. After a temporary decrease in the leukocyte and lymphocyte count, they spiked again - that's normal for this type of illness, but still not good of course. I have a routine ultrasound and a visit with my hematologist scheduled for the 6th - if the ultrasound doesn't show internal organs alterations, I guess she'll just have me schedule another bloodwork in three months for now, as usual. Also, I've been suffering from a tightness at the front of my neck (I got an ecodoppler and the circulation is OK - we'll see what the ultrasound says), and a pain in my left ankle that I need to look into...In the meantime, my husband is still having a hard time trying leave the bed, and he scheduled x-rays for his remaining foot (because it hurts when he tries to walk) and relative hip (the one that got smashed in a car accident almost thirty years ago). Based on the results, he might need to book some physical therapy sessions, and I say "book" as in "pay for", because our NHS is a disgrace...

💶 IT'S SETTLED. My husband's pension finally arrived (you might remember that his assistance allowance and severance pay had already been liquidated). It would be a nice amount, if we didn't have the damned house mortgage to repay still...seven more years of this crap.

🥶 WINTER IN SPRING. The weather has been unseasonably warm in the first half of April, only to totally backflip in the second. I even had to turn on the heating for five days, for goodness' sake. Icy winds, strong rains, hailstorms, sometimes intermittent rainfall and sunshine bouts in the space of an hour or two...I'm not a fan of summer (understatement of the century), but this has been brutal, especially coming down from the high of those prematurely warm days...

Since I was on hiatus (and exhausted...what's new?), I haven't blog-hopped at all in April, so I've got nothing 🙁. But I've already started to reprise my normal routine, so this section will be operative in my next monthly recap!

That's it for now. My next post will be up on May 8th, and it will be the review for The Book of Love I mentioned above.

So, what were your highs/lows in the past month?