So, literally every single one of the books I purchased in April (other than the two ARCs) were purchased during my trip to the Book Outlet Store which you can read all about here. For a previous post containing all of the books that I thrifted during the month of April, click here. April was such a great month for me in terms of all things bookish! What did you read/purchase in April?!
Let Me Explain You (Gifted by Publisher for Review)
Author: Annie Liontas
Publisher: Scribner (Simon and Schuster Canada)
Genre: Fiction
Release Date: July 14th 2015
Page Count: 352
Format: Paperback ARC
ISBN: 9781476789088
Goodreads Synopsis: LET ME EXPLAIN YOU begins with a letter: Stavros Stavros Mavrakis-Greek immigrant, proud owner of the Gala Diner, having had a premonition of death and believing he has just ten days left to live, sends an email to his estranged ex-wife and three grown daughters in which he lays out his last wishes for each of them. He then sets about preparing for his final hours. With varying degrees of laughter and scorn, his family and friends dismiss his behavior as nothing more than a plea for attention, a mid-life crisis of sorts, but when Stavros disappears without explanation, those closest to him-particularly his eldest daughters Stavroula and Litza-are forced to confront the possibility of his death and the realities of their loss.
The Voice is All: The Lonely Victory of Jack Kerouac
Author: Joyce Johnson
Publisher: Penguin
Genre: Biography, Non-Fiction, History, Literature
Release Date: 2012
Page Count: 489
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9780670025107
Goodreads Synopsis: A groundbreaking portrait of Kerouac as a young artist—from the award-winning author of Minor Characters. In The Voice is All, Joyce Johnson, author of her classic memoir, Door Wide Open, about her relationship with Jack Kerouac, brilliantly peels away layers of the Kerouac legend to show how, caught between two cultures and two languages, he forged a voice to contain his dualities. Looking more deeply than previous biographers into how Kerouac’s French Canadian background enriched his prose and gave him a unique outsider’s vision of America, she tracks his development from boyhood through the phenomenal breakthroughs of 1951 that resulted in the composition of On the Road, followed by Visions of Cody. By illuminating Kerouac’s early choice to sacrifice everything to his work, The Voice Is All deals with him on his own terms and puts the tragic contradictions of his nature and his complex relationships into perspective.
James and the Giant Peach
Author: Roald Dahl
Publisher: Puffin Books
Genre: Children’s, Middle Grade, Adventure
Release Date: February 1st 2013 (first published 1961)
Page Count: 160
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780141346311
Goodreads Synopsis: Roald Dahl’s children’s classic will be rediscovered with wonder and delight in this handsome gift edition with all-new black-and-white illustrations by Caldecott Honor Book artist Lane Smith (who also designed the characters for the Disney animated film). How James escapes from his miserable life with two nasty aunts and becomes a hero to his new insect family, including Miss Spider, the Old-Green-Grasshopper, the Centipede (with his 21 pairs of gorgeous boots), is Dahl-icious fantasy at its best.
John Dies At The End
Author: David Wong
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Genre: Fiction, Horror, Humour, Fantasy
Release Date: September 29th 2009 (first published 2007)
Page Count: 378
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9780312555139
Goodreads Synopsis: STOP. You should not have touched this flyer with your bare hands. NO, don’t put it down. It’s too late. They’re watching you. My name is David Wong. My best friend is John. Those names are fake. You might want to change yours. You may not want to know about the things you’ll read on these pages, about the sauce, about Korrok, about the invasion, and the future. But it’s too late. You touched the book. You’re in the game. You’re under the eye. The only defense is knowledge. You need to read this book, to the end. Even the part with the bratwurst. Why? You just have to trust me. The important thing is this: The drug is called Soy Sauce and it gives users a window into another dimension. John and I never had the chance to say no. You still do. I’m sorry to have involved you in this, I really am. But as you read about these terrible events and the very dark epoch the world is about to enter as a result, it is crucial you keep one thing in mind: None of this was my fault.
Fangirl
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary
Release Date: September 10th 2013
Page Count: 433
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781250030955
Goodreads Synopsis: CATH IS A SIMON SNOW FAN. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan… But for Cath, being a fan is her life–and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving. Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fanfiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere. Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to. Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath that she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend; a fiction-writing professor who thinks fanfiction is the end of the civilized world; a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words…and she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?
The Treatment
Author: Suzanne Young
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopian
Release Date: April 29th 2014
Page Count: 344
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781442445833
Goodreads Synopsis: Can Sloane and James survive the lies and secrets surrounding them, or will The Program claim them in the end? Find out in this sequel to The Program, which Publishers Weekly called “chilling and suspenseful.” How do you stop an epidemic? Sloane and James are on the run after barely surviving the suicide epidemic and The Program. But they’re not out of danger. Huge pieces of their memories are still missing, and although Sloane and James have found their way back to each other, The Program isn’t ready to let them go. Escaping with a group of troubled rebels, Sloane and James will have to figure out who they can trust, and how to take down The Program. But for as far as they’ve come, there’s still a lot Sloane and James can’t remember. The key to unlocking their past lies with the Treatment—a pill that can bring back forgotten memories, but at a high cost. And there’s only one dose. Ultimately when the stakes are at their highest, can Sloane and James survive the many lies and secrets surrounding them, or will The Program claim them in the end?
Kindness for Weakness
Author: Shawn Goodman
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Sociology
Release Date: 2012
Page Count: 272
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9780385743242
Goodreads Synopsis: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest meets Catcher in the Rye. A fifteen-year-old boy from an abusive home desperately seeking his older brother’s love and approval starts pushing drugs for him and suffers the consequences.
Fahrenheit 451
Author: Ray Bradbury
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Genre: Fiction, Literature, Science Fiction
Release Date: June 2013 (first published 1953)
Page Count: 249
Format: 60th Anniversary Edition Paperback
ISBN: 9781451673319
Goodreads Synopsis: Sixty years after it’s publication, Ray Bradbury’s internationally acclaimed novel Fahrenheit 451 stands as a classic of world literature set in a bleak, dystopian future. Today it’s message has grown more relevant than ever before. Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television “family”. But when he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people didn’t live in fear and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of television, Montag begins to question everything he has ever known. The sixtieth-anniversary edition commemorates Ray Bradbury’s masterpiece with a new introduction by Neil Gaiman; personal essays on the genesis of the novel by the author; a wealth of critical essays and reviews by Nelson Algren, Harold Bloom, Margaret Atwood, and others; rare manuscript pages and sketches from Ray Bradbury’s personal archive; and much more. Here, at last, is the definitive edition of a classic of world literature.
The Letters of Vincent van Gogh
Author: Vincent van Gogh
Edited By: Mark Roskill
Publisher: Touchstone
Genre: Non Fiction, Art, Biography, History
Release Date: November 18th 2008 (first published 1963)
Page Count: 352
Format: Paperback Reprint Edition
ISBN: 9781416580867
Goodreads Synopsis: A literary classic, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh captures the voice of one of the most beloved and important artists of all time. Though Vincent van Gogh is often thought of as a mad genius, in The Letters of Vincent van Gogh the thoughtful, effervescent, and sensitive man is revealed to readers through his own voice. This collection of letters, arranged in chronological order and written to Vincent’s closest confidant, his brother and art dealer, Theo, provide a riveting narrative of van Gogh’s life. The letters expose Vincent’s creative process; his joy and inspiration derived from literature, Japanese art, and nature; as well as his many romantic disappointments and constant poverty. Also documented are Vincent’s close relationships with fellow artists, especially Paul Gauguin. Van Gogh’s tender and often ebullient letters provide a sharp contrast to the devastating and frequently violent mental breakdowns that plagued and eventually destroyed him. Collected and edited by art historian Mark Roskill, this volume also includes a chronology, a short memoir by van Gogh’s sister-in-law that fills in many of the blanks of Vincent’s early years, and reproductions of selected artwork discussed in van Gogh’s letters. An epistolary classic, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh is not just an important historical collection but also a captivating treasure.
Graffiti Moon
Author: Cath Crowley
Publisher: Ember
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Release Date: December 26th 2012 (first published August 1st 2010)
Page Count: 272
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780375871955
Goodreads Synopsis: Senior year is over, and Lucy has the perfect way to celebrate: tonight, she’s going to find Shadow, the mysterious graffiti artist whose work appears all over the city. He’s out there somewhere—spraying color, spraying birds and blue sky on the night—and Lucy knows a guy who paints like Shadow is someone she could fall for. Really fall for. Instead, Lucy’s stuck at a party with Ed, the guy she’s managed to avoid since the most awkward date of her life. But when Ed tells her he knows where to find Shadow, they’re suddenly on an all-night search around the city. And what Lucy can’t see is the one thing that’s right before her eyes.
The Other Normals
Author: Ned Vizzini
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Adventure
Release Date: September 25th 2012
Page Count: 387
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780062079909
Goodreads Synopsis: Given the chance, fifteen-year-old Peregrine “Perry” Eckert would dedicate every waking moment to Creatures & Caverns, an epic role-playing game rich with magical creatures, spell casting, and deadly weapons. The world of C&C is where he feels most comfortable in his own skin. But that isn’t happening–not if his parents have anything to do with it. Concerned their son lacks social skills, they ship him off to summer camp to become a man. They want him to be outdoors playing with kids his own age and meeting girls–rather than indoors alone, with only his gaming alter ego for company. Perry knows he’s in for the worst summer of his life. Everything changes, however, when Perry gets to camp and stumbles into the World of the Other Normals. There he meets Mortin Enaw, one of the creators of C&C, and other mythical creatures from the game, including the alluring Ada Ember, whom Perry finds more beautiful than any human girl he’s ever met. Perry’s new otherworldly friends need his help to save their princess and prevent mass violence. As they embark on their quest, Perry realizes that his nerdy childhood has uniquely prepared him to be a great warrior in this world, and maybe even a hero. But to save the princess, Perry will have to learn how to make real connections in the human world as well.
Teen Angst? Naaah…
Author: Ned Vizzini
Publisher: Ember
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mental Health
Release Date: September 14th 2010 (first published August 24th 2000)
Page Count: 258
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780385739450
Goodreads Synopsis: “The events in these stories are real. Some names have been changed so I don’t get yelled at.” Ned Vizzini writes about the weird, funny, and sometimes mortifying moments that made up his teen years. With wit, irony, and honesty, “Teen Angst? Naaah . . .” invites you into his world of school, parents, street people, rock bands, friends, fame, camp, sex (sort of), Cancun (almost), prom, beer, Nintendo, the cool (and almost cool), and more. A Holden Caulfield for Generation Y, Ned Vizzini is an original voice to be reckoned with, read, and enjoyed.
In Real Life: My Journey to a Pixelated World (Gifted by Publisher for Review)
Author: Joey Graceffa
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Canada
Genre: Non Fiction, Memoir
Release Date: May 19th 2015
Page Count: 240
Format: Paperback ARC gifted by publisher
ISBN: 9781476794303
Goodreads Synopsis: A confessional, uplifting memoir from the beloved YouTube personality. It’s not where you begin that matters. It’s where you end up. Twenty-three year old Joey Graceffa has captured the hearts of millions of teens and young adults through his playful, sweet, and inspirational YouTube presence (not to mention his sparkling eyes and perfect hair). Yet, Joey wasn’t always comfortable in his skin, and in this candid memoir, he thoughtfully looks back on his journey from pain to pride, self-doubt to self-acceptance. To his fans, Joey is that best friend who always captures the brighter side of life but also isn’t afraid to get real. In the pages of his first book, he opens up about his years of struggling with family hardships and troubles at school, with cruel bullying and the sting of rejection. He tells of first loves and losses, embarrassing moments and surprising discoveries, loneliness, laughter, and life-changing forks in the road, showing us the incalculable value of finally finding and following your true passion in this world. Funny, warm-hearted, and inspiring, Joey Graceffa’s story is a welcome reminder that it’s not where you begin that matters, but where you end up.
And there you have it! As always, thank you for reading!
Big City Bookworm 
I hope you enjoy John dies at the end more than I did because I HATED it 100%.
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Haha oh no! One of my friends highly recommended it so we’ll see how it goes!
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It was funny one of my friends told me to check out a movie on Netflix… It was John dies at the end… I said I would pass lol. I read it a few years ago and hated it maybe my opinion would change if I gave it a reread…. Since I didn’t even finish it… *bows head in shame*
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