April 2026 Wrap-Up | 4 Books, 1 Tough Decision for Book of the Month

Added: 2026-05-13

[00:00:05]2026 already onethird of the way done.

[00:00:08]I'm a little behind schedule here, but uh let's go ahead and uh wrap it up.

[00:00:18]Hey, what's up bookworms? Mike back.

[00:00:20]Another monthly wrap-up. This one for April of 2026. That's oneird of the way there. Exciting month. There's been some interesting things and not so uh fun real life things, but you know, we're making the most of them here on the channel and we're going to talk about everything that did happen to them, beginning with what did I read. Now, I finished four novels as I did plan. I stuck to my schedule and I was able to finish four novels in the month of April. Let's talk about each one of them here individually. The Darkness as Sethanon Raymond Feist is the conclusion of the original Rift War trilogy. It's kind of one of those things where it was a mixed mixed I can't even say mixed to positive or mixed negative. It was just mixed. I was firmly entrenched in the middle because I felt like I liked half of these stories and I didn't like the other half of it. And it seemed like the parts I really liked all kind of happened at the beginning of that series. Uh it just kind of each book just kind of took a step down for me. I think it was just one of those things where he focused on characters I wasn't as interested in. Whereas those characters that he introduced this role to me is I really really loved those characters and they started to get a more and more diminished role as the series did go along. So I think this might have been a case of uh he wrote magician as uh you know one story and the success of it had him say well let's just keep this going and he maybe overpowered his characters a little too much at first. I think that you probably could have deowered them and kind of went with that instead of just saying, "Well, I'll just create some new characters that I wasn't really as invested in because I just wanted to get back to those characters that I felt."

[00:01:41]It's like you were reading Lord of the Rings and all of a sudden when the two towers started, you were just going to be following two random elf characters.

[00:01:47]That's kind of what it felt like as the uh as a magician trilogy or rift war trilogy, whatever you call it, went along. So, it was kind of a miss for me.

[00:01:54]And as of the moment, I am not planning to continue within the Rift War universe. I know lots of people read the books he does with Janie Works. I keep saying that I I never say never, but I do feel like I want to read some of Janney solo work before I would go into a partnership that she has with Mr. Feice here. Shutter Island, Dennis Leane. This was on my standalone list for the year. It's one of those that uh I knew that after I read Mystic River last year, my book of the year last year, I knew I wanted to give Dennis another try, see if he was a one hit wonder or as an author that really clicked for me. I did enjoy this quite a bit. Watched the movie right afterwards.

[00:02:27]We I reviewed the movie on the weekly update last week. I thought it was a very very good adaptation of a very very good story, The Hive, Ronald Mauie. If you don't know, this was my most anticipated book of the year once it was announced that Red God would not be coming out in 2026. And I was very, very pleased with it. Uh it was a very much a slowburn masterass and dread is what I've been kind of labeling it as. It was very much one of those stories that uh a lot of people have asked me, hey, do you think I could start with Ronald Mauie here? I probably wouldn't recommend it because I think he has stronger stories in this one. That's not to say this is bad. You got to realize this is one of my favorite horror authors working today and it's just I've read like 10 books of his now and it wouldn't be anything I say yeah this is the one you've got to start with. I mean you could if you don't mind length and things like that.

[00:03:11]Uh it's uh you can start anywhere you want Ronald Malfie because his books are all standalone. But uh I do feel like when he sticks to horror or just the psychologically weird like this book was I think that's where he's his stuff just so he's tried to do a couple of other things. you know, some serial killer stuff, some kind of crime dramas, and I haven't they haven't hit as hard for me as much as when he sticks to the terror or the unknown, I think, and he does that very well in this book. Definitely his most ambitious book to date up to this point. I definitely think it is worth the journey. It is a very long book, but it feels like it is very much a trip that I was very happy to take.

[00:03:43]And then Blaze by Stephen King, writing as Richard Bachmann. And you know, I I always joke about that, about how he's really just stuck to his guns about that, but he does write differently when he writes as Richard Bachman. And that's that's what I do love about it. And what surprised me with Blae was uh you know, I said that when he writes as Richard Bachmann, he puts more of an emphasis on the cruel and the and the mean stuff and doesn't really spend as much time on his characters as he does when he writes Stephen King. You know, I feel like that's his forte. But with this, he really really Blae was a character that very much got near to me. And the way this book went, it kind of broke my heart a little. you know, you're wanting to shake him because he's doing something stupid, but you're also like, well, you know, we do understand why he's doing the things that he's doing.

[00:04:23]It was a very short book and it was very good. And I've gotten lots of comparisons of people saying it is Stephen King's take on of Men, which leads me to say, I haven't read of Men, which leads you guys to say, well, you need to read of Mice and Men. And it leads me finally to say, yes, I know I need to read of Mice and Men. After how much I enjoyed this book, uh, I definitely think that, uh, I would be consider picking up Men next. But uh with this is I I'd never read this before and it was during that that breakup period I've talked about with Stephen King on the channel before and I think if I can find books at this point in my Stephen King reading career that are still surprising me that's a great thing right so hopefully I will find some more hidden gems I've never got to because there are still a handful of books of his I've never read before and if there are anything like Blaze I think I'll be very very pleased with what I find. So, a very good reading month. You know, one miss, three, I would say, absolute hits. And that leads me to the conundrum I have here with my book of the month. And what am I going to pick?

[00:05:16]Cuz guys, this was a very, very, very close race. And I didn't know what I was going to pick right until I pressed record here.

[00:05:24]Now, obviously, the contenders would be The Hive, would be Blaze, would be Shudder Island. All three of these books great reads. I had a great time with all three of them. But the one that just seems to kind of stuck in my head and I can't get it out just like I did with Mystic River, guys. This is going to be Shudder Island. And I think that's a little bit of an upset because I didn't expect that. Now, I had seen the movie of Shudder Island before I read the book. So, I knew the big twist. I knew that. I thought, was that going to ruin it for me? And I thought back to Mystic River and I said, you know, I figured out the mystery probably a third of the way into that book and it didn't it didn't stop me from really really enjoying it. So I think the things with Dennis Lane books is it's not about the mystery. It's not about even the plot.

[00:06:01]It's just enjoying the story that he's writing. I did enjoy this one very much.

[00:06:05]I think the way that he explores trauma and keeps you guessing in this book is just topnotch. I mean it's just incredible. Is this delusion? Is this hallucination? Is it conspiracy? All these things. It's kind of like when you watch Beautiful Mind the first time and you kept going back and forth on is this really happening? Is this not? It's kind of how it felt to me. But this uh I say it was a mashup I didn't feel like I I knew that I needed and that was uh what gothic fiction and and maybe pulp a pulp setting. Again, I think anytime you can mix some genres together, they don't always work, but when they do, man, they really really work. That one that one really work. But again, this overall atmosphere of the story, you know, the claustrophobia, the the characterization, the atmosphere of everything going on this island is just next level. I mean, it's just some of the best stuff that I've read. It's got me thinking Dennis Laane, he's a he's just going to be an author. I absolutely click with. I'm going to want to read everything that this guy's written because that's two books now that have kind of blown me away. Something I don't like in my stories. Really, if you've been here long, you know I don't like Unreliable Narrator. And I feel like he does it in a way with this book that I've never really seen done before. And he just knocks out the park. It's just brilliant the way he does it. But, uh, I don't know if I would have figured it out, the the mystery, the twist, the the the whole everything if I hadn't seen the movie first. I don't know if I'd have figured it out cuz I feel like I did figure it out watching the movie. I don't know that if I would have figured it out with the way that he wrote it because I think again it does do a good balancing act of, you know, making you question what's real and what's not.

[00:07:31]But, uh, yeah, I think there might be some things you might be confused about, you know, what's actually happening, what's not. But again, I think that just kind of plays into the theme of the story here, the misunderstanding. And I know that pulp tone isn't going to be for everyone, but for me, absolute grand slam. That's why I can't recommend it enough. And guys, that is why Shudder Island is my book of the month for April of 2026. Can't wait to see what Dennis Leane I do read next. I had said I was going to do Gone Baby Gone cuz all I did was pick the ones that he made movies of and then someone told me that's like book three or four in that series. So, any recommendations, guys, of where I should go with Dennis Leane next. I I would love to know what my next great Dennis Leane reads going to be because I'm feeling very very confident this guy is going to be an absolute just just it's going to be one of my favorites.

[00:08:11]Absolutely. and I can't wait to read more. That leads me, guys, to some of my most popular content for the month. Now, I did put out only 10 videos in April.

[00:08:20]If you've been here, you know I've had a lot of real life things going on. April just absolutely just drained me. It crushed me. And I'm surprised I got out as much as I did, truthfully. But let's go ahead and take a look at the the most popular videos for the month. Very, very down month. And it's going to be I don't I don't count weekly updates in this, so it's going to seem like that's that's half of the videos I did was weekly updates. But my my book author stigma, uh, this one has 10,000 views. This was really me just talking about how everyone treats content creators on YouTube like I don't know, they're slop or something. I they when they say that they're releasing a book, they're writing a book or something like that, it just gets it just gets discounted like right away. It's got to be terrible, right? And I said, well, you know, booktubers that read dozens and dozens of thousands of books, hundreds of thousands of books, maybe they can take something away from that when they're, you know, being constructively crit critical of these books. Maybe they could take some of that and put it into a story of their own. But I just kind of compared it with, you know, the decision that I've made to to write my own story for myself as a hobby and not ever really any plans to read it, saying it's okay to have hobbies. But again, even if if if someone on book does plan to release your book, why is it such a bad thing? Why is using their platform, you know, with a support system built in, why is that a bad thing? I don't think that that's a bad thing at all. It's the same. It's just like going and networking and smooing and meeting people, you know, getting your name out there, getting them to say, "Hey, who is this person? It gets your name in their mouths and I think that's a good thing."

[00:09:42]So, I never thought it was a bad thing and I talked about there and I just want to say I was very very overwhelmed by you guys support in that video that the the the people that really encouraging me to release my story. You guys are very sweet. But, uh that's uh that's one of those things be careful what you ask for because I don't think it would end very pretty. Uh speaking of a wrap-up, my March wrapup from last month is at 8,000 views. cuz I have no idea why these wrap-ups are never the second most popular video I have of the month, but I also usually put out more more videos for this per month. Uh wrap-ups what they are. I mean, you're watching one right now. My March book haul also 6,000 views. Uh for me, again, the whole reason I do book hauls, guys, is just to tell you thank you for the wonderful things that you send to me. Publishers, authors, viewers, no matter who it is that sends me something. I can't say thank you enough, but I take the chance in those videos to say thank you one more time. So, I continue to do those and show you guys anything that you are curious about what it looks like before you buy one for yourself. I have a review on here, a couple reviews. That's how low of a month it was, guys. 6,000 views for my review of Best Served Cold by Joe Abberro. What I was saying is that I had done spoiler reviews of the First Law Standalones, but I never done my standard reviews. When I did reviews for these is back when I was just getting started and I was doing just spoiler reviews. So, I never done anything like that with this. and said kind of depending on the feedback of this, you know, I would decide if I was going to do the Heroes or Red Country.

[00:10:58]Uh it's about what I get with reviews these days. You know, 5 6 th000 views if you're lucky on a actual book review.

[00:11:05]But uh yeah, I I just love the First Law series so much. I'll probably go ahead and do those other two as well. Just to say I have finally done a a standard and spoiler review of every single book in the First Law universe. Very exciting.

[00:11:16]Very exciting. I do love that series.

[00:11:18]And then Into the Multiverse Forell, a review of that 5,000 views, a book I I say it's it's not as bad as you've heard, but that doesn't make it good.

[00:11:26]It's It's not a great book. It really is. It's not one of Stephen King's best, obviously. That's also not one of his worst that it always gets listed as. And I saying that I feel like people's negative reaction to that movie adaptation, which was really awful, I think they've kind of replaced in their memory how bad the book was. I don't think the book again was that bad. I don't say how you read something like The Last of Us or watch something or play something like The Last of Us and think sells a bad book. It does have that big old glaring elephant in the room that everybody talks about with Stephen King, his endings, because that's one that uh detractors of his ability to write an ending are always going to hold up and say, "See, I told you." Because Cell does have one of the worst endings, I think, that I've ever read by Stephen King. But uh upon revisiting it, I can see why I didn't really remember it. It is very forgettable. It is one day later you forget about it. While I was doing that review, I forgot the lead character's name. I called him Chad when his name was Clayton. That's that's how forgettable some of the stuff was. So, it was different different format for him. You know, he start off really really fast-paced. You know, usually he starts off, you know, the slow burn and then, you know, you see the bad things after the characters develop. This he does the bad thing and then he kind of slowly develops the characters along the way. And I did go dear to some of those characters just really stuck in my memory as you know permanent multiverse additions to my brain that I'm never going to forget. But again, I think that's a very high bar. You've written as many books as him. sometimes, you know, they're not all going to be grand slams, but I'm glad to continue with the Into the Multiverse series, getting closer and closer to the next tier list episode, guys. Uh, so yeah, very real uh month in real life stuff really kind of dragged me down a little bit, but I'll try to get make up for that here in May.

[00:12:55]Get back to the normal level of output, usually, you know, 15 plus videos per month. Uh, so, uh, I was only doing one video per week and my weekly updates uh, in April because it was just a rough rough month. But, uh, hey, that leads me to May goals. what we're going to try to do better here going forward, you know, get back on track, like I said, with consistency and fresh content, not just wrapups, not just TBRs, not just weekly updates. Try to get some actual original content out there for you guys. Again, I did do a couple of book reviews, like I said, and I do want to keep on doing those, you know, because what I say is, you know, they might not get the views that uh, you know, that I feel like I I wish that they could get, but it's one of those it's evergreen. people are always more willing two years from now to watch a review to best serve cold than they are to watch, you know, my monthly wrap-up for the month of May 2026. So, those are going to be the the videos that they do actually stick around a lot longer than some of these that are pretty much, you know, they're dead after about 48 hours. It's just it's just a reality of the platform, I do think. But, uh yeah, definitely that get my mojo back a little. Like I said, uh guys, if you've ever been part of outsourcing at a company, you're literally teaching someone else to do your job. That's already a big old shot to your your mojo, to your to your ego, to any any confidence that you have.

[00:14:06]It's real it's a real hard thing to do that. They're offering you some really nice severance. And they did. They did.

[00:14:12]But they drained me. I was just doing that for four months, guys. And at first, it was like 6 to 8 hours a day.

[00:14:17]It was very, very, very difficult. And it really, really took a lot out of me.

[00:14:20]And I'm sure you could see how the energy on the channel kind of dropped.

[00:14:24]Uh I really did feel like I was in a black hole. And now I've kind of climbed out of that somehow and going to try to get things back on normal here. But I just want to keep on trying new genres, new authors. That's something that I've appreciated doing. I'm doing it this month, you know, with a a kind of a mashup genre. I've got I got a horror, I got a sci-fi, I got a fantasy book on there. Just keep on mixing things up.

[00:14:43]I'm still a fantasy channel first and foremost, you know. I just don't want to just keep doing four fantasy books every month because that's when things start to get a little tedious, a little blurred together. I think doing it this way is great. Right. It gives me the opportunity to work on some of these horror books that I want to do more than just October and some of these standalones that I definitely want to tackle. And I'm doing another one uh right now reading The Lovely Bones, you know. So, it's uh it's always fun to step into genres you think you would not read. I think that's what keeps us from getting burned out. At least it keeps me from getting burned out. I think it would for you as well. But the month of April, guys, how was it? I'd love to know what was your book of the month.

[00:15:17]Why don't you go ahead and drop in the comments, guys. Let me know what it was.

[00:15:20]and I will talk to you there.