Not sure why I read 22 books in April but I did find some tremendous reads to recommend

Added: 2026-05-16

[00:00:00]Hi there, book. It's Ros. It's the beginning of May and time I did a wrap-up of the things I read in April.

[00:00:06]Now, there is a slight problem with that in that I actually somewhat crazily finished 22 books in April. I'm not quite sure how that happened. There was Easter and holiday and things like that and some of them are short. Anyway, in order to um make it feasible to fit them in one video, I'm going to try and make this really light touch and not repeat things that I've already talked about in other videos. And I'm not going to wave any [clears throat] books around. Um I will put all the authors and titles and translators if appropriate in the um description of the video. I will try and do time stamp timestamps and um if I if I'm you know read things with someone or as part of a reading event I'll I'll stick that in the description but not to talk too much about that. So obviously April's reading for me was particularly dominated by biography and memoir and so on because I was hosting people April and um one thing I did was I read five graphic memoirs and of those five all were good and three were excellent um including my favorite stitches by David Small and the rather extraordinary um pulit are winning feeding goat posts by Tessa Hulls, but all five of those are described in a standalone video which I will link to in the description. Now, I also made a pupil April video about truth in memoirs and how much does it matter to me and how much does it matter to you and in that I say well I need to really about um the Billy Holiday memoir Lady Sings the Blues. Um, I also talked about a woman of first by um, Edna Aden Ismael in that video, but that was such a fascinating um, life story and had so much in it about the recent history of Somalia and Somali land that I will make a a separate video about um, Ismael and um, and you know what she talks about in that book when I've had a chance to do a bit more reading around the sort of historical political social context um for her memoir. So that that will come that is also the case for Sey Shell's global citizen by James Mansion which was a memoir of the um first president of the Sey Shells and um again it's a book I read for my Scaland project of reading books by authors from every country in the world. This one needs a bit of thought before I make um that standalone video, although I will because, you know, I'm not sure how fully I trust Mansion's sort of version of I think I trust his version of himself, but not necessarily his version of Sey Shell's sort of history and politics of the late 20th, mid to late 20th and early 21st century. So, I will come back to that in another video.

[00:03:07]Meanwhile, I've also been reading um books that are on the international booker short list. And each one as I read, I will be making or am making a sort of short spoiler-free video. And I did that for the one that I read in April, which was um She Who Remains by Renee Carabash um which is translated by Isidora Angel. That is an odd but really rather wonderful book set in this remote mountain community in Albania, although the author is Bulgarian. Anyway, I will link to the video for that in the show notes if if that sort of spiked your interest a little, and it should. So, let's talk about the other 13 books which haven't featured elsewhere. Now, two of them are not strictly speaking books really because they're sagas, Icelandic sagas. So, um, every year I read a saga or two as part of this rather lovely little reading event called Sagalong. Um, I'll I'll mention the hosts in or or a couple of them in in the notes so that if you're intrigued, you can find out more about about Sagalong, but I read um the two that were chosen for this year. The saga of uh Franco's Frasi and translated by Terry Gunnel and the saga of the confederates translated by Ruth Ellison. Now both of these are quite short quite accessible sagas um sort of more accessible than some others that I've read although also in some ways perhaps less exciting. I don't know.

[00:04:42]Icelandic sagas what are they? They were written in the 13th century but telling sort of semihistorical stories um sort of almost like sort of oral history of um events and people from the 9th, 10th and 11th centuries um mostly about the settlement of Iceland. Um, and they are a wonderful window into the Norse world.

[00:05:10]Um, and you know, loyal stories, they're stories of loyalty and betrayal and blood feuds and wealth and trading and adventures and [gasps] and family relationships and hearts log farming in Iceland. Um, if you've never read an Iceland or a saga generally, um, it's an experience, something every every reader should experience at least once, I think. Um, I wouldn't especially recommend those two, um, as as a starting point. I mean, they'd work fine because they are relatively accessible.

[00:05:47][gasps] Now, I read two Victorian novels this month, and I'm reading two Victorian novels most months at the moment because I'm taking part in two Victorian related readalongs. Uh, neglected Victorian bestsellers and um, uh, uh, um, the novels of Thomas Hardy. Now, I had never heard of the Victorian author uh, James Payne before I read Lost Massing um, his his first novel, but I can see why it was a bestseller in 1864. and also maybe why it's kind of become neglected since.

[00:06:22]But, you know, it it's not it's no Dickens or Gascal or whatever, but it's lots of fun. Um, it's quite funny. It's quite gripping. There's a little bit of mystery involved. Um, you know, so not great literature, but a really good read. and um uh quite a nice authoral voice, you know, a bit like Trolop, you know, sort of dipping in and and sort of commenting on on on the story as he's writing it. [sighs and gasps] The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy is is great literature, I would say. Um, it's a reread for me or was um uh and it's we're reading Thomas Hardy's novels in order and we're getting to his sort of later later novels and absolute prime period I think from from my point of view. In fact, you know, I I really don't understand why The Woodlanders is less wellknown and less less often read than books like Tess or or The Mayor of Caster Bridge or Far from the Maddening Crowd because, you know, I think it is a wonderful novel. Absolutely one of my favorites by Hardy.

[00:07:29]I think one of the reasons it particularly appeals to me is the woodland setting. Partly because it it plays to Hardy's strength in in describing the natural world and its beauties. Um, but also sort of details of rural life and the the the rural economy of the woodlands, you know, the the trades, the crafts, the the the you know, what what people did and sold and made in 19th century um woods.

[00:07:58]It being Hardy, we have a couple of kind of troubled love triangles. we have um plenty of coincidences in the plots or or or or sort of little decisions or or actions that characters make that turn out to have sort of unforeseen but dire consequences in their lives. Um, it's got strong women characters as ever that come up against the the limitations of the position of women in in 19th century England and and that's always one of the sort of enjoyable elements of of a hardy novel for me and a suitably sort of um tragic ending because you know we love a hardy tragic ending. Now the people April group read also looks very much um at the position of women in society but in 18th century England rather 19th century and um it was blue stockings by um Susanna Gibson uh came out in 2024 she's a Irish historian I think um the readers in the people April um dis group read discussion on on the discord server all agreed that it was a great choice for a group read. Um, some of us enjoyed it more than others. I really enjoyed it and and most people did, but you know, others were were were were sort of less sure, but we all agreed that there was just loads to learn and loads to capture your interest, loads to discuss and and lots of sort of fascinating rabbit holes to disappear down having as you read the book and and got sort of um intrigued by the different themes because Gibson writes it um in thematic chapters although she's following the the the lives telling us the lives nine maybe 10 um women. Some who were close friends, some were sort of more loosely interconnected, but uh mostly upper class or sort of up middle class.

[00:09:58]Um but all who had really inquiring minds and wanted the opportunity to use those those inquiring minds um despite 18th century expectations of women that that sort of went against that.

[00:10:14]I um I I like the way she used that thematic structure to sort of dip in and out of their lives and she'd sort of home in on a couple of them in each chapter. We got horrifying details of of of in the chapters about marriage and motherhood. Um you know definitely made me grateful to be a 20th 20th century woman not an 18th century one. Um but was quite inspired by other chapters and you know the ones on love and friendship and independence and and and and you know by what they achieved whilst also at times being so disappointed in perhaps some of the decisions they made or or or or how they were thwarted um but almost like thwarted themselves sometimes but because of the constraints on them. um a a a warm recommendation for me as a as a group good example of a group biography that that that works well. [sighs] The other non-fiction book I read this month um was sort of People April adjacent I suppose because it was buried um by Alice Roberts and um this is a an alternative history of the first millennium of of Britain um through looking at graves, burials, cemeteries, you know, individual sort of sets of human remains and the context they they've been found in through by through through by archaeologists. So looking at, you know, who the people were that lived in in Britain between sort of 1 BC and a th00and BC, one one BC and how did they live? You know, what were their lives like? Really interesting book. Alice Roberts is so good at that sort of thing. That's why I keep coming back to her work. It was also a choice for histoathon for me, that book. Now our reading the globe choice for April was um in the classic Strand and it's a Hungarian modern classic um from 1942 Embers by Sandor Marai. I read the English translation by Carol Brown Janeway. I was a little disconcerted to find that it was a secondhand translation as in Janeway um uh translated the German translation, not the not she didn't go direct to the original Hungarian.

[00:12:35]Not entirely sure why, but the English translation is quite well thought of, I think, and it certainly made for a very successful book. Very fluent, very um atmospheric, very very enjoyable um to read. It's it's um an engaging book despite and this came up in the discussion in in in the reading the globe um uh discord server um that you know not a lot happens in the book and yet you're really kind of caught up in it partly because it is so atmospheric. I mean it it's really took it's really one day the action of the book takes part plays place over one day and most of it actually kind of like a siloquy by one of the two men that in in in in the story it it's it's set in a a Hungarian castle mansion thing kind of in the forest you know um and maybe in the I think probably in the late 30s, early 1940s. Uh, but the story it tells of the two men that meet in in in the story, it's really about their lives, their youth, their friendship back in the day.

[00:13:59]um and uses that to sort of almost give a sort of a a validictory description of the AustroHungarian Empire and and and how people lived and in in the upper classes um the officer class, the sort of um friendship, loyalty, honor, love, all all those themes. Um really a a fine novel and as I say a good translation if it is a translation of a translation. Um really glad I read it. Oh music has a key role in the book which is interesting.

[00:14:38]Now another backlist novel that I read or or or kind of classic of a sort was um a British one pointed rose by Darthy Richardson which was published in 1915.

[00:14:49]Um it we now probably call it autofiction I think because the author is is more or less retelling in a slightly fictionalized version um or the events of um uh about 6 months in her life when she was in at the very end of her teens. Um so young woman who who who who took a job uh as a as a teacher sort of like a student teacher in a small um private school in Germany. So she English girl goes to Germany um and um it's the book for which the term stream of consciousness was coined originally.

[00:15:28]Um, and our our young quite naive, not always likable narrator gives an almost sort of blowby-blow [clears throat] account of her thoughts and feelings as as as she travels to Germany and as she's there and and her attempts at teaching and her how she feels about fitting in or not fitting in and and and how that eventually comes to an end.

[00:15:51][gasps] I buddy read it with um Joe Smith, the um uh book commenter extraordinaire, and we both had the same kind of response to the book of of really liking it, enjoying it, finding it intriguing, but not being absolutely bowled over by it.

[00:16:09]Now, um, Point of Ruse is the first in a sequence of 14 novels by Richardson known as Pilgrimage that all kind of follow through um, her sort of the earlier sort of her her her late youth and young adulthood. And I think it's fair to say that although I'm very glad I read this one, I'm not planning on reading the other 13, I think.

[00:16:32][sighs and gasps] Now, another book that I liked a lot but was not absolutely wowed by, I suppose, is The Inheritance by um Cavary Madavan.

[00:16:43]Um came out in 2024. She's a Irish author of sort of Indian descent.

[00:16:50]It's set in the extreme west of Ireland um where Madavan actually lives. Um, and in contrast to Pointed Roofs, this is a book that I would happily recommend to anyone, you know, um, because it's it's it's not a it's not an amazing book, but it's a lovely story. It's very readable.

[00:17:12]It's engaging. It's it's not overly challenging, but but but nevertheless interesting and quite quite, you know, quite quite touching. Um, it's, as I say, set in the far west of Ireland in the mid1 1980s, but with a a kind of like a a a side story um in the same area of Ireland in set in6002 when um there were some sort of dramatic and tragic events uh caused by the sort of oppressive colonization project of um Queen Elizabeth the 1 of England in Ireland at that time, probably less les well known than the the than the sort of Oliver Cromwell um years and and the impact that they had but yeah equally sort of awful. The two stories intertwine of course and we get a kind of sweet but sad resolution of one and a sort of a sweet but happy resolution of of of the other. Um I read it with um Priscilla the evening reader and Sarah Roadworthy and we all felt you know it was a solidly good book that we enjoyed reading. Now, the third kind of backlisty book um that I read uh this month was um a Japanese one and so a more recent more recent backlist than the other than um Pointed Ruse or or Embers because it was originally published in Japan in 1988 and the translation by Megan Bakus came out in I think 2006 but it it's still very much um u in in you know in publication you know new editions keep coming out and because it's it's a very much loved book by many people. I've heard loads of love for it on on book and and elsewhere for for the author and for this particular novel. And I think because of that, I went into it with really high expectations and and as a result, I think I was slightly disappointed or underwhelmed.

[00:19:15]But I, as I say, I think maybe that was my fault for for almost it had almost been overhyped in my mind, I think, because, you know, it's a lovely um book about grief and loss and and love and and unconventional love and different forms of love and and death and and mortality and and yeah, [snorts] it it's quite poetic. Um it it's intense and you know there's it's talking about kind of quite extreme emotions but not in a melodramatic kind of way. It has that lovely um approach of of giving almost quite quite kind of detailed physical descriptions of things or descriptions of little scenes that almost work almost work kind of metaphorically for the emotions of of of the book. um some of the sentence in in it absolutely gorgeous really good translation but I felt I don't know a little distanced from it I I'm not sure why you know other people describe it as a heartbreaking story to read and you been moved to tears and I you know and and that that wasn't my experience but as I say that may have been me and because of my my expectations now I'm going to wind up by talking about two plays and a collection of poetry and I'm going to start with the collection of poetry And that was a truly heartbreaking read for me. Uh yeah, extraordinarily moving.

[00:20:44]Um it's called Adam. Uh it's a collection by uh Gaboa Aubanjo who's a British poet of Nigerian origin. Um or sort of heritage, shall I say. Um what what a brilliant collection. Came out in 2024. Um it's inspired by a true story.

[00:21:06]Um, awful story. Um, in 2001, the torso of a of a young black child was was washed up. Um, on the banks of the rivers and his true identity was was never discovered. Um, the police called him Adam, hence the Adam of the title.

[00:21:28]Um, continues to be an unsolved murder. sort of 20 years on in 2021, there were quite a few sort of news stories sort of reflecting on the fact that Adam's murder had never been solved. And I think that's when um Ojubenjo sort of heard the story and it obviously kind of struck a chord for him and he wrote this collection of poetry that draws on Euruba culture but also the Genesis myth and and also sort of reflections on on black lives in in Britain I guess and migrant experiences or experiences of racism. Um, and he gives Adam sort of possible lives, possible pasts, possible futures.

[00:22:15]Beautiful, beautiful, and say heart-rending at times.

[00:22:21]He's a really accomplished poet, I think. Um, tragically this was actually published postumously in 2024 because Ajubango um drowned himself in in um 2023 thought this was an accident. He was um at a festival Shambala um where he was going to perform and but it's a bit of a mystery how he came to drown. Um really recommend it if you if you like um modern poetry. Um, and yeah, you're up for something that is quite quite quite a sad read.

[00:23:01]Now, I'm going to finish with the two plays that I read, and they are both a bit odd. Um, bit unusual. Um, but one is from 2010, and the other was from 405 B.CE. And uh starting with the modern one uh that was uh in the next room or the vibrator play uh by American playwright Sarah Rule. It was the choice for endless drama from uh led by Angelia of Reed and Reread. It's a kind of fictionalized version of um sort of semi sort of true um uh story um about the early use of electric vibrators um as electricity was sort of coming to be um commonly sort of used and available in the 1880s and um how vibrators were used by doctors at that time in America and and in Europe um to treat sort of hysterical complaints as they were seen, you know, lethargy and depression and so on, particularly in women. Um and rule kind of latches on to this rather sort of odd history of of of of the invention use of the vibrator and uses it to write a comedy that looks at kind of sex and and and sexual sexual politics. Um, critics loved it when it came out and, you know, it's still being performed. It didn't quite work for me if I'm honest. I I found the characters curiously kind of flat or unconvincing.

[00:24:45]Strangely enough, Uripides writing in 405 BCE um managed to write characters that I found a lot more kind of vivid and convincing in psychologically um the the the came to life for me. Um and um in the back eye which is a very dark play that was actually um again aostumous uh kind of publication. Well, it was performed um just after Europe died. Um and we're very lucky that it's one of the plays that we we still have that survived um through being multiply copied over the centuries um the millennia since then.

[00:25:30]Um there is a a section of 50 lines missing alas around 50 lines we think.

[00:25:35]Um it's a dark dark story uh a tragedy although with elements of comedy as as Greek tragedies tend to have um that looks at hubris you know the the the the awful mistake the full hardiness of not adequately respecting the gods um and but also you know introduces us to um the the the bakanalian rituals um that were that made up the the worship of Dianisis. Um, absolute stunner. I read with Angelia. Definitely um one to read if you are interested in Greek drama.

[00:26:16]Now, that was a a a whistle stop tour of my glorious April um reading. I hope your April was equally good. I would love to hear about it. And also, you know, any thoughts you have on any of the books that I've talked about in in in this video.