All About Books discussion

What are you planning to read in April? Anything you're looking forward to?

My plans for April:

finish up from last month:
1. The Conference of the Birds (Attar of Nishapur)

very likely:
✔ 1. Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir (Akwaeke Emezi) ★★★★ (4.5)
✔ 2. Heart of a Dog (Mikhail Bulgakov) ★★★★ (4.0)
✔ 3. Ymir (Rich Larson) ★★★★ (4.0)
✔ 4. Brick Lane (Monica Ali) ★★★★ (3.5)

probably:
1. Wives and Daughters (Elizabeth Gaskell)
in progress 2. The Library at Mount Char (Scott Hawkins)

possibly:
1. Queen of Sorcery (David Eddings)
2. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (Arthur Conan Doyle)
3. Daisy Jones & The Six (Taylor Jenkins Reid)
4. The Symposium (Plato)
5. Lean Fall Stand (Jon McGregor)

unplanned:
✔ 1. The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (Michael Moorcock) ★★★★ (4.0)
✔ 2. A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings (Gabriel García Márquez) ★★★★★ (4.5)
✔ 3. Flowers of Evil and Other Works/Les Fleurs du Mal et Oeuvres Choisies : A Dual-Language Book (Dover Foreign Language Study Guides) (Charles Baudelaire) ★★★ (3.5)
✔ 4. The Deep (Rivers Solomon) ★★★ (2.5)

Hmmmm....

I plan to read our group read Kindred in audiobook.

Most likely I will reread John MacNab by John Buchan & perhaps get to The Dancing Floor too (books 2 & 3 in the Edward Leithen series).

I will read a bunch of mysteries but who knows which. I have been on a George Bellairs kick recently so probably more Inspector Littlejohn books.

I also want to read Washington Square by Henry James and maybe Roxana by Daniel Defoe.

And some sci fi or fantasy will probably be read too. Maybe a reread of Isaac Asimov's Foundation series or maybe something new to me...

Hopefully:

Nita Prose The Maid Read
Octavia E. Butler Kindred Read
František Langer Leggende praghesi Read
Federico Maria Rivalta Un ristretto in tazza grande Read
Josephine Winslow Johnson Now in November Read

Louise Penny A World of Curiosities Reading now
Allegra Groppelli Che il mondo ti somigli Reading now
Friedrich Dürrenmatt Il giudice e il suo boia Reading now
Elizabeth Peters Crocodile on the Sandbank Reading now

Juan Gómez-Jurado Il paziente
Joyce Maynard Labor Day
Margaret Powell Below Stairs
Winston Graham Demelza
But not in this order (and probably not all of them!!!)

Greg - I love Wives and Daughters! I hope you do too.

Leslie wrote: "Greg - I love Wives and Daughters! I hope you do too."

Great great book!!! My favourite by her, even more than North and South or Cranford

I have to wait for my book game's theme but I will definitely read Kindred.

and maybe...

... fiction:
Good Girl, Bad Girl
Orphan X
Old Bones

... nonfiction:
The Lost City of the Monkey God
Ohne Rücksicht auf Verluste: Wie BILD mit Angst und Hass die Gesellschaft spaltet
The Patriarchs: How Men Came to Rule
Sexy But Psycho: How the Patriarchy Uses Women’s Trauma Against Them

Leslie wrote: "Greg - I love Wives and Daughters! I hope you do too."

Good to hear Laura and Leslie!!

Laura, I will be interested in seeing how you like the latest Louise Penny, A World of Curiosities. And is this the first time you are reading Crocodile on the Sandbank?? If so, you have a treat in store! I like the whole series but this first one is my favorite.

Leslie wrote: "Laura, I will be interested in seeing how you like the latest Louise Penny, A World of Curiosities. And is this the first time you are reading Crocodile on the Sandbank..."

The very first time! Hope so then.
And about the latest work of Penny (writer that I know thanks to Petra, who years ago sent me her first Still Life straight from Canada!!!) I'm keeping it: I've loved the previuous one, The Madness of Crowds, and I'm looking forward seeing this. Hoping she'll write another one soon!!!

2 more books for my list:
Madame Bovary, which I have tried to read a few times before. I am determined to finish it this time or give it up forever!

and
A Tale of a Tub by Jonathan Swift.

I just realized this morning that April is National Poetry Month here in the U.S. so I should add a book of poems to my list. Problem is that I don't know which one to choose! Any suggestions would be appreciated. I am also going to post this in the poetry chat thread so apologies in advance for the duplication.

Leslie wrote: "I just realized this morning that April is National Poetry Month here in the U.S. so I should add a book of poems to my list. Problem is that I don't know which one to choose! Any suggestions would..."

Hi Leslie, sorry about the long delay - this has been a pretty stressful work week with all the things Ron needed and all the things my work needed. I have felt a little like that baby in the Solomon story.

Have you read Philip Levine before? His poems are accessible and moving, lots of poems about working class life in Detroit.

And if you want to go in a completely opposite direction, not too long ago I read a book of poetry by Wendell Berry, and I just loved it so much! His poetry combines spirituality and a deep love for the natural world. Sabbaths was the one I read, but I'm suspecting that many of his books of poetry will be similar - he wrote a whole series of books in that vein.

I'm trying to recommend poets that you might not have read many times already. But among the more familiar choices, I re-read a wonderful book of poetry Fully Empowered by Pablo Neruda recently. One of my favorites! But I figured you had already read him before many times, and it might be hard to find a good translation - there are some clunky translations out there; I really like the translation I linked, and it's dual language with the Spanish on the left and the translated English on the right. That's always an extra bonus!