April Wrap Up & May TBR

So far, 2021 has just been going so fast. It’s really freaking me out that it’s the end of April already and the start of May. I swear it was February a couple of days ago? And yet, it’s the start of May. And the start of a month means another wrap up/TBR post! As usual, I’ve not read loads this month, thanks to work keeping me busy, but I have been keeping on top of my reading. Let’s do a quick stat check!

April TBR: 6
Books read in April: 6
Books left on the TBR: 0

A perfect reading month, then? Let’s take a dive into what I read.

1. Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston. 4 stars.
   I received this one in my first Feminist Book Box, and I’m really glad that it was one of the books picked! I was dimly aware of this one, but it was very much on my periphery. When I received it in the box, and read the blurb, I was pretty certain it was one that I was going to enjoy, and I really did! It’s a different read to anything else I’ve read, which was refreshing. It’s a dialgoue heavy, dialect book, with great character arcs. Find my review here.
2. [AD, PR product]. Fifty Sounds – Polly Barton. 4 stars.
   I was sent a free copy of this book by the publisher, Fitzcarraldo Editions, for review purposes. This essay collection/memoir by Polly Barton intertwines her own personal life with her career as a translator, and with the Japanese language. More specifically, with the onomatopoeic aspect of Japanese, which is extensive and fascinating. If you’re someone who’s interested in linguistics, Japanese culture, or just into memoirs, I definitely recommend you read this book, and also my full review of it!
3. Missing – Alison Moore. 3 stars.
   This one let me down a bit, because I had interpreted as a thriller, and it wasn’t really a thriller, just psychological fiction. While this was an enjoyable read, I felt like it wasn’t long enough to really dive deep into its themes or character arcs, which let it down. You can find my full review here.
4. The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath. 4.5 stars.
   I knew that this was going to be a heavy read dealing with mental health issues when I picked it up, but I wasn’t prepared to find it as brilliant as I did. Plath really puts herself and her own experiences into this book, and it pays off. Esther’s character is well-rounded and believable, and nothing about the mental health issues is romanticised. Find my review here.
5. Soho – Richard Scott. 3.5 stars.
   While I did enjoy this poetry collection, I didn’t love it. It wasn’t really my style of poetry, and I felt like it became repetitive due to the length. I’m starting to think that on balance I prefer anthologies to collections to avoid the sense of repetitiveness that I seem to often get with collections!
6. Republic – Plato. Unrated.
   I’m not rating this because it’s a philosophy text, so I was reading it from a very different perspective. It’s definitely something I feel like I need to reread (and maybe annotate?) to truly absorb. It’s a really thought-provoking read, and it’s given me a lot to think about. It hasn’t put me entirely off reading more of the Greeks though, so there’s that!

May TBR

How is it May already? Ugh. Anyway, here’s my TBR for this month!

1. Kindred – Octavia E. Butler.
2. A Woman of No Importance – Sonia Purnell.
3. Strange Hotel – Eimear McBride.
4. Good Morning, Midnight – Lucy Brooks-Dalton.
5. Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen (LGC Book Club).
6. Ducks, Newburyport – Lucy Ellmann. I’m not planning to finish this in May, but I want to start it!