April’s Reads
Spring is here and it’s time for the April reading round up! The stronger sunlight means I have periods of more, and worse, migraines, so I think my reading habit would have dropped off this month if it wasn’t for the release of the Shivers collection by Amazon. These collections have appeared before, and consist of relatively short stories that are released in both eBook and Audible form straight onto the Kindle Unlimited plan. Using Audible, the tales are perhaps one to two hours each in the telling. Following on from March, I am refusing to allow myself to focus solely on doorstoppers, and am making sure I throw in lots of audio, and also plenty of what I enjoy.
It was back to a very eclectic mix for this month. I managed to fit a true crime non-fiction text in, and enjoyed having this back in the mix. It’s an area of interest for me, I’m a member of WebSleuths, and I like to regularly read up on true crime and cold cases. “The Peepshow” by Kate Summerscale was interesting; it put forward some new ideas on more recent information and evidence, and I found myself watching “10 Rillington Place”, the 1971 film with Richard Attenborough in the role of Reg Christie. This was a real high point; Attenborough is ominous, eerie, and according to The Peepshow, many thought he even looked the part in terms of voice and mannerisms while not quite there in looks. The other non-fiction on the list was “Max Factor”, a biography of the life of the hair and makeup man to Hollywood. It had some great information in that I had no idea about, and while it was not the best or most fun listen/read, this one too led to other things. I went on to watch a number of films and true crime stories from the health and skincare sector, including the film “Skincare” and the Netflix series “Apple Cider Vinegar”. I enjoyed both of these immensely, they ended up being my guilty pleasure for the month.
There were a number of very sweet, short reads on the list in April. One surprise was “Sweet Bean Paste” by Durian Sukegawa. This is a beautiful, relatively short novel that I listened to in one sitting on a particularly poor health day when I could not focus on much else. It tells the story of a very unusual friendship in a dorayaki pancake shop; without giving away the plot, there is not much more I can say. The imagery of good and bad in Japan is lovely, and I thought listening to the audio on this one was especially engaging. You may also have noticed that I have discovered in myself a weakness for Japanese literature.
The best read for April was once more courtesy of “The Books of Horror Book Club” facebook group. Our group read this month, along with some short stories, was “Jawbone” by Monica Ojeda. This is a difficult read; the stream of consciousness chapters from one character in particular are downright hard going, but the reader is rewarded with some jaw(bone)-dropping horror imagery along with some amazing quotes. The world of teenage girls and the brutality of pubescence is reimagined as blood and bones, packaged up in poetic lyricism and then shoved down your throat.
The standout most beautiful and also most unusual thing I read this month is undoubtedly “Orbital” by Samantha Harvey. It’s also taking the prize for the read that most stayed with me. This one is making a splash for itself, having won the Booker Prize for 2024. It absolutely has its haters as well as its lovers, and I really do understand why, but at its purist level this book is just the slow and poetic unfolding of an unusual day in the life. What it probably isn’t is the novel it claims to be; for one thing, there is no actual storyline. The book simply follows a day in the lives of astronauts on a space station. I listened to it through Audible, and found it incredibly relaxing, though I could not listen to it in one go as it was so peaceful it made me drowsy.
A short note here about March’s reads; following my foray into the “The Eyes are the Best Part” last month by Monika Kim, I thought I should mention that I have also bought “Umma: A Korean Mum’s Kitchen Wisdom and 100 Family Recipes” by Nam Soon Ahm. Believe me, I am not searching for eyeball recipes, I was just interested in the Korean food descriptions… I have also been using the little rice cooker I bought myself after reading “Butter” by Asako Yuzuki in March. It may be that I also have a weakness for food in literature!
Finally, I have to give the honourable mentions this month to the two weirdest book club short stories in the list; “The Last Box” by Luigi Musolino, was an absolute horror weird fest that I utterly loved centred in a jaded, poverty stricken circus troupe. “Heavy Rains” by Andrew Nicolle is the first mention I have ever heard of the thoroughly terrifying Bunyip, and I hope to never run into one in any kind of weather, in fact I may just avoid Australia altogether. “Return to the Midnight School” by Atilla Veres then threw the whole concept of horror on its head by visualising the horror as normal and the rest of humanity as strange and uncontrollable. All of these are short stories from larger collections, so I will also look forward to more by these authors in the future.
