What I read in April 2023

I packed a surprising amount of reading into April - 16 books - though one was a re-skim of a BBNYA book I judged in November last year (and therefore wasn’t at liberty to say I’d read at the time) for a review.

It helps that I finally replaced my 11-year-old Kindle, which was freezing so often it was unusable. My new one is so whizzy! So I’ve been playing with my new toy quite a bit.

Writing-wise, I’ve mostly been carrying on the legacy of the 555 Challenge I did in March with lots of micro pieces. As well as writing a 100-word story and a 250-word story for a couple of submissions, I’ve put together a creative non-fiction collage for the next Emotional Madness with Mary-Ann and Mates (16 May!).

Awakenings, Isaac and the Egg, Reach for the Stars, White Cat, Black Dog

Awakenings, by Oliver Sacks - 4*

Isaac and the Egg, by Bobby Palmer - 5*

Reach for the Stars: 1996-2006: Fame, Fallout and Pop’s Final Party, by Michael Cragg - did I know most of the information in this book already? Yes. Was it a joy to read nonetheless? Yes! 5*

White Cat, Black Dog, by Kelly Link - I so wanted to like this more, but too many of the stories went over my head/left me cold. 3*

The Arrow Garden, The Ringmaster, Sorrow and Bliss, Convenience Store Woman

The Arrow Garden, by Andrew J King - 4*

The Ringmaster, by Vanda Symon - good story, but Paul’s behaviour towards women hasn’t aged too well and gave me the ick. 3.5*

Sorrow and Bliss, by Meg Mason - 4.5*

Convenience Store Woman, by Sayaka Murata - 4*

The Sound of Being Human, From Far Around They Saw Us Burn, The Dance Tree, Soul Music

The Sound of Being Human: How music shapes our lives, by Jude Rogers - 4.5*

From Far Around They Saw Us Burn, by Alice Jolly - 4*

The Dance Tree, by Kiran Millwood Hargrave - 4*

Soul Music, by Terry Pratchett - definitely my favourite of the Discworld novels I’ve read so far. 5*

Refusing Compulsory Sexuality, Dust Child, Before the Coffee Gets Cold, Inheriting Her Ghosts

Refusing Compulsory Sexuality: A Black Asexual Lens on Our Sex-Obsessed Culture, by Sherronda J. Brown - 5*

Dust Child, by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai - review coming soon! 4*

Before the Coffee Gets Cold, by Tashikazu Kawaguchi - 4*

Inheriting Her Ghosts, by S. H. Cooper - BBNYA re-skim, review coming soon! 4*

Looking ahead…

Hallucinations, Hogfather, Things We Say in the Dark, The Last Remains

This month, I’ll be continuing my journey through Oliver Sacks and Terry Pratchett’s books with Hallucinations and Hogfather.

Any new Elly Griffiths book works its way around my whole household, and it’ll soon be my turn with The Last Remains, the last Dr Ruth Galloway book (for now).

Short stories are never far from my mind, and Kirsty Logan sounds right up my street. I’m starting with Things We Say in the Dark.

Alice Violett's Picture

About Alice Violett

Writer of blogs and short stories, reader of books, player of board games, lover of cats, editor of web content, haver of PhD.

Colchester, UK https://www.draliceviolett.com