What I read in April 2026
Another nine-book month. Music and magic kept coming up as themes, which was a happy little accident rather than anything intentional.
Writing-wise, I was actually fairly productive, for a change! I mean, I had to get something down for Emotional Madness in June, and what I came up with still needs a little work, but I’m not worried about it. I also went to the first of three Writing with Images workshops at the University of Essex, which gave me a “way in” to a piece of non-fiction I’ve been needing to start.
The Map of Lost Places, edited by Sheree Renée Thomas and Lesley Conner - 3.5*
Midnight in Chernobyl, by Adam Higginbotham - 4.5*
The Ossians, by Doug Johnstone - 4.5*
Them Girls, by Eva Verde - looking forward to meeting the author at The Writers Room next month! 4.5*
The Night Ship, by Jess Kidd - thought I’d finally get to one of the oldest unread books on my eReader. 4*
Daisy Jones and the Six, by Taylor Jenkins Reid - another book I’d been sitting on for a while. 4*
Somewhere Beyond the Sea, by TJ Klune - 4.5*
The Bone Mother, by Suzy Aspley - 4*
Hemlock and Silver, by T. Kingfisher. The first book I’ve read of hers and it was so spooky and so delightful, I’m in love. 5*
Looking ahead…
Well, now I feel the need to devour T. Kingfisher’s entire back catalogue. Starting with Nettle and Bone for no other reason than that it was 99p.
Speaking of offers… I’ve recently come into possession of all the books I was missing from the City Watch strand of Discworld, so I should probably get cracking on that. Hence, Men at Arms is another book I hope to read this month.
I’m also planning to make inroads into Philip Fracassi’s ouevre, and The Third Rule of Time Travel particularly appeals to me because, well, time travel.
A new Ray Newman short story collection is always a good time, so I’m hoping to read Thin Places in Hard Concrete sooner rather than later.