I haven’t read much in the last month as I’m going through a non-fiction phase and these books don’t have the narrative drive required to persuade me to read for long periods of time. Instead I’ve just been dipping into them for the odd chapter here or there, learning lots but not reading for the entire evening. I’m going to try to read a more varied selection of books next month, so hopefully I’ll be back to my usual reading levels.
My stand-out read in April was The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanigahara. If you like to delve into the minds of the more unsavoury members of our society then this is for you – it is guaranteed to make you feel slightly uncomfortable!
Book of the Month
Books Reviewed in April:
The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanigahara 
My Age of Anxiety by Scott Stossel 
Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng 
The House We Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell
Plans for May
I’m lucky enough to have been invited to the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize Award Ceremony, so I plan to read as many of the shortlist as possible before the winner is announced on 27th May.
The shortlist is:
- The End of Days by Jenny Erpenbeck
translated from the German by Susan Bernofsky
- In the Beginning Was the Sea by Tomás González
translated from the Spanish by Frank Wynne
- F by Daniel Kehlmann
translated from the German by Carol Brown Janeway
- By Night The Mountain Burns by Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel
translated from the Spanish by Jethro Soutar
- While the Gods Were Sleeping by Erwin Mortier
translated from the Dutch by Paul Vincent
- Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by by Haruki Murakami
translated from the Japanese by Philip Gabriel
I also hope to read/review most of these (many of which I’ve already started/nearly finished):
Out in the Open by Jesús Carrasco
Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin
An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
I hope that you have a fantastic May!
(review coming soon) and 
and plan to read the rest of the shortlist soon:
in my car and 
is my book club’s choice this month and 
and I’m loving it! It combines survival and great science – two of my favourite subjects. I hope to have a review up soon.
. It’s really good so far, but I’m a bit worried the magical realism is going to take over. I’ll let you know how I found it soon.
, to read in advance of the evening. I’m looking forward to hearing him speak, but after seeing the dangerous trips he enjoys I am really glad I’m not his wife!
(I’ve nearly finished this chunkster and it is amazing!)
.
, but I love reading German books so may squeeze in a few more.
