What i read in April..

Hey bambinos, did April treat you like a lady? It's been good here. We drank us up some hot lemon and ginger water, watched a bunch of Castle, listened hard to Sufjan's latest, Sian did some tarot and yoga, I got some new stripey 1966-style trousers, we did a readathon, and I ended up having a really good reading month. It started off not so great and got better, and by the end i'd pretty much got my groove back reading-wise. Reading ruts suck so bad, sometimes it feels like you're deliberately choosing letdowns just to hurt yourself, like eating Yum Yum Instant Noodles when you're craving soul food. We just watched the movie Soul Food..

(here's what Sian read...)

 

Grosse Pointe Girl by Sarah Grace McCandless

This was cute and i especially liked the scooby-doo-esque illustrations.

We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach

I obviously bought this one because it's got a great cover and some Joanna Newsom lyrics at the beginning, and who can blame me? Me. I can. It was kinda shit. 

Mira Corpora by Jeff Jackson

I don't remember much about this. Though it did leave a sour unsatisfying taste in my mouth. See Yum Yum Noodles above.

Turtle Moon by Alice Hoffman

Seriously, you can't beat 90's Hoffman - hypnotic, vivid writing full of downbeat real life, magic and revelation.

The Ponder Heart by Eudora Welty

Delightful short comic novel of the American South, told with sass and a whole heap of enthusiasm. 

The Vet's Daughter by Barbara Comyns

A great and peculiar novel which showcases Comyns' unique mix of grim Dickensian reality (female oppression) and very British magical stuff (levitation). Reminded me of Edward Gorey and those 60's toytown pop songs about grocers and flowershop ladies. 

Fadeout by Joseph Hansen

What a find! Wonderful ultra-70's West Coast noir. The Brandstetter mysteries were apparently one of the first to highlight strong openly gay characters in what was (and still is) a heavily hetty genre. This first one was so great. 

The Red Box by Rex Stout

This was what i read for the 24-hour readathon (which sian and i interpreted to include naps and full-on sleeps). My first Nero Wolfe (i got this out of the library) and despite being maybe a little too long i really found it charming and funny. Who doesn't love a bit of cyanide poisoning? 

Jerusalem The Golden by Margaret Drabble

A very decent novel from 1967, about a girl who goes to London to escape an unloved Northern childhood. A real character-study, packed with moral complexities, depth and ambiguity, and some Bohemian types with great clothes and hair.