Reading is my oldest and favorite hobby. I literally can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t love to curl up with a good book. Here are my reads for April, 2021.
The Iliad, by Homer – Reading Homer’s epic poem of the Trojan War seemed like a good way to begin National Poetry Month. It was certainly an undertaking! I loved the gods of Olympus and their squabbles; was less delighted by the gleeful gore of the war scenes. Fully reviewed (for the Classics Club) here.
Ten Poems About Walking, selected by Sasha Dugdale – These “instead of a card” collections from Candlestick Press are so much fun; what a total delight to read a handful of carefully selected poems on an appealing topic. Ten Poems About Walking ranges from classics of the form to more modern selections, and it’s a lovely, balanced collection.
Williams Wordsworth, selected by Seamus Heaney – I’ve been wanting to read more of the classic nature poets, and Wordsworth is the grandfather of them all, so I figured I’d begin with him. The language took some getting used to, but it was lovely to spend a day with him. (I suspect I’d like Dorothy Wordsworth’s Grasmere Journals even more…)
Ten Poems for Spring, selected by Katharine Towers – Spring is my fourth favorite season, as I’ve often said, but reading beautiful poems about blossoming and budding and the awakening of the earth does help. This was a very nice and well-balanced selection.
The Odyssey, by Homer – I enjoyed this much more than The Iliad – not sure if it was the plot (high seas adventure with monsters beats war any day) or the translation, which was modern and crisp. (And it doesn’t hurt that Emily Wilson is – I think? – the first woman to translate The Odyssey.) There was a little gore, because Homer’s gotta Homer, but it wasn’t near the levels of The Iliad, and the story moved more quickly, too. Fully reviewed (for the Classics Club) here.
Ten Poems About Birds, selected by Katharine Towers – After Homer, something short and sweet is called for, and another Candlestick Press selection delivered. I am a bird nerd, as you all know very well by now, and apparently birds are one of the classic subjects of nature poetry. Good for meeeeeeee…
The Heir Affair (The Royal We #2), by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan – Needing a break from iambic pentameter, etc., and some brain candy, I turned to the library stack and The Heir Affair, the follow-up to 2015’s The Royal We. In this second installment of the adventures of Nick, Bex, and Freddie, the authors depart from the strict Will and Kate fanfiction and head off in a different direction. It’s fun and unexpected. I loved Nick and Bex, as usual, and Princess Daphne made for a delightful new addition to the gang. The best, though, was Bex getting Queen Eleanor into baseball. “Young man, you may suck it.” I snorted.
Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill (Betsy-Tacy #3), by Maud Hart Lovelace – Peanut and I are continuing our read-through of the first four Betsy-Tacy books (I think we’ll table the series when the girls get to high school, for now anyway, since the plots are a bit beyond second grade). This is a sweet one – Betsy, Tacy and Tib explore beyond their usual haunts and stumble across a rich community of Syrian immigrants, which broadens everyone’s horizons.
A Bite of the Apple: A Life with Books, Writers, and Virago, by Lennie Goodings – As a confirmed fan of Virago – especially the Virago Modern Classics line – I was really interested to read this history of the company by one of its longest-tenured employees. Parts of the book were excellent (I particularly enjoyed Goodings’ memories of her interactions with Virago writers like Marilynne Robinson, Margaret Atwood, and Maya Angelou) but it could be dry and dragging at other times. Glad I read it, but don’t see myself returning to it for re-reads.
Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver, by Mary Oliver – I’m not someone who simply has to read Mary Oliver as a spring ritual, but I really enjoy her poetry and it does pair well with the spring season and National Poetry Month. My mom gave me this volume – a sampling of poems from all of Oliver’s books going back to the 1960s, selected by the poet herself – for Christmas a few years ago and I finally sat down with it and read it all the way through. I loved it – of course. So many Oliver classics here, but also many that I had never read before. Of course, “Humpbacks” was my favorite.
Spring Magic, by D.E. Stevenson – What a way to end the month! I think this stand-alone novel was my favorite read of the month. It’s something of a Cinderella story – Frances Field, downtrodden and lonely, escapes a life of drudgery as unpaid companion to a demanding aunt and flees to Scotland for a vacation. In Scotland, she encounters eccentric locals and a group of vivacious military wives and their husbands – and one unattached officer, Guy Tarlatan. Romance buds, hijinks and misunderstandings follow. Frances is a delight, her friends are such fun, and the setting and story are captivating.
What a month! I started it out all-poetry, all-the-time. Loved it, although by mid-month I was ready for a change. Highlights were end-loaded; the best two books of the month were the last two I read – Devotions and Spring Magic. Very different, but equally wonderful. I’m looking ahead to a good month of reading in May; really hoping the tree pollen will clear up so I can log some reading hours in the backyard.
What did you read in April?
covered in flour 