This past April is mainly the moment of no return when it comes to spring semester. Papers are abound and finals are sneaking up over my shoulder to freak me out when I would rather be doing anything but staying up late in a computer lab.
Luckily this April I managed to read five new books.
To start the April season off, I read Winter of Artifice by Anais Nin which is a collection of three novellas including "Stella," "Winter of Artifice," and "The Voice." I got my copy at a used bookstore back in the fall and have been picking it up whenever I don't know what else to read. Finally, I have actually read it in its full entirety. I have been meaning to read more Anais Nin even though I still really enjoy her diaries so far more than the actual stories. May have to give each type of writing a reread.
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion has been one of my big reads this past month. Mostly because it took me much longer than the usual book to finish even though that is not unusual for within the school year.
It was overall really good, the writing even more so. I can see why Joan Didion has become such a well-known writer. Her phrasing captures attention as she tells the story of the year after her husband died, going through love, loss, and most of all the ongoing of life.
For class, I was assigned the poetry book, The Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded by Molly McCully Brown. I enjoyed it so much more than I thought I would with it being assigned reading which for some reason always rubs me the wrong way.
Brown's poetry has such a strong sense of voice and place throughout as it describes the well researched State Colony hospital that she connects to possibly being a part of had been born in another time.
Blossoming in Provence by Kristin Espinasse was another book I ended up reading mostly for class though it was more welcomed since I have been trying to get into the France travel mood. It is in the form of blog posts in a sense with a glossary of french words she used in each chapter which was very helpful, as well as conversationally entertaining. Her blog is French Word a Day.
Hunger by Roxane Gay was my first books I took out of the school library that I haven't been using as well I should have been all year it appears. In case you didn't know, they have actually GOOD books at the library. Shocker, right?
I have never read anything by Roxane Gay even though I have been meaning to. This chronicles her life involving food and what drives her hunger both physical and creatively metaphorical. She is not one to hide harsh truths of her life which is sobering as well as amazing to read.
Currently I have started to read Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert that I got within my recent mindful book haul. Though it has not completely captured me yet, I am hoping to fall into the story soon.
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