I did it. I read the full Seasonal Quartet by Ali Smith last month. And then I realized that I enjoyed her writing so much, that I read a bunch of her other books too. She is a writer that is perfectly in my sweet spot of wordplay and art and invention. I read 7 of her novels in March, and I truly enjoyed every single one.
Ali Smith books read last month with my star ratings: Not a bad one in the bunch.
- Autumn (5 out of 5)
- Winter (4.5 out of 5)
- Spring (5 out of 5)
- Summer (4.5 out of 5)
- Gliff (4 out of 5)
- Companion Piece (4.5 out of 5)
- How to be Both (5 out of 5)
I have to compliment my past self for deciding to keep buying books by authors that I enjoy even though I don't always read them right away. In the past year I've done a deep dive into Jeff Vandermeer (October), N. K. Jemisin (January) and now Ali Smith (March) just because I had a bunch of their books un-read on my bookshelf. I got to revisit the books of theirs that I liked in the past and add on more reading experiences. It's a good way to do it.
Not sure that I have a real goal in mind for reading in April. It's the end of the semester, so I'll probably just end up reading whatever comes across my path without a real plan.
Currently, I'm reading Worry by Alexandra Tanner - I just started it, but it's supposed to be witty and fun.
Which author would you dedicate a month or two of your reading to if you had the chance?
Books Read in March:
"You Dreamed of Empires" was a real trip of a book - the meeting of Moctezuma and Cortes imagined through a hazy mushroom trip. I've read two books of Enrigue's (both translated by Natasha Wimmer) and both have been surreal and captivating.
Also, Natasha Wimmer is becoming a must-read translator for me, her hits/misses ratio is spectacular. She's done Bolaño, Enrigue, Nona Fernández - all great. I see that she has also tranlated a Fresán book, which I now pretty much have to read.
I did not enjoy my first experience reading Kathy Acker. No more of that for me, thanks.
I didn't buy any books in March. It's a sad state of affairs.
Reading all the Ali Smith (and Zone One and the Enrigue book) put me well ahead in the ongoing race of buying books vs. reading books.
Books bought in March = 0
(2025 total = 8)
Books previously bought that I read in March = 6
(2025 total = 13)
Some initial footage of Project Hail Mary was previewed for people; I'm encouraging friends to read Andy Weir's book (or listen to the audiobook) before the movie releases next year.
I enjoyed that book but remember it getting a little slow in the middle.
I'm reading The Rebel and the Kingdom by Bradley Hope about an activist who tried to take down the North Korean regime.
I say "tried" because even though I'm only about half the way through the book, Kim Jong Un is still around, so I'm guessing he is unsuccessful.
We went on a trip (to Vancouver Island) at the end of March for spring break. I brought James by Percival Everett and finished it before the trip had even ended. (Next time: pack more books!)
I read Huck Finn a long time ago, so it was a weird experience of having some recollection of key events but also trying to figure out which things were from that novel and which were added by Everett. I have a lot of thoughts about the book that I'm still processing. Also, I might seek out some interviews just to find out more about Everett's own perspective on it.
I started, then stopped, 14 Days a "collaborative" novel by Margaret Atwood and a million other people. It was, essentially, a collection of short stories that grew stale after not too long.
Then I finished Recursion by Blake Crouch very quickly. It was a pretty solid modern-day sci-fi, with a great plot device, though a few character inconsistencies in my mind. Still, a worthy read I thought.
I’m not able to read for pleasure until the semester is over. However, during a layover at DTW last month I happened upon one of the better bookstores I’ve encountered in an airport. On the fiction shelves I found recent works by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Kaveh Akbar, Ben Fountain, Haruki Murakami, & Richard Powers; Omar El Akkad’s nonfiction debut One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This; plus less frequently encountered classics like Dos Passos’ U.S.A trilogy; and even philosophical works like Heidegger’s Being and Time and Kwame Anthony Appiah’s The Ethics of Identity.
I almost wouldn’t mind connecting through DTW again just to revisit and pick up a few reads for the summer.