Tag Archives: Alavaro Enrigue

First Monday Book Day: Ali Smith

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.