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.