Books are small universes—affordable and easily carried, yet filled with endless possibilities to expand and enrich the mind. Through their pages, I explore new experiences and worlds, meet unforgettable characters, and deepen my understanding of humanity.
These are the books I read in April 2025, listed chronologically, and graded by recommendation (highly recommend, recommend, and do not recommend).
Starting From Scratch
A practical writing guide that made me laugh, nod, and kick myself. I’ve been on a Rita Mae Brown kick, and for good reason.
She’s a good and dedicated writer, with a singular voice, evident no matter the genre she’s employing.
I highly recommend this book as a source of “writing as vocation” instruction, but it’s good for any kind of goal-setting, really.
Sudden Death
Is this the book that the Challengers movie (2024) is based on? No! But all tennis things are the same to me. Cuz I don’t care about tennis.
So to say that I enjoyed this novella is a big deal. Typically, I need *some* interest in the subject matter of books I enjoy. Not the case here.
Despite a complete indifference to the actual game being skillfully described (which I remember nothing of), I was desperate to know who won the match (I know and remember, but won’t tell); highly recommend.
The King In Love
Edward VII, you genteel scoundrel, you. Eddie’s a great example of why a nation state should keep a protracted king-in-waiting busy, lest they turn their energies to making adultery…respectable?
To be fair, Edward did other things (especially as King), and not all of them bad, but this book isn’t about that. This is about a future monarch finding all the somebodies who could match his freak.
Come for the tea, stay for the fascinating history and context; highly recommend.
Every Tongue Got To Confess
A fascinating anthology of folk tales/sayings from the American Gulf states in the early 20th century, collected by Zora Neale Hurston.
It was so interesting to read examples of Biblical figures treated as folk heroes, Holy Br’er Rabbits, if you will. “The tall tales” (your mom is so, I saw woods so deep that…) made me laugh out loud nearly a hundred years later; highly recommend.
Tell My Horse
I want to tell you the neat, though macabre, details of this anthropological account about “Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica,” but I don’t want to freak you out (too much). Guess you’ll have to check it out yourself, highly recommend.
Parable of the Sower
Octavia Butler is a woman who understands that we live in an Oligarchy, and that we have for decades.
Sower is set in a privatized, autocratic hell (one more similar to our future reality than anything offered by the Young Adult set), where the middle class Olamina family is hanging on by a thread, contributing to and leading their walled community.
But Lauren knows it can’t last. Will the others listen? If this doesn’t open your eyes, I don’t know what will; read it while you still can.
Jena 1800
I don’t know if it was the translation or the writing, but I couldn’t get into this nonfiction intellectual exploration of a specific time and place (uh, Jena, Germany, in the year 1800); do not recommend.
Go Gator and Muddy the Water
Another rare Zora Neale Hurston book (thank you, Evergreen System)! This time, a collection of work from her employment with the Federal Writers’ Project.
Of course, these articles and essays were amazing, but I enjoyed the long, biographical introduction by Pamela Bordelon even more.
Man’s Search for Meaning
I get tired of the question “but did they know?” (pertaining to Europeans being aware of what was really happening to their neighbors during the second world war) cuz the answer is: of course they did.
And listen, there are lots of complicated answers for their complicity, but let’s forget about them.
Let’s focus on Viktor Frankl, who walked into the situation with open eyes (choosing to stay with his elderly parents), spoke truth to the complicit at the time, and lived to keep telling after everyone he knew was gone.
What a man, what a life, what a message; highly recommend.
Barracoon
Unpublished until rather recently, this narrative biography about the last living, Middle Passage crossing, enslaved person, is bone crushingly sad.
While Zora presents his story, these are Oluale’s words, detailing the most jarring uprooting and brutality that one could ever imagine. Read it, lest we forget; highly recommend.
Jane Austen’s Bookshelf
Sometimes knowledge is dangerous, and this book is a hand grenade.
First, it re-redacilized me, as a feminist, reminding me that Jane Austen did not occur in a vacuum, even in the 18th century.
The powers that be often confuse “The Other” with “The First;” Romney attempts to right (or at least contextualize) the mistaken idea that Austen was the “first” “good” woman Western writer.
If anything, Austen was part of a group, a talented and established one.
Second, it was riveting (for me, a bibliophile) to learn about the art of rare book collecting: what makes a book valuable, how one procures, the making of sets, etc. This is a dangerous thing for me to know, as it’s an expensive hobby I should just *read* about.
This book is a perfect blend of the academic and the mundane, the political and personal; highly recommend (heart this status if I should get into rare book collecting).
Memorial Days
Hey, sorry for the disparaging things I said about Brooks’ last book, Horse. I understand the context now. She was fulfilling a contract under the influence of grief.
Where Oates’ A Widow’s Story is jerky and chaotic, a bit anxiety producing, Memorial Days is deep and quiet, sad in a much more…comforting way.
Don’t read this when hormonal, otherwise, highly recommend.
Defy
An earnest tome, written by a very nice doctor, urging defiance, not in the name of brattiness or disruption, but a quiet(er) adherence to personal values.
Some good points about “True Yes” and True No,” not enough burning things to the ground. Haha, only kind of joking; recommend.
The Mistresses of Clivenden
A HUGE country estate in England, with five dynamic mistresses over (nearly) 300 years, the last being an upstart, cheeky American.
Sound familiar? Yeah it does. It’s the inspiration of Downton Abbey!!
If you enjoy that show, you’ll really enjoy soaking up all the lore; highly recommend.
Conclusion
In the quiet company of these April reads, I found stories and echoes of the human experience. Resilience in the face of despair, the enduring power of connection, and the timeless wisdom woven into words
I hope my April 2025 bite size book reviews open up new literary adventures for you. What literary landscapes are you currently exploring? I’d love to hear!
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Happy reading!
Love,
