I didn’t get through many books this month but the ones I did read were pleasingly varied. And I wrote three whole book reviews! I know it isn’t quite the old blogging days of posting two or three times a week.

Now that the days are longer and the weather better, I’m trying to cycle more again. I’d like to do more long bike trips this year. In the hope it will inspire me, I have subscribed to Emily Chappell’s newsletter Unfinished Journeys. She’s a great writer, and once a month she recommends a book so my list of books to buy is ever-growing.

Next week is Easter, when we get a four-day weekend here in the UK. Every year, Tim spends those four days gaming with friends, while I spend them mostly reading. I’ll squeeze in some time with family and friends too but I am looking forward to my mini readathon.

Happy April!

Books

The Emperor’s Babe by Bernardine Evaristo
This is such an original, fascinating book. A novel in the form of an epic poem, this is the story of a Black woman in Roman London. Zuleika is a working-class girl who catches the eye of a rich trader and becomes his wife, a huge leap in social status. She’s sassy, fun-loving and judges her promiscuous friends until her husband’s infidelity pushes her to look for her own extracurricular affair. And who should be in town but the emperor himself?

I’d Die for You and Other Lost Stories by F Scott Fitzgerald
Fitzgerald looked down on his own short stories, considering them inferior to his novels, things he churned out to pay the bills. But many of them were good, often the ones that were rejected by editors or even not submitted for publication at all. They’re almost all romances, but far from straightforward. I enjoyed this collection a lot.

The Limits of Genius: the Surprising Stupidity of the World’s Greatest Minds by Katie Spalding
I have reviewed this book for Physics World so I won’t say too much here. It’s non-fiction about the stupid acts of otherwise clever people, written in a very funny, entertaining style. Subjects include Ada Lovelace, Pythagoras, Sigmund Freud and Marie Curie. Look out for this when it’s published next month.

Your Family, Your Body by Malika Booker, Sharon Olds and Warsan Shire
This is one of the Penguin Modern Poets series, giving three poets around 30 pages each on a shared topic. It’s a great way to access a variety of poets, to get a taste and see who you like. In this case, while I don’t outright dislike any of them, the one who really grabbed me, who I want to read more of, is by far and away Warsan Shire. Beautiful language about daily life.