April Reads and Recommendations.

Or, Telling You What I Read In April, In Mid-May.

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Welcome, welcome, welcome,

I’d love to say, ‘Welcome to May,’ but we are running late for the wrap-up train. Yes, it’s mid-May, yes, I’m still going to tell you about what I read in April. Not just because book wrap-ups are ‘what we do here’, but because going through my recently read books and writing my thoughts on them helps me to process these books. I often make my best theme/ character/ writing connections and epiphanies while writing the monthly reading wrap-up.

I have linked titles to the respective GoodReads pages for those who ‘GoodRead’. For everyone interested in my current or planned reads, find me here.

Sunrise On The Reaping: Suzanne Collins

I was on maternity leave when the first Hunger Games book was released (2008, yep, showing my age. I have a 16-year-old). The Hunger Games pulled me back into the world of reading that I had mostly forgotten in my late teens. So, of course, as each new book has been announced, I have preordered it and waited on tenterhooks for the postman to deliver. Collins really exceeded my expectations with Sunrise On The Reaping; it felt familiar, yet new. There were many moments where links were made between the books that I found my stomach flip-flopping as if I were a teenage girl with her first crush. I have read many reviews complaining about different plot points in this story. To them, I say, the basic plot of this book had already been outlined throughout its predecessors, and Collins couldn’t change these points without skewing everything readers already know. Deal with it! I look forward to the movie (which has been announced for November next year!)

https://deadline.com/2025/05/hunger-games-sunrise-on-the-reaping-maya-hawke-wiress-1236397412/

There’s a Monster Behind the Door: Gaelle Belem.

Translated by Karen Fleetwood and Laëtitia Saint-Loubert.

This book made it to the long-list of the International Booker Prize 2025. I wrote an in-depth review on The Ink-Stained Desk below.

I read three books and started a fourth from the International Booker Prize long-list over March and April this year. I intended to read the entire list, but beginning the fourth and finding it as disappointing as the others had me giving up on the reading challenge. My theory being — There are too many books in the world for me to push through one knowing I’m not going to enjoy it. So I failed the challenge, but was relieved to throw in the towel, and I’m positive that I will be happier for it!

Careless People: A Story of where I used to work: Sarah Wynn-Williams.

I was excited to pick up this book, I love a good exposé on large companies and rich people being unable to navigate their way through day-to-day living tasks. This one was a yes… and a no for me. Let me explain. Yes, it’s shocking, but it’s not surprising. We know that Facebook and the people ‘higher up’ on its ladder do not make the most ethical or moral decisions, and they usually get away with all of it. There was really nothing new here.

Also, Wynn-Williams’ writing style tended to meander, going back and forth, there was a lot of, oh wait, I forgot this bit, so I’m just going to slot that in here. This makes for a confusing timeline.

Also, also… When I buy a book that has been advertised as an exposé of Facebook by someone who used to work there, that is what I want to read. Yes? So when Wynn-Williams begins the book with a traumatic story about a shark attack she experienced in childhood, and then later on a very in-depth traumatic birth story and then follows this by explaining her ongoing health and marital issues, I’m put off. This is not why I’m reading this book.

Reservoir Bitches: Dahlia de la Cerde.

Translated by Heather Cleary.

Another of the International Booker Prize long-list books. This one, I didn’t write an extended review on. But here it goes.

Reservoir Bitches is touted as a book of short stories about feminine rage. Thirteen short stories about Mexican women, some of which are linked, but not hugely. For example, the main character of one story will show up as a background character of another, or a character might say, “Did you hear about the kids who…” and then that story is told in full a few stories later.

I had a hard time getting through this collection. My main difficulty was the voice for the majority of the stories. I always felt the same, and very forced. The women telling the stories spent half the time telling the reader just how tough and connected they were in the world they live in, but they just ended up sounding immature and weak. What irked me too was that the women themselves were not strong or powerful within their community, their power comes from the men they are connected with. There is a lot of time spent explaining how, “My boyfriend is in a gang, so you better be nice to me.” Anyway, this one was a no for me.

Author, Dahlia de la Cerde and cover Reservoir Bitches.

The Poppy War: Rebecca Kuang.

I’m eagerly waiting the August release of Rebecca Kuang’s new book Katabasis, and while I wait, I thought I’d read the rest of Kuang’s backlist. Having read Babel and Yellowface, I began The Poppy War trilogy. It’s amazing for an author to have such a tight hold on so many genres, and Kuang doesn’t disappoint in her grimdark military fantasy era. It should be said that this book is violent and does need several content warnings (rape, self harm, suicide, drug taking) (I picked this up thinking it was going to lean more to the YA side of fantasy, boy was I wrong!)

It follows Rin, our female heroine, as she first works toward passing the test for, and then has to navigate, the prestigious military academy, Sinegard. Being an orphan, and coming from a poor country home (you can see why I thought this was going to be more YA-ish), Rin has trouble fitting in and has to work her socks off to stay on top.

I can’t wait to begin the second book in this trilogy, The Dragon Republic.

A Walk in the Woods: Bill Bryson.

I finished this book and immediately rented the movie, don’t do that, it will ruin the memory of the book.

I am the first to admit that I love everything Bill Bryson has ever written, yet I had not heard of this book! Of course, as soon as I saw it mentioned in an article I was reading, I ordered it from my library (and was very pleased when it was ready the following day).

This book follows Bill Bryson and his (sort of) friend Stephen Kaz (who in real life is named Matt Angerer, I’m not sure why the name change for the book, though?) as they plan for, and hike the Appalachian Trail, hijinks ensue. As with all of Bryson’s books, there is much history, pondering of humankind and meandering down trails of thought. (Trails, see what I did there!) Some people don’t like this about Bryson, but this is actually why I love his books; it feels like I’m having a conversation with a friend.

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries: Heather Fawcett

I picked this book up because I have not been able to avoid it recently. It seems to be everywhere, whether this is because the third book in the Emily Wilde series is about to be (or already has?) been released, or because I read a lot about folklore and forest creatures, I don’t know, but I just seemed to be following me, so I thought it best to read it and get it out of my system.

Emily Wilde is a Dryadologist (a scholar who specialises in faeries and folklore) (— dream job!) who does NOT specialise in social situations of people in general. Her current project is putting together an encyclopaedia of Faeires. This project takes her to the village of Hrafnsvik to research a particular type of faerie, of which little is known. Accompanied by her faithful Black Hound, Shadow, and followed by fellow scholar and rival, Wendell Bambleby, Emily gets a little closer to faeries than she intended.

This story was the cozy, fantasy, pseudo-academia type that I love. The footnotes are a chef’s kiss, and the twist in the story is predictable, but still exciting. I just ordered the second book in this series from my library and hope the person that currently has it on loan reads quickly (Hint Hint.)

That’s it, that’s everything I read in April.

Maybe it was late, but I did get there in the end. I will endeavour to be on time with the May wrap-up.

I hope you have a very bookish weekend. It’s supposed to rain all weekend here in Sydney, and I’m looking forward to curling up with the first of Joe Abercrombie’s new series, The Devils, tonight!

Keep an eye out next Friday, I’m releasing a follow-up to my Public Domain and Creative Commons art and image websites article from a few months ago, with many more websites and links to share! If you haven’t read the first, find it here.

See you next then.

C M Reid at The Ink-Stained Desk.

Harry Clarke, The Last Hour of the Night, from Dublin of the Future: The New Town Plan (University Press of Liverpool and Hodder & Stoughton, Ltd., London, 1922). Source.