April Reading Round-Up

I do plan to use this blog for more than just book/story reviews, and I have other things (like updates on my own writing, and various crafting projects) that I will hopefully manage to share with you soon, but frankly I'm quite pleased with myself for getting these posts done, as historically I haven't done very well at sticking with blogging!

Anyway, April was the month in which we all realised that all of this *waves hands expansively* was likely to go on for a while... I've been working from home since lockdown began, so in theory I've gained back the ~2.5 hours a day I usually spend on my commute, but we all know that doesn't necessarily translate, especially in such weird times. But I have done some reading, in spite of all that, and here it is.

The Living Mountain by Nan Shepherd
I confess, I don't usually read a lot of non-fiction, although I always feel a bit like I should. I read this for the #CoReadingVirus read along on Twitter (organised by Robert Macfarlane, who also wrote the introduction for the edition I bought), and it was the most wonderful experience. I honestly think it was exactly what I needed under current circumstances. It is a love letter to the Cairngorm mountains in Scotland, and the writing is so beautiful, emotive, poetic; it transports you there to the hills and the sky and the heather and the water. It made me want to be there, or failing that to go up into the Peaks and stand on my own on top of a hill in the wilds. If you feel any connection to the outdoors, read this book - I doubt you'll regret it!

A few quotes I loved to whet your appetite...

• 'the violet range of colours can trouble the mind like music'
• 'a ptarmigan's breast feather has caught the sun. Light blows through it, so transparent the fugitive spindrift feather has become'
• 'My one October night without a roof was bland as silk, with a late moon rising in the small hours and the mountains fluid as loch water under a silken dawn: a night of the purest witchery'
• 'This plunge into the cold water of a mountain pool seems for a brief moment to disintegrate the very self; it is not to be borne: one is lost: striken: annihilated. Then life pours back'

I didn't bookmark as many things in April - maybe a bit of lockdown fatigue - but here are the poems and tales that did grab me:

The Fourth Dimension of Cats by William Doreski (in Lunate) - As someone who has lived with one or more cats for the vast majority of my life, I feel this poem captures the essence of cats and cat ownership delightfully.

The Coast Road is Closed by Ankh Spice (in Cease, Cows) - I grew up by the sea and I miss it, and this poem makes me remember the feeling of standing on a cliff top above a restless sea on a windy day.

Winter Sun by Beatrice Derosier (in Reflex Fiction) - This piece is lovely; the imagery of the seasons entwined with the relationship they have. Plus I like the little mythic reference thrown in there at the end.

Yew by Johanna Robinson (in TSS Publishing) - Quite a lot of my own writing (at least recently) involves trees, so I like seeing how other people use them in their stories. This is told from the tree's perspective, which is nice.

Walking on Eggshells by Sharon Telfer (in TSS Publishing) - A good micro is a wonderful thing, and this one breaks down a relationship via a single metaphor, applied three ways.


That's all folks! Maybe my next post will be on a different topic... you never know 😊