April and March 2025 reads
By Alana
In March, the library graced me with a few thought-provoking books in a row that got me into an addictive reading rhythm. Two standouts:
I can’t stop thinking about Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy - both for the beautifully dystopic climate collapse it quietly conveys and for how it depicts female rage. A rarity, even in fiction, to see a female narrator so compelled by dark and powerful compulsion.
There Are Rivers in the Sky was my first Elif Shafak read, and the kind of book that made me immediately look up the author. I was delighted to see how prolific she is. Put a ton of her books on hold and looking forward to reading them all.
But my reading ground to a halt when jaunting about the UK - 20k+ step days and literary places to visit left little time for actual reading. But I did get a chance for art, and in this series of book paintings, I experimented with:
Picking one image or symbol from each book that really stood out
Using metallic paints, new calligraphy pens (will take much practice!), a brush pen I bought in Utrecht, and drawing/painting in a few different artists’ styles
Setting a timer so I wasn’t allowed to spend any more than thirty minutes on one painting
The results weren’t always pretty. But I’m new to watercolour and just trying to have fun and relax. Enjoy the reviews!
March
Migrations — Charlotte McConaghy
Format: novel
One sentence summary:
In a world on the verge of ecological collapse, a troubled woman commissions a commercial fishing vessel to chase the last of the Arctic terns on a journey for both scientific understanding and personal healing.
Where and when:
The sea. Greenland, Newfoundland, Scotland, Antarctica. 2030s, maybe?
Read if you:
Like a violent, unreliable narrator. I love how MConaghy depicts female rage in her books.
Love poetry in your prose
Find the sea, the birds, the skies sublime
Books this reminded me of:
Antarctica by Claire Keegan. Common setting; both convey the darkest and sweetest sides of humanity
Homecoming by Kate Morton. Common settings (Australia); both feature a violent, mysterious inciting incident that takes place before the story begins.
Made me feel:
Windswept.
Quote:
“But the rhythms of the sea's tides are the only things we humans have not yet destroyed.”
“How will you get back?
To where?
Galway? Your life? Isn't that where it is?
I don't know the answer to that. I had thought my life was just here. With me.”
Recommended by Aaron, grudgingly.
There are Rivers in the Sky — Elif Shafak
Format: novel
One sentence summary:
Water is the through-theme connecting this novel’s three storylines: searching for ancient truths in 19th century Nineveh, surviving the Yazidi genocide perpetuated by ISIS, and making peace with diaspora identity and familial piety in contemporary London.
Where and when:
London, 1840 and 2018
Turkey, 2014
Read if you:
Want to feel something true and sad and sweet
Are drawn to water
Admire intricate story construction
Books this reminded me of:
Homegoing by Yaa Gyas. Both novels bridge great distances and times, linked by themes of family.
The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Ma. Both share incredible acts of historical violence (the Vietnam War, the Yazidi Genocide) through the lens of young narrators, humanizing what to many may have been just another newspaper headline.
Made me feel:
Connected.
Quote:
“Home is where your absence is felt, the echo of your voice kept alive, no matter how long you have been away or how far you may have strayed, a place that still beats with the pulse of your heart.”
Recommended by The Guardian.
Translation State — Ann Leckie
Format: novel
One sentence summary:
A search for answers about a missing intergalactic translator brings three folks of different species together in this gentle spacefaring story about personal identity, diplomacy, and cross-cultural relationships.
Where and when:
Leckie’s Imperial Radch universe (i.e., space, the future maybe, aliens)
Read if you’re:
Willing to work a bit - I love how Leckie creates new pronouns and other means of identification that the reader has to puzzle out
Enjoy stories that don’t have clear antagonists or big violence
Are okay with a wee bit of body horror
Books this reminded me of:
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Leguin. Both explore individual agency in determining identity, whether that’s gender or species identity.
Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer. Both demonstrate methods of self-identification that go beyond binary pronouns and nation-state allegiances.
Made me feel:
Thoughtful.
Quotes:
“You know, your genes aren't your destiny… You have what you have, whatever you were born with, but you get to decide what to do with that. There's nobody telling you what those genes mean, what they're supposed to make you.”
“I am not a potato”
Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop — Hwang Bo-Reum
Format: novel
One sentence summary:
A recent divorcée opens a bookshop and builds a community of the burnt out and disenchanted who discover that true meaning comes from good company, not corporations.
Where and when:
Seoul, South Korea.
Read if you:
Hate your job
Crave a hug and authentic conversations
Are a bibliophile
Books this reminded me of:
Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree. Aka the cozy fantasy version of the search for self-actualization.
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Salinger is referenced throughout Bo-Reum’s book; both chart journeys to make meaning out of life.
Made me feel:
Warm.
Quote:
“As with everything in life, reading is about the right timing. That said, what counts as a good book? For the regular person, it's perhaps a book they enjoyed, but as a bookseller, Yeongju needed to think beyond that.”
Recommended by CBC.
Who's Afraid of Gender — Judith Butler
Format: non-fiction essay collection
One sentence summary:
New work from a seminal voice in gender studies, Butler gives a name to the amorphous hatred of gender espoused by some on the far right, breaking down the tactics of anti-gender rhetoric, exposing flaws in logic, and suggesting ways that we can all contribute to a fairer, safer world.
Where and when:
Published 2024
Read if you:
Wonder how some people can be so full of hate
Want better language to use in conversations about gender
Books this reminded me of:
All the classical rhetoric books I read in school. Butler has a masterful understanding of how arguments are constructed and terms like ‘false syllogism’, ‘inductive reasoning,’ and appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos came back to me while reading this dense work.
Made me feel:
Motivated.
Quote:
“Reading is not just a pastime or a luxury, but a precondition of democratic life, one of the practices that keep debate and disagreement grounded, focused, and productive.”
Recommended by Katy.
Somewhere Beyond the Sea — T.J. Klune
Format: novel
One sentence summary:
In this sequel to the Klune’s bestselling House in the Cerulean Sea, Arthur Parnasus, phoenix, dad, and advocate, fights for self-determination for magical beings and learns what it means to receive the kind of love and support he so willingly gives.
Where and when:
Earthlike, contemporary setting
Read if you’re:
Okay with didactic, moralistic storytelling
Don’t mind a bit of deus ex faerie queen to wrap things up
Books this reminded me of:
A Knock on the Door by Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Residential schools were a clear influence for Klune’s world in SBtS and its prequel, though I think Klune uses magic as an analogy for more than indigeneity - his ‘magical beings’ stand in for anyone who has ever been ostracized, oppressed, or excluded from an aspect of their identity.
Made me feel:
Questioning my role in perpetuating the status quo.
Quote:
“This was hope; the children, love letters to a future that had yet to be decided. Yes, hope was this thing with feathers, but is was also in the hearts and minds of those who believed all was not lost, no matter the odds.”
Recommended by everyone on the internet.
So Late in the Day — Claire Keegan
Format: short story anthology
One sentence summary:
Three short stories that hold the breadth and depth of human emotion, from a man’s regrets over a wedding that could have been, to women who try, with varying degrees of success, to exert control over the men they encounter.
Where and when:
Contemporary, set in Dublin, Achill Island, and a unspecified Irish village
Read if you’re:
Disillusioned in love (this will not help)
Looking for a short but captivating read
Books this reminded me of:
Dubliners by James Joyce. Both rotate perspectives to show the quiet, violent dissolution of relationships.
Made me feel:
Heavy.
Quote:
“You know what is at the heart of misogyny? When it comes down to it?’
‘So I’m a misogynist now?’
‘It’s simply about not giving,’ she said.”
Recommended by Sagnik.
The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love — India Holton
Format: novel
One sentence summary:
Rival ornithologists from Oxford and Cambridge team up to win a national birding competition with big prize money and end up rich in love instead.
Where and when:
Running amuck in the 19th century English countryside
Read if you:
Want to laugh so hard you cry at the stupid bird puns and ridiculous fourth wall breaking
Seriously, I have never read a romance novel this absurd and fun
Books this reminded me of:
Apprentice to the Villian by Hannah Nicole Maehre… not for any shared theme but because I realized that’s the only other comedic romance I’ve read.
Made me feel:
Giddy.
Quote:
“All may be fair in love and war, but this is ornithology. Cheating is practically one of our scientific principles.”
Recommended by the Goodreads algorithm, and I’m not mad about it.
Felicity — Mary Oliver
Format: poetry collection
One sentence summary:
Poems on nature, peace, faith, being, unbeing - exquisite, quiet, and digestible in a blink but lingering longer.
Where and when:
Everywhere you look :)
Read if you’re:
Feeling empty inside
Haven’t been out of the city in a while
Books this reminded me of:
Anything by Louise Gluck. Both poets distill the world’s beauty into precise, powerful images and phrasing that is felt in the heart more than processed by the brain. Gluck does this with human subjects while Oliver renders the natural world with the same concision.
Made me feel:
Transcended.
Quotes:
For Tom Shaw S.S.J.E. (1945-2014)
“Where has this cold come from?
“It comes from the death of your friend.”
Will I always, from now on, be this cold?
“No, it will diminish. But always it will be with you.”
What is the reason for it?
“Wasn’t your friendship always as beautiful as a flame?”
Recommended by Sophie.
Stardust Grail — Yume Kitasei
Format: novel
One sentence summary:
An impoverished grad student, blobby alien, ex-marine, and existential robot team up to save the galaxy through slightly less than legal means.
Where and when:
Far future earth and the galaxies beyond
Read if you’re:
Craving a space-jaunt
Curious how colonialism might apply to interplanetary exploration
Books this reminded me of:
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson and Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. Much heisting from imperial overlords.
Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Reach trilogy. Though less politically charged, Kitasei’s depiction of truly alien aliens reminds me of Leckie’s diverse species.
Made me feel:
Entertained.
Quote:
“I just don’t want you to be disappointed again. It is human to worry too much, and you are superior at this skill. We must go forward.”
Recommended by the Goodreads awards.
The God of the Woods — Liz Moore
Format: novel
One sentence summary:
Posh kids go to summer camp and vanish, bringing murderous secrets from a rich family’s past to light.
Where and when:
Adirondack mountains, New York state, 1975
Read if you:
Never went to summer camp and feel like you missed out (you didn’t, Moore suggests)
Like a page-turny thriller with a bit of depth
Books this reminded me of:
The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins. Shared themes: absurd wealth vs working class life, family secrets, rural woodsy American murder.
Made me feel:
Engrossed. Didn’t love the book but couldn’t put it down.
Quote:
“Being humorless, she thought, was even worse than being dumb.”
Recommended by the Goodreads awards.
April
The Death of Vivek Oji - Akwaeke Emezi
Format: novel
One sentence summary:
A dead boy’s family search for answers and grapple with grief as they come to terms with how they loved and failed him.
Where and when:
Nigeria in the 1980s and 90s
Read if you’re:
Looking for meaningful stories of explorations in gender identity
A glutton for heartache
Books this reminded me of:
The Seven and a Half Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka. Both explore the politics of gender and belonging and convey how colonialism perpetuates racism and injustice
Made me feel:
Wrecked.
Quotes:
“Some people can't see softness without wanting to hurt it”
“I'm not what anyone thinks I am. I never was. I didn't have the mouth to put it into words, to say what was wrong, to change the things I felt I needed to change. And every day it was difficult, walking around and knowing that people saw me one way, knowing that they were wrong, so completely wrong, that the real me was invisible to them. It didn't even exist to them. So: If nobody sees you, are you still there?”
Recommended by Milana
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse - Charlie Mackesy
Format: illustrated story with poetic prose
One sentence summary:
A company of creatures sojourn through the the woods in spring pondering big ideas like love and friendship and cake
Where and when:
A little woodland, anywhere and everywhere
Read if you’re:
Feeling numb and want to feel something uncomplicated, warm, and good
Like pictures in your books
Books this reminded me of:
Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne for the simple joys of good friends and quiet trials
Made me feel:
Calm.
Quote:
“Nothing beats kindness,” said the horse. “It sits quietly beyond all things.”
The Island of Missing Trees - Elif Shafak
Format: novel
One sentence summary:
A young girl grapples with the grief of unexpectedly losing her mother while her botanist dad refuses to share about his past surviving civil war in 1970s Cyprus.
Where and when:
London, England, 2010s
Cyprus, 1970s
Read if you:
Want to learn more about intergenerational trauma and civil war in Cyprus
Like a lot of poetry in your prose
Enjoy stories that blend timelines for powerful effect
Books this reminded me of:
The Wind Knows My Name by Isabel Allende for the shared theme of familial healing across cultures and time
Made me feel:
Hopeful.
Quotes:
“That is what migrations and relocations do to us: when you leave your home for unknown shores, you don’t simply carry on as before; a part of you dies inside so that another part can start all over again.”
“For it is a land without borders, a lover's body. You discover it, not at once, but step by anxious step, losing your way, your sense of direction, treading its sunlit valleys and rolling fields, find it warm and welcoming, and then, hidden in quiet corners, running into caverns invisible and unexpected, pits where you stumble and cut yourself.”
Oliver Jeffers: The Illustrators - Martin Salisbury
Format: biography, non-fiction
One sentence summary:
An overview of the motivations and works of Northern Irish picturebook-maker, artist, and writer Oliver Jeffers
Where and when:
Belfast, New York. Contemporary.
Read if you’re:
A fan of his work/read his books to your kids (How to Catch a Star, Stuck, The Day the Crayons Quit (illustrator))
Books this reminded me of:
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
A Creative Act by Rick Rubin
Made me feel:
Inspired.
Quote:
“If you had asked me whose validation I was seeking, I couldn’t name a single person… If you’re making what you think other people want, the results are dull, predictable. But if you’re self-scrutinizing, that leads to good art - art that is ultimately more honest and accessible to viewers who may see themselves in the rawness.”
Breasts and Eggs - Mieko Kawakami
Format: novel
One sentence summary:
Women with depressing lives; or, a writer decides if she wants a baby, her sister pines for breast implants, and her niece agonizes over her period.
Where and when:
Osaka and Tokyo, Japan
Read if you’re:
Craving something really weird
Don’t need a plot where anything happens
Curious about the female experience living in Japan
Books this reminded me of:
My Husband by Maud Ventura in its depiction of female obsession (not because of any murderous tendencies in Breasts and Eggs)
Made me feel:
Confused.
Quote:
“Well, we use words to communicate, right? Still, most of our words don’t actually get across. You know what I mean? Well, our words might, but not what we’re actually trying to say. That’s what we’re always dealing with. We live in this place, in this world, where we can share our words but not our thoughts.”
Recommended by: Marcy who said “I’m not sure if I liked or hated this book???’ when she gave it to me
Nona the Ninth - Tamsyn Muir
One sentence summary:
The third in the Locked Tomb series, this book is another what-the-heck-is-happening genre-bending necromancers-in-space epic that kinda sorta makes sense.
Where and when:
Space?? Maybe? Future earth? Figuring this out is part of the mystery.
Read if you’re:
Want to laugh out loud at inappropriate times
Bored with the same ol’ sci-fi tropes
Not a cow-lover
Have read the first two Locked Tomb books (requirement)
Books this reminded me of:
There’s nothing quite like these books, but Muir’s creativity in narrative perspective reminds me of N.K. Jemisen’s Broken Earth trilogy and her intricate worldbuilding evokes Arkady Martin’s A Memory Called Empire.
Made me feel:
Confused, in a good way, and entertained
Quotes:
“She said, “What is this internet?” And he said, “See, I did make a utopia.”
“They kept saying cows watched sunsets. At that point I wished I’d used the fucking conspiracy theorists instead of the cows. Nobody would’ve cared if I’d turned people inside-out who think vaccines have nanites in them that mine cryptocurrency. But cows watch sunsets, man!”
Recommended by Jenn
