Balancing My Books · Books · Monthly Reading Wrap-Up

Balancing My Books #4: April 2021

This was an odd reading month for me. There were a couple of weeks that I hardly read. I’ve been learning to play guitar and that has taken up quite a bit of my precious reading time. However, I enjoyed all the books I did read, even if there were not so many. Definitely a month of quality over quantity. I think that’s fine by me!

OWNED TBR AT THE START OF 2021
Hardbacks/Paperbacks: 330
E-books: 183

Owned TBR on 1 April 2021
Hardbacks/Paperbacks: 
324
E-books: 
182

So let’s see what happened this April:

Books read: 7
Hardbacks/Paperbacks TBR: 
4
Hardbacks/Paperbacks 2021: 
1
E-books TBR: 1
E-books 2021: 1
Audio: 2 (both of which I own in physical form)

BOOKS ACQUIRED:
Hardbacks/Paperbacks: 3
E-books: 0

I have a list of books I’d like to buy, but I am restraining myself for now. Since starting this project I have definitely been more conscious about buying books. It helps that the charity shops are not freely open yet. I did buy the follow-up to The City of Brass, as I want to continue that series. I also bought Music & Silence by Rose Tremain, which I have been wanting to read for a while. And finally I bought another book by Mahmoud Darwish, as I enjoyed his poetry so much. This one, In The Presence of Absence seems to be a poetic autobiography of sorts. I have read the first chapter and it already almost made me cry!

I hope I can read all of these in May

Physical TBR Balance Sheet
Start 2021: 330
Start April: 224
Acquired: 3
Read: 5
Balance: 322

E-book TBR Balance Sheet
Start 2021: 183
Start April: 182
Acquired: 0
Read: 2
Balance: 180

APRIL REVIEW

Looking back at these reading month, I read more older books that usual. Two classics in the shape of Pride and Prejudice and The Flowers of Evil. The latter is poetry. Two of the books (The Flowers of Evil and Palace of Desire) were translated works. A lot of historical fiction as well. There was nothing I did not enjoy and I even found a new favourite. Seven books is not that much for me, but I would still say this was a really good reading month.

Although Pride and Prejudice was a re-read, I had counted it on my physical TBR as it had been a good few years since I read it.

I must note that I did start listening to Scar Tissue by Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis, but I hated it so much that I gave up after a few chapters.

BOOK OF THE MONTH

My book of the month was the only poetry book I read, which was The Flowers of Evil by French 19th century poet Charles Baudelaire. I absolutely loved it. Some of the poetry in there was exquisite. Pride and Prejudice may have taken it, but that was a re-read and I already knew it was a favourite.

3 thoughts on “Balancing My Books #4: April 2021

  1. Why did you hate the Anthony Kiedis? Who was narrating it? I’ve flirted with the idea of reading it before but only if it does turn up in a charity shop … Ours seem all open here but I’ve resisted for the moment as my TBR is looking good and I am gearing up for my annual Christmas-and-Birthday-Book-Token-Splurge. Last time I went in Oxfam Books, between lockdowns, I came away with three books, one of which I wasn’t sure about but didn’t quite know how to put back on the shelf once I’d taken it down!

    1. I hated the writing, the focus on sex, and just the overall feel. I can’t remember the name of the guy who narrated it, but it wasn’t him himself. It was for a book club and normally I would push through, but I just couldn’t!

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