Read:
Unearthing – Kyo Maclear (Alfred A. Knopf Canada, 2023)
What Does the Bible Really Teach About Homosexuality? – Kevin DeYoung (Crossway, 2015)
The Fire Still Burns – Sam George (Purich Books, 2023)
The Matisse Stories – A.S. Byatt (Vintage, 1994)
Hello Beautiful – Ann Napolitano (Books on Tape, 2023)
The Leap Year Gene – Shelley Wood (HarperCollins Publishers, 2024)
Did Not Finish:
The Future – Naomi Alderman
quit at 23 pages – I could tell pretty quickly that this book was peopled with too many quirky caricatures for me to enjoy. May be for some but not a match for me.
The Creative Act – Rick Rubin
quit at 8% of the audio version – I immediately didn’t buy into the idea that creative ideas exist independently or have any sort of agency and when he talked about how clever he was for not trusting doctors, I gave up.
Huge – Brent Butt
I didn’t think this was going to be for me but I read the first chapter just to make sure. Nope, horror is still not my jam. Even if it’s a little bit funny.
Currently Reading:
Kingdom, Grace, Judgement – Robert Farrar Capon
Doppelganger – Naomi Klein
Held – Anne Michaels
The Book of Goose – Yiyun Li
2024 Reading Goals:
Goliath Challenge: 5, 599 pages read/ 30, 000 (1, 620 in April)
Goliath Books Read: 0 (1 abandoned)
Translated Works: 3/15 (none in April)
Books I Already Own: 2/30 (The Matisse Stories)
Pre-2023 TBR: 1/25 (none in April)
Current TBR: 215
Thoughts:
My reading this time of year is leaning heavily on the list for our annual summer Writers Fest. Kyo Maclear, Sam George, Shelley Wood, Naomi Klein, and Brent Butt are all on it. I actually didn’t know Wood was going to be one of the authors but had an ARC of her upcoming book and have met her a few times so wanted to be sure I read her book. Review coming of that one so I’ll hold off on my thoughts here. I likely won’t review Maclear’s or George’s books because I don’t feel I have much to add even though I appreciated both books. I knew Butt’s book wasn’t going to be for me but got it from the library in interests of giving it a fair chance. I’m loving Klein’s big but am not sure where to even start reviewing it once I’m done. Hello Beautiful is not on the Writers Fest list but I got it out on audio when I needed something to listen to and was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.
What’s Next:
I’ll be continuing to try and pick up more books for the Writers Fest. I’m not going to try and read all 20+ authors but I have about 5 more I’d like to try out. I’m very close to being finished Kingdom, Glory, Judgement which I’ve been working my way through for months (in a good way) and have a few other theological type books I’m looking forward to getting my teeth in.
April wasn’t exactly a reading slump – 6 books is nothing to sneeze at – but I struggled to really get into reading. I didn’t find it easy to book up a book in the evening after my kids went to bed. So I’m hoping that May will find me more eager to pick up a book every day.
Karissa Reads Books 
I’m not surprised you feel a bit demotivated to pick up a book after the kids are in bed because you’re doing so much at work to keep things running smoothly. It sounds like you’ve granted yourself grace, but if you haven’t, I’m throwing that out there.
I checked out the Brent Butt novel, and I’m not sure I even get where it’s going based on the synopsis. I wonder if it’s not just that the novel is horror and didn’t vibe with you, but that the plot is wonky?
Once I sit down in the evenings I want to just turn off my brain and scroll the internet mindlessly! But then my Protestant guilt of being unproductive kicks in and I feel like I’m wasting my time. Thank you for offering grace!
I don’t know how well Brent Butt is known outside of Canada but he wrote and starred in a popular comedy called Corner Gas. I picked up the book thinking it would be at least kind of funny but the part I read just seemed like horror and that’s not what I wanted. The plot may very well be wonky too!
I feel like I understand the concept of wasting time, but the problem is I never know what actually goes into that bucket. If my brain is tired and scrolling through Reddit makes me happy, is that wasted time just because it involved my phone?