April 2015 Wrap-Up

April was another good month of reading with a mix of the final IFFP titles, a few ne2b3a5-aprilglected library books and some interesting review copies making up my choices (with a fair bit of rereading too!).  With the IFFP list now out of the way, I’m hoping to have a little more leeway in my reading selections (for a while, at least).  However, there’s always another event just around the corner, so I’d better stay vigilant 😉

Oh, yes – facts and figures time…

*****
Total Books Read: 13
Year-to-Date: 50

New: 8
Rereads: 5

From the Shelves: 5
Review Copies: 4
From the Library: 4
On the Kindle: 1 (1 review copy)

Novels: 10
Novellas: 2
Short Stories: 1
Non-Fiction: 0

Non-English Language: 13 (2 French, 2 German 2 Korean, 2 Icelandic, Italian, Flemish, Japanese, Spanish, Norwegian)
In Original Language: 2 (French, German)

 

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Books reviewed in April were:

1) In the Beginning Was the Sea by Tomás González
2) Life of a Counterfeiter by Yasushi Inoue
3) The Neck of the Giraffe by Judith Schalansky
4) Dot & Anton by Erich Kästner
5) The Last Lover by Can Xue
6) The Dead Lake by Hamid Ismailov
7) The Poet by Yi Mun-yol
8) F by Daniel Kehlmann
9) The Pointless Leopard by Colas Gutman
10) In the Night of Time by Antonio Muñoz Molina
11) Bloodlines by Marcello Fois

Tony’s Turkey for April is: nothing

I was vaguely tempted to nominate Kehlmann’s novel, but I realised that it would have been a bit petty; it wasn’t for me, but it definitely wasn’t turkey-worthy.  If my daughter had been writing this post then The Pointless Leopard might also have got the nod; again, I’m ruling that this was just personal taste 😉

Tony’s Recommendation for April is: Can Xue’s The Last Lover

This was a close call, as I really enjoyed Muñoz Molina’s expansive epic (honourable mentions here to Yi Mun-yol, Hamid Ismailov, Yasushi Inoue and Marcello Fois).  However, The Last Lover is, to say the least, a little *different*, and for that it gets the nod for this month 🙂

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May will see the prize winners announced in various literary translation awards, but I’ll be doing my best to catch up with what’s been published this year (as well as enjoying a few more long-awaited rereads).  Come back next month to see what caught my eye this time…

4 thoughts on “April 2015 Wrap-Up”

    1. Stu – I’ve got *loads* to read now, with more about to hit the shelves any day soon. At least, the IFFP commitments have abated, though, giving me a little more freedom of choice 😉 I’ll contact you soon about the IFFP arrangements.

      P.S. I have a Bernhard on the way, ready for July!

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        1. Stu – ‘Der Untergeher’ (‘The Loser’) – it’s the third of the ‘arts’ trilogy after ‘Woodcutters’ and ‘The Old Masters’. As I’d read the other two, it only made sense to get this one (which features Scott Joplin, I believe…).

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