I was going to write this post yesterday, but I’d reached a point in an essay draft where I could see the end was closer than I realised and not some far off wish. With some crafty paragraph rearranging and a few stitch-together sentences, maybe I could get it finished. (And I did. Yay!) Also, it wouldn’t have felt right to post without finishing the epic – the tome – that is Stephen King’s It. I was so close, right in the midst of the finale, and I kept going until late last night – ending the wettest April in 60 years, rather fitting for a book full of water and storms – until it was done. I slept badly (hardly surprising, perhaps, if you know how it goes!) and I still feel a bit dazed, processing what happened. I got genuinely choked up at the final moments as the themes of love, unity and trauma recovery (among others) came to conclusion. What an achievement.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is one of those books where I knew the title, its staggering number of sales, seen it many times on shelves and ‘best of’ lists of classics, but had never investigated further. At the start of the month, it came into my life again and this time it stayed. Part of that reason, I admit, was because I saw that Richard E. Grant narrated the audiobook. As I’m a fan of his, let’s call it kismet. It’s a charming story and could be a good choice for someone wanting to read to a child because the chapters are short, making reading aloud easier when there are plenty of opportunities to pause. (I’ll note: to paraphrase the audiobook I listened to, it did note that the experience is heightened if you’re also familiar with Saint-Exupéry’s illustrations.) Just lovely.

Finally, because I wasn’t ready to leave the world of Lucy Barton just yet, (see last month), I have Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout ready to go.

What are you reading this month?