april newsletter
episode 12: April, 20th anniversaries, and in-between seasons.
Welcome to Confessions of a Bookaholic! I send out a monthly newsletter that includes everything I read and watched in the past month! I hope you enjoy it and come back for more.
Even after the harshest rains, the sun still shines, and so will you
~lorelei
Hello dear bookaholics! ✨
Welcome back to the April newsletter! My apologies, as it will be a much, much shorter newsletter than in the past. We are reaching finals season (which means moving season) for the academic year, thus requiring my time to become significantly reduced for writing and reading.
In other news, summer is showing her face here in Washington, D.C. It is such an odd feeling to be wearing summer dresses in April, sweating from the humid 70-something degrees! While technically still spring, the weather certainly cannot make up its mind on what season it is supposed to be. But, I will take what I can get :)
I will also be moving into a new place as well as starting some new summer research over the next few weeks. There are no words that capture the anticipation of looking forward to summer and what it brings. I pray you have some exciting things to look forward to during the warmer months! :)
READS FOR APRIL ||
I could give so many recommendations on what excellent books to read in April, or in the Spring season, for that matter! Of course, I include multiple book suggestions below on what I have finished or am reading currently. Other book recommendations for the month include Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Leaf by Niggle by JRR Tolkien, Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis (my undergrad stats professor used this for our devotional in the spring semester, hence ‘spring read’), Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy, and The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy.
I hope to bring more comprehensive reads for you all next month once I have more time to sit down and compile a list for you. :)
WATCHES FOR APRIL ||
Pride and Prejudice (2005; Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube, Apple TV)
The 2005 Pride and Prejudice with Kiera Knightley is such an April-coded film, it is not even funny! It also hit its 20th anniversary this month! So, while you have a chance, go give it a watch before May 1.
Given my limited time, I will unfortunately have to leave the recommended watches there! However, I have seen much live theater and ballet in the city over the last several weeks. The biggest recommendation I can ever give is to explore the discounts live theater in your city offers to young professionals or students! Nothing beats quality live theater for half the price your fellow theater-goers pay ;)
LISTENS FOR APRIL //
we love some good longing inspired playlists, especially with the recent anniversary of the Pride and Prejudice film with Kiera Knightly ;) Hope you enjoy!
gosh, Avi Kaplan hits it out of the park again with his newest EP! One of the these days, I will finally get to see him live!
CURRENT OR RECENTLY FINISHED READS ||
Here is my Goodreads if you would like to be reading buddies. I am trying out different structures with this section, so please excuse the dust ;)
Below are some books I have recently finished, or are currently reading! Of course, they are not utterly comprehensive, considering I am currently in a season of mood reading; this might be a benefit of adding me on Goodreads if to see my full list of current reads!
![The Poppy War: A Novel [Book]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WTfC!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F41eba931-7727-4059-a690-6c4dd2e7a427_1594x2400.jpeg "The Poppy War: A Novel [Book]")
The Poppy War
“War doesn't determine who's right. War determines who remains.”
“Children ceased to be children when you put a sword in their hands. When you taught them to fight a war, then you armed them and put them on the front lines, they were not children anymore. They were soldiers.”
![Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence : an Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution [Book]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XUhz!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F996e8329-f2a0-494f-be2f-cfcfd71036f0_1600x2428.jpeg "Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence : an Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution [Book]")
Babel
“Betrayal. Translation means doing violence upon the original, means warping and distorting it for foreign, unintended eyes. So then where does that leave us? How can we conclude, except by acknowledging that an act of translation is then necessarily always an act of betrayal?”
Till We Have Faces
“Holy places are dark places. It is life and strength, not knowledge and words, that we get in them. Holy wisdom is not clear and thin like water, but thick and dark like blood.”
The Will of the Many
“Silence is a statement, Diago. Inaction picks a side. And when those lead to personal benefit, they are complicity.”
![Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence : an Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution [Book]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XUhz!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F996e8329-f2a0-494f-be2f-cfcfd71036f0_1600x2428.jpeg "Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence : an Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution [Book]")
final notes ||
bookshop of the month: Second Story Books in Dupont Circle is a lovely little used bookstore! I had the pleasure of exploring the store a few weeks ago with two friends following some delicious Thai food! I cannot wait for the summer and free weekends to truly explore the city I am blessed to call home.