Spell the Month in Books: April 2024
I learned something new as a result of April’s prompt for Spell the Month in Books. Jana, from Reviews From the Stacks who hosts the meme, has picked a theme of Poisson d’Avril which is the French version of April Fool’s Day.I can’t imagine what connects “April Fish” and the kind of jokes that get played on April 1. Wikipedia tells me that the phrase may stem from the fact that April is a poor month in which to catch fish, so anyone who claims to have caught fish or eaten them on April 1 has to be pulling your leg. Hilarious, I think not…..
Anyway, let’s get down to the task of finding some book titles that are connected with fish, bodies of water, or comedy. In the absence of inspiration for fish-related titles, I’m taking the easier approach and going for a watery theme using books I’ve read though not necessarily reviewed.
A
After The Fire by Evie Wyld
This is an assured debut novel about two lost, lonely men who are struggling to make sense of their lives. A large part of the story is set near a small cove on Australia’s eastern coast where Frank seeks refuge when his relationship disintegrates. In an old shack by the sea, once occupied by his grandparents, he tries to make sense of his messy life.
P
Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
Part of the Ibis Trilogy, the Sea of Poppies is an ambitious novel of class distinctions and colonialism set against the background of the opium trade between India and China in the 19th century. Much of the narrative features the passengers and crew members of a ship as it sails across the Indian Ocean.
R
Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor
A missing teenager is a fairly common plot device but Jon McGregor gives this familiar storyline a fresh take in Reservoir 13. His focus isn’t on the disappearance itself or the search for the girl who goes missing from a holiday cottage in a small rural community, but more on its effect on that community. Each chapter moves the story forward one year, showing how, despite the tragedy, life goes on. Yet nothing is quite the same.
I
Islands of Abandonment by Cal Flyn
The “islands” identified by the investigative journalist Cal Flyn are desolate, abandoned places that have been reclaimed by nature. She features some of the most desolate, ravaged and polluted areas in the world, from the radioactive ruins of Chernobyl to Bikini Atoll, where nuclear weapons were tested, and an uninhabited Scottish island where feral cattle live wild .
There is a real island in the book — in one of her first chapters she visits Cyprus and the no-man’s land between the Greek-majority Republic of Cyprus (RoC) and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
L
Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner
Hotel du Lac was my first experience of Anita Brookner’s fiction and is still a favourite. It’s a subtle, quiet tale about an author who’s been packed off to a hotel in Switzerland by “friends” who are shocked by her recent behaviour. Running through the novella there is a question about society’s expectations about women and marriage. The main interest lies in Brookner’s ability to capture the essence of her characters.
If you fancy having a go at Spell the Month, you’ll find all the info you need on the website of the host, Reviews From the Stacks. The theme for May is “Nature.”
curlygeek04
This looks like fun – I should certainly be able to handle May so I may give it a try. Very interesting about the French interpretation of April Fool’s. The Anita Brookner title sounds good, I don’t think I’ve read anything by her.
BookerTalk
Brookner seems to specialise in tales about loners – Hotel du Lac is one of her best
Claire 'Word by Word'
I have the Cal Flynn book on my shelf given to me by a friend, who invited the author in to speak to a creative writing class. I hadn’t read anything about it, but now I’m intrigued after reading yours and Margaret’s comments about it.
Poisson d’avril was an amusing discovery when my children were small, they would make these little cut out fish and stick them to other children and then shout ‘poisson d’avril’ – much kinder than the silly thing that people did when I was growing up, ‘a pinch and a punch for the first of the month’…
BookerTalk
Gosh I’d forgotten all about “pinch, punch” – wonder what the origin of that actually was. Why did anyone think the first day of a new month should be heralded with something so nasty???
Calmgrove
The John McGregor title most appeals from your choices, but needless to say I haven’t read any of these!
Out of curiosity I tried this exercise, and the only titles (all from 2023) that seemed apt *and* worked are ones that one way or another all involved duplicity.
But then, I suppose a good percentage of novels are about duplicity, subterfuge and, not to put too fine a point on it, lying!
After Midnight (Irmgard Keun)
Pinocchio (Carlo Collodi)
Rooftoppers (Katherine Rundell)
Impossible Creatures (Katherine Rundell)
Lottie and Lisa (Erich Kästner)
BookerTalk
I’m just glad that this was a short month with no difficult letters. It’s hard to find books with Y in the titles
margaret21
I absolutely loved the Cal Flyn book and it’s stayed in my mind since I read it. Apart from that, only the Brookner is on my already-read list. Nice choices!
BookerTalk
I thought it was astonishing the risks she took in some of those zones by wandering around on her own. One that resonated with me was the chapter on Detroit because I used to drive on the outskirts on my work trips to Michigan and I’d see more and more boarded up houses along the interstate. So depressing
margaret21
I don’t know anything about Michigan, but yes, she took risks, and some of those places looked abandoned indeed.
BookerTalk
Would you risk going to Chernobyl? I know I wouldnt!!!
margaret21
Me neither!
WordsAndPeace
I had never heard that version for the origin of “le poisson d’avril”. There are tons of possible explanations out here, but so far, no one is really sure.
Great list. I need to try Reservoir 13.
https://wordsandpeace.com/2024/04/08/spell-the-month-in-books-april-2024/
BookerTalk
It does seem that no-one really knows where that term comes from !
hopewellslibraryoflife
Nice work! The first book interests me–but can I get it? It’s Tax Day here so anything is a relief.
BookerTalk
Is it available in e-format?
Lisa Hill
Hey, I like your choices because I’ve read all of them except the one by Cal Flyn.
Now you’ve got me thinking about fishing in April. Why would that month be a bad month for fishing anyway? Perhaps a French reader can enlighten us.
margaret21
Apparently it’s closed season for fishing, as they’re breeding. So May ain’t good either.
Lisa Hill
Ah, that makes sense!
BookerTalk
How do devout Catholics manage in those months then???
Lisa Hill
They have to be vegetarians? or eat tinned tuna??
BookerTalk
Tinned tuna every Friday for two months?? I suppose they could eat farmed salmon…..
Lisa Hill
LOL It doesn’t sound very French, does it?
BookerTalk
Even the French eat hamburgers though….
BookerTalk
I have no idea why April isn’t a good fishing month or whether it means we should avoid buying fish because it won’t be fresh??