Read in April

1. Swimming to Antarctica: Tales of a Long-Distance Swimmer, by Lynne Cox
Not an autobiography; strictly swimming tales (e.g. "And then there was that time when I swam from Catalina Island to mainland California and broke the men's and women's world records for time even though I was only fourteen..."). I generally don't like sports books, but her descriptions of her training and her swims are scintillating.

2. Book of My Nights, by Li-Young Lee
An introspective and abstract collection of poems. Often puzzling, but beautiful at points. I posted one of his poems previously.

3. The Field Guide (Spiderwick Chronicles, Book 1), by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi
Meh. I might have liked it when I was younger.

4. Thirst, by Mary Oliver
Mary Oliver's voice is simple and her outlook joyful. Quite spiritual. Read it outside, somewhere green. (Poetry.)

5. Breaking Bounds: The Dance Photography of Lois Greenfield, by William A. Ewing
Interview: really interesting. Photography: not really my cup of tea (and I am a lover of dance; I think I'm a little too removed from her era to appreciate her innovation), but still cool. I posted a bit about this book a couple weeks ago.

6. Apologies to an Apple, by Maya Ganesan
Evocative and sensitive, at times enigmatic. (Again, poetry.)

7. Glacial Period, by Nicolas de Crécy
A graphic novel with rather dull frame action, but a very clever premise: it imagines a team of archaeologists in the distant future, exploring the frozen continent of Europe for clues of its former civilization. They stumble upon the Louvre Museum and begin hypothesizing about the culture that produced the works they see.

8. On the Blue Shore of Silence: Poems of the Sea, by Pablo Neruda
It didn't take my breath away, but I do appreciate Neruda more after reading it. I think his style is subtler than what I usually like in poetry, but it's probably good for me.

9. This Lullaby, by Sarah Dessen
Oh, this is contemporary realistic YA fiction as I like it. I'm making Dexter my role model.

10. The Book of Nightmares, by Galway Kinnell
A long poem. Not pretty, and not always the most graceful in its phrasing, but rather brilliant. When I finished it on the subway on my way home from German, I immediately turned back to the beginning and began it again.