April has truly been “the cruellest month” for me*. It started with my lower back acting up, and then an extremely uncomfortable eye infection. Then, this week I gave myself a fright by falling down in the bathroom. It was my first spill after my spine re-injury of 2022 which led to my disablement. So I was worried for my spine, managed to break my fall and slide down inelegantly but in protecting my back, my knee which has been injured more than once and which has a ligament hyperextension issue went CRACK. I’m mostly wheelchair bound for hopefully just a week (not a fracture, thank goodness) while on medical leave but am slowly trying to walk with the cane as well as the walking frame. Anyway, suffice it to say, having to keep very still while recovering has been EXTREMELY GOOD for my reading. Reading is self-care, after all.
My long hours at ER yesterday enabled me to finish tearing through Doris Lessing’s Love, Again which had me so hooked that I immediately started on The Golden Notebook after I finished reading it. Her writing reminds me of the things I love about Iris Murdoch’s prose as well; the dimensioned outlook of the interior life. Lessing shines a light on the interior life of an aging woman really well. Probably on par with Siri Hustvedt for me in that respect.
My completion of Nghi Vo’s A Mouthful of Dust brings me to the last Singing Hills Cycle novella before her May 2026 publication. It was haunting and poetic, also really harrowing to read in light of the current global crisis. I would say this is a close runner-up to my favourite novella of the entire series.
Patricia A. McKillip’s The Bell at Sealey Head was a very satisfactory and comforting reread. I often wish that she’d written more stories in that particular world. Now, I have moved on to The Tower at Stony Wood which necessitates listening to Loreena Mckennit’s The Visit on repeat. I just love the imagery in this story and how it refers back to those well-loved myths and legends. Ah!
I also picked up System Collapse by Martha Wells again. I actually wanted to read it last year but I saved it because I didn’t want to be jonesing too long for the next instalment of The Murderbot Diaries which I think is being released in May. Murderbot will always have a special place in my heart because I over-identify with Murderbot’s inside voice.
It’s quite exciting to be in this place again of finishing books ahead of their next instalment. Whatever else is not going right in my world, at least my reading game is at its best in years and that is healing something in me.
Chess-wise, there have been more checkmates (on my end) on chessdotcom’s PvP. I’ve had more wins and draws against the intermediate level chess coach NPC. I may have caused quite a few resignations as well, so my Blitz rating is slowly rising. Squee! ELO-wise, I hit a high of 750 before I dropped to 686 and then rose back again to 730. The highs, the lows, the excitement. Playing chess everyday has done something to my spatial awareness. And to my dreams. I’m still excited to discover more. This is also a note (especially if you’re a lady player) that you can go to settings to disable chat and invites if you don’t want to be annoyed/disturbed. You’re welcome!
*From TS Eliot’s The Wasteland, for those of you who may not be familiar with the reference. One of my favourite poems by one of my darlingest poets.