Sunday Summary mainly functions as my personal record of book-related topics that have captured my interest over the past week. It also acts as a public memory prompt and bookmarking system.
Books Read & Reading This Week.
Finished:
- ???
Nothing this week.
Currently Reading:
- A Dictator Calls by Ismail Kadare (trans John Hodgson) [2023]
- The Masquerades of Spring by Ben Aaronovitch (narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith) [2024]
I’m going to be honest and say that I’m struggling with A Dectator Calls. I am going to keep going, but I feel I’m not well-versed enough in Starlin’s Russia to get the gravitas that is part of this novel.
I am having a great time with The Masquerades of Spring, where a younger Nightingale heads to New York to solve a mystery surrounding a saxophone with the help of an old friend. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith is going an excellnt job as usual.
DNF’d
- The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling [2025]
I knew I was taking a chance on this, but the early buzz was positive, and the idea of nuns trapped in a castle going mad sounds horrific, but also an idea with a lot of potential.
I am not a fan of grimdark works in general, and this proves again that I don’t think they are for me. I asked for thoughts on Bluesky, and no one came back saying that I needed to push through. So, as predicted last week, DNF it is.
Book-ish Thoughts
Continuing with the topic of DNFs, it’s one of the reasons that I wanted a page count this year; the main reason is that I’m aiming to read 50 pages a day. I don’t count DNFs as read, so before, when I was only tracking books I’d completed, DNF’ing felt like a waste. Now, they are helping with my page count.
Books That Others Have Tempted Me With:
Cover(s) of the Week
Outro
I have no idea what I fancy picking up next – I’ll get both A Dictator Calls and The Masquerades of Spring read and then decide, I think.
What have you been reading?
Gav Reads 
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