What I’ve been Reading – April’20 Edition

I’ll admit it – its been tough for me to get back into the reading habit because of the circumstances. I had picked up a tremendous pace in the first two months of the year, zipping through five books and enjoying it. But news of the virus and its dominance all over the world has induced “reader’s block” in me, if there exists such a thing. Despite all that, I’ve been steadily ploughing through some writing-related books and recently even picked up some fiction.

It’s not a lot, but it’s all I have appetite for this month.

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

I’ve just started this one, and its already gripping less than a chapter in. I had two choices before this – watch the series or read the book. Like most readers, I opted for reading the book first before proceeding to the show.

Lifelong Writing Habit by Chris Fox

I picked this up on a whim and though it features tips one might come across even on writing blogs, it has some good exercises to spur you on to picking up and maintaining a writing habit. I found it quite inspiring, and for that quality alone I’d rate it value for money.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

This is a re-read. I remember being haunted by it the first time around and its no different a second time. She weaves a suspenseful, literary, college campus-based novel with a marvellous use of words, and I hope to read and learn alongside as well.

5000 Writing Prompts by Bryn Donovan

From the title itself its obvious that this is not a book to read but rather to dive into when one is in search of a prompt for writing. To be honest, simple prompts that feature just a quick plotline don’t really work for me but I usually think of a character that might suit the situation, and take off from there. If you’re a writer in search of ideas, this book provides an immense help. It contains prompts based on genres, characters, settings, classic plots from the bible any many more.

Have you read any of these books? What are you reading this month? Let me know in the comments!