Madonna in a Fur Coat: April at the Reader's Nook

Dear reader,

You know those books that sound really promising, but when you starting reading them, they simply fall flat?

At one time or another, most of us readers have either struggled through a book, or wondered at what point to give it up. Should we read just another chapter? Will the pace pick up soon? Will something interesting or exciting happen in the next chapter?

The reason I’m thinking about this is because I struggled through a book this month. Now, I’m usually pretty good at DNFing (did not finish) a book, but for some reason, I refused to give up on this one. I kept hoping for some brilliance, but it just kept disappointing.

So my question for you this month is, how do you decide when to DNF a book? Tell me in the comments?

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Despite the absolute snooze-fest of a book I struggled through in early April, overall, I’d say it was a pretty good reading month.

I read 5 books, of which 3 were for the Book Bingo challenge. This month’s reading saw me walking down the streets of Savannah and across the gothic campus of the Warren University, exploring San Francisco’s Chinatown, and hanging out at a small Irish village.

Here’s my reading wrap-up for April. Have a read and tell me about the books you read last month?

Recommendation corner:

Have some of the bingo prompts got you scratching your head, wondering what to read or maybe even what it means? I got you covered! Every month, I will pick 2 bingo prompts and share a couple of recommendations with you. And just so you’re not here all day reading this, I’ll link you up to Goodreads so you can check out the book and add it to your Want-to-read shelf. Here we go!

A book by an Asian author

This is a seemingly straight-forward prompt, though most people tend to think of Japanese, Chinese, or Korean authors when they think of Asia. In actual fact, Asia covers a vast geographical region that extends beyond these countries. Here’s a list of the 48 Asian countries recognized by the UN. And a few recommendations to get you started:

Madonna in a Fur Coat by Sabahattin Ali (Turkey): A shy young man leaves his home in rural Turkey to learn a trade in 1920s Berlin. The city's crowded streets, thriving arts scene, passionate politics and seedy cabarets provide the backdrop for a chance meeting with a woman, which will haunt him for the rest of his life. Emotionally powerful, intensely atmospheric and touchingly profound, Madonna in a Fur Coat is an unforgettable novel about new beginnings and the unfathomable nature of the human soul.

The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali (Iran): An idealistic teenager Roya, living amid the political upheaval of 1953 Tehran, finds a literary oasis in Mr. Fakhri’s neighborhood stationery shop. There, she is introduced to Bahman, who has a burning passion for justice and a love for Rumi’s poetry—and she loses her heart at once. A few short months later, on the eve of their marriage, Roya agrees to meet Bahman at the town square when violence erupts—a result of the coup d’etat that forever changes their country’s future. In the chaos, Bahman never shows. For weeks, Roya tries desperately to contact him, but her efforts are fruitless. With a sorrowful heart, she moves on—to college in California, to another man, to a life in New England—until, more than 60 years later, an accident of fate leads her back to Bahman and offers her a chance to ask him the questions that have haunted her for more than half a century.

I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokpokki by Baek Se-hee (Korea): Baek Sehee is a successful young social media director at a publishing house when she begins seeing a psychiatrist about her — what to call it? — depression? She feels persistently low, anxious, endlessly self-doubting, but also highly judgmental of others. She hides her feelings well at work and with friends, but the effort is exhausting. And if she's so hopeless, why can she always summon a yen for her favorite street food: the hot, spicy rice cake, tteokbokki? Recording her dialogues with her psychiatrist over a 12-week period, and expanding on each session with her own reflective micro-essays, Baek begins to disentangle the feedback loops and harmful behaviors that keep her locked in a cycle of self-abuse. Part memoir, part self-help book, I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki will appeal to anyone who has ever felt alone or unjustified in their everyday despair.

Mosquito by Roma Tearne (Sri Lanka): When author Theo Samarajeeva returns to his native Sri Lanka after his wife’s death, he hopes to escape his gnawing loss amid the lush landscape of his increasingly war-torn country. But as he sinks into life in this beautiful, tortured land, he also finds himself slipping into friendship with an artistic young girl, Nulani, whose family is caught up in the growing turmoil. Soon friendship blossoms into love. Under the threat of civil war, their affair offers a glimmer of hope to a country on the brink of destruction…

The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa (Japan): We take journeys to explore exotic new places and to return to the comforts of home, to visit old acquaintances and to make new friends. But the most important journey is the one that shows us how to follow our hearts...With simple yet descriptive prose, this novel gives voice to Nana the cat and his owner, Satoru, as they take to the road on a journey with no other purpose than to visit three of Satoru's longtime friends. Or so Nana is led to believe...With his crooked tail—a sign of good fortune—and adventurous spirit, Nana is the perfect companion for the man who took him in as a stray. And as they travel in a silver van across Japan, with its ever-changing scenery and seasons, they will learn the true meaning of courage and gratitude, of loyalty and love.

A book by an author from a country you want to visit

For this prompt, read any book by an author from a country you want to visit. It’s an excellent way to immerse yourself in a culture and region — and perhaps history if you choose to read historical fiction or mythology if you choose a mytho-fiction — that you’re fascinated by!

For the love of poetry

I use random poem generators from time to time as a little oracle — more often than not, the poems that appear are just what I need in that particular moment. Or maybe that is simply the function a poetry. In either case, poem are balms for the world-weary soul. My hope is that these monthly poems will offer you wisdom, comfort, joy, wonder.

Circus
Adam Zagajewski
Translated by Clare Cavanagh

Look, your longing swung from the trapeze.
The clown is you as well and the tame tiger
who begs for mercy calls someone to mind.
Even the tin-pot music
has its charm; it seems
you’re starting to make peace
with your times (everyone else has,
why not me?—you say).
So why then does the circus tent
rise above an ancient graveyard?

Monthly round-up

Things that caught my attention this month

⫸ Curating a Commonplacing Practice — If you’re interested in commonplace notebooks but find it overwhelming, this might be an interesting way in

⫸ Gamify Your Life: Tarot Edition — A simple gamified life system that also used tarot? Sign me up right away!

⫸ This Authors Group Chat Nobody Asked For on Instagram — hilarious!!

⫸ This series, inspired by the writings of Bruce Lee

Thank you for being here and for spending some time in my bookish world. Hit reply or restack on Substack Notes and tell me what you’ve been reading and enjoying this month!

Happy reading,
Shinjini