Reading Challenges · To Be Read

Picking Books to Read off of the 2025 International Booker Prize Short List

In the past, every year I would read the shortlist for the International Booker Prize Short List and I loved that experience so much. I found such great authors that I still read today that I would not have otherwise found. While at this point in time I am not reading over 100 books a year like I once did, I still would like to take a peak at this years shortlist and pick a few to add to my TBR.

Shortlist

Making the shortlist is such a great accomplishment, each of these sounded very interesting and really spanned a wide range of topics and genres. So, I had to make a few tough calls and narrow it down to two books I would really love to read before the end of this year.

The two books that really stood out to me were Under the Eye of the Big Bird, which was originally written in Japanese and A Leopard-Skin Hat, which was published in French. Now these two books stood out to me for two different reasons. The first book was almost an instant yes for me because I have read a book by this author in the past and their writing style was beautiful and I ended up reading it super quickly because it flowed so nicely. On top of that, the concept of writing about a time in the future where humans were on their way to being extinct and examining the possible society that could bloom in that environment. The second book I chose because it talks about psychological disorders and the ups and downs that come along with that in their own mind, but also the relationships around them as well. I am interested in seeing how this author depicts this especially since this was written after the authors own sister passes away.

So, those are my two choices to read and I am off to see if my library has them by any chance so I can get a request in and read them ASAP! What are your thoughts on my two picks from this years shortlist? Would you read these picks and if not which books would you pick to read from this shortlist?

Thanks for Reading! ClassicBhaer.com

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For the record: everything I’ve written here is entirely my own opinion.These views do not reflect or represent those of my current or past employers.

Monthly Digest & Wrap Up

Monthly Digest | April 2022

Hey all and welcome to a bit of a review of the previous month! Spring has officially sprung bringing with it a ton of rain and pollen. While I did really enjoy falling asleep to the steady rain this past month, I am not too thrilled with the pollen that is making me sneeze left and right. But, I will say overall this month has kept me busy in a really good way!

Reading

The first book I read this month was The War of the Poor by Èric Vuillard. I originally picked this book up because I read a book by the author in the past. While I really enjoyed the writing style of this book, I was not too keen on there not being footnotes or endnotes to support their nonfiction book. I will be honest though, I am not sure if the intention of this book was meant to be nonfiction as well so I decided to do a little digging. The reason I had the expectations of this book being nonfiction is due to it’s tags on goodreads; History, Nonfiction, French History, but on the publishers site is quoted as saying, “A dazzling piece of historical re-imaginingPan Macmillan. So, I feel like individuals are mislabeling this historical fiction novella as nonfiction, which is unfortunate. Obviously, this is no fault of the author by any means, but it does change how I see this novella. The writing was engaging to say the least. This was a topic I studied a lot during my time in University, but it was really interesting seeing it portrayed in this manner. Even though I read about this time in history I was not bored or felt like I was experiencing Déjà vu. I read it in two sittings and I only put it down the first time because I needed to get to sleep. Overall, I ended up giving the book 3 stars!

Crochet, Knitting and Crafting

I completed two large projects this month, the first being a Ranunculus, my first wearable and I am actually quite proud of it. I ended up wearing it the day after I finished it! I can see why so many people love this pattern, it was a project I never hesitated to pick up and it worked up quite quickly. It had some new things I needed to learn, but I am always open to learn something new.

Ranunculus Sweater – Short Sleeves

The second big project I finished was my Saraya Shawl, which I plan on wearing to a friends wedding later this Spring. This pattern was written by Saysha Greene and was published in Worsted. It was a really fun knit that challenged me, but didn’t leave me burnt out.

Saraya Shawl

Life

This month I did a lot of fun things, especially since the weather started to warm up. I had a really lovely date with my boyfriend to celebrate our anniversary where we got to have a really delicious meal while enjoying the beautiful weather outdoors. Then we adventured to our favorite ice cream shop and enjoyed them while hanging out on a bench talking and people watching.

I also went on a few adventures with my friends. I went to the movies for the first time in YEARS, which was nice because no one else was there really. So the two of us were not holding back our reactions to the movie in the slight, it was funny because the few other people watching the movie did the same thing. Then, with another friend of mine we went yarn shop hopping, I ended up picking up yarn for a few projects I want to make this year. We ended up going to about 8 shops, the discounts were so good I could not resist. I would have bought this yarn anyway, just for later down the line. We also ended up getting takeout after all that shopping and the food was just AMAZING!

This month was really great, mainly because I was able to hangout and create some great memories with others. I really hope to have a few picnics with some of my other friends I need to catch up with in the upcoming months.

Thanks for Reading! ClassicBhaer.com

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For the record: everything I’ve written here is entirely my own opinion.These views do not reflect or represent those of my current or past employers.