Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell book cover
So we're into April already; take that March, see you this time next year! I've had a lot of fun this month; cakes and celebrations aplenty due to some rather significant birthdays, including my own (clearly, the most significant). Happily, being in a sugar-induced trip for half the month hasn't slowed my reading pace (if anything the pace has become more frenetic!) and I'm happy to report I've finished the first quarter of 2013 on target with my review output (you lucky things ;) ).

For April, I think I'm going to go for a bit of George Orwell. I meant to write something on him last year but somehow never got round to it. So this year, prompted by the inaugural 'Orwell Day' (21 January, if you're interested) I thought I'd 'get involved'. Rather than write about the big targets straight off the bat, I've chosen instead to go for one of Orwell's early novels: Keep the Aspidistra Flying. I have no preconceptions about what to expect from the book, although I do know it is about a disenfranchised book seller, so I can't imagine it'll fall too far from my own reading interests.

Dovetailing nicely with this and my recent run on the works of Christopher Hitchens, I will also pick up Hitch's polemic in defence of his hero, Orwell's Victory. I can only hope it will be entertaining and enlightening in equal measure; if nothing else, it will surely be better than a dry academic look at this Orwell chap.

I'm also going to slip in my final Harry Potter review this month as well as picking up The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry; a book where the titular hero pops out to post a letter and 'accidently' walks the length of the country. A couple of light, enjoyable reads, I hope.

So, with the sun struggling to break the extended Winter chill, what will you be reading this month?

Notable Posts from March