Wrap Up: April 2026

Hi everyone

April was a month of contrasts. There was stress, sleepless nights, anxiety, and bleak moods; but there were also wonderful moments with my husband and children, more sun than I expected, the spring flowers (always make me happy), and the promise of a new start. Through it all, I read a lot (the upside of having trouble sleeping, I suppose)! 😊 Honestly, this was a great reading month. I stumbled upon some really, really good books that made everything feel a little lighter. And that was much needed. 

Here's what I read in April:

- Brian McClellan: The Autumn Republic 

- Jonice Webb: Running on Empty 

- Eowyn Ivey: Black Woods, Blue Sky 

- Dennis E. Taylor: Roadkill  

- Jim Butcher: Twelve Months  

- Ernest Hemingway: The Torrents of Spring 

- Jonice Webb: Running on Empty No More 

- John Gwynne: The Fury of the Gods

- Naomi Alderman: The Power 

What did you read in April?  I’d love to hear about your books. Let’s swap recommendations!

Happy reading!
Helena 

Ernest Hemingway: The Old Man and the Sea

Hi

This review is about my second time reading The Old Man and the Sea. You can find my review of my first time reading it here.
My copy has 99 pages and I got it from Bol.
You can find all my reviews on Hemingway’s novels here.

 “Set in the Gulf Stream off the coast of Havana, Hemingway's magnificent fable is the story of an old man, a young boy and a giant fish. In a perfectly crafted story, which won for Hemingway the Nobel Prize for Literature, is a unique and timeless vision of the beauty and grief of man's challenge to the elements in which he lives.”

The Old Man and the Sea is a very demure, restrained, sober and almost solemn book.
The prose is straight-forward and sparse; it’s very easy to read. But Hemingway accomplishes so much with very few words.

The story itself seems to be very simple, even plain if you read it solely for the story.
But you shouldn’t. There’s a lot behind the story and it’s rather obvious too.

The book is about defeat and failure, about never giving up. It's about the courage to go on, the determination to see what is possible and fighting for what you need, what you need and what you feel is right.
It’s about pride and honor.
I never felt sorry for Santiago and I don’t think you’re meant to pity him. He respects his opponent and so should we. But I did feel so very, very sad for him.

4 STARS

Happy reading.
Helena

Ernest Hemingway: Across the River and into the Trees

Hi

Across the River and into the Trees is my fourth (I think) novel by Ernest Hemingway.
I got it very cheap at the Boekenfestijn and it has 220 pages.
We’re moving next week so this will be short.

 “In the fall of 1948, Ernest Hemingway made his first extended visit to Italy in thirty years. His reacquaintance with Venice, a city he loved, provided the inspiration for Across the River and into the Trees, the story of Richard Cantwell, a war-ravaged American colonel stationed in Italy at the close of the Second World War, and his love for a young Italian countess. A poignant, bittersweet homage to love that overpowers reason, to the resilience of the human spirit, and to the worldweary beauty and majesty of Venice, Across the River and into the Trees stands as Hemingway's statement of defiance in response to the great dehumanizing atrocities of the Second World War.”

This novel is supposed to be inspired by Hemingway’s own life and I do feel like it is.

Reading this was an emotional ride.
Nothing much happens and even though it is a very small book, it is filled to the brim with love, hate and deep sadness.
I enjoyed it, certainly, but it was too much. Too slow and too emotional.

Happy reading!
Helena

Ernest Hemingway: Winner Take Nothing

Hi again

Winner Take Nothing is a collection of short stories by Ernest Hemingway. It has only 167 pages so it’s a tiny book.
You can find all my reviews on Hemingway’s work here.

“Ernest Hemingway's first new book of fiction since the publication of "A Farewell to Arms" in 1929 contains fourteen stories of varying length. Some of them have appeared in magazines but the majority have not been published before. The characters and backgrounds are widely varied. "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" is about an old Spanish Beggar. "Homage to Switzerland" concerns various conversations at a Swiss railway-station restaurant. "The Gambler, the Nun, and the Radio" is laid in the accident ward of a hospital in Western United States, and so on. Ernest Hemingway made his literary start as a short-story writer. He has always excelled in that medium, and this volume reveals him at his best.”

I must confess I’m not big on short stories. If I read them it’s mostly because I like the author’s other works. 

Time and time again I have the same problem. I like the story itself (most of the time) but it’s either spanning a too short time span. Or I can’t connect to the characters because of their limited lines and development.

Winner Take Nothing suffers from the first ailment. Which is the good one because that means I like (and even love) the stories. They’re just too short.

Hemingway is a genius and it definitely shows in his short stories too; but I think you need to read some of his full novels first to understand his setting and his characters. He has a very particular writing style, time- and place setting you need to get to know first.

See you tomorrow!

Helena

Ernest Hemingway: For Whom The Bell Tolls

Hi

Finished my first novel of the month; For Whom the Bell Tolls. It has 490 pages. It was first published in 1940 and is based on his own experiences in the Spanish Civil War.
After a few chapters I recalled reading this when I was just starting to read adult novels. I can’t remember how I liked it then.
You can find all my Hemingway reviews here.

“In 1937 Ernest Hemingway traveled to Spain to cover the civil war there for the North American Newspaper Alliance. Three years later he completed the greatest novel to emerge from "the good fight", For Whom the Bell Tolls. The story of Robert Jordan, a young American in the International Brigades attached to an antifascist guerilla unit in the mountains of Spain, it tells of loyalty and courage, love and defeat, and the tragic death of an ideal. In his portrayal of Jordan's love for the beautiful Maria and his superb account of El Sordo's last stand, in his brilliant travesty of La Pasionaria and his unwillingness to believe in blind faith, Hemingway surpasses his achievement in The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms.”

The novel spans just three days but those three days are filled with treason, love, suffering, camaraderie, bravery and dedication. So much so that these few days might and can represent the whole war.
Andres and his message show us how the leaders pull the strings and how they themselves are safely away from the places where the war actually happens. It’s frustrating and aggravating to read what he has to go through to get the stupid message delivered, and in the end, nothing even changes.
For Whom the Bell Tolls is subtle, sweet and almost picturesque; but other scenes were full of suspense, intense and terrifying. It can be a bit of a roller-coaster ride.
The novel gives us great insight into what drives someone, into someone’s passions and beliefs.

The dialogue, as though in translation from Spanish, is crude and basic. But Robert’s inner thoughts are ‘normal’.  This is a very interesting way too remind us that Robert is in another country, alone and talking too people he doesn’t know in a language he studied because in essence, he is a teacher. These dialogues took some getting used to but I liked it this way. Also, Hemingway censors his own writing in this novel! Very funny to read these censored sections.

Robert is not a fascist, so his ‘side’ didn’t win the war as is generally known. And that’s quite surprising; it’s not the way you expect the novel to go. From the very first pages you know their efforts and work were, in the end, to no avail. They lost.
But the violence and murder are carried out by both sides; Hemingway doesn’t try to idolize this group of guerrilla fighters. Fascists and communists alike killed and tortured people.

Hemingway is a wonderful writer and I will definitely read more of his work.

Happy reading!
Helena

I had a healthy snack!

Ernest Hemingway: The Old Man and the Sea

Hi again

This is my review of The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway.
I got my book as a gift from my brother and his girlfriend. They bought it for me (and my father got the same book) when they were on holiday in Cuba. A very thoughtful gift.
It won the Pulitzer Prize and was cited by the Nobel Committee as contributing to the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Literature to Hemingway.
This novella has a beautiful cover and it is only 84 pages long.

“The Old Man and the Sea is one of Hemingway's most enduring works. Told in language of great simplicity and power, it is the story of an old Cuban fisherman, down on his luck, and his supreme ordeal -- a relentless, agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream.
Here Hemingway recasts, in strikingly contemporary style, the classic theme of courage in the face of defeat, of personal triumph won from loss. Written in 1952, this hugely successful novella confirmed his power and presence in the literary world and played a large part in his winning the 1954 Nobel Prize for Literature.”

This seems to be a very simple story. It was my first time reading it and I will definitely read it again to understand it better.
Santiago is struggling against defeat though he refuses to give in. It’s a novel about respect, courage, determination, will and hardship.
The marlin he catches and Santiago himself are very close in character. Both are unyielding, proud and honorable. Both are not willing to give in to the ultimate defeat; death. Knowing that at some point they’ll die; both are fighting for their lives. Santiago sees in the marlin a worthy opponent.
I did not feel sorry for Santiago as he doesn’t feel sorry for himself. It’s not about pity; it’s about respect for the marlin and Santiago.
This novel makes you think about humanity and your place in the world.
Not a word is misplaced, there’s not a character too much and not one unnecessary scene. With the bare minimum he shapes this astoundingly beautiful novel. The prose is simple, straight-forward, restrained and yet powerful.

I need to reread this novel to write a more thorough review. But this will do for now.

Happy reading.
Helena