Reading Roundup: April 2026

I’ve loved both series, so it’s been a good reading month for fiction! My comic book reading has slowed down; I’m not floundering trying to find X-Men writers I like, so it is looking like time to move on to some other pockets of Marvel.

5 books – 2 audio and 3 print books!

This was aprox. 855 pages read and 37 hours listened (of finished books).

The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole (Adrian Mole #2) by Sue Townsend ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I think I loved this one even more than the first, and it goes in a bit more on the social and political commentary. Poor Adrian has the weight of his teenage worries as well as the dysfunction of his parents, and his exams are looming.

Gideon The Ninth (The Locked Tomb #1) by Tamsyn Muir ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Nobody is more surprised that I liked this than I am! It’s not like anything I have read before, and it was surprisingly challenging! It is very likely I will re-read this once I have the context from the later books in the series.

True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole (Adrian Mole #3) & Adrian Mole and the Small Amphibians (Adrian Mole #3.5) by Sue Townsend ⭐⭐⭐

This entry in the Adrian Mole series is a bit of an oddity because it is formed of letters and imagined radio scripts instead of his daily diary entries, and it also spans multiple years. I didn’t enjoy it was much as the other books, but it is worth reading as lots of significant things happen.

Harrow The Ninth (The Locked Tomb #2) by Tamsyn Muir ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The start is incredibly confusing, and structurally, the narrative is a mess, but I still loved it. I’m still invested in finding out WTF is going on in this world!

Marvel Unlimited: 35 more issues of X-Men

I really slowed down on the comics this month. Firstly, I read the collected House of X (#1-6) & Powers of X (#1-6) (2019), and I did not enjoy it.

It’s very plot and exposition heavy, with no real characterisation. I think anyone could be swapped for anyone else, except when specific powers were needed. The 1000 years in the future stuff is deathly boring, 100 years in the future is not much better, but it is at least tied more to the current timeline. Moira revealed to have a secret mutant power all along was annoying, too. It’s a very convoluted plot, and honestly, the whole Krakoa feels creepy and cultlike. I also hated how Sinister is written to be an outright camp comedy character!! He was not like that in the 1980s. I found it quite insulting.

There was nothing in this that got me interested in reading more of the Krakoan Era. Especially if written by Jonathan Hickman.

Then I decided to give the Astonishing X-Men run a shot, which is the one written by Josh Whedon in 2004. I’ read 20 issues so far. They did start off well for me because they are character-focused, and I like Cyclops and Emma Frost as a couple. I quite enjoyed the wry humour.

It is the era where Beast is in his “secondary mutant” form and looks like a cat (after Sage activated him to save his life in X-Treme X-Men), which I do not like. I also absolutely hate the art by John Cassaday, and I’m very confused why people praise it! Everyone looks chubby… Scott is unrecognisable!

Unfortunately, it quite quickly got boring with storylines dragged over too many issues. It also focuses on Kitty as the main character, and she has never been a favourite for me, and she does feel a bit “Buffy” – as does the dialogue for the villains.

I will keep going a bit more, but it’s definitely losing me. I might try to focus on reading more of my LRB subscription in the mornings with my cup of tea instead of comics for a while (I have to work on that backlog!).

Currently Reading

Currently, I am reading Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years and None the Ninth (on audio). I’ve actually nearly finished that, which will be the last book out in The Locked Tomb series, so then I will probably go back to Tiffany Aching.

I am also trying to get on top of my LRB issues… I have 9 waiting! I really enjoy reading it, but the problem is whenever I unfold it, the cat arrives and makes things difficult.

Adding to TBR

I managed a no-book-buying month in March, but I did get a few things in April:

I listened to the audiobooks through my library, but I know I want to re-read this in print because things are hard to follow when you are listening, and it’s a lot harder to pick up clues! I got the 3-in-1 omnibus of the series.

1. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsin Muir
2. Harrow the Ninth by Tamsin Muir
3. Nona the Ninth by Tamsin Muir

I also got two second-hand print books from eBay:

4. Jessica Jones – Blind Spot (TPB collections) – I have read this already digitally, but I wanted a print copy for my little Jessica Jones collection.
5. The Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossman – I wanted to read this as one of the first fiction diaries, without which there may be no Adrian Mole.

I have also already bought 5 books in May, so also not going to be a no-buy month! I was in Buxton in an old-school second-hand book shop, and it would have been rude not to.