What did you read in March?

[msmerymac]

I did a LOT of reading last month, both audio and physical books. I was behind going into the month and now I'm 3 books ahead, with 15/52 read.

Notorious RBG by Irin Carmon ***
Becoming by Michelle Obama *****
The Summer of Jordi Perez (and the Best Burger in Los Angeles) by Amy Spalding ****
Educated by Tara Westover *****
White Working Class by Joan C. Williams ***
Patti Smith at the Minetta Lane ****
The World As It Is by Ben Rhodes ****
My Antonia by Willa Cather ***
The Princess Saves Herself in This One by Amanda Lovelace ****
Promise Me, Dad by Joe Biden ***

[mrspez07]

I had a good month.

Audio:
Being Mortal ****
Educated *****

Book:
All we Ever Wanted ***
Manhattan Beach ***
Force of Nature ****

[ufcasey]

2 Stars
This Scot of Mine by Sophie Jordan

3 Stars
Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson
The Bride Says Maybe by Cathy Maxwell
Transgressions (The Twelve Systems Chronicles, #3) by E.G. Manetti

3.5 Stars
Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik
Star Witch (The Lazy Girl's Guide To Magic #2) by Helen Harper
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

4 Stars
Serengeti Valor (The Twelve Systems Chronicles, #5) by E.G. Manetti
Fortuna (The Twelve Systems Chronicles, #4) by E.G. Manetti
Immortal Fire (Red Winter Trilogy, #3) by Annette Marie
Long Shot by Kennedy Ryan
Oathbringer (The Stormlight Archive, #3) by Brandon Sanderson

5 Stars
A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne

[CrazyLucky]

I read Rising Out of Hatred: The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist. 4 stars
And the first book in the Inspector Gamache series, Still Life. I was disappointed by it. Maybe you guys all built it up too much. I only gave it 2 stars.
Right now I'm reading The Untelling by Tayari Jones. I loved the other two of her books I read, but this one is more meh. I felt like I had a connection to the characters in her other books, but I can't get into the people in this one.
Next will be How the Light Gets in, based on so many recommendations here.
And I'm excited that my hold on Sonia Sotomayor's autobiography finally came in.
Plus, did you guys end up changing the April book? I've been holding off reading that one, waiting for April.

[travella]

4*
The Witch Elm by Tana French
The Heavens May Fall by Allen Eskens

3*
There There by Tommy Orange

2*
The Death of Mrs Westaway by Ruth Ware
The Shadows We Hide by Allen Eskens

[wesleycrusher]

5 stars
Beastie Boys Book by Michael Diamond and Adam Horovitz

4 stars

Nine Continents: A Memoir in and Out of China by Xiaolu Guo

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood and Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi

Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao

Becoming by Michelle Obama

Walk This Way: Run-DMC, Aerosmith, and the Song That Changed American Music Forever by Geoff Edgers

Until It Fades by K.A. Tucker

From the Corner of the Oval by Beck Dorey-Stein (audio) 

Wild Boy: My Life in Duran Duran by Andy Taylor
A Serial Killer's Daughter: My Story of Faith, Love, and Overcoming by Kerri Rawson

3 stars
Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements

Everything Is Possible: Finding the Faith and Courage to Follow Your Dreams by Jen Bricker (audio)

Princesses Behaving Badly: Real Stories from History—without the Fairy-Tale Endings by Linda Rodríguez McRobbie

Feed by Mira Grant (audio)

Cheerful Money: Me, My Family, and the Last Days of Wasp Splendor by Tad Friend 

Twinchantment  by Elise Allen 
 

2 stars
Little Girls in Pretty Boxes by Joan Ryan

Not Rated

Listen to New Wave Rock!: Exploring a Musical Genre  by James E Perone

[rainbowchip]

CrazyLucky the April book was changed to There There.

[rainbowchip]

Midnight Crossroad 2.5 stars - I felt like I missed something with this book. I wasn't sure if the world knew that there were Supernatural beings or not. They were all secretive about it but when a new person came in town they didn't really try to hide it. The plot was sort of boring too. It took a long time to get going and then I didn't really care what the solution to the mystery was.

To All the Boys I've Loved Before 4 stars - Very cute and sort of predictable.

I'll Be Gone in the Dark 4 stars

Chasing The Dragon 2.5 stars - Very similar plot to the Beautiful Mess series. The characters were very unrealistic. Especially the gay best friend. And it was stretched out way too much probably to make it a series when it could have been one book.

I'm currently at 11/52 for the year. 2 books behind. 😕

[sarahswim]

March:

On The Come Up (Angie Thomas) ****
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (JK Rowling) ****
Among the Barons (Margaret Peterson Haddix) ***
Our Kind of Cruelty (Araminta Hall) ****
I'll Be Gone in the Dark (Michelle McNamara) ***

That puts me at 21 for the year, which is considerably far behind my goal of 120 for 2019.

[meowmaps]

Less by Andrew Sean Greer 3*
The Kissing Quotient by Helen Hoang 2*
What the Eyes Don't See by Mona Hanna-Attisha 5*
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides 4*
The Lost Man by Jane Harper 5*

[abs]

I read a ton this month--at least for me! None of it was great literature but I enjoyed everything I read.

Blubber by Judy Blume 4* (re-read from like 33 years ago)
Daisy Jones and the Six 4*
Evidence of the Affair 3*
To All the Boys I've Loved Before 4*
P.S. I Still Love You 4*
Always and Forever, Lara Jean 4*
The Summer I Turned Pretty 4*

I should probably read some more grown up books this month but I don't want to...

[minzy]

Apr 2, 2019 12:13:36 GMT -5 meowmaps said:

What the Eyes Don't See by Mona Hanna-Attisha 5*

Glad you liked this one!  I thought it was SO good, too!! 

[minzy]

My reading is slowing down a little as other things have taken priority... I did part of a winter challenge with a group, but the prompts were all pretty fiction heavy, and I am more focused on non-fiction these days, so the motivation wasn't quite there.  Hopefully, April will be more productive book-wise.  In March, I finished:

Zero Waste Home - The Ultimate Guide to Simplifying Your Life by Reducing Your Waste - Bea Johnson - 5 stars (some very thought provoking ideas in there)
Hot - Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth - Mark Hertsgaard- 4.5 stars (...same)
The Grid - The Fraying Wires Between Americans And Our Energy Future - Gretchen Bakke, Ph.D. - 4 stars (also had some very thought provoking ideas, lol)

17 read so far on the year

[litskispeciality]

I finished 50 Shades Freed.

Read:

The Husband's Secret 3.5

The Wedding Date 3.5 - 4

I started I'll be Gone in the Dark but didn't get past 18%, I'll pick it up another time.

I'm back up to 5/24 hooray!

[msmerymac]

wesleycrusher, are you a big Beastie Boys fan? I'm not, but I've always enjoyed their interviews and whatnot. Would I like the book?

[wesleycrusher]

Apr 3, 2019 9:09:51 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

wesleycrusher , are you a big Beastie Boys fan? I'm not, but I've always enjoyed their interviews and whatnot. Would I like the book?

I would think so. I am not a huge fan- I mean I know and enjoy their hits, have seen their music videos and knew basics of their history.  I really enjoy reading about the late 70s-80s music scene though. There was so much going on then with the rise of the music video, rise of rap, etc.

The book was just really well done and sincere. It switches back every few pages between Mike D and Ad-Rock telling their stories.

My goodreads review: It's just the right amount of history, industry, music, tribute and humor. Kinda sad I read it instead of listening to it on audiobook based on the excellent reviews below- although I did enjoy the pictures.

[msmerymac]

Apr 3, 2019 10:49:21 GMT -5 wesleycrusher said:

Apr 3, 2019 9:09:51 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

wesleycrusher , are you a big Beastie Boys fan? I'm not, but I've always enjoyed their interviews and whatnot. Would I like the book?

I would think so. I am not a huge fan- I mean I know and enjoy their hits, have seen their music videos and knew basics of their history.  I really enjoy reading about the late 70s-80s music scene though. There was so much going on then with the rise of the music video, rise of rap, etc.

The book was just really well done and sincere. It switches back every few pages between Mike D and Ad-Rock telling their stories.

My goodreads review: It's just the right amount of history, industry, music, tribute and humor. Kinda sad I read it instead of listening to it on audiobook based on the excellent reviews below- although I did enjoy the pictures.

Perfect. Yeah, I'm familiar with their hit songs/videos, but I've never purchased one of their albums. 

If you're into books about music, I thought Please Kill Me by Greil Marcus, which is an oral history of American punk rock, was fascinating. Also something I didn't know a ton about before I read it, but I loved it.

[wesleycrusher]

Apr 3, 2019 10:55:47 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

Apr 3, 2019 10:49:21 GMT -5 wesleycrusher said:

I would think so. I am not a huge fan- I mean I know and enjoy their hits, have seen their music videos and knew basics of their history.  I really enjoy reading about the late 70s-80s music scene though. There was so much going on then with the rise of the music video, rise of rap, etc.

The book was just really well done and sincere. It switches back every few pages between Mike D and Ad-Rock telling their stories.

My goodreads review: It's just the right amount of history, industry, music, tribute and humor. Kinda sad I read it instead of listening to it on audiobook based on the excellent reviews below- although I did enjoy the pictures.

Perfect. Yeah, I'm familiar with their hit songs/videos, but I've never purchased one of their albums. 

If you're into books about music, I thought Please Kill Me by Greil Marcus, which is an oral history of American punk rock, was fascinating. Also something I didn't know a ton about before I read it, but I loved it.

I'll put it on my list, thanks!

[estrellita]

A Woman Is No Man - I really liked it, especially with the storytelling between generations. I thought the end was a little abrupt. That plus some typos were my only criticisms.

The Great Alone - Loved! Slow in some spots but overall really good.

Before She Knew Him - I liked this more than I expected! I had trouble putting it down several times!

[ally]

I have been struggling to pick and stick with books.  This is a new "problem" as I used to feel obligated to finish, but now I can't seem to be happy.

Still Me, Jojo Moyes, 3 1/2*
Shelter in Place, Nora Roberts, 3*
The Vactioners, Emma Straub, 3 1/2*
At Least in the City Someone Would Have Heard Me Scream, Wade Rouse, 2*
Circe, Madeline Miller, 4*

I have read 18/52 books for the year.

[wildrice]

Finished in March:

- A Spark of Light by Jodi Piccoult (4 stars)- I liked this one a lot more than I expected to based on what I'd heard. I disliked that it was told in reverse chronological order, but I appreciated the detailed information about how abortion actually works and that she tackled a lot of tough subject matter.

- The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory (4 stars) - this was a quick fluffy read and I enjoyed it. I haven't read a book like this one in a while so it felt like a throwback for me.

- Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty (3 stars) - I may have rated it higher had I not read most of her other books, but this one was my least favorite by Moriarty. I like her characters and the way she writes, but this story just didn't do it for me.

- Less by Andrew Sean Greer (struggling with rating - probably 2.5?) - this was for an IRL book club. It was just ok for me. I liked certain passages and I enjoyed the happy ending, but most of the book was sloooow. For a book about someone traveling around the world (my favorite topic!) I was disappointed that the main character was too self centered to really get to enjoy the travel as a reader. Also, despite the world travel, I felt like nothing really happened throughout the book. I wouldn't recommend, though I didn't HATE it.

- Now I'm reading "Theo Brand's 6th Symphony" by Christopher O'Hanlon, who happens to be my FIL (it's a pen name, that's not my last name!). It's self published and I'm afraid you can tell - I think having a good editor would probably make it a better book, though to be fair I'm less than 10% into it. I'm struggling to get into the story, probably because it's jumped around a lot so far and hasn't hardly gotten into what the "story" even is. It's his first novel, though he's written and published a lot of children's books and travel guides (along with my MIL as a team!) so I know he's a solid writer. I feel bad because he sent it to us like 2 months ago and I'm only now finally getting around to reading it, because I had a ton of library books on hold that came available and I felt like I needed to prioritize them.

I'm hoping to make some good progress reading this weekend. I feel like I was flying through books for the first 2.5 months of the year and now I'm reading 2 slow books in a row and losing my steam/interest in reading.

[tacokick]

The Winter Sister by Megan Collins (what a melodrama)


Solo: A Modern Cookbook for a Party of One by Anita Lo (I don’t always count cookbooks. I read every word and loved it)


The Girl With the Silver Eyes by Willo Davis Roberts (still loved)


Everything’s Trash, But it’s Okay by Phoebe Robinson (I liked it but I liked her first book a lot more)


Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner (I love her newspaper writing but didn’t love this. It was an ARC and there is a lot of buzz about it but I found some of her narrative devices clunky. And it was almost a satire but not quite IMO)



The World According to Fannie Davis: My Mother's Life in the Detroit Numbers by Bridgett M. Davis (loved this)


Radiant, Shimmering Light by Sarah Selecky (another satire? Are they popular again? Not terribly well done)


The View From the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts (not sure if I read this as a kid! Very ‘70s)


Going Into Town: A Love Letter to New York by Roz Chast (actually learned some things about NYC)


Stone Mothers by Erin Kelly (it was an ARC, I think my least favorite book of hers)

Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast (she is a saint for helping her parents)


Rock Needs River by Vanessa McGrady (an adoption memoir where the author doesn’t realize what a mess she is at all. None of it made sense, the birth father was in his 60s and she never mentioned that)


Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram (YA, loved it)


The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda (blah)

What I Hate From A-Z by Roz Chast (basically a picture book for adults)

Nobody Cares by Anne T. Donahue (I liked it, loved the cover)

The Mothers by Brit Bennett (I was in the middle for this one. It dragged a bit)


My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan (derailed into an super cheesy romance halfway through. Many plot holes)


My Lovey Wife by Samantha Downing (would be a great beach book! Campy and entertaining but light)


A weird mix for me! I was finishing up a big project so took it easy.

[tacokick]

Apr 2, 2019 10:36:06 GMT -5 CrazyLucky said:

I
Right now I'm reading The Untelling by Tayari Jones. I loved the other two of her books I read, but this one is more meh. I felt like I had a connection to the characters in her other books, but I can't get into the people in this one.
.

I felt the same way.

[aurora]

Apr 2, 2019 10:36:06 GMT -5 CrazyLucky said:

I read Rising Out of Hatred: The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist. 4 stars
And the first book in the Inspector Gamache series, Still Life. I was disappointed by it. Maybe you guys all built it up too much. I only gave it 2 stars.
Right now I'm reading The Untelling by Tayari Jones. I loved the other two of her books I read, but this one is more meh. I felt like I had a connection to the characters in her other books, but I can't get into the people in this one.
Next will be How the Light Gets in, based on so many recommendations here.
And I'm excited that my hold on Sonia Sotomayor's autobiography finally came in.
Plus, did you guys end up changing the April book? I've been holding off reading that one, waiting for April.

Maybe it's not the series for you, but it's also possible that I'm really appreciating it because it's the kind of book that works well in audiobook format. I haven't actually read a Kindle/paper copy of any of the books.

[aurora]

In March I finished

Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
Three Sisters, Three Queens by Philippa Gregory (audiobook)
The Valley of Horses by Jean Auel
Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey
Educated by Tara Westover
The Long Way Home by Louise Penny (audiobook)

Just realizing what a strange mix that is of light vs. heavy reading! Probably the best one was Behind the Beautiful Forevers. Boo did an amazing job of making an easy-to-read story out of an impoverished community. But, it's not something you'd want to read if you were looking for escape.

Obviously I am also on a re-read binge from my childhood.

[CrazyLucky]

Apr 5, 2019 9:45:25 GMT -5 aurora said:

Apr 2, 2019 10:36:06 GMT -5 CrazyLucky said:

I read Rising Out of Hatred: The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist. 4 stars
And the first book in the Inspector Gamache series, Still Life. I was disappointed by it. Maybe you guys all built it up too much. I only gave it 2 stars.
Right now I'm reading The Untelling by Tayari Jones. I loved the other two of her books I read, but this one is more meh. I felt like I had a connection to the characters in her other books, but I can't get into the people in this one.
Next will be How the Light Gets in, based on so many recommendations here.
And I'm excited that my hold on Sonia Sotomayor's autobiography finally came in.
Plus, did you guys end up changing the April book? I've been holding off reading that one, waiting for April.

Maybe it's not the series for you, but it's also possible that I'm really appreciating it because it's the kind of book that works well in audiobook format. I haven't actually read a Kindle/paper copy of any of the books.

You might be right, but I'm giving it a second try right now with How the Light Gets In.  I just started it last night.  Even if I don't like the series, I really appreciate all the recommendations I see here.