What did you read in February AND March?

[mrspez07]

Rankings, thoughts, counts?

[travella]

February
The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare, 1* (the broken English through the entire book gave me a headache)
The Little Liar by Mitch Albom, 3*
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, 1* (I couldn't get into this book)
The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett Graff, 5* (An emotional read)
Maus I and II by Spiegelman 3*, (I don't like graphic novels, but it was ok)
The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn, 1* (I was looking forward to this book, but it was not good - flat characters, uninspired, the one event I was looking forward to was glazed over)
Purgatory Ridge by William Kent Krueger, 3*
Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden, 2* (I liked this book in the beginning, but lost interest quickly)

March
The Lost Book of the Grail by Charlie Lovett, 3*
Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson, 2* (I would have loved more constraint and depth)
The Daughter of Auschwitz by Tova Friedman, DNF
The Bee Sting by Paul Murray, 2* (longer than it needed to be, the large section without punctuation was frustrating)
The Hunter by Tana French, 2* (I couldn't get into this book)

[charlatti]

Whoops, we missed February? I read a lot, so this is just the good stuff:


4 stars: lots of good thrillers and mysteries, comments on the non-mysteries
The Awakening by Kate Chopin (read this originally in high school, slow reading but nice to revisit it)
The Morningside by Tea Obreht (sort of dystopian, sort of climate fiction, beautifully written even if I didn’t totally get it)
Silence in the Library by Katharine Schellman
The Hunter by Tana French
Leave No Trace by A.J. Landau
A Cold and Lonely Place Sara J. Henry
The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins
Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Self-Portrait with Nothing by Aimee Pokwatka (weird but fascinating)
The Night Shift by Alex Finlay



4.5
The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard (dystopian/time travel - really cool concept)

5
The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown (fantasy — I really loved this, even though it’s not a perfect book. Just hit the right buttons for me)
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (another high school reread. Loved this both times)
The Parliament by Aimee Pokwatka (really really weird. Murder owls! But strangely hopeful and heartwarming)

[dearprudence]

travella - bummed to hear about Katherine Arden's book, because I loved the Winternight Trilogy. But I trust your review because I know so few other people who felt the same way about Black Cake.

[Vespasia]

Apr 11, 2024 14:58:45 GMT -5 dearprudence said:

travella - bummed to hear about Katherine Arden's book, because I loved the Winternight Trilogy. But I trust your review because I know so few other people who felt the same way about Black Cake.

Warm Hands of Ghosts was by far the best book I've read this year. I wouldn't rule it out!

[dearprudence]

February
The Latch Key - 4*
Longshadow - 4*
A Lady's Guide to Fortune Hunting- 4*
The Secret Service of Tea and Treason- 5*
Of Manners and Murder- 3*
Something in the Heir - 4*
My Dear Henry - 4*
Mortal Follies - 4*

March
Every Rising Sun - 3*
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store- 5*
The Jasad Heir- 4*
This Woven Kingdom - 4*
Alif the Unseen - 4*
The Hidden Palace - 4*
The Djinn Waits A Hundred Years - 3*

[Vespasia]

February:
Here in Avalon by Tara Isabella Burton - 3.5*
House of Last Resort by Christopher Golden - 2*
Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire - 4*
What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher (Sworn Soldier #2) - 4*
The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden - 5*

March (all 4 stars):
All the Sinners Bleed by SA Cosby
Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
The Bad Ones by Melisa Albert
Good Girls Don't Die by Christina Henry

Both Months:
Murderbot Series #4-6
Exit Strategy 
Network Effect
Fugitive Telemetry

Individually I rate them 4* but collectively they're 5*

[travella]

Apr 11, 2024 14:58:45 GMT -5 dearprudence said:

travella - bummed to hear about Katherine Arden's book, because I loved the Winternight Trilogy. But I trust your review because I know so few other people who felt the same way about Black Cake.

I was hesitant to read the Winternight Trilogy because Fantasy isn't usually one of my favorite genres. However, I loved that trilogy! The fantasy aspect of Warm Hands of Ghosts just didn't work for me. If you like Fantasy you might like it.

[mrspez07]

Audio:
Leave Only Footprints: My Acadia to Zion: Journey by Conor Knighton 4*
Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow 4*

Visual:
The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis 3*
The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz 3*
The Verifiers by Jane Pek 3*
The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Jamie Chang 3*
The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley 4*

[mrspez07]

charlatti
Your list is excellent, I think I added most of them to my to-read list!