What did you read last month? - March

[Wigs]

Tell us what you read in March!

[Wigs]

I want to thank the people in last month's thread to opening my eyes to Overdrive, I now have constant entertainment at work and I think I'm going to get a lot of books read.

This month, I read 5 books: two audio, two plays, and one short stories.

For the plays, I read Hamlet, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. Quick reads, and I feel more knowledgeable in normal pop culture things.

I finally finished A Treasury of Foolishly Forgotten Americans: Pirates, Skinflints, Patriots, and Other Colorful Characters Stuck in the Footnotes of History
It was slow going because some of it was pretty dry but I do think there are two things I really loved. A) this racist confederate lawyer who "while defending a client on murder charges, he accidentally shot himself dead as he demonstrated to the jury how the murder weapon might have been used." and B) the inventor of Mother's Day was a very difficult woman, and her sister wrote a letter to her that said "nothing would help or encourage me like your death." Which is a great quote and would make a nice greeting card.

Audiobook wise, I did two Neil Gaimans. American Gods, which I had already read before but oh my god it was such a great audiobook. It was a full cast production meaning they got a lot of different voice actors to do all the characters. The main character was voiced by a person of color, as he should be, and I am soooo excited for the tv show now.

And then I did Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances which was read by Neil and not really worth the effort. I did a review here but the short of it is there is no reason why it should be called Trigger Warning because it's just a random collection of some of Neil's snippet stuff and nothing is shocking or too interesting.

I've just started Captive Prince for physical reading, and Neverwhere for audio at work.

[Yesternitt]

I I'm currently still reading The Forbidden Wish and I'm loving it. I read Lola And The Boy Next Door and Finished Daughter or Smoke and Bone

[Keri]

I read three books in March:

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, it was really good! It took me a long time to read because of the language, and while the monster / Victor both annoyed me with their whining, it was a good read. I'm glad I gave it a try, I didn't read it in high school.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling, it was okay. I liked the first half, but I wasn't sure about the second half. I liked her writing / voice, but it got a little stale near the end. I've never watched The Office, however, so I don't know if that made a difference.

The Round House by Louise Eldrich, I was good. Sometimes got long-winded and I thought WAY too many characters, but I think that's just part of the Native American life? I also didn't like the ending, I thought it was a tear-jerker crock, but you win some, you lose some.

I'm currently reading Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch which is a hard copy. I always use my eReader (because I'm broke, haha) so I forgot how nice it is to have a physical copy! I think I'll buy one physical copy book a month from now on.

[Mia]

Oh, I am so mad about your audiobook for American Gods. The one I had was a really old dude narrator which I think killed the book for me (but it's too long for me to attempt it again).

I read:

A New Dawn So good. I'm having a lot of fun reading the new Star Wars stuff and Rebels especially is my favorite new EU type thing, so this book was a great addition (and such a fun romp in the Star Wars universe that didn't feel like something was being rehashed).

Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person by Shonda Rimes. I really loved this book a lot. I enjoy memoirs and this one in particular was really fun to read and great to learn more about one of my favorite TV writers.

Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. This was a slog, it took me months to finish. I think the writing style that isn't the quotes was a little bogged down and I'm not a biography person (but we'll see, I might try a Layfette one I've had an eye on), but it was still a great read to have before going to see Hamilton.

Captive Prince and it's accompanying sequels. It was okay, but didn't quite live up to the hype.

[Storygraph: melodyelizabeth]

I read The Goldfinch - definitely recommend, the first 600 pages (yes it's very long) are exceptional. The last 175 or so drag on quite a bit which is unfortunate, but still worth the read.

[Nicole]

I only read one book: A Thousand Pieces of You. It wasn't very good.

Now I'm reading Winter Rose and I'm in love with the prose.

[Wigs]

Melody wrote: "I read The Goldfinch - definitely recommend, the first 600 pages (yes it's very long) are exceptional. The last 175 or so drag on quite a bit which is unfortunate, but still worth t..."

I'm glad you reccommend it ! I have the audiobook in my Overdrive rn waiting :)

[Andi]

Mia wrote: "Oh, I am so mad about your audiobook for American Gods. The one I had was a really old dude narrator which I think killed the book for me (but it's too long for me to attempt it again).

I read:

[..."

I LOVE A NEW DAWN. *draws shipper hearts around Kanan and Hera* It bugs me that their relationship is so 'implied' in the show, but in this book he seems gung-ho to court/hook up with her. Hopefully more of that will come in time.

Lets see, what did I read in March?:



[book:Fool's Assassin|19288321] and Fool's Quest
Which pained me to say, were not very good compared to the other thirteen books of the series. I know Robin Hobb is wrapping up Fitz' tale but honest to god, the characters did a complete 180* and it was kind of boring. First time I gave her books three stars. Hopefully the last one is amazing. (Still my fave author...)

A Gathering of Shadows
I got to meet V. Schwab in February and I was super excited to pick this book up after the fun I had with the last one... however I forgot most of the plot. Things came bac to mind, and it was still enjoyable. Still having issues with the world building. It's very blah. But man, she can write great characters and dialogue.

Daughter of the Forest
Eh. Very difficult read. I couldn't wait for it to be over, and the when it got good, I was already done with it. I have the other books of the series, and I am interested to finish to the end. But I'm gonna take a bit of a break...

Yesterday I finished Shockaholic. I love Carrie Fisher's writng/gossip/no fucks given attitude. Can't wait for her next book!

[Knobby]

I read Room, because of the Oscars, and also watched the movie. Both killed me (and it surprised me that the movie was just as good as the book; usually that's not the case)

For a book club, An Ember in the Ashes, which was well-liked by everyone in the club except for me. I usually don't give up on books but I wanted to give up on this one. DID finish it but didn't enjoy it.

A friend recommended Delicate Monsters as a palette cleanser (ha) and I devoured it in a day.

Finished The Last Will of Moira Leahy yesterday and it ripped me apart at the 75% mark, but the end was kinda.. just okay. Still, it was a good read!

[Carmen]

Graphic Novels: Saga, Volume 4, Saga, Volume 5, and This One Summer. I loved them all, but I wish I had more volumes of Saga to read lol.

I feel kind of iffy about Bonnie of Evidence, but maybe it's because I've been reading this series out of order. I read A Monster Calls for a book club and I can honestly say that this book made me both mad and sad. If anyone wants to check it out, definitely be prepared to cry your eyes out by the end. My library finally got The Outsider, which is pretty good. I was surprised at how many similarities there are between the book and the TV show.

I also read The Favorite because I apparently need to finish reading the short stories before the new book comes out. I loved Stars Above. I'm so glad that we got to see what happened to everyone after Winter through one of the short stories. I'm going to miss this series.

I think that In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom was one of the books in the group reads for last month. It was such a sad book you guys. I can't believe how much she and her family has had to live through.

[Amira]

Keri wrote: "I read three books in March:

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, it was really good! It took me a long time to read because of the language, and while the monster / Victor both annoyed me ..."

I read Frankenstein earlier this year too. Didn't enjoy it nearly as much as you! But I wasn't being fair to it really - ended up listening to it on audiobook whenever I was bored and barely paying attention. Thought it was quite dry which is the stereotype for Classics, but this one did fit that bill imo.

And yes, it did take forever for me to finish too. Oh well, at least it's chalked off the list.

[Izzie]

I read four books this month; I was trying to catch up on the reading challenge/keep up the momentum!

I opened March with The Fellowship of the Ring, which was a joy to return to (but not The Two Towers, which is draaaaaaaaagging).
Evermore was next, and with it, years of my life I could have spent on other things, like watching paint dry.
I read Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders next, which was, honestly, the star this month. Took me forever to finish, but it was one of those books where I stayed up way, way past my bedtime to finish it.
I finished March with Never Let Me Go, which was... strange. Honestly, I don't even know what to say about it that wasn't said in the review I posted. Its difficult to summarize.

I'm opening April with Daughter of Smoke & Bone, something I'm glad I got my hands on after all the time in my to-reads. So far, the great ratings it has are justified!

[Lindsay]

I completed one book this month.

Lady Midnight - I know, I know. Everyone here hates Cassie Clare. I'll just be in the minority because I loved this book and read it very fast for me.

I'm still working on The Sound of Gravel which is a really interesting account of girl who grew up in a polygamist sect of the LDS church. From what I can tell, she is about my age and it's so intriguing. But also very sad and disturbing, so I keep putting it down for lighter fare.

I also started American Gods, due to the raves from this group, and the upcoming TV show. The man getting swallowed up in a woman's vagina was a bit much off the bat, but I'm powering through. ;)

[Z]

Girl On The Train (compelling, but not really living up to the hype imo) via audio book

Batman: Under the Red Hood (loved this, even knowing the spoilers for it)

Batman: Year Zero (kinda meh about another origin story}

[Mia]

Andi wrote: "Fool's Assassin and Fool's Quest
Which pained me to say, were not very good compared to the other thirteen books of the series. I know Robin Hobb is wrapping up Fitz' tale but honest to god, the characters did a complete 180* and it was kind of boring. First time I gave her books three stars. Hopefully the last one is amazing. (Still my fave author...)"

(Re: A New Dawn, they need to makeout already on the show, geez)

That is a bummer about the new Fitz trilogy, I was really excited. I haven't liked any of Robin Hobb's other stuff but I LOVED her Fitz series so I was waiting until that was wrapped up to check out.

[Kate]

Yesternitt15 wrote: "I I'm currently still reading The Forbidden Wish and I'm loving it. I read Lola And The Boy Next Door and Finished Daughter or Smoke and Bone"

The Forbidden Wish is my next book up! Happy you like it!

[Andi]

Mia wrote: (Re: A New Dawn, they need to makeout already on the show, geez)

That is a bummer about the new Fitz trilogy, I was really excited. I haven't liked any of Robin Hobb's other stuff but I LOVED her Fitz series so I was waiting until that was wrapped up to check out.

(Re: Rebels - the last two episodes I finally watched on the show and I was so happy to see they are being more open about their relationship. I hope it just keeps moving forward.)

Robin Hobb: I'd have to say you're better off waiting until all three books are out so you can plow through them. So in the end your enjoyment may be justified by the last book. I just keep hoping the last book is good that it makes me forget about the sad/dissappointed reviews I gave the other two books. I also have her Solider Son trilogy to read but that one has gotten some nasty to mixed reviews so I'm unsure if I should read it. Have you read it?

[Liesje Leest]

This month I read:
Halloween Rain A Buffy the Vampire Slayer novel. I love the tv series, the book was....It was ok. Fun, but could have been better. The story itself was nice, but I think it would just work better on tv or as a book targeted to an older audience (this one seems to be written for 10 year olds)
The Well of Ascension I have a love/hate relationship with these books. I love everything about them and at the same time they seem to drag on forever....I will read the next book some time, but I'm putting the series down for now.
A Short History of the Troubles Interesting, and I learned about, but this book was a bit to short leaving no room for really explaining things in depth. But non the less and impressive read, since I read it just after a trip to Belfast.
Green Island Loved this, loved this, loved this. It's sort of a history of Taiwan in novel form. Must read for everyone! Pretty violent, so you do need to be able to stomach that, but such a great book. Time to work this into one of the monthly reads!
And I just finished Witches Abroad today, but read most of it in March. Fun book, as always with the Discworld novels.

[sraxe]

In March, I read seven books, two of which were novellas (well, maybe you could say three because I guess Jekyll/Hyde counts as a novella? It was pretty short, imo), and DNFed two books.

I read the new Julia Quinn novel, Because of Miss Bridgerton, but I wasn't overly impressed by it. It definitely wasn't her best, but it wasn't totally awful or anything, either. (And technically I finished it April 1st, but I read most of it in March, so I count it as a March book.)

Another much-anticipated release I read was Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy's Us, which was a good book, but I felt as if a sequel wasn't all that necessary. Oh, well. It was fun for what it was.

In addition to those, the two other full-length novels I read were Beauty and the Bachelor Naima Simone and Once in a Blue Moon Amie Stuart, neither of which I was a huge fan of.

A Midnight Clear by Emma Barry and Genevieve Turner, Flirting with Fire by Tara Quan, and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson were the three novellas I read.

The two books I DNFed were Wildflower Michele Kimbrough and Lark by Norah Hess. The first had some weird incestuous sibling affection going on, which was totally weirding me out (amongst other things I just wasn't feeling about it), and the second was just boring.

Wigs wrote: "I want to thank the people in last month's thread to opening my eyes to Overdrive, I now have constant entertainment at work and I think I'm going to get a lot of books read."

That's awesome! I'm so glad you were able to take advantage of it. I was definitely glad when I'd renewed my library card (after years of not doing so) when I got my e-reader and discovered the e-book loans and Overdrive.

[A.]

I read four books in March.

1. Edmund Persuader by Stuart Shotwell. If you love Jane Austen, you will love this. It's a bit Mary Sue-ish, but the motivations of the characters are clear. The language is like a slightly more modern Regency novel. It's hella long, though, at 1550 pages. If you have an e-reader, you should probably get the electronic version, because it was hell having to tote around two volumes.

2. Schismatrix Plus by Bruce Sterling. Eh, maybe cyberpunk isn't for me? Sterling is supposed to be one of the earliest cyberpunk writers, but the novel Schismatrix is really confusing, boring, and doesn't define the rules of its universe. In contrast, his earlier short stories (which are found at the end of this edition), are really good, especially Swarm.

3. True Feel by Ted Bernal Guevara. It had potential, but again, the writing was confusing. I loved that it had a non-able bodied protagonist, though.

4. fuck, YES!: A Guide to the Happy Acceptance of Everything This is out of print. If you can find it, read it with low expectations. It's hilarious.

To the person who read The Goldfinch, thanks for the heads up on the last 175 pages. I was just gifted that book, and its length is intimidating. Nice to know I'll fly through most of it.

[Andi]

Liesje Leest wrote: "The Well of Ascension I have a love/hate relationship with these books. I love everything about them and at the same time they seem to drag on forever....I will read the next book some time, but I'm putting the series down for now."

Mistborn was my first Sanderson experience and I enjoyed it. Eland started to drive me insane during the second book. He was worse in the third. Where he cute and adorable in the first and someone I didn't have problems with he became insufferable by the end.

[Liesje Leest]

Andi wrote:
Mistborn was my first Sanderson experience and I enjoyed it. Eland started to drive me insane during the second book. He was worse in the third."

Really? Thats too bad. I loved him in the first book and still like him in this one. I don't want him to become annoying :( since you say "first experience" did you read some of his other books too? How did you find them compared to these ones?

[Melissa]

I read 5 books and 1 audio book in March.

Breaking the Story by Ashley Farley Rating: 5/5

The Queen by Kiera Cass Rating: 4/5

Roanoke: The Lost Colony by Angela Elwell Hunt Rating: 3.5/5

The Red Door Inn by Liz Johnson Rating: 3.5/5

The Gift of Friendship: Stories That Celebrate the Beauty of Shared Moments by Dawn Camp Rating: 4/5

Summer of Roses by Luanne Rice (Audio Book) Rating: 3.5/5

[Mia]

I don't remember which series of hers I tried reading after the Fitzes but I think it was Solider's son and I was so bored I didn't finish. May be different for others. I still haven't finished the Liveship books. I think I may only like Fitz related novels for her.

[Claire]

I had a pretty good month! I rated four books 4 stars and one book 3 stars, which is great for me - my average rating is 2.6 haha

1. Kings Rising
2. Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda This was a fun read, even though I had a good idea who Blue was straight away, I was excited to see what would happen.
3. The Heir This series is such a guilty pleasure for me, I know it's pure trash, but it's so entertaining. I loved how flawed the main character is in this book - she didn't just know the right thing to do or say, as so many main characters ususally do - it's really refreshing, and relatable for me.
4. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe This was just a really nice read, I enjoyed being in the main character's world
5. Coreyography

I didn't get any further with my progress in Wuthering Heights which I started about 5 or 6 weeks ago, I think I might just give this one up as DNF.

[Andi]

Liesje Leest wrote: "
Really? Thats too bad. I loved him in the first book and still like him in this one. I don't want him to become annoying :( since you say "first experience" did you read some of his other books too? How did you find them compared to these ones? "

I started reading his YA adult series ( Steelheart, Firefight, Calamity) but I only finished book two when I realized how much I couldn't take the main character. He was too 'gee wiz' and 'constant metaphor-y'. The story was also rather weak. A lot of people say that his weakest series of the ones he has going on.

Mia wrote: "I don't remember which series of hers I tried reading after the Fitzes but I think it was Solider's son and I was so bored I didn't finish. May be different for others. I still haven't finished the Liveship books. I think I may only like Fitz related novels for her."

Everyone says Soldier Son is the strangest of all her published works. I have it just in case I feel going down that path. As for Liveship - No! You must read it, it's pretty amazing and it fits into the large scale of things. Plus there is a character that is in the Farseer trilogy. Also, strong female characters galore. I hope you give it a chance sometime.

[Mia]

I own Liveship so I will finish it eventually.

[Casey]

I read two books from urban fantasy series that I'm reading, they were both fine. Nothing special.
1. Chaos Choreography
2. Downpour

3. The Stepsister Scheme was cute. I think I'd have loved it when I was younger. I think I'll eventually read the rest of the series but I'm not in a hurry.

4. Autumn I hated it. The character's decisions generally made no sense. The little bit of personality they had made them annoying. The writing wasn't very good in general either.

5.If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho I'm not really a poetry person but I liked this. It is frustrating that they're all riddled with missing parts, some (most) are only one sentence but that one line is haunting in a way that surprised me. Plus the end held a helpful index of history notes.

[Wigs]

@MNLO Yes haha I recced Hushed a while ago, I quite enjoyed it and I'm glad you did too!

In case anyone else wants to check it out, it's a young gay romance plus one of the boys is a serial killer.

[Stephanie]

In March, I read:

How Music Got Free - about Napster, streaming, MP3s, and the whining of the music industry from the late 90's on.

The Greatest Generation - Short stories transcribed by Tom Brokaw about people's experiences in WW2

The Swans of Fifth Avenue - historical fiction about Truman Capote destroying his relationship with his upper class NYC friends when he wrote some thinly veiled Esquire articles.

& Sons - 2 fathers and their relationship as told by one of the sons.

The Devil's Highway - The most depressing story about illegal immigration I've ever read.

My Life on the Road - Gloria Steinem's memoir. I was supposed to read this for January, but...life.

And Then There Were None - I read this entire book during my flight to Florida.

Dead Wake - about the sinking of the Lusitania and the beginning of WW1.

I have an hour long commute to and from work, so I spend a lot of time reading lol.

[Thania]

The same awful book, Throne of Glass. So bad...

[Lynda]

I read two books this month:

A Monster Calls 4 stars. I read it because my husband was listening to it and because it'll be made into a movie this year. It was quick read and very depressing. It is about a boy who is dealing with his mother's cancer. I'm totally curious about the movie because it was a short read. I'm wondering how it will be adapted for the big screen.

The Good Girl 3 stars. It sounded interesting and I bought it when it was on sale. It's okay. The premise and format were interesting (a girl gets kidnapped and returned, we hear from the mother, detective, and kidnapper before and after her return). However, it wasn't as interesting as it could have been.

[Alyssa]

In March i read:

Six Months Later - 3 stars, kind of meh. i thought it was a YA novel i would fly through even if i didn't enjoy it but it felt like it dragged. Plus, it went into (view spoiler)[this weird semi-sci-fi kind of thing at the end (hide spoiler)] which was kind of off-putting.

Silver Sparrow - 4 stars, i really loved the story and the first half was great but the change of voice mid-story was hard for me to adjust too, plus, i wish i could have heard the second half of the story from both the girl's voices anyway.

I Am the Messenger - 3 stars. i picked this up because i LOVED The Book Thief, but this fell flat for me. The "twist" felt like a cop-out to me.

The Middlesteins - also 3 stars. I enjoyed it and there were a few quotes that hit me ~right in the feels~ but overall it didn't resonate with me.

The Good Girl - i gave it 4 stars, even though i called the ending. i thought it was well-paced and had distinct character voices.

[Brittany]

In March I read Me Before You and really enjoyed it and had an excuse for a good ugly cry. It was very interesting to me partly due to my background in nursing, but I also just thought it was really cute. Looking forward to seeing the movie when it comes out.

I also read Shadows of Self and The Bands of Mourning. I enjoyed them but it was just a stopgap in waiting for the eventual next book in the Stormlight Archives. I did enjoy the "romance" that came together in Bands of Mourning and felt like the characters were more likeable.

[Jess]

I read a lot in March.

On Dublin Street - 2 stars. Sad, bad romance full of emotional abuse and manipulation. Awful. I had the rest of the series on my Kindle and deleted them all.

The Fox and the Star - 4 stars. Really gorgeous artwork, but the story was meh at best.

All Wound Up: The Yarn Harlot Writes for a Spin - 4 stars. Humorous essays about knitting. I read the first 35% before realizing I had read it when it first came out. Oops.

Historical Heartthrobs: 50 Timeless Crushes—From Cleopatra to Camus - 2 stars. Poor subject choices in several cases. Very poor and dumbed down language, even if it was meant for teenagers. At least I knocked a book off my 'hibernating' shelf.

The White Queen - 4 stars. Starting this big long series. This one was really good and I really enjoyed the show that combines parts of this and a few of the other books in the series.

Hedda Gabler - 4 stars. A reread. I forgot how funny parts of this play are.

Inferno - 3 stars.

1913: The Year Before the Storm - 4 stars. This book was a really great in-depth peek into one year in Europe, particularly culturally and artistically in Germany.

Normally, This Would be Cause for Concern: Tales of Calamity and Unrelenting Awkwardness - 3 stars. Read in a day. It was like a lunch with a fun friend from high school.

The Scorch Trials - 3 stars. I read the first one last year. I had to read the wikipedia page to refresh myself on details.

[Casey]

@Alyssa- I felt exactly the same way about I Am the Messenger! I was enjoying it until that ending and then I was so mad that I'd wasted my time. It was so pretentious and eye-roll worthy.

[Alyssa]

Cahe wrote: "@Alyssa- I felt exactly the same way about I Am the Messenger! I was enjoying it until that ending and then I was so mad that I'd wasted my time. It was so pretentious and eye-roll wor..."

me too! i spent the whole book wondering what the deal was and who was sending the cards and THAT was what we got?! i feel like the author had this cool idea and then couldn't figure out for himself who could have been sending them so he went with THAT. ugh.