March Wrap Up

[Rachel]

It's time for the March wrap-up!

And by time I mean, sorry that it's super late and now we're already in April haha.

Comment here and let us know how your reading went this month, if you had trouble completing this month's task, if you enjoyed the book you read and whether you'd recommend it.

[Eve]

Yay :) Thanks for putting it up!!

I read Kindred by Octavia Butler, which I loved, and We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson, which I sadly didn't like.

I don't know what it is about Shirley Jackson's novels...they just haven't clicked with me :/ I think Castle should've been expanded upon a lot more...I feel like I only got 1/3 of the story, even though I did enjoy some parts. I think the reader is supposed to infer a lot of things, but idk it left me unsatisfied.

[Lea]

I had a pretty stressful month, so I ended up going for titles that were lighter. I did a Georgette Heyer marathon, 4 back-to-back titles: Bath Tangle (amazing, hilarious and fiery), Sprig Muslin (didn't like it, actually the first time I dislike one of Heyer's books), Friday's Child (loved it), The Talisman Ring (fun but not one of my faves). It was a much needed pick-me-up.

So for those who don't know, Heyer invented the "Regency historical romance" genre, which is huge today with Romance readers - although she also wrote Georgian historical romances, non-romantic historical novels and even mysteries. She influenced every historical romance writer who came after her, including Barbara Cartland, who once straight up plagiarised one of her novels.

[Kat]

I reread a couple books in March. First was Pride & Prejudice, which I enjoyed reading more this time than when I read it years ago.

Then I read the Freedom's Landing series by Anne McCaffrey which is an old favorite that I always enjoy revisiting. If you like sci-fi books about aliens invading earth and humans having to learn to survive on another planet you might like it.

[Alyssa]

I ended up reading White Teeth by Zadie Smith. It reminded me that i can only handle about 300 pages of character study type novels before i get bored. this book was objectively good but i was so bored by about half-way through it was a drag to finish.

[susan]

I read about half of the Neapolitan novels by Elena Ferrante, and I intend to read the rest.... as soon as the library gets them to me lol. They really are good, I'm glad Ferrante has become as influential and popular as she has because these books deserve it - and I hope she ends up being an enduring classic

These books also went INCREIDBLY well with my Feb pick The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao, which was similarly about the forgotten, erased lives of women in the mid-20th century..... but much lighter. I wish I had read it second as a bit of an antidote because the Neapolitan books are HEAVY omg

[Undine]

I read Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents, and I loved and recommend them. They're the best dystopian novels I've ever read, written 20-25 years ago and eerily prescient. I know "Make America Great Again" isn't exactly a novel phrase, but a terrible man with a cult-like following campaigning under that slogan still hits pretty close to home. (view spoiler)[It was actually hard not to relate it to current events, like the companies taking advantage of climate change to swoop in and grab land/people reminds me of the vultures descending on Puerto Rico; the return of company towns, trying to get a captive educated population, jibes with my fears about Amazon's HQ2 search and my area begging them to take our money; I read a story about a man's conviction being tossed because the judge had repeatedly used his shock belt during the trial just because he could right after I got through the horrific Camp Christian section and its shock collars (but that place and the way it's ignored is also conversion camps, prisons, and immigration detention centers); and Larkin/Asha's abusive white adoptive parents were especially infuriating. All of these things happened in America's past and present, and really hammers home that we live in this dystopia. Still, the books end on an optimistic note, and Olamina is a great, complicated character to see it through with. (hide spoiler)]

[Kelly]

I ended up reading The Handmaid's Tale for March which I surprisingly had never read before. I'm adding the adaptation to my never ending list of shows I will eventually watch / catch up on now.

[Anthony]

I read The Color Purple after wanting to read it for so long. I really liked it. (view spoiler)[ I felt like it ended too happily. It made me really happy for the character though! (hide spoiler)]

[Rachel]

I finally read something for this task lol, I listened to Shirley Jackson's book about the salem witch trials. The Witchcraft of Salem Village. i thought it was a good overview of everything that happened, and i liked the afterword too, which gave more historical background, and compared the hysteria of salem to other places around the same time. it's meant for young adults to read, so if you're looking for something super in depth then you may be disappointed but as a refresher i thought it was great.

[Lea]

I don't really know anything about the Salem witch trials but I like reading about that sort of thing and I love Shirley Jackson, so I will definitely check this out!

[Sasha]

And Still I Rise Adding it to this post, so it's easier for me to see what tasks I've completed.

I've been trying to add more poetry in my challenges, as I haven't really delved into the subject very much, and this is an example of where I was successful. I'm aware of Maya Angelou but haven't read any/much of her poetry. I enjoyed the cadence of the poems.