March Wrap-Up

 Hello Interwebs!

So once again I have had another pretty good reading month, but not such a great blogging month again. I promised one day I will blog more consistently but it is apparently not this day. I cut back on my book buying a little bit and I read more of the books I own rather than buying them. All in all by the end of March I read seven books for a total of 2,545 pages and an average rating of 4.1 stars. 

First up, the books I read in the month of March. I read a historical romance, a science fiction, a classic and four fantasy novels this month and I rather enjoyed them all, none was below a 2.5/3 star read and even those I didn't dislike persay. So without further ado here's the books that I read in the month of March. 

1. Moloka'i by Alan Brennert. This is a historical fiction novel that takes place in the leper colony of Kalaupapa on the Hawaiian island of Moloka'i. You follow the story of Rachel Kalama, a girl who is diagnosed with leprosy at the age of 7 and sent to the colony to live. She replaces her family with one she chooses there and lives and thrives for years in the colony. This was a wonderfully powerful read about a part of history that I didn't know much about. By the end of the book I was in tears. It was beautifully written and the characters felt so real. I read this book from March 2-9, 2021 and gave it a 5/5 stars. 
   
   
   
   
2. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. This was a book I went into not knowing much about but it was a Goodreads award winner for 2020 and everyone's been talking and raving about it online so I had placed a hold for it. The hold came in and I picked it up right after Moloka'i and binge read it in two days. I absolutely loved it. This is a "fantasy" story about a young woman named Nora who commits suicide but instead of dying she ends up in the midnight library, filled with books that contain every possible life she could have had depending on the choices she made. It was a great story about mental illness and how our choices affect our outcomes. I loved it and gave it a 4/5 stars. I read it from March 8-9, 2021. 
   
   
   
   
3. Lady Susan by Jane Austen. This is a Jane Austen book I'd never read before despite seeing the Amazon movie Love & Friendship which is based off of it. It's about the windowed and scandalous  Lady Susan who is trying to marry her daughter off to the world's most boring human being while flirting with every man that breaths (especially ones that will cause scandal like her sister-in-law's younger brother and a married man). A comedy of errors that ends well for most people. I enjoyed it. It's far from my favorite Jane Austen but still enjoyable. I'm hoping to get a blog post up comparing this to the Amazon made movie. I read this from February 24-March 10, 2021 and gave it a 3/5 stars. 
   
   
   
   
4. A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik. This is the first book in a fantasy series called The Scholomance about a girl named El who is attending a school for mages that ends up with a bunch of them dying from the monsters every year. I enjoyed this book, definitely not my favorite, but I'm also looking forward to reading the rest of the series as it comes out. I read this book from March 10-16, 2021 and gave it a 4 stars. 
   
   
   
   
5. The Power by Naomi Alderman. This is a dystopian sci-fi novel about what would happen if women woke up one day with the power of electricity manipulation. It started out good adn interesting: women taking the power back and punishing those who deserve it (like the women in brothels who are victims of human trafficking) but then it devolves into religious extremism and turning the tables as far the opposite way from how it is now. I wanted so much more from this book and it ended up women are just as bad as men, if not worse, when it comes to having all the power and ruling the world. I read the first half of this as an ebook from the library and finished it as an audiobook while on a trip to visit family. I liked the set up but didn't like the follow through. I read this from March 16-22, 2021 and gave it a 2.5/5 star rating. 
   
   
   
   
6. A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J Maas. This was a reread for me in preparation for the latest book in the series. This book is the final buildup to the war between Hybern and Prythia/Humans. I love this book series and liked this as a wrap-up to that initial story between Rhysand and Feyre. I gave it a 5/5 stars and read it from March 2-26, 2021. 
   
   
   
   
7. A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J Maas. This is the novella that follows the initial series about Rhysand and Feyre about their first winter solstice with all of them together in the night court. This was also a reread and I still love it. 5/5 stars and read from March 26-29, 2021. 
   
   
   
   

So that's all the books that I read in March 2021. For the most part I enjoyed everything I read and didn't outright hate or dislike anything I read. 

I also bought 25 books, mostly on sale from Amazon but a handful were ebook versions I bought of books I own in hardcopy and want to reread soon. 

1. Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (Earthseed #1). Amazon, ebook, sci-fi. 
2. The Conductors by Nicole Glover. Unplugged Book Box, paperback, historical fiction/fantasy. 
   
3. The Kennedy Debutante by Kerri Maher. Amazon, ebook, historical fiction. 
   
4. Lies We Bury by Elle Marr. Amazon, ebook, thriller
   
5. Attachments by Rainbow Rowell. Amazon, ebook, contemporary.
   
6. Send for Me by Lauren Fox. Target, hardcover, historical fiction. 
   
7. Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev (The Rajes #1). Amazon, ebook, romance. 
   
8. One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London. Amazon, ebook, contemporary.
   
9. Jefferson's Daughters: Three Sisters, White and Black, in a Young America by Catherine Kerrison. Amazon, ebook, historical fiction.
   
10. The Poldark Saga #1-3 by Winston Graham: Ross Poldark, Demelza, Jeremy Poldark. Amazon, ebook, historical fiction. 
    
11. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (Shadow and Bone #1). Amazon, ebook, fantasy. 
    
12. Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo (Shadow and Bone #2). Amazon, ebook, fantasy. 
    
13. Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo (Shadow and Bone #3). Amazon, ebook, fantasy. 
    
14. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (Six of Crows #1). Amazon, ebook, fantasy.
    
15. Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo (Six of Crows #2). Amazon, ebook, fantasy.
    
16. Weekends at Bellevue: Nine Years on the Night Shift at the Psych ER by Julie Holland. Amazon, ebook, memoir.
    
17. Hell's Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men by Harold Schechter. Amazon, ebook, true crime. 
    
18. Happily Ever Afters by Elise Bryant. Amazon, ebook, romance. 
    
19. The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country by Amanda Gorman. Barnes and Noble, hardcover, poetry.
    
20. Infinite Country by Patricia Engel. Barnes and Noble, hardcover, literary fiction.
    
21. Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo (King of Scars #2). Barnes and Noble, hardcover, fantasy.
    
22. The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Pennen. Book of the Month, hardcover, historical fiction.
    
23. How to be a Victorian: A Dawn-to-Dusk Guide to Victorian Life by Ruth Goodman. Amazon, ebook, nonfiction. 

So that's how everything went in March. Some good reading, and some good book purchasing. On to April and more fun!

Happy Reading!

Richelle