What I Read: March

The kids went back to school March 22nd. That was super exciting and we are all adjusting to the change. I'm going through the process of becoming a substitute teacher in their school district and will take over as a long-term sub on Tuesdays and Thursdays for a teacher at the preschool I've worked at the past 2 years. By the time I'm fully vaccinated the plan is to be subbing in the kids' district on Mondays and Fridays, at the preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and home with the kids for distance learning on Wednesdays. It's nice to get back into things finally! With time in the car without the kids and days I'm not working while they're in school, I've been getting through my audiobooks much faster than usual! 

Books:

• Martin Van Buren and the Making of the Democratic Party by Robert V. Remini- This book started out really good but then I lost interest. I felt like it never really laid out how the democratic party was formed other than it was basically formed around Andrew Jackson.

• Angel of Greenwood by Randi Pink- I was really excited when I saw a new book was coming out that was set during the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921. I didn't realize it was a Young Adult novel but figured it out pretty quickly as I was reading. The book was okay. I think for teens who've never heard of the Race Riot, it is a great way to introduce them to the history. 
  
  
  

• The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket- This was book 3 in the Series of Unfortunate Events. It was my favorite one so far. I thought the first 2 were just okay but this one had me excited to read the rest of the series.

• The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop by Fannie Flagg- I wanted to read this because I'd loved Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe as a kid. I even re-read Fried Green Tomatoes, but I was disappointed by the book because I didn't like it nearly as much as I had as a kid. This book was okay. I liked the happy ending!
  
  
  

• Talk Before Sleep by Elizabeth Berg- I saw this at Goodwill and grabbed it because I loved The Story of Arthur Truluv so much. When I read the page right inside the book where Berg described losing a good friend to cancer and choosing to write about it, I knew the book was going to be tough. She's such a lovely writer and even knowing what was coming, I still cried at the end.

• The Rosie Result by Graeme Simsion- This was book 3 in the Don Tillman series. There were a few parts that made me laugh so hard. At one point in the book Don says, "I had observed that neurotypicals criticized autistic people for lacking empathy- towards them- but seldom made any effort to improve their own empathy towards autistic people." That one really hit home!

eBooks:

• The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson- I love Joshilyn Jackson and am slowly making my way through all of her books. I like to save them for when I don't know what I want to read but want something really good. I enjoyed this one but it was my least favorite of her books I've read. It wasn't one that I just couldn't put down like all her others I've read.

• Beverley Green Comes Home by Andrea C. Neil- This was cute like all the others in the series. I've been enjoying them quite a bit and it's fun that they're set in Oklahoma.

• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig- I had this on hold for a really long time and was so excited when I got it in. We voted to read it for book club when I was one of the next ones on the holds list. It was so good. I had a hard time putting it down. I'd highly recommend this one. It was an interesting concept.
  
  
  

• All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin- I've never read a book by Giffin before but have multiple on my to-read list. This one was so good! If all her books are this good, I'm excited to read more of them.

• The Read-Aloud Family: Making Meaningful and Lasting Connections with Your Kids by Sarah Mackenzie- I loved this book. It shared so many points that were so important to be reminded of. I also love book lists and this had multiple!

Audiobooks:

• Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler- This was a sequel to a book I read a while back. It followed the woman from Jane Austen's time who switched places with a modern day woman. It was cute. I liked this one more than the other one.

• The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick- I added this to my to-read list after I read The Library of Lost and Found by Patrick. It was so cute. I loved it. He finds a charm bracelet his wife owned before she died and goes on an adventure discovering where each charm came from.
  
  
  

• The Greatest Beer Run Ever: A Memoir of Friendship, Loyalty, and War by John "Chick" Donohue and J.T. Molloy- This was our book club pick for May. I was really excited and voted for it before I read what it was about. I totally thought it was about a beer run as in a beer mile or something. So I was a little disappointed when I realized it was about a guy going to Vietnam during the war to give a beer to friends from his hometown who were drafted. It was really good though and gave me an inside perspective of the Vietnam War in a way I hadn't before.

• The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton- This was book 3 in the Cuba Saga. I'm still not sure how Mirta Perez in the book was related to the Perez family of the earlier 2 books, but this was my favorite book of the saga. It was so good!

• The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town by John Grisham- At the end of Dreams of Ada, the author mentioned Grisham wrote a book about the two men wrongfully convicted of the earlier murder that was a small part of the story in Dreams of Ada. That book was later turned into a mini-series for Netflix. I really wanted to find out more about Ron and Dennis and I have liked all of Grisham's books I've read so I decided to listen to this one when I saw it available on Libby. There were parts that were so frustrating and made me just want to scream, I can't imagine how Ron, Dennis, and their families felt! Reading Dreams of Ada, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, and this book have really opened my eyes to the injustices that occur in our criminal justice system. 
  
• Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson- I love Woodson's writing. She writes so beautifully! I was hoping this one was narrated by Woodson like Brown Girl Dreaming. It wasn't, but it was done well and I like it.