What I Read: March

Now that I see all these books listed together, I feel like the word for March was Meh. There were quite a few books that I finished but didn't like all that much. I only had a couple books and ebooks I liked a lot while I just had a couple audiobooks I didn't like that much. I guess this would explain why I went through a bit of a slump this month.

Books:

• Reel by Kennedy Ryan- A friend gave me this book to read and raved about it. I don't know if it was because I read a lot of romance/love stories in February so I wasn't in the mood for this, but I thought it was very meh.

• Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman- I've wanted to read this for a while since it's shown up on some banned book lists. I was completing a winter bingo at the library and one of the spots was to read a book that was published the year you were born. When I looked it up, this book popped up, so I went for it. I liked that it portrayed terrible events in history with breaks in between with him speaking to his dad, which kept it from getting overly emotional and difficult to get through. I also liked the symbolism in the art.

• A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea: One Refugee's Incredible Story of Love, Loss, and Survival by Melissa Fleming- This was an amazing story, but it was told through terrible writing. It gave the sense that the author wasn't emotionally invested in the story and it was hard to connect as the whole story was written very factually without any heart. It was an amazing story, but a disappointing book.

• Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler- I found this in a little free library and was super excited when I saw it was written by Lemony Snicket. I love the weird humor in the Series of Unfortunate Events and was pumped to see what his humor was like in an adult book. I pictured it being the story of a divorce, not sure why. It turned out to be a young adult book about a high school breakup. I didn't like it very much. This is one that I honestly can't tell you why I finished. I think part of it was because I liked that each chapter showed a picture of the item she was returning to him and then told the story of how that item had significance to their relationship.

• Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman- This was just as good, if not better than, the first book. It's nice to know I enjoy graphic novels because when I first added these books to my TBR and realized they were graphic novels, I didn't think I would ever actually read them.

eBooks:

• A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger- I started this and stopped it and started it so many times because I'd get a book in on hold and stop reading this to start reading the book I'd gotten in. I first started reading it in January and didn't finish it until March! The plot of the story was incredible and I was so excited when I read the blurb telling about the book, but this was just okay. There were some sections that I found really boring. That may have been in part due to reading it in stops and starts like I did.

• A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas- This book kept getting recommended to me and I was excited to read it. It reminded me of Beauty and the Beast so I looked it up and it started as a retelling of Beauty and the Beast that became it's own story along the way. I got caught up in the story and had a hard time putting the book down.

• A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas- I don't normally read books in a series back to back, but after reading the first book, I had to read the next one. I usually don't do that because I get tired of the books, but this being an ebook meant I didn't read it quite as much as the regular book I was reading at the time so it worked out. 

Audiobooks:

• Meaty by Samantha Irby- Irby always brings light into my life. She is so funny and makes me laugh even when I'm listening to an audiobook while out on a run.

• I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy- This book was good, but I don't understand why everyone was raving about it. To me her story was very similar to so many other actors and famous people who I've read about. A lot of people talked about this book being so surprising and eye opening, but it was neither to me. Maybe because I've read quite a few books written by people who struggled with anorexia. Some books just hit differently for different people and I guess this was one of those for me. It was good, but not to the level it was made out to be. I liked it as an audiobook since it was read by McCurdy. Her flat, somewhat monotone voice was perfect for this story. I know that last sentence seems sarcastic, but it really isn't.

• The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan- I picked this book because there was an event about the book at the library. I didn't end up getting to go. I liked the dystopian aspect of the book, but it was also super frustrating. There were parts of the book I really liked, but overall I would give this one 3/5 stars. Toward the end I was just pushing through to finish.

• Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce- When I saw The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was a trilogy, I decided to get all those books from the library, then I saw she had also written this book and it was available as a downloadable audiobook (the others were not), so I checked it out. It was nowhere near as good as Harold Fry. It was another just okay book for this month.

• Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin- This book started out incredible. I would have given it 5 stars all the way up until about 75% through the book. Then I started not liking it as much. The main female character got annoying and her flaws started to really grate on me toward the end of the book. Then the section that is told from inside the game was too long for me. It was interesting at first and I understood the point she was making, but got bored with it and felt like she could have cut that section way down. Maybe some people loved that part and it was just me, I don't know! This was still a solid 4-4.5. I really liked it and would tell someone to read it if they were interested in it. I just wouldn't recommend it as a favorite if someone asked me what book they absolutely had to read.