March was a good month overall. My father is having health problems so it hasn’t all been rosy, but I’ve tried to keep my reading on the lighter side. I was able to volunteer for my library’s used book sale, which I love doing when I have the time.
Here’s what I read in March:
- I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella (audio)
- What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez
- Women of Good Fortune by Sophie Wan
- Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? by Crystal Smith Paul (audio)
- Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis
- Vengeance of the Pirate Queen by Tricia Levenseller (audio)
- Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum
- Cascade Failure by L.M. Sagas
- Brave the Wild River by Melissa Sevigny (audio)
My favorite reads:
This was a great month for fun reading. I absolutely loved Tricia Levenseller’s Vengeance of the Pirate Queen; it was literally everything I wanted in a fun, romantic, adventurous audiobook. Thumbs up for this whole trilogy. Similarly, What the River Knows was a fun historical adventure read, focusing on Egyptian archeology and magical artifacts (and an ending that left me wanting more, but sadly I have to wait. I’ll be reviewing Cascade Failure soon, but I’ll just say that if (like me) you look for things that recreate the magic of Firefly, head straight for this book.
My sister recommended I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella, and I really enjoyed it. I like a romance that has really good character development. This is about a woman who’s doing everything to support her family, and while her annoying siblings are caricatures at first, they all grow over time, including the mostly-perfect but kind of screwed-up hero.
One more shout-out for Brave the Wild River, the historical account of two women who braved the rapids of the Colorado River for botanical research in 1938. No one thought women had any place in science or on the river, so their story was really interesting. Melissa Sevigny incorporated a lot of history of the Grand Canyon and Colorado River, including a focus on how indigenous people had used the land until they were forced off of it. I may not have absorbed all the details about land and water regulation but it was still a great read. Sevigny is coming to my library this month and I look forward to hearing more about her research.
Disappointing reads:
Modern Mrs. Darcy rarely steers me wrong, but I didn’t love Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? This story about an actress passing as a white woman in 1950’s Hollywood was occasionally interesting, but I wasn’t at all engaged by the modern day storyline.
On the blog:
I reviewed Floating Hotel and Women of Good Fortune, and I wrote about Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz and children’s books I’d like to re-read.
Books for challenges:
- Nonfiction: Brave the Wild River
- Reading Around the World: Women of Good Fortune, What the River Knows
What I’m reading now:
I’m listening to Brandon Sanderson’s The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England, and I’m reading Mhairi McFarlane’s Between Us.
What’s coming up:
My next ARC is Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes, and I have another ARC at the end of the month, Real Americans by Rachel Khong. The next book in our Ozathon read-along is The Road to Oz.
Added to my TBR:
I hadn’t read any of this year’s Women’s Prize nominees, so I’ve added some of those to my TBR. Also, I picked up some great books at my library used book sale: Janelle Monae’s The Memory Librarian, Kelly Barnhill’s When Women Were Dragons, Cara Bastone’s Ready or Not, and Alicia Thompson’s Love in the Time of Serial Killers.
Things that made me happy this month:
My sister and brother-in-law visited, and we spent a perfect day wandering among the cherry blossoms and monuments of DC. We also went to a Washington Spirit game, which was freezing beyond belief but I’m so excited to see women’s soccer finally being taken seriously. I also planted a spring garden, which is an experiment for me, since I usually wait for summer, but I know there are lots of greens and some veggies that do better in the cooler weather. So bring on the kale!
