March Bookish Wrap Up
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ID: Graphic with a grey background. The words March Bookish Wrap Up are in the centre and surrounding them is a picture of some books, a cup of tea and some gold stars
Hello friends,
It’s time to tell you all about the books I managed to read during March and although it started off a little rocky regarding book choice, it finished really well. As the book club I co-host with a friend was holding a Read-A-Thon, I had a few books I read for that plus a couple of added extras. So I managed to read a total of 4 physical books, 2 audiobooks and one I read both physically and via audiobook.
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
I’m sure most people are familiar with the The Jungle Book thanks to the Disney adaptation. However, what I didn’t realise was that The Jungle Book is actually a collection of short stories and only the first couple are centred around Mowgli and are what the animated film is based on.
I knew this would be an interesting read for me as I always felt bad for Shere Khan but I didn’t expect to dislike this book so much! I’m really not sure how it comes under the Children’s Classic genre because wow these stories are horrific! There is animal death in pretty much every single one and after skimming the end of The Jungle Book because of what Mowgli does to Shere Khan, I skim read the next couple of stories and then just had to stop as they were just so awful!
If you don’t like animal death or cruelty, then definitely do not pick this book up!
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
I read this book via audiobook and thoroughly enjoyed it! The narrator was great and really brought the story to life.
The book itself is based around the time leading up to and the beginning of the French Revolution and is set between London and Paris following a small cast of characters ~ some good, some not so good. There’s a few little twists and turns throughout as we come across spies who are trying to have one of the main characters arrested and put to death. The way Dickens weaves this story across these two cities is really well done, the descriptions of them made them really come to life and I felt like I was there walking the streets or sitting in a wine shop with the characters.
At times, I found myself trying to figure out what certain characters where up to and what would happen and why they were acting the way they were. I felt Dickens did a good job of conveying the emotion of the characters as well and it made me really invested and there were parts leading to the end that made my heart ache at times.
This is only the second novel by Dickens that I’ve read but I’m hoping I will enjoy his other works just as much.
The Four Seasons of Brambly Hedge by Jill Barklem
This is a collection of four stories following a few families of mice living in a British Hedgerow and I decided to read the Spring Story for one of the prompts of my read-a-thon. This whole collection is a childhood favourite of mine and I still enjoy them now as an adult ~ there’s just something comforting about reading your favourite children’s book!
The illustrations are absolutely stunning and so detailed that you can easily spend a long time looking at them and not even reading the stories. I’d definitely recommend this one if you have children and are looking for some lovely, comforting stories to either read to them or for them to read themselves.
ID: A picture of a stack of books, all of which a discussed within this article.
Love and Friendship by Jane Austen
I’m proud to announce that I have finally finished my Jane Austen reading goal!
Love and Friendship is a collection of Austen’s early works and consists of stories, some in the form of letters and there’s also a history of the Kings of England, which is quite an amusing read as Austen adds her own thoughts and opinions on each King. Reading/listening to this collection was really interesting as you can see the beginnings and ideas for some of the novels Austen eventually had published.
If you’re a Jane Austen fan, I really recommend giving this a read, especially if you’ve read her other works.
A Girl In One Room. by Jessica Taylor-Bearman
I’m not going to go into detail on my thoughts for this one as I am publishing a full review on the 20th of April, so keep an eye for that. All I will say is that this is Jessica’s second book documenting her life and experience with Severe M.E. It’s not the easiest of reads but I feel it’s an important one in highlighting how serious an illness M.E is.
The Secret Garden by Frances Burnett
As I’m trying to read more Classics this year, I decided to add this one to my TBR for March. I’ve never seen any of the adaptations for this book, I’m not sure why as I do enjoy a good period drama/film. But I’d seen a couple people say how much they enjoyed this book, so thought I’d give it a go.
I treated myself to a beautiful edition of it which is full of illustrations that really brings the story to life. As for the story itself, we follow Mary Lennox who lives in India and after both her parents dying, is taken to Yorkshire to live with her Uncle on his country estate in the Yorkshire Moors. Mary has to adapt to her new life as it’s very different from her old one. As she begins to explore the ground of the Manor, she comes across a locked “secret” garden but the Manor contains another secret that she also discovers as the story progresses.
I think the best way I can describe this book is that it’s very whimsical, Mary makes friends with a maidservant who looks after her and her brother, who has a magical way with animals, fascinates Mary. I love that you can really see Mary grow throughout the story and she becomes far more likeable than she was in the beginning. There’s also some illness representation within this story which I found interesting for the time is was written. I felt it was done well enough though there was definitely an aspect of positivity thinking will cure you. So that’s just something to be aware of if you’re thinking of giving this one a read.
The Other Bennett Sister by Janice Hadlow
When I read Pride and Prejudice, I always feel Mary is a bit forgotten and I suppose as the plain middle child, that is likely what Jane Austen intended. So when I came across a retelling that focuses on Mary, I had to read it and it didn’t disappoint!
ID: A picture of the book The Other Bennett Sister by Janice Hadlow.
Janice Hadlow is very faithful to Jane Austen’s style of writing and all of the familiar characters from P&P feel very true to their original counterparts. It starts before the time of P&P, side by side with some events of P&P and then time jumps two years on after the events of that story. So we read about a young Mary and her relationship with her older sisters, especially Lizzy and gain more of an insight into the relationship she has with her parents. There was more than one occasion when my heart just ached for Mary throughout this book as we see how she’s been taught to think nothing of herself because she’s not as deemed as pretty as her sisters. We see her turn to books, music and education to provide guidance and comfort for how she should live her life and what life will be like as she seems destined to never marry because who could possibly want her?
Overall, this book was just wonderful, I both read it physically and listened to the audiobook as I just wanted to stay in this world and with Mary for as long as I could, I was that invested! Hadlow really has done an excellent job of capturing Mary, showing her grow and come out of her sister’s shadows as the story progresses. The relationships, friendships and love interests Mary has and makes feel very authentic and believable and it was wonderful to also spend more time with the Gardeners as I adore them in P&P. I also liked that Hadlow highlighted the frustration of social convention placed on women during the time period which stops Mary from speaking up when things go a little south in on friendship.
This one is definitely worth a read if you’re a Jane Austen and/or a Pride and Prejudice fan.
So those were all the books I managed to read during March and after starting badly, it certainly ended incredibly well! My April TBR isn’t really set in stone and I’m currently re-reading The Fates Divide By Veronica Roth as I felt like I not only needed some Sci-Fi in my life after all the classics I’ve read recently but I also wanted something familiar. So it’ll be interesting to see what I end up picking up this month.
Stay Safe. Read a Book.
L x
