March Bookish Wrap Up
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Hello Readers,
I know I’m a week late with this wrap up but things have been a little everywhere over these past few weeks. But I’m hoping things are finally starting to settle down and my normal writing schedule will be back in the next week or so.
Okay, let’s review all the books I’ve managed to read during March shall we?
I started off the month by reaching for one of my “comfort reads”. I know this book might seem like a strange choice for that, but I just love John Green’s writing style. It’s so easy to read and I adore Hazel and Gus so much that I just wanted to spend some time with these two as it’s been a while. I actually decided to give the audiobook a try as I’ve only ever read this book physically and while it was a little jarring at first, because in my mind Hazel will always be Shailene Woodley, I soon got use to the narrator and I thought she did an excellent job.
I feel like most of you will know what this book is about but for those of you that may not know here’s a basic outline for you:
The story follows Hazel and Augustus, though the story is told from Hazel’s perspective ~ she is living with Cancer and Augustus is a Cancer survivor. The story explores themes of illness, relationships and what becomes of the people we leave behind when we die. These are woven in between Hazel wanting to meet her favourite author. It’s beautiful, sad, and comforting all at the same time and even though I’ve read this book countless times, there’s always a small section of dialogue that just hits me hard ~ it’s actually the exact same scene in the film as well. As it’s a spoiler to say which scene, if you want to know just ask.
This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
This was the book I chose for my Book Club to read during March and I’m very glad to say those that were able to pick it up, enjoyed it. I personally feel this book is amongst my top reads for 2022 as I just adored it so much ~ I think a lot of that had to do with the audiobook and the women who narrated it. They did an incredible job with this story and it’s beautiful lyrical writing style.
This is a very character driven Sci-Fi, which focuses on the relationship of two time war agents, Red and Blue, on opposite sides of the war. They communicate via letters to each other and as the book goes on, you see their relationship turn from gloating about foiling the other’s plans to much more. The language and visual descriptions within this book are truly something else and the way Red and Blue talk about each other is just incredible to read. I honestly didn’t realise how many ways of saying and describing the colours red and blue there were until I picked up this book.
If you’re looking for a action packed Sci-Fi then this book isn’t the one ~ it’s a very quiet sci-fi, a little bit like Becky Chambers’ Wayfarer Series, though there’s even less action than that. While I love a good heavy Sci-Fi, it’s so nice that quieter ones like this book exist because sometimes the heavy Sci-Fi can be too much. So it’s nice to pick up something still within the genre but not have to deal with masses of world building and action.
I’m not going to go into detail about this wonderful short story as I wrote a full review for it. So if you’d like to know more about this story and George the Fern, then you can find my review here.
This is the third book in the Noughts and Crosses Series. I’m slowly working my way through this series and I’m now at the half way mark. As this is the third book, I won’t go into detail as I don’t want to spoil anything for the first two books.
I will just say that again Malorie Blackman raises some interesting topics regarding race, equality and also terrorism within this book. It was an interesting read and while I am enjoying the series, I still feel the first book is my favourite. But I’m still invested enough to see where this series is going and so I will be picking up the fourth book this month.
Just a little side note as I always get asked when I post pictures of the books in this series on my Instagram ~ the editions I have are the Limited Editions from Waterstones and they all have different coloured sprayed edges. Though you can’t tell that in the picture here.
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers
This is the final book in the Wayfarers Series and Becky Chambers has certainly ended this series on a high! This time the story is set on a planet that’s a sort of service station where travellers stay while they wait to carry on their journey through the tunnels in space.
The story is split between three main perspectives, two are new to the series, Speaker and Roveg, and Pei who is featured in the very first book as she’s Ashby’s partner. I loved the Ashby and Pei moments in the first book, so I thoroughly enjoyed her chapters in this book, especially when she muses over their relationship as it felt like he was within the story too. {If you haven’t guessed I adore Ashby!} Like all the other books in this series, very little action happens and the main focus is on the characters themselves and how they deal with the situation they’re in ~ in this case, an accident happens with the satellites surrounding the planet and they begin to fall to the ground. This means the three travellers are delayed in their journeys and are all having to adjust to spending time with strangers while they wait for safe travel to commence.
I loved the dynamic of the characters and how so utterly different they were ~ none of them are human and seeing how the service station host was trying to accommodate everyone of their needs was just so lovely. She was always happy to learn and educate herself if she didn’t quite get something right for the next time she hosted someone from that species. Honestly, falling satellites aside, I would be truly happy to live on that planet, it just felt so cosy and comfortable.
I will just say that after reading this series, I feel you could easily pick up any of these books on it’s own and read it because while there are some things that connect all four books together, they’re also complete stories within themselves. So you could read the first one and not feel the need to continue with the rest or you could technically pick up this last book and because Becky Chambers gives you a really good sense of Pei’s relationship with Ashby and the other species in this universe, I don’t feel you’d be lost really. But obviously you reading the full series will give you a much fully view of this world, the way it works and the people within it. So I highly recommend it as I’ve thoroughly enjoyed each and every book.
So there we have it, those are the books I managed to read during March. I feel all the books were solid reads but my stand outs are definitely This Is How You Lose The Time War and The Galaxy, and the Ground Within.
I’m hoping this months reads will be just as solid. Here’s what I’m hoping to pick up:
The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe {currently reading}
Skyward Flight by Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson
Doublecross by Malorie Blackman
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S Eliot
I feel there’s quite a nice mix of genres which kind of reflects my mood right now.
Have you read any of my March reads or the books I’m hoping to read during April? I’d love to know if you have and what you thought of them.
Stay Safe. Read a Book.
L x
