March Wrap Up

Today is the last day of March and my reading is recovering slowly but surely from the February awfulness. The only parameters I set for myself this month were: read books by women for Women’s History Month and don’t buy any new books. I did get Dolly Parton, Songteller as a gift but my self control was at an all-time high this month.

Books I Finished This Month

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Honestly, this was a wonderful month of reading. I finally managed to finish Dare to Lead by Brene Brown. I know this book was intended for individuals who are leaders in a formal setting, but I found so many wonderful bits of advice about personal leadership. I think anyone could benefit from giving this one a read.

Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics by Dolly Parton was probably my favorite book this month. If you have the opportunity to read this book, absolutely do so! I spent the whole weekend paging through this huge tome and listening to her songs. The mixture of history, photography, and personal anecdotes is just perfection.

How did I get to this point in my life before reading I am Malala? Perhaps it arrived in my life when I needed it more. Even though I read this early in the month, I still find myself thinking about the parallels between the Taliban and the far right wing extremists of America. I am not in the habit of applauding people for being exceptional while using their youth as a metric but Malala strikes me as someone who will continue to be extraordinary in her work for educational equality forever. I was floored by her.

The Atomic City Girls was a bit of a weird historical fiction about an undoubtedly interesting part of American history – the girls (and men) who worked to make an atomic bomb without knowing what they were doing. I had some mixed feelings about some of the characters but overall I enjoyed this one.

I finished two middle grade books this month. The first, The In-Between was thrilling and I simply couldn’t put it down. Every time I thought I knew what was happening I found something else new that made me question my conclusions. What a great story!

Quintessence was my second middle grade book and it was a quieter book. It had slow reveal, much like spring here in Chicago, that held me in wonder as the characters and story came turned up bit by bit until their were at their full brightness. Some of the characters were a little one dimensional but it worked for the story.

My YA book this month was The House of the Scorpion. I haven’t reviewed this dystopian story of cloning yet because it is part of a series but it was excellent. I frequently listening to books while cleaning and I kept finding myself just standing there staring at the wall because I was so invested in the story that I couldn’t multitask.

Finally, I finished this month with Is It Just Me and Miranda Hart kept me laughing page after page. I’m not sure whether I love this book more because it was funny or being it made me want to like myself more.

This little update is embrace after my February much needed do-over. I still have some work to do to find my calm while reading but I look forward to what April has in store for me!

(also: I may not have bought any book in March but I put a bunch in my shopping cart and I may just order them all at midnight. I’m a work in progress!)

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Tell me, please! How was your reading this March?

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