March 2023 Wrap Up

Is anyone else ready for spring and summer weather, so that they can read outside? I’m putting this post together on Sunday and while it’s already April, I’m so sad that it’s in the forties where I live and am instead writing this wrap up. I have a short work week then it’s on to spring break!

I read a lot in March, finishing the month with 15 books read. I enjoyed this reading month for the books I absolutely loved, specifically:

The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise – I read this book before it was named a GMA Book Pick, 110% recommend, so unique compared to Colleen Oakley’s previous releases

Off the Map by Trish Doller– This is the third novel in the Beck Sisters companion series, loved that it was set in Ireland and one of the few novels where I love the insta-chemistry

Things We Hide From the Light by Lucy Score – you’ll find out below that romance wasn’t my jam this month when it came to actually enjoying the books I read, but Things We Hide From the Light was an exception. The Knockemout series is just pure joy

I also really enjoyed Bad on Paper’s March Book Club pick, The Measure by Nikki Erlick. However, although I read my usual amount of contemporary romance & romance this month, but I had a lot of swings & misses. I read Icebreaker by Hannah Grace, A Brush With Love by Mazey Eddings, Best Served Hot by Amanda Elliot, and Never Never by Colleen Hoover & Tarryn Fisher. Never Never was a COMPLETE miss, and I felt pretty meh about the other three. I contemplated writing a review for It Starts With Us, but honestly what else can I say that the Internet hasn’t and will still say about this one. A lot better than expected, and again like the rest of the Internet, intrigued about what will come of the It Ends With Us adaptation.

This was also another great month for middle grade, having really enjoying Ellen Hopkin’s MG novel in verse, What About Will, Linked by Gordon Korman (a multi-POV novel following the events after swastikas are being painted in a middle school & the community comes together to take actions against hate & anti-Semitism, and a middle grade graphic novel meets semi-memoir, The Tryout by Christina Soontornvat.

Contemporary Romance/Romance

Things We Hide From the Light by Lucy Score | 4/5 Stars

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover | 3/5

It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover | 4/5

Never Never by Colleen Hoover & Tarryn Fisher | 2/5

Icebreaker by Hannah Grace | 3/5

Off the Map by Trish Doller | 5/5

Best Served Hot by Amanda Elliot | 3|5

A Brush With Love by Mazey Eddings | 3/5

Misc.

The Measure by Nikki Erlick | 4.5/5

Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid | 4/5 (reread)

The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise by Colleen Oakley | 5/5 Stars

Becoming Free Indeed by Jinger Duggar Vuolo

Middle Grade

What About Will by Ellen Hopkins | 4/5

Linked by Gordon Korman | 4.5/5

The Tryout by Christina Soontornvat | 4/5

Daisy Jones & the Six (Amazon) – I watched a few other things this month (mostly Below Deck and finally starting season 3 of Ted Lasso), but I’m just going to let this what I watched section become another place for me to rave about how much I love the Daisy Jones & the Six adaptation. You may know that I am not the biggest Daisy Jones book fan. I even reread the book at the beginning of March and while the book isn’t at all bad and I love how the book is told through the interview format, it’s just missing something….which the TV show absolutely crushes!! I love, love the music – Aurora is definitely one of my go to albums next to Midnights currently. I love the changes that the show made, but loved how it didn’t change the ending too much (aka it was perfection, just like the entire show). In short, if you still haven’t pressed play on this show, go now & watch!!!