I thought a lot about how I wanted to structure my monthly book report on my blog. Obviously, now that I’m writing a weekly What I’m Reading blog post, it’s almost as if I don’t even need this monthly roundup. But alas, here I am, writing a monthly reading roundup. What can I say? I love looking at my reading stats and talking about my favorite books. So here we are! This was actually really fun to pull together and I hope you enjoy it.
March Reading List
In March, I read 11 books and abandoned one. Here were my favorites from this month:
- Overall favorite: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman (review)
- Favorite romance: Roomies by Christina Lauren (review)
- Other favorites (all books I gave 4 or 5 stars to):
- Holiday in the Hamptons by Sarah Morgan
- Nobody But You by Jill Shalvis (review)
- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (review)
- Love Hacked by Penny Reid (review)
- Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman by Lindy West (review)
- Not That I Could Tell by Jessica Strawser (review)
- Irresistibly Yours by Lauren Layne (review)
- Book I was lukewarm about: I Found You by Lisa Jewell (review)
- Book I didn’t like: The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory (review)
- Book I abandoned: First Women: The Grace and Power of America’s Modern First Ladies by Kate Andersen Brower
I read Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine for my work book club and The Wedding Date for my local book club. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was the book I read to fulfill my “read four classics” yearly goal. All other books I read because they were on my monstrously long TBR list!
Other Book Stats
- Number of pages read: 3,750
- Breakdown of formats: physical copies (5), e-books (5), audiobooks (1)
- Book that took me the longest time to read: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (15 days)
- Book that took me the shortest time to read: Roomies (2 days)
- Breakdown of genres: romance (6), thrillers (2), fiction (2), and nonfiction (1)
- Number of diverse reads: 1 (8% <– yikes!)
- Where I sourced my books: Overdrive/library (6), Book of the Month (2), Target (2), Amazon (1)
- How much I spent this month: $56.53
Favorite Book Quotes
“‘Because,’ explained Mary Rommely simply, ‘the child must have a valuable thing which is called imagination. The child must have a secret world in which live things that never were. It is necessary that she believe. She must start out by believing in things not of this world. Then when the world becomes too ugly for living in, the child can reach back and live in her imagination.’” – A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
“However, it is easier to mock and deride individual fat people than to fix food deserts, school lunches, corn subsidies, inadequate or nonexistent public transportation, unsafe sidewalks and parks, healthcare, mental healthcare, the minimum wage, and your own insecurities.” – Shrill
“On your wedding day, you’re choosing to love that person forever, but that’s just the beginning. You have to continue to choose them, every day. It’s not like your other options are going away – it’s up to you to turn them away. Marriage isn’t what it once was to a lot of people. And if you really want it to work, you’re not making a one-time vow – you’re committing to a lifetime of remarrying that person every day.” – Not That I Could Tell
What was the best book you read last month?
I gave up on tracking all my stats this year; it was just too much for me. But I am still tracking the books I read. I only read 9 last month (and abandoned 1). I’ve been rereading a lot, so my favorite was Graceling which I’d recommend even though you aren’t a fantasy junkie like me – the heroine is so kick-ass. I read Pride & Prejudice and disliked it, but I had a feeling – I’m not an Austin fan but I’m trying to read/listen to books that I didn’t like in high school to see if they make the same impression. I actually got all the way through it for once, but I didn’t enjoy it much.
I think I’m going to attempt an Austen novel this year as part of my “read four classics” goal. I read Pride & Prejudice in high school and don’t remember enjoying it too much (I think I eventually just got the SparkNotes version, ha). But I’m going to try an Austen novel on audiobook and see if that format is any better for me. We’ll see! I just looked and Pride & Prejudice is nearly 12 hours, so my attention span may not be up for that, haha.
Just added Graceling to my TBR!
11 books, damn! But sounds like you picked a few really good ones!
My favorite book last month was The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.
I have heard amazing things about the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo! I need to bump it up my immediate TBR!
It is always so impressive to see TRUE readers and how many books they get through! How nice that you had so many 4 and 5 star reads. I have only read 11 books total this year, which is good for me. I think my favorite last month was “Dark Matter” by Blake Crouch. Super fast paced and interesting.
Reading 11 books in three months is still an impressive feat! I’m just happy as long as people are reading because it’s such a worthwhile activity. 🙂
I read Dark Matter last year and loved it. Such an insane premise and I couldn’t stop thinking about it when I finished it.
Nice work, lady! Still impressed with your reading prowess and love the way you list your reading stats.
For March, my favorite read was “The Great Alone” by Kristin Hannah.
I have seen so many people rave about The Great Alone! I might have to grab it as an extra book in my next Book of the Month shipment.
My favorite was definitely Commonwealth by Ann Patchett. I didn’t want the book to end!
I love books like that! I felt the same way about Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. I didn’t want to let her go at the end of the book!