Good morning, friends! I really love putting together these reading recaps. They are a fun way to look back on my month of reading and pull out a few interesting (to me?) statistics. March was an excellent reading month for me—I read 13 books, which is a feat I haven’t been able to pull off in a long, long time. Turns out, I can get a lot of reading done on a long month that includes a four-day staycation!
Books Read
- The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun (★★★★★ – e-book, Libby) – A sweet queer love story set on a Bachelor-type show
- The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard (★★★★★ – print, library) – A gritty, dark thriller that I couldn’t read at night but also couldn’t stop turning the pages
- The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny (★★★★☆ – audiobook, Libby) – The latest in Penny’s Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series wasn’t her best, but still stands out from the crowd
- Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling (★★★★☆ – #ownvoices, print, owned, Thriftbooks) – An excellent essay collection from someone I greatly admire
- Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade (★★★★☆ – e-book, Libby) – A fun love story involving a fat main character but I could have done without the fanfiction elements
- Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear (★★★★☆ – print, owned, Target) – An approachable how-to on forming habits, but there’s nothing anything new here
- Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People by Nadia Bolz-Weber (★★★☆☆ – print, owned, Thriftbooks) – A slim essay collection written by a pastor
- Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley (★★★★☆ – print, library) – A YA love story with heavy themes of grief
- Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead by Elle Cosimano (★★★★★ – print, library) – The second book in a ridiculously fun mystery series
- Dear Martin by Nic Stone (★★★★★ – #ownvoices, e-book, Amazon) – A heartfelt YA novel about a Black teenage boy who writes letters to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
- Long Time Coming: Reckoning with Race in America by Michael Eric Dyson (★★★★☆ – #ownvoices, audiobook, Libby) – A powerful series of letters written to people we have lost due to police violence, gun violence, and more
- Does Jesus Really Love Me?: A Gay Christian’s Pilgrimage in Search of God in America by Jeff Chu (★★★☆☆ – #ownvoices, print, library) – Stories of what it’s like to be queer and Christian
- One Dance with a Duke by Tessa Dare (★★★☆☆ – e-book, Libby) – A historical romance that could have been 75 pages shorter
Book Stats
- # of books read: 13
- # of pages read: 4,131 pages
- Genre breakdown: Nonfiction (39%), Romance (23%), Mystery/Thriller (23%), and YA (15%)
- Format breakdown: print (54%), e-book (31%), and audiobook (15%)
- Fastest read: Dear Martin by Nic Stone (2 days)
- Slowest read: The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny (16 days)
- Star average: 4.1
- % of books by or about BIPOC or the LGBT community: 38%
- Abandoned books: 2 (Pride, Prejudice & Other Flavors by Sonali Dev and Long Shot by Kennedy Ryan)
- Goodreads goal check-in: I set a goal of 135 books this year and currently, I am right on track!
Superlatives of March
- Favorite book of February: The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard
- Favorite romance of February: The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun
- The book I thought I would love more than I did: Does Jesus Really Love Me?: A Gay Christian’s Pilgrimage in Search of God in America by Jeff Chu
- Most deserving of the hype: Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead by Elle Cosimano
- Least deserving of the hype: Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
What was the best book you read in March?
I went back to The Nothing Man it after you wrote about it and ended up loving it, thought I had to skim the intense parts. Then I read her latest book 56 Days and if you can imagine it was even better.
I have 56 Days sitting on my Kindle. I need to give it a go!
The House in the Cerulean Sea was probably the best book I read in March, but it made me a bit sad to read about some of the controversy around it, so now it’s a bit tainted. I wish I had just not read anything about it, so I could go around just recommending it wholeheartedly!
I did not finish the first Finlay Donovan book because the main character’s behavior was so disturbing to me, but everyone calls those books comedic and it’s clear I’m really missing something!
I definitely understand what you mean about The House in the Cerulean Sea. It was my favorite fiction read of 2021, although it feels like I need an asterisk when I say that because of the controversy. Ugh!
I also really enjoyed The Nothing Man this month, too. That was one of my favorite books. I read 10 books, 4 of which were non-fiction. I’ve read so much non-fiction so far this year! My library queue dictates what I read and a lot of non-fiction has become available so I expect the % of non-fiction to decline.
I’m glad you enjoyed The Nothing Man, too!
I’m finding myself gravitating towards more and more nonfiction lately so I try to balance it out with fiction, since reading too many nonfiction books in a row can wear on me.
Wow, 13 books in March. So impressive. I am still working myself through the Outlander series (and they’re behemoth of books), so there won’t be any exciting book updates from me for a while.
I want to read the Outlander series but the length of those books is so intimidating!
Now thinking I need to find The Nothing Man! It sounds like those who have read it – once they realize that there are difficult parts – have really enjoyed it. And 56 Days has also been on my radar…
You had an amazing month of reading – something that I will never, ever achieve, particularly given how limited my reading has been thanks to fatigue and (honestly) a short attention span. I can’t wait for the semester to end so I can bump it back up again! I’ll still never reach your “level”, though. 😉
Also, I have never heard of Thriftbooks but saw that you got some books there. Whoa! I had NO IDEA that it existed! It looks like an excellent resource for the books I actually want to own in hard copy! (Also… I still have to take books to the used bookstore to get my little bit of cash back…)
Yess, Thriftbooks! I love Thriftbooks so, so much. I only buy books that are in “like new” or “great” condition and I’m usually pleased with the condition the books come in. Just be careful – some of the books have library binding, so if that will bug you, be careful about checking the details when you’re ordering. 🙂