I’m almost embarrassed to link back to my March TBR because I veered so far away from it that it isn’t even funny anymore. Hah. But. It turned out to be a good decision because my sci-fi focus this month and strict mood reading for the rest managed to be exactly what I needed. I’m so much happier now and really excited to read fantasy again. I immediately jumped into some more books, which you can read more about here. And I did finish a couple that I had on my schedule so it’s not the worst month either. Page-wise I read much less than the two previous months but again, I’m not too fussed over it because at least I’m getting my groove back.
SPSFC
I read 3 out of 6 of our currently assigned SPSFC books. I’m behind on posting reviews but will have those up in the next couple of weeks.
Buddy Reads
Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb was the only book I read as part of a buddy read last month. I was way behind the others but I still counted it. I have left the buddy read group since though because while this was a good book, I did feel like it contributed to my burn out a little bit. The narrator isn’t my favorite so while I found the story itself intriguing, the audio wasn’t exactly improving my reading mood. I will try to have that review for you soon as well. I do plan on finishing this series but I just needed a little break from it.
New Release
Elior by Rowena Andrews is a fun short story that really took me off guard. I wasn’t expecting that POV at all but she did a really good job telling the story like that. It was emotional, intriguing, and beautiful. I love the heart and detail that went into it and I’m eager to read more from this new author.
Blog Tours
This month, I did a spotlight for Sordaneon and cover reveals for Stargun Messenger and Orphan Planet. I had really wanted to have a review ready for Sordaneon but my sketchy reading mood just wouldn’t allow me to continue with the book. The beginning was super intriguing and exactly what I like in a fantasy book so I knew it would be more fair to both me as a reader as well as the author for a review if I set it aside for a little while and return back at a better time. I have a feeling I’ll pick it back up soon though.
Audiobooks
Know My Name by Chanel Miller is the clear leader for the books I read this month. I’ve been meaning to read this one for a while but kept forgetting about it until a friend reminded me of it when I was unsure of what to listen to next. I’m so glad I listened to him because this book blew me away. Having the author narrate it was even better because that always lends an extra emotional layer to memoirs that not every narrator can duplicate if it’s not their personal story. I’ll post a review of this eventually as well but it may be a while because I want to collect some of the hard-hitting quotes that stood out so much to me.
Blog Post Round-Up
Before my lineup of mini reviews, here are the posts from March that I haven’t linked anywhere else yet.
– A review for my favorite book in February, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty
– A review for a great witchy read, Weyward by Emilia Hart
– My February Wrap-Up
– A spotlight for the 3rd edition of Wyngraf, a short story anthology
Mini Reviews
Unanimity by Alexandra Almeida
I read this book to prepare for a proofread for another book by this author because the blurb had me so intrigued that I knew I wanted to know everything about this story while working on it. I don’t technically write reviews for work-related reading but wanted to give a quick shoutout nonetheless because it was very interesting and has me thinking about it again and again with the recent AI conversations.
Dark Goddess by Kelsey Ketch
While this was an interesting reimagining, I felt like something was missing throughout the story. At the beginning, there was a hint at a former life that I wanted explained more but that never came. It was something that I felt was a set up to understanding the story better but that was then forgotten about so having waited for that the entire time, I was a little let down by the end because it would’ve given me a better understanding of the main character and her plight.
Snail’s Pace by Susan McDonough-Wachtman
I have a little bit of mixed feelings about this one. I definitely like to read books that get a little weird sometimes, including those that are unabashedly funny (though it seems they don’t quite hit the mark for me lately), but I prefer it when they choose to do so wholeheartedly, I think.
This one felt like it was trying to be serious but funny at the same time. Which could probably have worked too if it had been longer. But the short length of the book made a lot of things feel too rushed. I struggled with two of the main characters and would’ve appreciated more development for the one and more consequences for being a jerk for the other. Another character though was a bit more interesting for me, which is surprising since the young ones aren’t usually the ones I enjoy the most.
I did love seeing the different cultures that the author came up with and the forms in which they communicated. It made for really interesting interactions and conflicts. The final lesson of the book was a good one as well.
Axel by Harper Sloan
There was definitely some nostalgia I felt with this reread. I first read this what felt like sooo long ago. Probably about 8 years ago, to be honest, but a lot has changed in my reading life (and real life) during that time. It was steamy. I think Sloan does sex scenes relatively well. I did find the whole book all together a little bit too dramatic. But I think it’s not necessarily that the plot shouldn’t have that but rather that it would’ve worked better for me if the book had been longer, allowing the characters to be more fleshed out and more detail to be added to the story in general. I’m pretty sure though that this was the author’s debut novel and I did still enjoy the read so I’m looking forward to continuing in this series.
The Shaggy Shepherd 