After talking about the books we added to our shelves in March, it’s time to talk about the books we read. Are we happy with how much we read? Did we discover any new favorites? Keep on reading our March wrap up to find out!
Candyce
March seems to have just flown by, but I ended up reading 19 books (9 paperbacks, 5 audiobooks, 3 e-books, 1 ARC, and 1 manga). My monthly average rating was a 3.9 and my lowest this year. I had a few books that didn’t really work for me, but thankfully I had a few amazing ones as well. I’m way ahead of schedule for my Goodreads schedule and it’s nice!
Secretly Yours – Tessa Bailey
Tessa Bailey is a hit or miss author for me, but Secretly Yours was definitely a hit. Hallie and Julian’s story was really cute and had me laughing out loud quite often. It was also a little less steamy than some of this author’s books and I appreciated this.
Things We Never Got Over – Lucy Score
I should’ve read Things We Never Got Over a lot sooner! Knox and Naomi are amazing as well as all of the side characters. This grumpy/sunshine romance was everything I was hoping for and more! I need to read more by this author.
The Lies of Locke Lamora – Scott Lynch
The Lies of Locke Lamora was my in person book club read for February. We ended up delaying it a bit, so I finally finished this one. I have to say this is a book you really need to concentrate on. A lot happens and there’s a lot of world building. Locke Lamora was an interesting character and all of these heists definitely have me curious to see how the story continues!
Anatomy: A Love Story – Dana Schwartz
Anatomy: A Love Story is a book that had my attention from the start. I loved Hazel and her drive to become a surgeon even if society thinks she needs to get married and that be that. There were also some mysterious elements in this story that I enjoyed and I want to know how the story continues in the second book of this duology.
The New Girl – Jesse Q. Sutanto
After adoring Dial A for Aunties I wanted to give one of Jesse’s YA books a try. The New Girl started off promising, but ended up not being for me at all. While I understand they’re teenagers and dramatic it just all felt like a bit much!
Do I Know You? – Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka
I’ve read a YA book by this author duo and I really enjoyed it. So I was excited when they decided to start writing adult romances. Do I Know You? is their second adult book. I really enjoyed this one and read it almost completely in one sitting. It was interesting to see this couple try finding their way back to each other by pretending to be someone else. They could talk more openly and hoped it would be the solution they needed to be happy again. Communication is a key in relationships and that book definitely showed that.
How to Sell a Haunted House – Grady Hendrix
So horror isn’t my normal go to genre, but I’ve been curious about Grady Hendrix’s books. On Instagram there was going to be a buddyread in March, so the perfect opportunity to pick up my copy I bought recently. I enjoyed the writing and the story kept me intrigued, but the story took some time to finally start going. After reading it, I’m still not 100% sure what I think about this one.
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries – Heather Fawcett
I kept seeing this book everywhere when it first released and I was intrigued. This book reads as a journal and I really enjoyed it. Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia is a cozy fantasy that was just what I needed. I’m glad that there will be another book in this series.
Komi Can’t Communicate Vol. 2 – Tomohito Oda
Manga is something I’ve just started reading, but I really enjoyed the first volume of Komi Can’t Communicate. So when I was really tired, but wanted to read I decided it was time for volume 2. Our main character has a really hard time talking to people and gets very anxious, but her goal is to have 100 friends. This manga is heartwarming and funny and I can’t wait to see her make more and more friends.
Kingdom of the Cursed – Kerri Maniscalco
So I finally finished Kingdom of the Cursed and that was an interesting ride. I loved learning more about this world and the princes. Also, I didn’t see that ending coming. I’m glad I decided to re-read the first book and continue with this trilogy. This definitely isn’t YA though, so be warned. It does get spicy!
The Missed Connection – Denise Williams
Novellas don’t always work for me, but I enjoyed The Missed Connection. This enemies to lovers romance was cute and the characters were interesting. I got just enough of the romance and characters in the 128 pages we get and I already started the third novella in this series.
A Kingdom of Gods and Ruin – Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti
Even though I’m in the middle of a couple of series by this author duo I had to read this prequel novella. A Kingdom of Gods and Ruin is the start of an Aladdin retelling and it was so good. What the authors gave us definitely has me curious about this world.
That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon – Kimberly Lemming
I’ve seen this one around, but never got around to it. My Discord book club had this as weekly read and I’m glad I gave it a try. It was funny, steamy, and full of adventure. This is a really short one, but just what I needed. Being short we even got some world building. If you’re looking for something fun definitely give this one a go!
The Writing Retreat – Julia Bartz
As I’ve mentioned before I’m a big fan of books that have characters who love books or even write them. Add a thriller element and I was intrigued. The Writing Retreat had a really interesting concept and I loved how it started off. It was a bit slow to start, but that didn’t bug me. At a certain point a lot started happening and maybe a bit too much? All in all, this was a fun read, but all of the reveals together were a bit over the top.
Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating – Adiba Jaigirdar
After loving The Henna Wars I was really curious about this book. A friend recommended the audiobook and I didn’t want to stop listening. I’m a big fan of fake dating and it was interesting to see how both of these characters used this aspect of their lives to help them out. I appreciated how much family was involved in this story and how different families can act about certain subjects. Both characters go through a lot and really start thinking about what they want.
Muted – Tami Charles
Muted was a book I had on my Down the TBR Hole recently and I remembered I had the audiobook. This book shows us some of the darker sides of the music business and it wasn’t always easy to read. I couldn’t put this down and wow, I was not expecting that ending!
Really Good, Actually – Monica Heisey
This book is a lot, but I appreciated it. Our main character Maggie is about to get a divorce and dealing with all of the emotions and changes it comes with. It starts off seeming like she’s sad about it, but in a pretty good place. Things slowly start to change and you realize she isn’t dealing that well at all. At times Maggie got annoying, but part of me thinks she was really just overwhelmed and caught in her own situation. I enjoyed all of the aspects of this book and how it dealt with divorce and change.
Devil of Dublin – B.B. Easton
So after reading my first mafia romance last year and seeing people loving Devil of Dublin, I had to give it a go. The story started off interesting. I loved that they met as children and lost contact. That’s where it ended for me though. It didn’t feel like much happened, not much felt like mafia, and I don’t know I just wasn’t feeling it unfortunately. I will say I loved the audiobook narrators though!
The Moth Keeper – K. O’Neill
The Moth Keeper is a beautiful middle grade novel that I really enjoyed. This graphic novel shows us what a big responsibility can do to us when you think it rests on your shoulders, but also shows us what the community can do for you if you learn to share the burden.
Isabelle
I had another pretty good reading month! Thanks to my trip and audiobooks I finished 8 books, 3 of those were rereads, 3 manga and 2 fantasy books. I’m very happy that this seems to be the year I’m reading more again.
The Burning God – R.F. Kuang
I finally finished the Poppy War trilogy and I have to say, listening to the audiobook in public during those last chapters was rough!! Trying to hold in my tears while also appreciating R.F. Kuangs craft was a challenge haha.
Haikyu! 1-3 – Haruichi Furudate
My current obsession! I enjoy this manga series so much but I am trying to pace myself a little bit. As you saw in the Bookhaul yesterday, I have 12 volumes in total but I want to try and limit myself to 1 a week.
Daisy Jones & the Six
Wait, wasn’t this in my last wrap-up as well? Uuuhhh, yes it was haha. After watching the first three episodes of the show I just had to listen to the story again. Having to wait a week was too hard haha.
The Court of the Undying Seasons – A.M. Strickland
This was Candyce’s and mine previous buddyread. We both got this eARC and we’ll share our review soon. It is marketed as Sarah J. Maas meets A Deadly Education, two things I adore so it seemed like a book I would enjoy. And I did, maybe more than I expected upfront as I was a bit skeptical haha.
Six of Crows & Crooked Kingdom – Leigh Bardugo
After watching season 2 of Shadow and Bone I needed more of my crows and I decided to reread the duology. I got extra Audible credits and got the audiobooks because audiobooks are currently the best way to read for me. It was amazing being back with these characters and I really hope we get a third season of Shadow and Bone.
So that’s our March wrap up! Have you read any of these books? Or did you discover any new favorites? Let us know in the comments! We’d love to hear from you.
