March Wrap Up

Read:
Punishment by Scott J. Holliday
I’ll Keep You Safe by Peter May
Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney
End Game by Matt Johnson
A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny
Mister Tender’s Girl by Carter Wilson
It by Stephen King
The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani
Let Me Lie by Clare Mackintosh

Stats:
9 books
3, 704 pages

I’m in awe looking back at reading nine books this month…come on, you guys see that behemoth IT lurking on that list, right?!? What an accomplishment!

March was a month filled with great reads! PUNISHMENT by Scott J. Holliday kicked the reading momentum off with a thriller, science fiction combination. I loved the use of possible future technology in this one to give it an unusual and new vibe. Also, can we talk about that cover?! Next up was I’LL KEEP YOU SAFE by Peter May, who is an author I told myself I would explore more of this year. I read his novel, THE FIREMAKER in January and the synopsis of this one had me coming back for more. Unfortunately this one fell a bit flat for me. I found it to be a bit too predictable. That being said, May killed it yet again with his atmospheric writing style and ability to transport a reader to a far off location.

Continuing on the theme of new releases, I also picked up SOMETIMES I LIE, END GAME, and LET ME LIE this month. If you keep up with books and hadn’t seen SOMETIMES I LIE spamming Instagram and the blog world, you need to get out more! I begged the folks at Flatiron to let me read and review a copy. Not only did I get my wish, but a very lovely Bookstagram friend also gifted me a copy (Rest assured I kept the train going and gifted a copy to an awesome co-worker). SOMETIMES I LIE is an absolutely brilliant thriller! Short, intense chapters that just suck the reader in and keep you up way past your bedtime. Speaking of amazing publishers…Orenda Books has kindly let me join their amazing team of blog tour reviewers and I kicked off my #teamorenda life with END GAME. I was a bit worried about reading the last book in a trilogy, but there was no way I could turn down the synopsis. I am so glad I listed to my book loving heart because this book was fantastic! Such an intense read filled with emotions and passion. I will definitely be checking out the first two books soon. LET ME LIE was a perfect way to end this month of new releases. This book is so incredibly plotted out that I got sucked in and didn’t want to leave. How have I never read a Clare Mackintosh book before? Oh, you’re looking at the ones sitting on my shelf?? Don’t worry, they’re getting squeezed straight in to summer reading this year!

Book clubs have become such an integral part of my reading month and the selections for March we absolutely phenomenal. I headed back to hang with Chief Inspector Gamache and those crazy, murdery villagers in Three Pines with A TRICK OF THE LIGHT. Penny’s books are always such a breath of fresh air! I loved how this one picked up bits from the previous books and truly continued my relationships and getting to know the quirky villagers of this town. Black Heart Reads chose MISTER TENDER’S GIRL this month, which was conveniently already waiting in my Amazon cart to come home to me. I am officially obsessed with Mister Tender and desperately need a graphic novel to be made. I loved every single bit of this book. This one got some flack from other reviewers for being too unbelievable, but if you can’t have a bit of fun in your crime fiction everyone once in a while, well I simply don’t want it! Another controversially rated book is THE PERFECT NANNY, which was the March selection for Criminally Good Book Club. Step one to liking this book…don’t call it a thriller. The first few pages are thillerish and then everything else is an intense character study about a woman driven to kill. The writing is absolutely beautiful and the slow burning suspense as Louise’s mind escalates is wonderful!

I have saved the best for last…IT. This year I made myself a promise to read more Stephen King and the Bookstagram world is really coming through for me. I joined up with a group of amazing readers to conquer this 1,200 page brick and I regret nothing. I think Stephen King is absolutely brilliant. He has an amazing ability to write with such detail that I feel like I’m standing in the same space as the characters I’m reading about. I start to feel what they feel, be it absolute terror or pure love. King is of course the master of horror, but he also has an undeniable ability to connect the reader with his characters and books. I have now entered a period of mourning where I miss Derry, the Losers Club, and even It…but more King is coming!

I’d love to know what you read this month! Have you read any of these titles? Let’s chat!

Here’s to April! Happy reading!