Hits and Misses: March Reading Wrap Up

Happy March, and Happy Easter to everyone! March was a month of cold spring mornings, commuting with an audiobook on high volume, warm soups, and chill weekends in bed. Though not the best reading month this year, I had some hits and misses reading-wise in March. I also got very ahead of schedule when it comes to my Goodreads reading challenge, because I spent a week in March on a personal readathon to try and read more books that week. It went really well!

Twist of Faith by Ellen J. Green (review)

This was one of the misses in the month. Though I am sincerely grateful for Netgalley for providing me with an Advanced Reader’s Copy for this book, unfortunately I didn’t enjoy this book very much. This is a thriller novel about Ava, a woman who is adopted by a woman and her sister. The story begins with Ava trying to find out the murder of a family in a house that is supposedly connected to her childhood. The book deals with themes like religion and spirituality, multinationality, family, adopted families, and has aspects that should concoct an amazing and thrilling mystery novel.

However, I felt like the story and plot wasn’t well executed. Added to the unmemorable characters, and the weird and forced ending, this book was a page turner, but it just wasn’t for me. Even so, it was a fun read and it wasn’t horribly written. I do like some of the characters in the book and the depth they bring into the story, but the plot itself isn’t something I love from this book.

2/5 stars

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah (review)

My boyfriend enjoys watching late night shows about American politics, and I’ve always enjoyed watching Trevor Noah‘s Youtube videos. As a celebrity and comedian I find him very smart, witty and hilarious. And I’ve heard amazing things about the audiobook of his memoir, also it’s being made into a movie, so I couldn’t help but buy this book on Audible. This book tells about Trevor’s life in South Africa, from his upbringing by his single mother and how he lives as a colored child in post-apartheid South Africa.

I adored Trevor’s stories and anecdotes about his childhood, especially those involving his mother and his close family. Granted, the structure of the book itself is a little confusing and all over the place at times, with timelines jumping back and forth, but each chapter has its own charm and wonderful stories that you just enjoy every single second of it.

All in all, it was a mixture of informational, heart-warming, touching, eye-opening, and hilarious all combined into one book. As someone who doesn’t know much about South African history or culture, it’s refreshing to find out snippets of the life of a South African that is so well narrated, and I learned so much about not just history, but also the way of life, language, and the norms in where Trevor Noah grew up; added with a personal portrayal of various themes like poverty, racism, self-confidence, domestic abuse, and love. A wonderful audiobook and a great book in general that I’d highly recommend for those of you who like Trevor Noah. A definite hit of the month!

4/5 stars

A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo by Jill Twiss, illus. E.G. Keller

Another book that I read because of my boyfriend! I first heard about it from him because of the hype surrounding John Oliver‘s Youtube about Marlon Bundo, the American vice president’s bunny. We randomly listened to its audiobook on a weekend (it was only 7 minutes), and I thought it was a fun read. Indeed I’m not a child, and I only listened to it instead of reading it while also looking at the illustrations, so I’m not captivated by the book or anything, but it was a fun audiobook.

3/5 stars

What I’m Currently Reading

It’s ApTHRILL! I am trying my best to read mainly thrillers or mystery or horror novels this April. I’m also still bringing over some unfinished books from last month

• The Power by Naomi Alderman: I’m only a few dozen pages left from finishing the book, but for the last few days I haven’t gotten the time to read it yet. I will definitely finish it soon and write a review about it in my April wrap up
• Little Baskets 2017 by various authors: Another book I’m almost finished with, could’ve finished in March, but didn’t get the time to. I read it in my week-long readathon, so you can read about my thoughts while I was reading the book in that post!
• The Retreat by Mark Edwards: my first thriller book of April, and it’s really good so far. I’m around 10% into the story and it’s still not very clear if I’m gonna love it or hate it, but I can’t wait to read more.

What books did you read in March? And what books are you planning to read in April?

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