March Wrap-Up

Wow, I haven't done one of these in a long time. Before going into the year I told myself that in 2020 I wouldn't make any goals or TBRs. I would just read what I felt like reading when I felt like reading it. And it's worked pretty well so far. I don't feel forced into reading anything I don't want to and I can take my time with things and I'm able to put every other book on hold when a highly anticipated book comes out without feeling guilty. This month I read seven books!

1. A Good Girls Guide to Murder - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️I read this for the YA BN bookclub. I don't normally read YA mystery/thriller, but I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I especially liked the format. It was written in the format of a college thesis paper which made us feel like we were discovering the details of the case right along with our main character.

2. My Year of Rest and Relaxation - ⭐️⭐️⭐️This book was not for me. I had a really hard time wanting to read/care about this privileged girl who wanted to escape from life by permanently sleeping through it. I felt bad for the main characters best friend because she just wanted to be loved, but her friend was incapable of being an actual friend. 

3. Such a Fun Age - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 I really loved this book. It was funny and made me feel at home the way that Queenie made me feel at home. I loved the youth of the main black character, Emira, and how she was just trying to figure her life out. I had my biggest problem with the two white characters, Alix and Kelley, as they were pit against each other and essentially doing the same thing to each other by trying to convince Emira that they were both different kinds of racists.

4. New Waves - ⭐️⭐️⭐️I wanted to like this book so much more than I did. I loved the two main characters and I love the fact that the author made one of the characters black, as the author is Asian himself. I appreciated that the author wanted to include that voice in his book.

5. Undercover Bromance - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫I read The Bromance Book Club and liked it so I had to read Lyssa Kay Adams' follow up. I love the premise of her books because they have men putting their emotions first and trying to make things work with the women in their lives when they mess up, all by using the feminist approach in modern day romance novels. This one does just that. Even though Mack is presented as the main character in the novel, we get much for of Liv's story. I was a little thrown off that the two main characters fall in love in the midst of trying to take Liv's old boss down for sexual harassment, but besides that I actually liked this one better than her first novel.

6. A Court of Thorns and Roses - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is my second time reading this book and it's still just eh to me. I felt like nothing exciting really happened until Feyre was forced to go back to her house and then had to fight her way back to Tamlin's castle and the aftermath of that. The romance didn't feel believable to me and I was much more interested in Lucian and Rhysand than the two main characters. Everyone tells me the second book is 10x better than this one so that's the one I can't wait to read. 

7. Faker - ⭐️⭐️💫 I really wanted to like this book, but it fell flat for me. I was really triggered by this book because I've worked in a toxic office environment before and it is not fun, no matter how "romantic" it may seem to be. The work environment in this book is filled with snide comments, rude remarks, people getting fired on sexual harassment, and weird relationships. Even the romance was a little over the top. What I love about modern day romance novels is that the women always have other things going on besides the relationship and in this the main character had nothing else going on but her current relationship.

A Song of Ice and Fire Reading Journey

As you all know we are in the middle of a crisis. As of last Saturday the Barnes & Noble that I work at officially closed down to the work order from Gov. Cuomo that 100% of non-essential workforce has to stay home. My store went back and forth on if we were non-essential or not, but in the end we were deemed non-essential. To our community, I can guarantee that we were essential but I know closing down during this scary time was actually the right thing for them to do. Putting the safety and health of its employees first was the right thing. Anyways, during all the speculation of a shut down, I told myself that if my store shut down, meaning I would be jobless for the time being, I would finally tackle the entire Song of Ice and Fire series, including the prequel that came out earlier this year. 

I was a bit skeptical going in because I have already seen all seasons of HBOs Game of Thrones so I basically know what happens so upon reading the books I was nervous that nothing would be shocking or surprising. I am officially 300 pages into the first book, and that is exactly what's happening. I have gotten to parts that I don't remember much of from the show so that's nice, but I hope as I continue this journey that the magic that is GOT is still able to spring from its pages. I will say the writing is great thought. I also think this might be the first adult epic fantasy I've ever read so in that aspect I'm really enjoying it. 

I also thought of watching the show as I read the book. I did watch episode one because I know exactly how that ends so once I got to that part in the book I was able to watch that, and it's almost scene for scene from the book with a little things changed here and there. Upon reading more of the book, I'm not sure if I want to re-watch the whole show. Maybe after each book, but I guess I'll figure that out as I go. 

Happy Reading!