March Wrap Up / April TBR

Somehow, March is over already?? That felt like a quick month, but I managed to read a few good books, and a few great books:

• Dubliners by James Joyce – review here
• The Girls by Emma Cline – review here
• We Have Always Live in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
• The Muse by Jessie Burton – review here
• Strungballs by Mike Russell – review here
• White Teeth by Zadie Smith – review here

The first three of those were actually on my March TBR list (that only had four on it.) As I use my TBR list as a rough plan for the upcoming month, rather than a strict reading list, to get through 3/4 of them, I consider good going!

I ran into the library one Friday afternoon to shelter from the rain and found White Teeth, did my all-important opening sentence test, and was hooked. It was my favourite book in March, although closely followed by The Girls and We Have Always Live in the Castle, which were such different reads, but both so captivating.

Strungballs I was sent to review, and although it was not the usual genre I read, I really enjoyed adding something different to my mix for the month – reading a book I wouldn’t ordinarily pick up is a great reminder that I should break out of my comfort zone more often.

With that in mind, for April, these are the books that have caught my eye:

• The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
• A Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
• Everyone Brave is Forgotten by Chris Cleave
• Summer House with a Pool by Herman Koch
• Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli

I’ve started with Summer House with a Pool, as I’ve heard good things about the author, Herman Koch, and (4 chapters in) so far, so good!