I read a lot of books! // March Wrap Up

Hello 👋

I’ve just not long ago got back home after attending my first book club meeting. I was terrified but it ended up being really nice, albeit super awkward. I feel like when we all get to know each other and grow more comfortable it’s gonna be better so I’m hoping to keep going each month.

With that being said, I’m now going to attempt to wrap up all the books I read this month, one of them being the book-club pick. I read a lot this March. And by a lot I mean 13 books! It’s April and I’ve completed my Goodreads goal for the year. How???

Okay I know how. I read a couple of graphic novels for uni, and then I had a week and a half of reading non-stop romance. Just one after the other, couldn’t get enough so that helped boost up my numbers.

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Afterlove by Tanya Byrne – After months and months of saying “I’m gonna read this this month” and then just not, I finally completed one of my most anticipated books of 2021 and thoroughly enjoyed it! It was much more emotional read then I was expecting. I thought I was getting gay grim reapers and yes I got that, but I also got a side helping of EMOTIONS! I highly recommend this one! My review 🙂

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake – Gotta say, I don’t think I enjoyed this book. I really liked the intersection of magic with academia, plus I’m always going to be interested in secrete societies. I’ll also say that characters intrigued me but overall I didn’t love it. I think I’d be interested in picking up the sequel, just because of how it ended and the mystery surrounding that. I’d also like to see if my ship sails, but it wouldn’t be a top priority. My review 🙂

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Confessions of an Alleged Good Girl by Joya Goffney – Can’t believe the only reason I picked this book up this month was because I got put on door duty at work and I was bored/cold. If that hadn’t had happened I wouldn’t have picked this book up for a little while longer which would have been a crime because I loved this! I’m going to write a full review but to summarise I loved the writing style and the characters, how it tackled the subject of religion and sex and how those two things go together and the expectations they put on a teenage girl. I also loved Reggie with all my heart. Read this book!!

Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson – Another book I’m happy to say I’ve finally read!! This book packed a punch and I knew that, how could it not with the subject matters it discusses, but I just felt so many things while reading. Anxiety, frustration, anger, disgust. I don’t know if this is a book I’d ever read again, but it’s definitely one I won’t forget and one I’ll be recommending for a long time!

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In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan – This book made me so freaking happy!! I swear to god I laughed at least once at every single page. This book is huge, and that’s one of the reasons I put off reading it but I flew through it in just a couple of days. I couldn’t get enough! I loved how it played on the classic tropes of “normal kid becomes part of a fantasy land/society/school, meets two sidekick like friends, gets involved in new dangers every year”, poking fun and making something entirely new. I finished this and immediately wanted to go back, re-read and pick out my favourite moments. Please read this book. I want to talk about this book with people! My review 🙂

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi – And here we have the book club pick. This was a super sweet read. I liked how the whole story took place in just one location. I feel like you slowly care for the main cafe characters and your love for them kind of sneaks up on you. I also really liked how we never learn anything more about the ghost, the lady in white, she’s just there, part of the furniture and an avid coffee drinker. I’m really happy to have read this super popular book, and I’m proud of myself for sucking up my social anxiety and going to the book club, no matter how awkward.

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Ok then I read two graphic novels for uni this month.

The first being Swallow Me Whole by Nate Powell which I didn’t like. Just the story and the art style wasn’t for me.

The second being Bitch Planet Vol1 by Kelly Sue DeConnick which I did like but sadly missed the seminar for because I felt like crap and was not making it to that 9am. I was super bummed because we read this for “feminsm” week so I was looking forward to discussing that, maybe getting ideas for my essay. But oh well.

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And finally we have the five adult romance books I read this month. I say this month but I should say “the books I read in one week of this month”. I was just craving some easy, fluffy, kinda smutty romances and so that’s what I did.

I started off by continuing on with my re-read of the Off Campus series by Elle Kennedy by reading The Mistake. As expected I loved this just as much the second time around.

I was big into the single parent trope this month which is why I read Juniper Hill by Devney Perry, All Rhodes Lead Here by Mariana Zapata and finally One Percent of You by Michelle Gross. I did a whole bundle review thing for these books if you want to read that. I’m not going to hash out my feelings for this book again. I will say that my favourite of these three was Juniper Hill and I plan on going back to read the first book before continuing on not only with the rest of this series, but also reading Devney Perry’s backlist.

The last romance I read before dragging myself away from the genre was A Lie for a Lie by Helena Hunting. This was cute. It featured a hockey player which I wasn’t expecting but loved because I am a big fan of hockey romances. I was spoiled for the “big twist” because I get my recommendations from “recommending this book by it’s aesthetic” videos on Tik-Tok which gave the game away. I still enjoyed it though. I really liked RJ and how he actually listened to Lainey instead of just imposing his will. Even when he did make romantic, life changing decisions, he talked it through with her instead. It’s such a small thing but sadly not something you see a lot in romance books.

Because I read so much romance, I am now considering getting Kindle Unlimited to save some money. Is it worth it guys?? Please let me know. I need all the advice!

There we have it. The shit-ton of books I read in March. I had assignments due this month as well. I suppose this just goes to show how I don’t have a life.

If you’ve read any of these books, I’d love to know what you thought. Also what have you been reading this month? And the final also is: please tell me if Kindle Unlimited is worth it. Thanks for reading :))

Elli xx