Hello everyone!
It is that time when we say goodbye to March, and welcome in April. March was a very good reading month. I read 7 books and a total of 2,331 pages.
The books I read this month are:
1. What Comes of Eating Doughnuts with a Boy Who Plays Guitar (Gem City #1) by Nicole Campbell
Loved it. It's an adorable contemporary about a girl named Courtney who spends the summer with her best friend, Vanessa, in Ohio where she meets Ethan. They fall in love and adorable stuff happens and then heart breaking stuff happens, and it's just adorable. Read it! It was a super quick read, and it was just a feel good story. I received it free for review, and loved it so much I bought the entire series. In both physical copy, and for my Kindle because I have a problem apparently.
Loved it. It's an adorable contemporary about a girl named Courtney who spends the summer with her best friend, Vanessa, in Ohio where she meets Ethan. They fall in love and adorable stuff happens and then heart breaking stuff happens, and it's just adorable. Read it! It was a super quick read, and it was just a feel good story. I received it free for review, and loved it so much I bought the entire series. In both physical copy, and for my Kindle because I have a problem apparently.
2. How One Attempts to Chase Gravity (Gem City #2) by Nicole Campbell
The sequel to the aforementioned, Doughnuts. Only this one is told mainly from Ethan's perspective, and then we see what happens after Doughnuts. It was also absolutely adorable, and ugh. It made me cry happy tears and my little cynical heart felt things and it was just all too cute!
The sequel to the aforementioned, Doughnuts. Only this one is told mainly from Ethan's perspective, and then we see what happens after Doughnuts. It was also absolutely adorable, and ugh. It made me cry happy tears and my little cynical heart felt things and it was just all too cute!
3. When the Time Comes to Light a Fire (Gem City #3) by Nicole Campbell
The third and possibly last book in the series, not totally positive. This one was my favorite of the three. It is told from Vanessa's point of view, before the summer of Ethan and Courtney. It is a little more bittersweet than the first 2, which is fitting, because Vanessa is a little more intense than Courtney, in the best possible way. I actually received this as an ARC, because Nicole Campbell read my review and liked it so much she gave me the privilege of reading the book a month before it was released. It officially went on sale April 1st. I think it is only available on Kindle/E-readers at the moment. But it is so good. You have to read it. I will be making a post with all 3 of my reviews in the coming weeks.
The third and possibly last book in the series, not totally positive. This one was my favorite of the three. It is told from Vanessa's point of view, before the summer of Ethan and Courtney. It is a little more bittersweet than the first 2, which is fitting, because Vanessa is a little more intense than Courtney, in the best possible way. I actually received this as an ARC, because Nicole Campbell read my review and liked it so much she gave me the privilege of reading the book a month before it was released. It officially went on sale April 1st. I think it is only available on Kindle/E-readers at the moment. But it is so good. You have to read it. I will be making a post with all 3 of my reviews in the coming weeks.
4. Me Before You by JoJo Moyes
Okay, so this book has so much hype right now. It is being made into a movie, and I really hope that the movie is better. I rarely like the movie more than the book. Even if I love the movie, I usually also love the book (for different reasons). However this book, I hated it. I mean it wasn't the worst book I've read. It dealt with a topic that is difficult and I'm not talking about the fact that one of the main characters is a quadriplegic. For that reason alone I gave it 3 stars instead of 2 or even 1. However, I hated Lou. She was irritating and whiny and boring - so boring. Her family was awful. Her boyfriend was the king of the mega-douche-canoes. Will's family was so cliché. Literally the only redeeming character was Will, who was just as cliché as his family at times. I just, I wanted to put it down so many times, and it was just barely worth it. Like, literally if I had only read the last 50 or so pages, I would have given it closer to 5 stars. I'll write a full rant (I mean review) when I can actually form a critical analysis of the book without rolling my eyes and using the word "ugh". I just... Ugh!
Okay, so this book has so much hype right now. It is being made into a movie, and I really hope that the movie is better. I rarely like the movie more than the book. Even if I love the movie, I usually also love the book (for different reasons). However this book, I hated it. I mean it wasn't the worst book I've read. It dealt with a topic that is difficult and I'm not talking about the fact that one of the main characters is a quadriplegic. For that reason alone I gave it 3 stars instead of 2 or even 1. However, I hated Lou. She was irritating and whiny and boring - so boring. Her family was awful. Her boyfriend was the king of the mega-douche-canoes. Will's family was so cliché. Literally the only redeeming character was Will, who was just as cliché as his family at times. I just, I wanted to put it down so many times, and it was just barely worth it. Like, literally if I had only read the last 50 or so pages, I would have given it closer to 5 stars. I'll write a full rant (I mean review) when I can actually form a critical analysis of the book without rolling my eyes and using the word "ugh". I just... Ugh!
5. Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys
This is the story of the French Quarter during the 50s. It's told from the perspective of Josie, who is the daughter of a prostitute. The story was okay, not amazing. I mean to be honest the story was just all over the place with no real direction, but the characters were amazing and I loved this book. I absolutely love the French Quarter, and I just really enjoyed this book. It took very little thought. It was just an easy read.
This is the story of the French Quarter during the 50s. It's told from the perspective of Josie, who is the daughter of a prostitute. The story was okay, not amazing. I mean to be honest the story was just all over the place with no real direction, but the characters were amazing and I loved this book. I absolutely love the French Quarter, and I just really enjoyed this book. It took very little thought. It was just an easy read.
6. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
I am a huge World War II buff. My grandfather fought, and was highly decorated for his service. So, I grew up with a healthy respect and appreciation for the era. This book put everything I thought I knew into a different perspective. This is about Lithuania during Stalin's reign of terror, and the civilians of the Baltics getting forced out to camps in Siberia. For decades they were considered criminals, unable to reveal the true horrors they faced until Lithuania regained it's freedom from Russia in the 90s(?). It was beautiful in the most tragic heartbreaking way.
I am a huge World War II buff. My grandfather fought, and was highly decorated for his service. So, I grew up with a healthy respect and appreciation for the era. This book put everything I thought I knew into a different perspective. This is about Lithuania during Stalin's reign of terror, and the civilians of the Baltics getting forced out to camps in Siberia. For decades they were considered criminals, unable to reveal the true horrors they faced until Lithuania regained it's freedom from Russia in the 90s(?). It was beautiful in the most tragic heartbreaking way.
7. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
Another World War II story. This one is about the cruiseliner turned refugee ship the Wilhelm Gustloff. The story of the Wilhelm Gustloff, was another tragedy that went majorly undiscussed after the war. With a total capacity for under 1500, the ship carrying over 10,000 refugees and military personnel, had more casualties than both the Titanic and her sister the Lusitania. While the victims of the Titanic were forever memorialized with a movie, and countless books, the Wilhelm Gustloff is barely spoken of, and was basically a secret casualty of the war. This book is told from 4 very different perspectives and is so far my favorite book of the year. I loved it. It was incredible and eye opening.
Another World War II story. This one is about the cruiseliner turned refugee ship the Wilhelm Gustloff. The story of the Wilhelm Gustloff, was another tragedy that went majorly undiscussed after the war. With a total capacity for under 1500, the ship carrying over 10,000 refugees and military personnel, had more casualties than both the Titanic and her sister the Lusitania. While the victims of the Titanic were forever memorialized with a movie, and countless books, the Wilhelm Gustloff is barely spoken of, and was basically a secret casualty of the war. This book is told from 4 very different perspectives and is so far my favorite book of the year. I loved it. It was incredible and eye opening.
As always I will be (eventually) writing a review for all of the books that I read that year. I think the exception will be the Harry Potter series, because there are so many reviews for Harry Potter, I doubt anything I have to say about them will provide any unique insight. However, that may change. If anyone should want me to write a review of Harry Potter I certainly will, though perhaps a collective review of all 7 books? I mean you can only write about how a young boy faces death to save the world so many times before you begin to repeat yourself.
Anyway that has been my March wrap-up. I am currently reading You by Caroline Kepnes, it is wonderful and thrilling and more than just a little disturbing. I am a little over halfway done already. When I'm done, I'm not sure what I will pick up. I have so many tempting books just waiting to be opened. However I would very much like to reread Gone With the Wind, as it had been a while since I read it, so maybe I will manage to get through that at some point this month. It's only 1,037 pages. No pressure!
Until next time, happy reading!
TOTALS FOR MARCH - # Of Books = 7 ; # Of Pages = 2331
---------------------
CURRENTLY READING: You by Caroline Kepnes (page 261/422)
CURRENT PAGE TOTAL (for the month): 261 of 2,016
CURRENT PAGE TOTAL (for the year): 7,665 of 24,192
TOTAL # OF BOOKS READ THIS YEAR: 15 of 52
