march's reading was higher than normal, i think because social distancing gave me more time at home and thus more opportunities to open up a book. i have heard from others that they actually haven't read as much as usual because it's hard to focus on a book with so many other things banging around in their head. i feel lucky to still be able to focus on this past time that i love. this month i read:
things in jars, by jess kidd (this was a book of the month pick and it was fine but i wouldn't recommend it. ultimately, i wasn't sure how much i cared about the characters. i found the ending unsatisfying. but there was an air of magical realism in it, which is definitely not my jam, and i'm not obsessed with literature set in the victorian era, either. i know there's an audience for this book, but i don't think it's me.)
evvie drake starts over, by linda holmes (this was cute and light, but didn't change my life.)
say nothing, by patrick radden keefe (this was a book club pick and i'm really glad my friend veronica pushed us to pick it. it's the story of the provisional IRA in belfast, told through the lens of the kidnapping and murder of a housewife. i learned a ton. it was narrative enough to be something i could read before bed [i can't do that with all nonfiction], and the storyline was fascinating. definitely recommend this one if you like history and nonfiction writing.)
kindred spirits, by rainbow rowell (this was a cute little kindle short story by a YA author i love. if you have a kindle and like rowell's writing and haven't read this, it's worth the couple bucks it costs.)
fleishman is in trouble, by taffy brodesser-akner (some books about the depths of marriage or parenthood are really hard for me to relate to, as i'm neither married nor a parent, and this book fell into that camp at times for me. [and also, sometimes i don't care about rich people problems, and this book has a lot of rich people problems.] but it does a really interesting thing, which is to show the relationship and the crisis situation that the book centers on from the perspective of first the father and then the mother. and then the narrator is actually the father's friend from college? so there is definitely stuff going on here that is different and worth puzzling over and you should ponder for yourself whether you want to check this book out.)
