Goodbye March, you’ve been another great reading month! I LOVE 2019!

This month I read 6 books and listened to 1 audiobook (which I’m not going to review or even talk about because I didn’t pay attention really, at all).

Let’s just get started!

YOU LET ME IN BY LUCY CLARKE

This book is about an Airbnb rental gone wrong. It’s advertised as a psychological thriller that is “utterly compulsive” and “spine-tingling”. Well, my spine did not tingle for the majority of the novel.

Yes, I’ll admit that at one point I checked my doors were locked and crawled right under the covers to read a specific chapter, but for the most part, I wasn’t ever spooked out!

Everything about this book was just fine.

Usually, there is at least one aspect of a book that wins me over, or at least makes up for the other stuff, but with this book, everything was on a similar mediocre level. In some ways, this actually makes it work because with just a few small tweaks, this book could be lifted up to a 4 or 5 star read! But for me, there was just a lot missing.

WALK WITH THINGS BY TENE EDWARDS

I was sent this poetry collection by the author which of course makes it harder to leave a poor review. However, I do feel this book was aimed at an audience much younger than I am. For 13-17 year old girls, I’m sure this book would be a lifesaver.

For me, though, it was a cliche cringe repetitive selection of poems about the same thing: love yourself, boys suck, you don’t need men, etc, etc. While there were some empowering ideas, I didn’t feel they were delivered in a unique way, which is super important in poetry.

THE AFTERMATH BY RHIDIAN BROOK

You must be thinking, if you’ve been following my blog this year, that I’ve not had good luck with my books. There definitely has been an abundance of low ratings, but that’s okay. I still absolutely love reading, even if I’m not impressed by a particular book.

This book was a poor show on so many levels. The main downfall of this book is that it’s so boring. The characters are one dimensional and faceless; the plot is virtually non-existent; the author has chosen the most boring part of the war (many years later…); the writing was so lengthy and descriptive.

There is a film though which I’d still be interested in watching.

THE SHACK BY WILLIAM PAUL YOUNG

I kind of have a love-hate relationship with this book: a story of Mack, who loses his daughter in a kidnapping, and then years later, meets God, who comes to him in the form of three women.

I loved the beginning of this book, so much. It was engaging and kept me asking lots of questions. For the most part, I got all those questions answered, as this book really dives into deep theology.

On the other hand, it was delivered in a kind of glamourised non-fiction format to me. I could have read a Christian book and perhaps had the same questions answered but in a clearer way. This book was mostly one big, long, ongoing conversation between Mack and “God” with no real plot around it.

Although I loved some of the phrases and the way it defied stereotypes, I don’t know if I particularly enjoyed my reading experience.

CONVERSATIONS WITH FRIENDS BY SALLY ROONEY

YAY for a good book! While I was reading this, I felt so refreshed that I was loving a book so much.

This novel follows ex-girlfriends who get wrapped up in the drama of an older married couple whose relationship is falling apart.

My absolutely favourite part of this book was the writing and deliverance of the story. It takes such skill to make a character driven book this enjoyable. The writing was so sweet and delicious and unique; the deliverance was handed to us in such a way that it was unlike anything I’ve ever read before, even though the story itself wasn’t that unique.

When reading this, it felt like an episode of 90210 meets The Bell Jar. Juicy drama meets sophistication and depression. I can’t explain it any other way.

The characters were all super interesting, too.

The only things I didn’t like was the ending (help! it was so disappointing!) and Nick. GOODBYE NICK I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU EVER AGAIN.

THE DIARY OF A BOOKSELLER BY SHAUN BYTHELL

I’m so so so happy with The Diary of a Bookseller. It’s one of the best books I’ve ever read and probably my favourite, or second favourite, nonfiction book.

It follows a year in Shaun’s life as a bookseller. He recounts the difficulty or running a bookshop when most people shop on Amazon; he observes the quirks and flaws and habits of customers; he quotes conversations he has with shoppers and all the hilariously embarrassing things they say.

This book is a really quick addictive read and you won’t regret reading it. Just… don’t buy it on Amazon.

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Well, there ya have my March wrap it! Another amazing month of reading. I can’t wait for April cos my TBR is looking gooooood 😉

Sleep less, read more! XO