Saturday 31 March 2018

March Wrap Up // a mix of brilliant and meh books

I hope everyone has had a lovely month! My blog posting in March has been a little more spaced out than usual because I only took part in one Top Ten Tuesday post. I also didn't write a mini review post for the books I read for uni this month like usual because I didn't feel like I had more than a few lines to say about each of them. So to make up for the lack of my traditional mini review post, I'm going to give little summaries of my thoughts on all six books I read this month.

But before I do that, lets talk about what has been happening in March. Out of the usual, nothing much has happened. I have been doing my uni reading and writing, applying for jobs, having lunch with my friends (I actually socialised!), and I've started ice skating again (I'm still terrible at it). All in all it's been a really good month.

I also got to go to Angie Thomas' Waterstones event in London on the 24th which was amazing. She talked about The Hate U Give, and also a little about the movie and On the Come Up. She is such a real person with a brilliant sense of humour (I nerded out super hard when she refered to herself, Becky Albertalli, and Adam Silvera as the holy trinity), and I don't know what this world did to deserve her.


Reading Wrap Up


To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo - ★★★☆☆
I didn't have any expectations for this book, but I was still disappointed. It was definitely unique but kind of unmemorable, and the only thing that really redeemed it for me was the ending. 
This was by far the best book of the month, possibly of the year (sush I know I've said that to Ace of Shades already but this is too). The world was vividly built and I loved every second of reading it.

Woza Albert! by Percy Mtwa, Mbongeni Ngema, Barney Simon - ★☆☆☆☆
I'm ahead on uni reading at the moment so we haven't actually studied this play yet. If I'm honest, I didn't understand it, but that could be because I haven't been taught the context.

Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga - ★★☆☆☆
This book was pretty good so I feel bad for giving it 2 stars. It's just not the style of book I enjoy reading, but I loved what it said about race and education.


The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins - ★★★☆☆
I wasn't as impressed by this as I had hoped, but it kept me reading on my long train journeys. The writing was weak so I didn't feel invested for most of it. But it definitely kept me guessing.

Ms. Marvel, Vol 7 by G. Willow Wilson - ★★★☆☆
This wasn't my favourite volume of Ms. Marvel, but I realised how much I missed this series! It's cute and optimistic and I love the messages it holds.

Ms. Marvel, Vol 8 by G. Willow Wilson - ★★★★☆
I liked this a little more than Volume 7. It felt more unified and I loved it's strong sense of community and the political parallels.

Drown by Junot Diaz - ★★★☆☆
I'm not a big fan of short stories, particularly short story collections, but I do appreciate this one. I particularly liked the final story, 'Negocios' (which was the one I was studying and so read it 4 times). 


Post Wrap Up

What did you read this month? Did you have any favourites? Have you read any of the books I read or are any of them on your TBR? Tell me your thoughts!

4 comments:

  1. I'm sorry that there were so many meh books riddled in there with the good kind! I haven't read Down and To Kill a Kingdom but I have seen mostly okay things about them. The Girl on the Train is one I have but I am not insanely excited to read it? I hope April can be a more brilliant books based reading month for you ^.^

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    1. Drown, To Kill a Kingdom, and The Girl on the Train are all good books, but I personally didn't feel very strongly about them. But I definitely see where the positive reviews are coming from! Thanks :D

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  2. I'm so excited to read 'Children of Blood and Bone' I'm sorry 'To Kill a Kingdom' didn't work for you. I was excited about the book but the mixed reviews are worrying me! I hope April is a much better reading month for you :)

    Uma@Books.Bags.Burgers.

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    1. I hope you love Children of Blood and Bone as much as I did! It was epic. I think the fact that I wasn't particularly excited about To Kill a Kingdom in the first place probably didn't help me enjoy it more. But don't let the negative reviews put you off! I've seen so many people who loved it and I hope you do too. Thanks, Uma :D

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