March Reading List
March Reading List
I'm not the kind of reader that can plow through a book within a day or two or sometimes even a week. I love to read, but it's a struggle for me to sit still for long periods of time to finish a book before the week's end. Last year, I signed on to Audible and my whole life was changed. I could pop in my earbuds and listen, instead of flip pages, while I ran errands, did housework, or even listen in the car while the kids watched a movie in the back. No more radio surfing here, plug in my book and I'm ready for a drive. This year for my birthday, my aunt got me a Plantronics Bluetooth headset, so now it's even easier to listen!
How I Keep Track of my Reading Lists
How I find my books is a whole other plug. Goodreads! Goodreads! Goodreads! I've been on Goodreads for years and I find it to be the most useful way to keep track of which books I want to read in the future and which books I have read in the past. I can also rate and review the books. Depending on my ratings, Goodreads will give me book recommendations based on my likes! For someone who used to spend hours each night, looking online for a book to read, this has been a major time saver. I love to follow my friend's accounts, as well, and see what they're reading and if we like the same books. If we aren't currently Goodreads pals you can follow me here. I'd love to follow you back and see what you're in to. Maybe we will be book kindred spirits.
What's on my Goodreads List for March
ONE| An American Marriage: A Novel by Tayari Jones
I just added An American Marriage: A Novel to my "Books I've Read" Goodreads list. I could not put it down. I selected this book based on a Goodreads recommendation. Judging by the cover, I thought this would be a nice, sweet, read about someone's love story. It was, in fact, a tale of love, but one full of heartache, betrayal, and tragedy. I love to read about love triangles. I always find myself torn right along with the character at the center of the triangle; changing sides and struggling to pick the right person as if I were in their shoes. In this story, Roy and Celestial are a newly married couple when Roy is imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit. Celestial tries her best to become a prisoners wife and to support him and their marriage from afar. Over time, her own life takes her far above the parameters set by the stereotype that comes with having a spouse in prison and Celestial decides she can't fill the role of wife anymore under the circumstances. When Roy is released from prison early, he doesn't find the homecoming he expects from a woman who had vowed to love him at the altar. This book definitely made me think outside my own head and try to imagine what it would be like to be in Celestial. I love how this book ended and though it didn't seem like it was possible, it was a happy ending for all.
TWO| Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover
I'm always trying to get myself to commit to reading more memoirs or biographies; something real and true that will teach me something rather than just entertain. Several years ago, The Glass Castle, a book about a highly dysfunctional family, became one of my favorite books. I LOVE LOVE LOVE a book about dysfunctional families. Perhaps a psychologist would say I love to read about other family woes because it makes me feel better about my own family mess. Ha! Not that my family has issues, but it is something to think about. This book is on my "Currently Reading" list and I can tell I will love it and that it fits the bill of "crazy family" perfectly. The memoir is about a young woman raised by a family of survivalists. Her family practices herbalism instead of modern medicine, defies the government by not registering birth certificates for their children, refusing to enroll them in school, and prepares for the end-of-days with their "head-for-the-hills" bags and canned peaches. When Tara grows and catches word of the world beyond her hill, she challenges herself to a new way of life. In doing so, is she severing the ties of family loyalty? Is it true what they say, "you can't go home again?"
THREE| Secrets of the Tides by Hannah Richell
I promise every book on this list isn't about family secrets, but I had to include Secrets of the Tides. For one, the cover is just too pretty not to. I cannot wait to read this book. Every time I read the synopsis, I get giddy; this book is right up my alley! The Tides are a family who can put infidelity, betrayal, grief, lies, and tragedy on their list of family quirks. With strong and relatable characters and changing timelines, you'll want to hang on tight. Secrets of the Tides makes you take a look at how one single event can impact each person involved differently; how guilt and blame can pull apart the bonds of family when tragedy strikes and each person becomes the victim of their own story.
FOUR| The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
Hands down, my favorite book of ALL TIME is The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. If you're a sucker for a WWII book, please read it! I love The Nightingale so much that it's the first thing I recommend to someone looking for a new book to read and I've given it as a gift to multiple people in my family. So, it should come as no surprise that anything Kristin Hannah writes will be on my "Want to Read" list. When I can muster up the courage, I'll read her new book, The Great Alone (her books will rip your heart out). Ernt Allbright would have been diagnosed with PTSD if he'd been a vet of Iraq or Afganistan. Instead, he comes home from Vietnam to a life and a family, without the emotional and mental support that veterans desperately need. As a last ditch chance, Ernt moves the family to Alaska in hopes that the open air will help his fractured mental state and rid him of the nightmares of war. Unfortunately, Ernt's plan was a pipedream and the family finds themselves at the wrath of Alaska's long dark winter and Ernt in more mental darkness than ever.
FIVE| Me and Mr. Jones by Lucy Diamond
If everything on my booklist has left you feeling weighted down and depressed, try this one instead. For an uplifting and inspirational book that will leave you with the warm fuzzies and one that will have you missing the characters each time you put the book down, this should do just that. Me and Mr. Jones is about more than one Jones; a father and three sons. As Eddie and Lillian Jones decide to shut down their Bed and Breakfast, the sons' childhood home, they have to decide which of the three boys deserves to inherit what has become the biggest part of their heart since the boys were no longer under roof. But, do they have a say in the matter after all? Or will the women in the picture sway their men to decline the offer?
What is on Your Reading List for March?
Do you keep a reading list? Anything I should add to mine? I have a few others that I am saving for April! I can't wait to hear what you are reading!!
