book blogging

Bookish Post – March 2023 Reading Wrap-Up

books, wrap-up
Teacup on top of vintage books.

Number of books read: 7
Number of rereads: 0
Number of physical books: 0
Number of ebooks: 0
Number of audiobooks: 7
Number of ARCS: 0

5* reviews: 0
4.5* reviews: 0
4* reviews: 2

March is always a bit of a busy month because it’s my birthday month. This means socialising is both necessary and welcome. I’ve also had the pleasure of going to see Snoop Dogg on tour. We bought the tickets way back in 2020 but Covid ruined our plans to see him that year. Finally getting to see him was incredible. Such a fantastic evening. Although, it was a massive effort to make sure I got my reading in that day. I’ve been trying to read at least 1 page every day. Even if I’m rolling in after a night out. It did help me achieve a pretty good amount of reading in March. Here’s how my month went.

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Book Review – Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

books, reviews

Rating: 3 out of 5.

One of the biggest problems with buying so many books in a year is that I tend to forget about them. I put them on my shelf with every intention of reading them later but, inevitably, they get lost amongst the rest. In some cases, I end up buying the book again but, thankfully, that’s a rarity. Mostly they just sit there gathering dust. In order to get my every increasing TBR down, I’ve taken to buying or borrowing the audiobook version as well. I’ve grown to really enjoy listening to an audiobook at work, so it means I can cross a few off in a particularly good week. In the case of this book, I ended up listening to it by accident. I knew that I’d bought a book a few years ago that had “of London” in the title. Turns out, that book was The Ashes of London instead. Ah well, I borrowed this one and might as well give it a listen. It’s one of those books that I see everywhere but didn’t know much about. Maybe it would be a new series for me?

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Sunday Rundown: That’s What She Read

books, films, rundown

Sunday Rundown

What have you been reading this week?

Work is getting super busy and it’s starting to get stressful. I’ve also randomly started receiving loads of invitations from agencies to apply for new jobs. The majority of them are nonsense based on flimsy links to my CV but it has got me thinking. The good thing about working in marketing is that people will always need to sell people stuff, so there’ll always be someone looking for a person with my background. Of course, job hunting is absolutely awful. I can’t even bring myself to do something like reading, which I love. How can I expect myself to spend any of my spare time putting in applications that probably won’t even be read? It’s an absolutely degrading experience. I feel like people who are hiring have forgotten what it’s like to job hunt. Otherwise, they’d be a little more sympathetic.

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Book Review – The Accident on the A35 by Graeme Macrae Burnet

books, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Between the publication of Graeme Macrae Burnet’s first Georges Gorski novel and the second, he had become a Booker-shortlisted author. The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau didn’t get a great deal of attention when it was published. I’m not saying that the second book got loads but it certainly benefited from being the writer’s follow-up to His Bloody Project. I first read Adèle Bedeau last year and enjoyed it. When I stumbled across the audiobook of the sequel at the library, I decided it was time to get through book 2. There’s a third one on the way at some point, so at least it would leave me in a position to read that at some point.

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Book Review – The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper

books, reviews

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

I’m pretty sure that I bought a copy of this on my first holiday after Covid. I picked it up on a whim when I was in Waterstones. Mostly so we could take advantage of their special offer. It wasn’t something that I knew a lot about before I walked into the shop. It was just one that they happened to be recommended. I don’t even think I properly looked at the cover before I bought it. I just went in blind. It’s definitely the kind of book that appeals to me though, so no doubt I would have picked it up anyway. As ever, it sat on my shelves for ages without being read. Somewhere along the way, I also bought an audiobook copy of it. No doubt it was part of an Audible daily deal or something. One of the many reasons that I’m glad I don’t have a subscription anymore. As I’m trying to reduce the number of unread books on my Audible account, I decided to listen to it last week. As the book is about a Roman brothel, it probably wasn’t the most appropriate choice for work but never mind.

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Sunday Rundown: That’s What She Read

books, films, rundown

Sunday Rundown

What have you been reading this week?

Well, after feeling like I’m finally getting back on track with my reading, I’ve had a bumpy week. My main read is non-fiction, which always takes me longer to get through. Then I’m not entirely engaged with the book I’ve been listening to at work. I think it has a lot of potential but it’s a slow burner. Too slow for what I’m looking for. I’ll definitely finish them both but it might take a bit of time. I guess it’s also been a pretty busy week which hasn’t helped. I’ve not really felt like reading on an evening and have just been super tired. I’ve got just two weeks until my next time off work, so I’m going to be counting down the days for a while.

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Book Review – A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

books, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

2023 is turning out to be the year of Greek myths and their different retellings. I hadn’t meant for this to happen but I’ve just found myself in a bit of a cycle that I’m not intent on breaking. Thankfully there are so many recent books that I can read. Publishers are relishing the resurgence of mythology and it feels like every week we get a feminist rewriting of one of the most famous myths. Natalie Haynes is one of the most celebrated, so I felt that it was only fair that I give this book a chance. I guess it also helped that I’ve already refamiliarised myself with the events of the Trojan War thanks to Stephen Fry. Plus, it just happened to be available on my library app. Why not listen to it as I was working? Hearing the plight of all those women might make me feel better about my dull job.

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Book Review – The Ice by Laline Paull

books, reviews

Rating: 3 out of 5.

The Bees by Laline Paull was one of my favourite reads way back in 2015. It was a little rough around the edges but it was an unforgettable reading experience. I was so excited to read it that I rushed out to buy her follow-up novel as soon as it was released. Of course, it was published 6 years ago and I’ve only just got around to reading it. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise considering how I normally am. I’ve had books on my shelves for longer than that. This time, I did actually try to read it earlier. I think I opened it not long after I bought it but it just didn’t grip me. I couldn’t face pushing on with it, so forgot about it. Until a few years ago when I bought the audiobook to encourage me to finally read it. Although, my initial attempt left me worried. Until last week when I decided to just go for it. Listening to it at work might actually help me finish it. If it turned out badly, I could at least let it wash over me as I went about my normal working day.

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Sunday Rundown: That’s What She Read

books, films, rundown

Sunday Rundown

What have you been reading this week?

I feel like I’ve been ill for ages at this point. I started feeling sniffly on Monday and then woke up feeling like death on Wednesday. Add to that the issues with the weather and it’s been a long and tiring week. The kind of week that needed an extra long weekend to get over. Unfortunately, we’re almost back to Monday and another week of the same. Thankfully, I’ve managed to finish 2 books this week, so I do feel as though I’ve achieved something. I don’t know what’s happened but I’m feeling particularly inspired at the moment. Let’s hope I can keep it up for the rest of the year.

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Book Review – Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

books, reviews

Rating: 2 out of 5.

As if I wasn’t already feeling fairly old but I’ve just discovered that this book was the winner of the Goodreads Best Historical Fiction. It’s set in the early 90s.In my head, that only happened a few years ago. How can that be considered historical? The 90s is now officially vintage. Something to be viewed with a sense of nostalgia. I hope the 90s don’t replace the 80s as the top literary setting. I’m not sure I’m ready to deal with YA characters getting super excited about old Nickelodeon shows and floppy-haired boybands. Celebrating the discovery of a really cool retro album called Backstreet’s Back. I’m imagining Ready Player One but with much less cool references. I didn’t know that Carrie Soto is Back was set in the 90s. I’m not saying it would have stopped me reading it but it would at least have prepared me. Prepared me for hearing the words “my new favourite show: ER” spoken with utter sincerity. The 90s was a weird time.

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