The March Book Round Up

We have survived Q1! We made it! It’s officially April! My life to-do list includes: filing an amended tax return because of a late, forgotten 1099-MISC, buy a new pair of Birkenstocks, send off current worn-out Birkenstocks in for sole repair, swap out the rug in my office/guestroom…oh, and read more books. March was an active reading month for me because we went on vacation! Our little family took our first cruise together (I went on my first cruise in September with a vanilla friend) to the Bahamas and it was lovely. We were late to our first stop in Cape Canaveral so we missed our excursion, but got to see a SpaceX Starlink rocket launch (fuck Musk, but go science!) and it was really cool. A very relaxing and enjoyable trip.

Unfortunately, my family is not shielded from the current mess with the Trump administration, but we are powering through. That said, March was a month for escapism – and I do that with books (well, and spanking). I read twenty-one books in March! Some shorts, but a lot of novels, and plenty of smut, too. I’ll do it in two sections so the photos don’t take up such a huge block in this post. Also, I have a massive post finished and I can’t decide if I should post it all at once, or in two parts. It’s approx 4000 words or so.

1. When We Meet Again – this wasn’t bad but it wasn’t my favorite of Kristin Harmel; it felt a bit predictable but then the ending was ever so slightly disappointing, despite the plot itself being a creative take on a WW2 topic. I did learn that there were German POWs in dozens of work camps all over the US during WW2 and I had no idea of that before. I did know German scientists were brought to the US after capture, but I had no idea about general POWs.
2. (books 2-5) The Awakening, Education, Punishment, and Reclaiming of Ivy Leavold (Markham Hall Series 1-4) – this whole series was hot-hot-hot! I got the collection on Audible with a single credit and it included The London Lovers books, as well, which is based on two characters that show up in the Markham Hall books. I wasn’t so sure when I first started this if I’d like it, because in terms of smut, I really do want kinky smut – spanking, some D/s, power exchange, etc. The power exchange was there and the D/s and even spanking, came later. I loved the plot and premise, beyond a steamy romance. The idea of a sexually liberated group existing in that time period was fun to explore in this. There is even some actual plot and mystery. It can be a slow start but I promise if you like Sierra Simone, and you’re skeptical at first, stick with it and you’ll start to see more of her classic work coming out and enjoy the whole series – along with Silas and Molly’s stories in London Lovers.
3. The Journal of A Thousand Years (The Glass Library #6) – this was the sixth and final book in the Glass Library series which is a sequel to the Glass & Steele series (which is 13 books and great!) by CJ Archer. I was sad to read this was her final book in this storyline because I really enjoyed it. I was ALSO pleased to hear she intends to continue in this world/with these characters overall, because there is still so much more here. The end of this book definitely did not feel like a finale – neither for a series nor for a world, so I am eager to see what she does next. This book in particular was a bit predictable, but that may be because I’ve read so many CJ Archer books by now, I know her writing style.
4. (books 7-8) The Seduction & Wedding of Molly O’Flaherty (The London Lovers 1-2) – really enjoyed this side jaunt from Markham Hall and I would be pleased if Sierra Simone wrote more about Silas and Molly and their steamy connection and Molly’s strong feminist asskicking personality.
5. Townie – this short story caught me off guard; it’s a bit dark and very dramatic and very human in its content. It touches on violence against a trans person so I’d caution you about this one if that subject is sensitive for you. I do think it’s a very intimate and realistic look into the complexities of relationships and how they unfold. It was very well done and I am likely to pick up something else by Neel Patel.
6. Dream Count – what can I say about Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie except, everything she writes is captivating. This is the first COVID-era novel I’ve read that didn’t repel me. The stories of four interconnected women and their pasts, their loves and longings, I listened to the nearly 20 hour audiobook over the course of just two days. I did not want to put it down. If you love Adichie you will love this. If you love feminist literature and literary fiction, you will love it.
7. Nadine – I didn’t enjoy this short very much to be honest; I wonder if I’d have enjoyed it more in print because of the back & forth phone-call nature of the setting, but the topic wasn’t as captivating as I had hoped for when I read the description. Luckily, it was short and included in Audible Plus.
8. Everything Inside – It has been entirely too long since I read anything by Danticat and I had had this in my library for literal years. I really love her take on the post-colonial nation from a literary perspective but I admit, I didn’t read the description before finally deciding to jump into this one, and I was surprised that it was a short story collection – oops! But that made me love it all the more with my personal love for the medium. Each story was whole and had me going from crying to laughing by the end of the collection. Danticat is special.
9. Salt in the Wound (Lyonesse #.5) – This is one of two of Sierra Simone’s series that is a retelling of a classic myth/story – it is a modern and deeply kinky retelling of Tristan & Isolde. The New Camelot series (American Queen, etc) is the first and other, and set in the same world. For that reason, I’d recommend reading it first but you don’t have to. I’m just a completionist. Salt Kiss is told from Tristan’s perspective primarily and is his introduction to, and relationship with, Mark and his blackmailing, members only fetish club, Lyonesse. Salt in The Wound tells the story of Isolde, Mark’s soon-to-be wife and how she and Tristan meet.
10. Honey Cut (Lyonesse #2) – This is book 2 in the Lyonesse series and it is basically the meeting and triple coupling of Mark, Tristan, and Isolde. Drama filled but also kinky and hot – these books explore rather deeply the negotiations involved in and motivations between D/s partnerships which I really appreciate. I cannot imagine Sierra Simone isn’t one of us somehow. Book 3 – Bitter Burn – comes out in September and I cannot wait.

• 15. Saint (Priest #3) – more Sierra Simone! I was on a kick – but this was me finally finishing off a series I started last year, or possibly even the year before. Although all 3 of the Priest Collection books can be read as standalones, as a completionism, I read them in “order” and this was the last, and about the third Bell brother, Aiden, a benedictine monk and his history with depression, suicidal ideation, and his ex, Elijah. Just read everything by Sierra Simone!
• 16. The Enigma Girls – one of my non-fiction options for the month talks about some of the women working on Enigma code breaking and other technology at Bletchley Park during WW2 and around England, that supported the work being done at Bletchley Park; these are the stories of real women who did this work vs a novelized version.
• 17. The Librarian of Burned Books – Unlike many WW2 novels set during the bulk of the war and in Germany, Brianna Labuskes explores the time period leading up to the war (the Nazi rise to power and specifically, the Bebelplatz book burning in Berlin on May 10, 1933) and the propaganda campaign lead by Goebbels and how and why it was successful. Perhaps a bit too on the nose for current times, it explores how it didn’t start immediately with shooting Jews in the streets, but started first with controlling individual thought and belief systems.
• 18. The Finnish Guide to Happiness – my second non-fiction read of the month, this was a short and fun and poignant look into what makes Finland and its people voted the happiest on earth. It explores the social systems in place that are at the root of many of things that encourage Finnish happiness and the ways you can bring these into your own life, even if you don’t live in a place with social and government policies that support these ideals.
• 19. James – this had been on my list for a while and my turn came up in the library queue; it’s also the book for a book club I may participate in this month so it was well timed. It’s the telling of The Adventure’s of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of the slave that was with him, James. I found this fascinating, especially because it’s been over 20 years since I read even parts of Huckleberry Finn or Tom Sawyer – I had to re-familiarize myself with the foundation to orient myself in this novel, but it was brilliantly told and felt a bit Odyssey-esque.
• 20. Grief is the Thing with Feathers – another short, but quite odd; I think this will require another read by me when I am in a different mindset. The audio was quite good so I don’t think it was the medium, but rather my own mental blocks around grief right now.
• 21. The Wind Knows my Name – Another that has been on my list for a long time, and my husband actually brought it home for me in February with the “blind date with a book” from the library. I didn’t read it in time so he had to return it but I was able to request the audio and it was available quickly. Much like Adichie’s Dream Count, it touches on COVID themes but this one intertwines the stories of a little boy separated from his parents during Hitler’s rise and a child separated from her mother at the border by the Trump administration in the early days of the pandemic. It was touching and emotional and a unique plot for a WW2 story and intertwined with modern themes so well. 

Whew. A lot – some heavy, plenty of fun, some poignant. April has been slower already, though. I have read one book, another that’s been on my list for ages – The Last Bookshop in London – and am onto book 2, This Motherless Land. I don’t set any specific monthly goal and go by my mood, instead. I’ve already got some holds placed and Audible’s 2-for-1 sale is back again…but I really need to read what’s in my audible library before I buy anything else new!

What did you read in March? What are you reading now? Have you read any of the books I read? What did you think of them? Do you have a recommendation for me?

-M