Before I jump into my March summary of books read and progress in reading challenges, be sure to also check out my March Reading Wrap-Up on YouTube. It's not a duplicate of this post, but a brief summary of the books I read last month and what I liked about each one. It's meant to complement this blog post and provide a little something extra, in case you want to know more about these great books.
And now, here are the books I finished in March:
The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne (Ireland) - adult fiction
Heart Spring Mountain by Robin MacArthur (VT) - adult fiction on audio
My Name Is Memory by Ann Brashares (VA) - adult fiction
All Together Now by Hope Larson (CA) - middle-grade graphic novel
Whisky for Breakfast by Christopher P. Mooney (UK) - adult fiction/short stories
Rabbit, Run by John Updike (PA) - classic adult fiction
The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart (WA) - middle-grade fiction on audio
Twins by Varian Johnson and Shannon Wright - middle-grade graphic novel
March was an all-fiction month for me! I read four adult novels and one collection of short stories. I also read three middle-grade novels, two of which were graphic novels. I listened to two books (one adult novel and one middle-grade novel) on audio. So, despite it all being fiction, there was a whole lot of variety! My favorite book of the month--and added to my list of favorite books ever--was The Heart's Invisible Furies, a novel that stole my heart, making me laugh and cry. I absolutely loved it and rated it a 10 in my book group, which is rare for me. The middle-grade runner-up was The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise, which is now my favorite Dan Gemeinhart novel and was a delight to listen to on audio.
Progress in 2021 Reading Challenges:
You can see all of the reading challenges I am participating in and full
lists of the books read for each at the challenges link above. I have some
fun ones going this year!
Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2021 - Four of my eight books in March were from my own shelves.
2021 Monthly Motif Reading Challenge - March was Countries and Cultures, so The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne, set in Ireland, fit well.
Back to the Classics 2021 - I read my second classic of 2021, Rabbit, Run by John Updike, which I put into the category A classic with an animal in the title.
2021 AtoZ Reading Challenge - It's getting tougher now, with lots of H's, M's, and R's, but I did manage three more letters: A, T, and W. For the March Mini Challenge, a book written by an author of a different race than you, I read Twins by Varian Johnson and Shannon Wright.
PopSugar Reading Challenge 2021 - this is a unique one, with 50 quirky categories. I added another 6 categories to my list this month:
- A book about forgetting - My Name Is Memory by Ann Brashares
- A book featuring 3 (actually, 5!) generations - Heart Spring Mountain by Robin MacArthur
- A book that has the same title as a song - All Together Now by Hope Larson
- A book with fewer than 1000 review on Amazon/Goodreads - Whisky for Breakfast by Christopher P. Mooney
- A book everyone seems to have read but you - The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne
- A free book from your TBR list - The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart
2021 Nonfiction Reader Challenge - No new nonfiction last month.
Diversity Reading Challenge 2021 - Three of my books were diverse last month, though I didn't read anything that fit the monthly theme of female authors in male-dominated genres.
Travel the World in Books Reading Challenge - I made another stop in the UK last month and added Ireland to my global travel list.
2021 Literary Escapes Challenge - I added four new states, Vermont, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Washington.
And finally, Bookish Bingo hosted by Chapter Break - not really a challenge per se, but a fun game that I play each month! Stop by to print out this month's Bingo card and play along. In March, I filled 21 spaces on my bingo card:
Spaces Filled:
The Heart's Invisible Furies - e-book, Irish/Ireland
Heart Spring Mountain - not in a series, bad luck, audio book, trope (returning home)
My Name Is Memory - book club read, library book, green on the cover
All Together Now - free book, in a series
Whisky for Breakfast - detective, gold or money, new release
The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise - empowered female
Rabbit, Run - passion/temper, shelf love
Twins - read a physical book, siblings
Free Space
What was your favorite book read in March?
Wow what a month Sue, and a lovely post to go with it.
ReplyDeleteYou’ve got me intrigued about Whisky for Breakfast and the Easter Bunny bought me a copy of The Heart's Invisible Furies! My list of “can’t wait”s is getting substantial :).
Happy reading.
Yay! Wow, that bunny has great taste in books! Hope you enjoy it!
DeleteYou did so well on challenges in March. It's satisfying, isn't it. My favorite book from March were Four Winds by Kristin Hannah and Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is satisfying to tally up my challenges each month :)
DeleteOooh, I want to read both of those!
Nice reading! I'm tempted by some of your challenges - maybe next year for me. Have a good April!
ReplyDeleteI have a lot of fun with the reading challenges!
DeleteIf you are interested, I host my own Big Book Summer Challenge from end of May through September each year - super easy-going and chill for summer - you only have to read one book with 400 or more pages (but you can read as many as you want to). Details coming up next month!
Nice month! I definitely need to revisit Updike
ReplyDeleteThis was my first experience reading Updike, and I had some mixed feelings about this one but am interested to explore more of his writing.
Delete