Skip to main content

Week in Review & March Recap

       aaa1

April is here and Spring has finally sprung in North Carolina. The trees have bloomed and are already changing over to leaves. The daffodils and tulips are full of color. The kids have had their first big water fight in the yard and I've finally gotten back into running regularly, which is good since I have a 5K coming up next month. It is this time of year, every year, that I most appreciate our decision to leave Massachusetts and move to North Carolina. Seeing sunshine and flowers instead of remnants of snowstorms makes me so happy.

Reviews and Blog Posts
Book Review: The Precious One by Marisa de los Santos
Book Review (by my son): Emperor Pickletine Rides the Bus by Tom Angleberger
GIVEAWAY! Win a paperback of One Plus One or The Invention of Wings

Reading
I was reading Unbecoming: A Novel by Rebecca Scherm, but just couldn't get into it last week. There's nothing wrong with it; I just was in the mood for something different. So now I'm reading Not Without My Father: One Woman's 444-Mile Walk of the Natchez Trace by Andra Watkins, and I'm really enjoying it. I'll get back to Unbecoming later in the month.

What are you reading this week? It's Monday! is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, so hop over there if you'd like to see what others are reading too. You can also check out the younger version of It's Monday!


Month in Review: March

Since this is the first Monday in the month, I'm also going to share what I read and reviewed in March, and a running total for the year so far.

BOOKS READ IN MARCH:5
REVIEWS WRITTEN IN MARCH:7

  1. Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley - reviewed
  2. Dark Places by Gillian Flynn - reviewed
  3. Because of Winn-Dixie - read and reviewed
  4. The Daughter by Jane Shemilt - read and reviewed
  5. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry - read and reviewed
  6. September Sky by John A. Heldt - read and reviewed
  7. The Precious One by Marisa de los Santos - read and reviewed

TOTAL FOR 2015

Total Books Read: 15
Total Reviews: 17


Historical Fiction: 0
Middle-Grade Fiction: 3
Elementary Fiction: 1
Young Adult: 0
Contemporary Fiction: 4
Mystery/Thriller: 4
Science Fiction: 2
Nonfiction: 0
Memoir: 1

For review: 5
For book club: 2
For me: 8


2015 CHALLENGES

Cloak & Dagger Reading Challenge - 4/10
Travel the World in Books Reading Challenge - 2/10
Library Challenge - 5/6
Finishing the Series Challenge - 3/7
Follow my progress here
Labels:

Comments

  1. fredamansApril 6, 2015 at 9:26 PM

    AJ Fikry is HIGH on my list. You did great though. Happy April reading!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JulieApril 7, 2015 at 2:38 PM

      Thank you! I'm glad my book club read it so I had a reason to get to it sooner. It was very good.

      Delete
  2. Cheriee WeichelApril 6, 2015 at 11:48 PM

    I loved your son's review. This series is very popular in our school library. Dark Places sounds like a good read, but a bit too creepy for me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JulieApril 7, 2015 at 2:38 PM

      Yes, that one is creepy. My son has loved all of the Origami Yoda books. He's sad the series has ended.

      Delete
  3. Myra Garces BacsalApril 8, 2015 at 7:26 AM

    This is a new-to-me title, sounds like a powerful title.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JulieApril 8, 2015 at 9:24 AM

      It was good. It was powerful to some extent but plenty of lightheartedness too. I'll have my review up next week for the tour.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by! I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Popular posts from this blog

Banned Books Week: Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park

This is the end of Banned Books Week and unfortunately, I haven't had a lot of time to write about banned books this year. But I did want to include at least one post about it, so today I wanted to share one of the book series that it seems most people are surprised to find on the list: Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park.

According to Wikipedia:
The Junie B. Jones series came in at #71 on the American Library Association's list of the Top 100 Banned or Challenged Books from 2000-2009. Reasons cited are poor social values taught by the books and Junie B. Jones not being considered a good role model due to her mouthiness and bad spelling/grammar. This is an interesting example of a banned book. Many times there are serious, controversial topics featured in books that are challenged. Things like homosexuality, drugs, vulgar language, etc. You can actually understand why people may not want their children to read those books, and why they may challenge their inclusion in school libra…
10 comments
Read more

Book Review: I See You by Clare Mackintosh

Title: I See You
Author: Clare Mackintosh
Genre: thriller
Published: February 21, 2017
Format: ebook (NetGalley)
Source: publisher
Buy on Amazon(affiliate link)


Have you ever felt like someone was watching you? You will after reading Clare Mackintosh's latest release I See You. Told from the perspectives of two women, one who appears to be targeted by a criminal and the other who is the police officer working the case, this psychological thriller will have you looking over your own shoulder by the end.

Zoe is a typical working mother who takes the Underground through London to her office every day. Like most commuters, she has a routine that she follows every day, leaving home at the same time, sitting in the same train car, taking the same route to work from the station. It's habit. But she starts to realize this may not be a good idea after seeing her own photo in an advertisement in the newspaper. Another woman who appears in the advertisement is murdered and Zoe starts to ge…
2 comments
Read more

Book Review: The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas

Title: The Darkest Corners
Author: Kara Thomas
Genre: Young Adult Mystery
Published: May 9, 2017
Format: Paperback
Source: Random House Children's Books
Buy on Amazon (affiliate link)


Tessa Lowell left Fayette, Pennsylvania, when she was just 9 years old, moving to Florida with her grandmother. Now she's a recent high school graduate and heading back to town to say goodbye to her dying father. With no family in town anymore, Tessa stays with the family of her former friend Callie, which is pretty awkward since she and Callie haven't spoken since they were little. Being with Callie also brings up questions that Tessa has held onto for the years since she's been gone. Questions about the testimony the young girls gave that sent a man to death row. 

I don't read many young adult novels, but The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas was touted as "the next twisted psychological thriller," so I decided to give it a try... and I'm glad I did. While the story moves r…
1 comment
Read more