6.2 Entertainment - 2023 March Book List

Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Each day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined them chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the second day of the month is "Entertainment." 

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After February's rather amazing book list, things got a little less spectacular in terms of the number of five- and four-and-a-half-star reads. Still, I read some good stuff this month. 

3/4: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (university library, 2022) - A beautifully written book about hard times and hard choices. 4/5 stars

3/6: Corpses, Coffins, and Crypts: A History of Burial by Penny Colman (library, 1997) - A book all about death that was somehow more uplifting than Demon Copperhead. 3.5/5 stars

3/7: Foundation (Valdemar: Collegium Chronicles #1) by Mercedes Lackey (library, 2008) - An orphan boy learns he is a Herald and goes to school. I love a good book about a magical boarding school. 4.5/5 stars

3/8: Eight Perfect Hours by Lia Louis (library ebook, 2021) - Fine romance novel. I thought it was a bit slow and kind of sleepy, though. 3/5 stars

3/11: Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels (library, 1996) - Very solid historical fiction book. But sad. Very sad. 4/5 stars

3/13: Intrigues (Valdemar: Collegium Chronicles #2) by Mercedes Lackey (library, 2010) - Not as solid as the first book in the Collegium Chronicles, but good enough to keep me interested in the next book. 3.5/5 stars

3/13: Chasing Cassandra (The Ravenels #6) by Lisa Kleypas (library ebook, 2020) - Great dialogue, but there wasn't much else to recommend this one. 2.5/5 stars

3/14: The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (library, 1984) - Beautiful writing. 5/5 stars

3/16: After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid (library, 2014) - Marriage in peril, but I thought it was good anyway. 4/5 stars

3/18: Changes (Valdemar: Collegium Chronicles #3) by Mercedes Lackey (library, 2011) - This series started off strongly, but each book gets weaker and weaker. 3/5 stars

3/19: Devil in Disguise (The Ravenels #7) by Lisa Kleypas (library ebook, 2021) - Blech. Lisa Kleypas at her most boring. 2/5 stars

3/21: The Thursday Murder Club (Thursday Murder Club #1) by Richard Osman (library, 2020) - Fun characters, but not as compulsive a read as I had hoped it would be. 3.5/5 stars

3/22: It'll Be An Adventure (Masters of the Shadowlands #15) by Cherise Sinclair (Kindle, 2023) - Sinclar is a master of erotica with actual plot. This series is getting bloated with characters, though, so I think she should probably wind it down. 4/5 stars

3/24: Redoubt (Valdemar: Collegium Chronicles #4) by Mercedes Lackey (library, 2012) - This book started off sloooowly, but I was excited by the end. 3.5/5 stars 

3/25: Bastion (Valdemar: Collegium Chronicles #5) by Mercedes Lackey (library, 2013) - Final book in this series. Hm. I think it's a lot like Redoubt - super slow start and all the action is in the last 100 pages. 3.5/5 stars

3/28: The Idea of Perfection by Kate Grenville (library, 1999) - Beautiful writing, but I found it a bit boring. 3/5 stars

Total: 16 books

Average star rating: 3.5/5 stars

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Did Not Finish:

Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley - I'm sure this is a good book, but I was tapped out emotionally on traumatized children after Demon Copperhead, the first part of Foundation, and The House on Mango Street. Maybe I'll come back to it later, but it was not for me right now. DNF at 15%.

The Road Home by Rose Tremain - I downloaded the audiobook and listened to about ten minutes, but the narrator's accent was hard for me to understand. I will read this later in print.

Daggerspell (Deverry #1) by Katharine Kerr - So much violence, rape, and incest and I wasn't even 150 pages in. This is a beloved series for some, but not for me.