I read some real bangers this month. Yay for a solid reading month.
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3/5: Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke (library, 2021) - Pure joy. *dusty stick* 5/5 stars
3/6: A Wish for Winter by Viola Shipman (library ebook, 2022) - This book IS MORE THAN FOUR HUNDRED PAGES. A good 100 pages is praying and giving Bible quotes. Also, did you know Viola Shipman is a pen name for a DUDE? I got conned into reading a pseudo-Christian romance with a LOT of preaching written BY A MAN. Thumbs down. I only kept reading it because I didn't know it was 416 (!!) pages and kept thinking that surely I was almost done. One star because I did finish it. Half a star because I have to enjoy someone who loves Michigan as much as I do. 1.5/5 stars
3/8: Wild Eyes (Rose Hill #2) by Elsie Silver (library, 2024) - I think I read the first book in this series, but I can't find a record of it on my blog, so it must be my imagination. Anyway, I loved this book even though it has tropes I do not usually care for. 5/5 stars
3/12: How to Find a Missing Girl by Victoria Wlosok (library, 2023) - Girl gets murdered in her small town. Another girl starts a podcast about the investigation. Then that second girl gets murdered. What's going on in this town? The premise is good. The YAness of it is YAful and I guessed the murderer on the very page they first appeared. *sigh* I have got to stop reading YA. 2.5/5 stars
3/15: The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See (library, 2019) - Historical fiction about a woman who grew up in an island in Korea through WWII and the Korean War. I wanted to like this book, but there were some things that just didn't work for me. 3/5 stars
3/19: Humor Me: How Laughing More Can Make You Present, Creative, Connected, and Happy by Chris Duffy (library, 2026) - Very helpful and fun. 5/5 stars
3/21: In Zanesville by Jo Ann Beard (library audiobook narrated by the author, 2011) - Funny coming of age story about a girl in the 1970s. 4/5 stars
3/23: The Global Pigeon by Colin Jerolmack (university library, 2013) - Boy did I enjoy this look at pigeon-human interactions in urban environments. 5/5 stars
3/25: Dreadnought (Nemesis #1) by April Daniels (library ebook, 2017) - Transgender girl is secretly painting her nails when the superhero Dreadnought dies in front of her and passes his superpowers to her. What follows is a poorly paced action novel with lots of transphobia. I'm glad someone is bringing trans representation into superhero novels, but this didn't do it for me. 2.5/5 stars (I have to stop reading YA.)
3/28: Where They Last Saw Her by Marcie R. Rendon (library, 2024) - A pretty good thriller in which I learned a lot about the murdered and missing indigenous women movement. 4/5 stars
Average star rating: 3.7/5 stars
Did Not Finish
Where the Axe is Buried by Ray Nayler (library, 2025) - I'm sure this is a very good book, but I am 100% not into the idea of reading about an authoritarian surveillance state while I live in these United States in 2026. DNF on page 103 (31.6%). (This is happening in my county right now and no one is talking about it. They're too busy complaining about pot holes and discussing the flavors of ice cream at the newly opened for the season ice cream place.)
Orbital by Samantha Harvey (library, 2023) - Sorry to my friends who recommended this to me. I found the introspection boring and gave up after leaving it on the table for more than a week and never wanting to pick it up. DNF at page 29 (14%)
Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin - I do want more trans representation in books, but I swear to all that's holy I would have been just as grossed out by depictions of dirty, sweaty people who haven't showered in weeks even if those people would have been straight. NGS out. DNF at 24%.
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What's the last five star read you read?
Yay for a solid reading month! I'm trying to decide if I'm far enough in my werk recovery to enjoy Several People Are Typing. It feels like something that I should at least try so that I don't miss out.
ReplyDeleteMy last 5 star read was A Thousand Naked Strangers (paramedic memoir).
Oh, Several People Are Typing is so funny. I didn't find it stressful, although I'm a few years out from my most stressful working life.
DeleteHmmm...I don't think I'm into a paramedic memoir? I don't want to freak myself out about all the ways I could interact with a parademic!
My last five star read was just a couple of days ago - Consider Yourself Kissed. It was such a Nicole book (character-driven, extraordinariness of ordinary life, lots of excellent characters, funny and moving).
ReplyDeleteYay! I'm glad you had a perfect Nicole book. It's fun when books that feel like they were written for you drop into your lap.
DeleteSeveral People are Typing sounds really good, and I want to read it. When you said 'I have got to stop reading YA" I felt the same, except with political thrillers. When will I learn that I just don't like them???
ReplyDeleteI told myself to stop reading random romance novels that weren't vetted by other people and I HAVE DONE IT. But I can't seem to quit YA. The premises seem so good and the execution is never what I want it to be. So, I feel you. It's hard to quit.
DeleteI did not love Orbital as much as others did. It was just a little too slow and introspective. It's the kind of book that makes me question my intellect if that makes sense?
ReplyDeleteAnd OMG about the man w/ the female pen name. What in the actual F.
I read several 5-star books in March! I'll be posting my reads later this month. It's taking a bit to write up since I read 12 books!!
Orbital is clearly meant for a reader who is more into character than I am. I want plot, damn it!
DeleteTwelve books! You're putting in the time!
Oh yay - I'm glad to read a positive review of Several People are Typing. I just got this one from the library and based on this review, it will the next one I read. I'm currently reading The Women by Kristin Hannah that someone recommended (was it you?) and am really enjoying it.
ReplyDeleteI have not read The Women. It is such a polarizing book. A lot of people really like it and then there are hardcore people who say it's bad! I don't know. I don't think I'll read it because I find Hannah a frustratingly pedestrian author.
DeleteOh, I’m sorry you didn’t love Orbital. I found it to be so beautiful. But not a ton happens, and if that’s not your jam, that’s totally fair. Always best to DNF and move on.
ReplyDeleteYeah, this girl needs a plot! I'm glad others liked it, but it just wasn't for me.
DeleteI always look forward to your monthly reading recaps for some good recs. I've put Several People Are Typing on my TBR. My last five star was The Correspondent which I finished in February.
ReplyDeleteThe Correspondent! I've never heard anyone say anything but good things about that book. If someone didn't like it, I'd be suspicious of them.
DeleteOrbital was a DNF for me. NOTHING HAPPENS. I ordered it, it was a DNF, and then a few months later a librarian was gushing about this book she loved so much that she went ahead and put it on hold for me and it was... ORBITAL. Um. I read a few pages again and DNF'd it a second time. Haha. Clearly not the target audience.
ReplyDeleteI didn't read any 5-star books in March, but really enjoyed Year of Wonders (Geraldine Brooks) and a non-fiction nursing memoir called Always Pack a Candle.
I can see why some people might like Orbital, but it really just wasn't for me!
DeleteUh-oh; "Orbital" is on my To Read list. Based on the feedback I'm seeing here, I might need to rethink that!
ReplyDeleteI gave "Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space" by Adam Higginbotham (finished two weeks ago) a solid 5-star rating.
A 3.7 average star rating!!!!! Engie, consider my flabbers gasted. That's such an amazing star rating for you! Congrats on a great reading month. :)
ReplyDeleteThe last 5-star book I read was Under the Skin by Linda Villarosa!
Several people are typing was so much fun! My review said that half the great rating might have been because it was the first of its kind I had read, but I don't care, still counts.
ReplyDeleteI tried to read Orbital too and was baffled by the love. And I thought I would feel about Manhunt the way you did and didn't even try - I think Eve did, and didn't like it. Yay for comprehensively busting out of the reading rut!