March Wrap up

I got through a ton of books in March.  I reviewed almost everything I read too, which is even more impressive than the reading of the books.  I've been slacking on reviewing the audiobooks, but that's not unusual for me.  

Books/Ebooks/ARCs

• Space by Penny Reid
• Review
• This did not disappoint, though I didn't expect this to head in the direction it did.  This is not a bad thing, I kind of expected the reveal to happen in book 3 and the tension to linger, but Penny knows what she is doing and I'm not complaining.  I love Mona and Abram, and I really like where this ended.  I know our couple will face more challenges in the next installment but I like where things left off.  I know have to wait another month to find out how it ends.
• Bennett Mafia by Tijan
• Review
• I was excited to find out Tijan was releasing another book and that I was able to get my hands on an early review copy.  This is a mafia, hate to love romance book, and I really enjoyed it.  I'm about a quarter of the way into it.  The main character is spunky and she really surprised me at every turn. This came out March 4, 2019.
• The Last Wingman by Daisy Prescott
• Review
• This came out March 7th.  This is a fun, light hearted, small town romance.  It as exactly what I needed after a stressful few days.  The main characters are awkward and sweet and I loved them so much.  This is my first Daisy Prescott novel but it most certainly will not be my last.
• Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson
• Review
• This comes out March 5th.  This is a psychological thriller.  The main character is bipolar and begins to suspect that her neighbor may be a murderer, but she isn't sure of herself or if she is an unreliable narrator in her own life.  I've been really into thrillers lately and this one was amazing.  I highly recommend it.  It was entirely unpredictable and I did not see the ending developing until it happened.  It was so dark but so good!
• The Test by Sylvain Neuvel
• Review
• This was a strange little novella.  It was a quick read and really made me think.  If you liked The Themis Files I'd give it a try, but there aren't any robots or aliens.  It is more realistic/speculative fiction with a hint of psychological thriller.
• In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire
• Review
• This is another installment of the Wayward Children series.  It's good, but not my favorite.  I wanted more fantasy, action, and adventure.  It was also missing some of the whimsy that is present in the other books, this installment is far more serious than the others.  This is an origin story for one of the staff members at the school that the kids end up at, so it is a valuable story to be told.
• Erased, Volume 4 & 5 by Kei Sanbe
• I finally finished this series.  I'm so glad I went out of my comfort zone an tried something new.  This series was great.  It follows a man who goes back in time to his childhood to save a friend from being murdered.  He then works to solve the murder and catch the killer.  Book 5 gives a summary of each of the side characters in the series, and is a nice wrap up to see where each of them started and ended.  I never saw myself reading manga, and while it was a challenging format to get used to this series was excellent.  
• Saving Megan by D.J. Palmer
• Review
• This was a crazy medical drama/psycological suspense novel.  I really enjoyed it.  I had no idea who to believe or what to think as I was reading it.  This comes out April 9th.  You aren't sure if the daughter is actually sick, if it is all in her head, if her mom is making her sick, or if something else is going on.  What I suspected wasn't what was going on at all, and it really threw me for a loop.
• Bloodwitch by Susan Dennard
• I got about 60% of the way done with this before my library loan ran out.  It is exactly what you would expect for the 4th installment.  There is a lot going on in this book, more characters and each of them have their own storyline to keep track of.  I was really enjoying it until was taken away...it's my own fault.  I had the audiobook but accidentally returned it, then I got the ebook and didn't give myself enough time to finish it.  Hopefully I'll get one or the other back soon so I can finish it.

Audiobooks

As usual who knows what I'll get to, but I've got the books listed below checked out from the library at the time of this post with the exception of Bloodwitch.  

• Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
• Review
• This series is so good.  The full cast is amazing!  I can't say enough good things about this series.  I love how this ended.  The audiobooks are amazing but I highly recommend checking out the books because the drawings are awesome too.  They aren't needed but they are just too good not to mention.
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
• Review
• I really enjoyed this.  It was more of a family drama than a mystery, but I liked it just the same.  Christopher was a wonderful character.  It certainly gave me some perspective about parenting and patience. 
• The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemison
• This was a bit different that the first two books.  We are still following Assun and Nassun on their journey to save humanity and the world by using their abilities.  We also get Hoa's perspective and background, which is a very valuable piece of information as to how the world got to be in this whole situation.  The extra perspective gives the book a different feel, but that doesn't mean it isn't as amazing as the others.  It is an excellent conclusion to an excellent series.
• Crown of Feathers by Nicki Pau Preto
• I actually didn't finish the audiobook of this.  I got through about 20% of it and returned it.  I really like the story, but the audio was kind of bland.  It has a full cast but I wasn't drawn into this book, and there are way too many characters for me to keep track of.  I have requested the e-book because I really do want to read this, the audio just wasn't doing it for me.
• The City of Brass by S.A Chakraborty
• This is another great book about mythology/folklore.  This focuses on Middle Eastern lore, specifically Djinn and Daeva in 18th century Egypt.  I've been meaning to read this for a while because the cover is stunning.  The audiobook is long, but it is really entertaining.  If you are a mythology lover like I am I recommend it.
• Becoming by Michelle Obama
• I've been waiting for this since it came out.  I highly recommend the audio, as it is read by Mrs. Obama herself and she really puts her emotion into the book.  You can hear her choke up a bit when she talks about losing her dad, and her frustration when she talks about the politics and campaigning.  I really enjoyed learning more about the former First Family.  This is a book I plan on purchasing for myself, I took a lot away from it.  While I'm not a person of color, I am a working mom and I related so much to the parts where she talked about balancing her work life balance and how important family is.
• Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
• I don't have the best luck with classics.  I wanted to make some progress with the Great American Reads list and this is a really short one.  This is about 4 hours long on audio.  It is an interesting book, but I can't say that I enjoyed it.  It just isn't my favorite type of book to read.  I can see why it is on the list, and definitely can see why people like to discuss it.