Just like that, the first quarter of 2019 is over. And I gotta be honest, it’s been sort of a rough one for me. Work is busy, the weather has been generally awful, and I’m just feeling a little bit worn out by all of it.
On the plus side, my reading so far this year has been pretty good! I’ve finished 22 books, exactly half fiction and half nonfiction. Only five of them are from Mount TBR (my goal is to read 40), but I’m hoping I can bounce back on that one. Now, on to the books!
January Reading
- Transcription by Kate Atkinson (review)
- Awakening Your Ikigai by Ken Mogi
- Duped by Abby Elin (review)
- The Dreamers by Karen Thomson Walker (review)
- Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne (review)
The highlight of January was probably Ladder to the Sky, it was such a twisty con story with a main character I just loved to hate. The Dreamers was also pretty fantastic!
February Reading
- The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton (review)
- American Prison by Shane Bauer (review)
- King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo (review)
- When They Call You a Terrorist by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and asha bandele (review)
- The Fire This Time by Jesmyn Ward (review)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
- Parkland by Dave Cullen (review)
- The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
- The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
My favorite book of February was, hands down, Parkland. It’s such an incredible, detailed, empathetic piece of reporting. I absolutely adored it. The Great Believers was also an excellent read that I enjoyed sinking into over a long weekend.
March Reading
- This is Where You Belong by Melody Warnick
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
- Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard
- Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? by Alyssa Mastromonaco
- So Here’s the Thing… by Alyssa Mastromonaco
- The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife, and the Missing Corpse by Piu Eatwell
- A Dangerous Collaboration by Deanna Raybourn
My reading in March seemed pretty mediocre, but I did really like reading both of Alyssa Mastromonaco’s books. Obama administration memoirs are my jam, so getting to read a couple by a smart, funny lady made me happy. Destiny of the Republic was also a good read, one that’s been lingering on Mount TBR for way too long.
You may notice a lot of Harry Potter books on that list. I just finished a re-read of the series on audio, and it was so fun. I haven’t revisited the last book since it was first published, which means I hadn’t really spent time with those characters since I was 21. I have a lot of unformed thoughts about how a decade makes me think about them differently, which I hope I can get down on virtual paper sometime soon.
Speaking of writing, I’m also pretty far behind on reviews! But I’m really hoping to catch up this month, but then also I want to read a million more books so… we’ll see on that too!
So there you have it, that’s the first quarter of 2019 in books! How’s your reading year going so far??
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Looks like a great first quarter of reading! I’ve only read the HP books twice through but I certainly do love them!
I do too! It always feels so indulgent to go back and read them again since there are so many new things to read… but doing it on audio assuaged some of that “guilt” for me. I don’t do any review copies in audio, so there’s no real “should” that way. So, it was fun!
My March reading was a bit mediocre too, but I’m hopeful for better things in April! I am reading a Lauren Beukes book and enjoying it a lot and I think it augurs well for the month of reading. 😀 I am hoping I can actually get a review of it written, if I haven’t forgotten how to write reviews at all.
I feel like I’m forgetting how to write reviews too! Or maybe I’m just getting lazier, it’s hard to tell 🙂
It’s going well! I loved An American Marriage and Homegoing best of all. Do you think Alyssa Mastromonaco’s second book is a good read for women of all ages? Her books seem to get the “this is great for young women” treatment in reviews even though I feel like the stories in her first book were good for every age.
Yeah, I agree. The marketing of them (and the way the covers look) really does seem to scream “for young women!” but I think there’s a lot of good advice across the board. I liked the first one a little better than the second, but they’re both fun.
22 books, that is great. Like I think I’ve mentioned before to you, I want to read When They Call You A Terrorist and maybe I might have mentioned to you that I did read The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, which I really liked. I only read the whole Harry Potter series a few years ago and then watched all of the movies. I think it was the year the last in the movies came out. I’ll be interested in hearing how the series has changed for you in a decade. My reading year? Started out great, but slowing down. Trying to get back on track.
Ebbs and flows of reading, for sure 🙂 I think mostly my perspective on how the characters act has changed. I used to had book 5, for example, because Harry seemed like such a whiny teenager. But this time, I can see how the shock/grief/unfairness of book 4 really affected him, and how he didn’t totally get the support he needed. I think I see the adult characters differently too, Sirius and Lupin and their choices with how to mentor and care for Harry. It’s just different!
I totally understand… I’ve been swamped with work so my blogging has been so hit or miss but luckily my reading has been going pretty well. I’ve been reading a good variety of books so that’s a good thing. Hope this month is a bit calmer for you!