Book’d Out [March 2022]

How was your month in books? Which book was your favorite? Did you participate in any reading events? Work on any of your reading challenges? Here’s a look at what we’ve read this month.

+ TANYA PATRICE +

This month I read books that were OK but I wasn’t in love with them – and that made my reading slow! It started out with me trying to finish Echo, Thomas Olde Huevelt. It wasn’t a bad book but as almost all reviews on Goodreads have said – it could have been cut by about a third. It was just way too long, and although I was invested in the story and the characters, there are many times I wanted to just give up because there was just too much back and side stories.

My favorite book read this month was the 3rd one I picked up, The Viscount Who Loved Me (Bridgerton #2), Julia Quinn. I read it because the tv series was coming out this month (watched it – loved it including the differences from the book). I wasn’t sure if I would like this historical romance novel because of the 2 sisters 1 man aspect – but it was really well done by the author, so I felt no animosity towards any of them. My one gripe was the overuse of the word “rake” … almost every page, every paragraph for a while. There has to be a better way to let us readers know about someone’s reputation with the ladies other than using the same word over and over … and over again. I listened to the audiobook – don’t do it! The narrator (Rosalyn Landor) had the worst male voices. Anthony sounded like a stuffy old man and it completely took me out of the story every time it was told from his point of view.

The other books I read the month …

The Echo Wife, Sarah Gailey ☆ ☆
Piranesi, Susannah Clarke ☆ ☆
Something Secret This Way Comes, Sierra Dean ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
“The Giants of the Violet Sea”, Eugenia Triantafyllou (Novella published in Uncanny 9-10/21 and freely available). This is a 2021 Nebula Award finalist – Novella category.

+ KIM +

I started the month off by reading Razorblade Tears, S.A. Cosby which was such a sucker punch of a book! I hadn’t read Blacktop Wasteland so I didn’t really know what to expect in terms of writer style. The book is about two men who join forces to avenge the death of their gay, married sons- who they had refused to support when they were alive. This book blew me away. It was gritty and violent while at the same time tackling some very heavy topics.

Afterward I switched gears and read the YA fantasy, Raybearer, Jordan Ifueko. I really enjoyed. I loved the concept of a ‘Ray’ that binds rulers together into a council and allows them to communicate directly into each other’s heads. I read the second in the duology this month as well and liked it just slightly less than the first.

Lastly, my favorite book of the month was Piranesi, Susanna Clarke. People either loved this or (according to reviews) didn’t ‘get’ the hype. I had my husband listen to it after I finished. I loved it and wondered what he would think. He was in the latter category- he liked it but didn’t get the hype. We talked a lot about how I felt the book wasn’t about the plot but more the themes and/or lessons within the book.