Oh my word. March was a doozy on so many levels. With the world turning upside down on us, my reading took a hit as I focused my attentions on adapting to our new #stayathome lives. But thank goodness for audiobooks. They allowed me to escape from real life for a bit while continuously working non-stop with my hands. Lots of stitching, shipping, cooking, and cleaning and these audiobooks kept me going through it all.
1. Force of Natureby Jane Harper - This is a followup book to
The Drywhich I read last year. I have to admit that I had a little trouble getting into this one, but I am glad I stuck with it. Once it got going, the story was good. Set in Australia, Federal gent Aaron Falk is involved in an corruption investigation when the main informant goes missing during a weekend corporate retreat in the woods. As with
The Dry, I feel like nature is its own character that builds emotions and suspense through out the story. So if you like mystery/detective stories with strong character development and atmospheric quality, this is a good listen.
4/5 stars
2. Born a Crime by Trevor Noah- I chose this book as my book club pick and it did not disappoint. I feel like I learned so much about South Africa and was laughing the whole way through. I love books that make you question your perspective about your way of life. This book was thought-provoking and covered so many different hard-hitting subjects (like race, poverty, domestic abuse, scrappiness, crime... the list goes on and on) but does so in a way that infuses humor throughout. This is a great book and at some point, when my girls are older, I would like them to read it so that we can have some hearty conversations about it. NOTE: There is a filtered version of this book that is available for kids; but I think my littles are still a bit too young for it. And I think I would prefer for them to read the original form of the book.
4/5 stars
3. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys -This book. Whew. I loved it. But I think it needs a warning for those of us dealing with hard things right now. This is a heavy book and therefore may not be the best choice right now. But when our world becomes a bit less heavy, I would definitely recommend this book. The jist of the story is that multiple strangers all with haunting backgrounds find their lives intertwined during World War II. Each chapter is narrated by one of the four main characters. I really liked how the audiobook version of this book changed up the actors that were narrating for each character. It kept things from being confusing because some of the chapters are really short. I love historical fiction and I'm especially drawn to WWII historical fiction. This story did not disappoint. I am glad I read it. It is heavy and heart-wrenching at times, but also inspiring with strength of the human spirit.
4/5
Okay, I don't know about you, but I need some good book recommendations for April. Something that will pull me in immediately and keep me going through to the very last page.
So tell me in the comments what you are reading, what you are loving, and what book recs you have for me.
