Welcome to the March 2024 Reading Wrap Up! This month was a pretty good reading month, I read eight books and I definitely attribute that to making a commitment to read every day. There were some amazing books this month and some not so amazing books this month. If you’d rather listen, check out the video below, if not, keep reading!
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The Spanish Love Deception
by Elena Armas
We are following our main character Lina in this book who has fled her home country of Spain after an embarrassing break-up. She has to go back to Spain for her sister’s wedding where she will be the Maid of Honor and the ex-boyfriend will be the Best Man. Lina can’t fathom showing up alone, so she decides to make up a fake boyfriend instead. The only person that Lina can find to go with her is her co-worker Aaron who hates her.
This book was unnecessarily almost 500 pages, it easily could have been done in less then 350 and I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more. It felt like a lot of it dragged on, especially in the beginning when Lina was decided whether or not she was going to take Aaron to Spain. I swear that was like over 100 pages and it really didn’t need to be.
On top of that, I don’t think I like the whole “the guy loves you so much that he’s just going to pretend like he hates you” – I like enemies to lovers, but this just seems different somehow and I hate it.
I liked the couple and I was rooting for them, but I just don’t think it needed to be so long and then just the drama with Lina’s issues with everything. Her fears were valid, but then I felt like she got over them kind of quickly so it made it seem like she was overreacting the entire book.
American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI
by Kate Winkler Dawson
If you like murder mysteries or read, watch or listen to anything true crime, I think you would LOVE this. The author had me captivated the entire time. The thing about this book is Oscar Heinrich isn’t really likeable, he makes some weird choices and is a little arrogant, BUT I was still enthralled in the narrative of the impact he made in forensic science.
What’s nice about this book is that it doesn’t just go into here are all the things he did, the author SHOWS you how intense Oscar was and how brilliant he was by taking you through different murder cases he was a part of.
What’s also so interesting is that while reading through this, you realize that a lot of forensic science, while obviously science, cannot be used alone. Like for example a blood splattering, seems legit and there’s a lot of science that goes into that, but it can’t be the only piece of evidence used to convict someone, because like a lot of other evidence that the author goes into, it can be unreliable (depending on different factors some even coming down to just who is looking at them).
I also loved that you could tell the time and energy that went into producing this book, I read the acknowledgements and it is so clear that the author put in so so so much work researching and writing this book and it comes out in her writing. She has other works that I 100% will be checking out.
The Berry Pickers
by Amanda Peters
In this book we are following Norma and Joe who are grappling with different events in their lives. Joe’s 4 year old sister disappeared one day when they were at the fields and Norma feels like she doesn’t belong in her family and they’re hiding something from her.
I really enjoyed the multiple points of view in this one. It focused a lot on the development of the characters throughout their lives because we were following them for decades. Even though I sometimes found Norma to be a bit naive, I think that was part of her character. It did seem to be though just a consequence of what happened to her and how she was brought up.
The author didn’t gloss over very real prejudices native American’s were facing during the time and place the book takes place, even though it’s a fiction book, these events could very realistically have happened.
Homeward
by Angela Jackson-Brown
Rose comes back home to Parsons, Georgia in 1962, pregnant with a baby that is not her husbands. Her parents are not pleased with the choices she has made, but take her in anyways.
There are two main storylines here that are operating parallel to the other. First we have Rose and her personal life, the tragedies she faces, the pain she causes, the forgiveness she gets and eventually gives to herself and how she is moving on.
Then on top of that, we’re getting the civil rights movement. Rose’s sister is playing a big part in Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and she’s bringing Rose along. The civil rights part happens more towards the middle of the book, in the beginning the author really lays the foundation for who Rose is and in order to do that, we have to follow her during some of the toughest moments, if not the toughest moments of her life up to this point.
Rose isn’t sure where she fits in to the civil rights movement and even if she wants to play a part. Especially since some of the people she look up to aren’t willing to rock the boat for fear of what happened in the past.
Play to Win
by Jodie Slaughter
Miriam’s life is kind of drab right now. She is living with her mother, not loving her job and just not really sure the direction her life is going to take. On a whim, she buys a lottery ticket and wins! There’s just one problem, her account tells her, her estranged husband could take half of her money if she’s not careful. So, Miriam calls up her husband, Leo, who abandoned her years ago and offers him a hefty sum just to sign the divorce papers. Leo agrees to come back to town, except his plans include winning Miriam back.
This book was so refreshing after getting bogged down in the enemies to lovers trope for romance books over and over again. The characters in this book were real. Leo was honest about his intentions from the beginning. The issues they’re working through are real issues and it was just a great read.
Mistborn
by Brandon Sanderson
In this book we are following our main character Vin who has discovered she can control the mists. Therefore, she is a mistborn. At first, this is unbelievable to her because mistborn are supposed to be for nobles only. This is not a life Vin imagined herself in as a Skaa who is also a street thief. Vin finds a mentor in Kelcier who has plans to overthrow the Lord Ruler and finally lead the Skaa rebellion to victory.
This book is slow moving in the beginning while the author does the world building. The pushing and pulling of the metals and the explanation of that sometimes was a little dull for me, I wasn’t super into that part, I liked the war, and character development and following their personal stories a bit more.
Once you get past the world building though, it is so worth it. Everything you pieced together in the beginning and the understanding that Brandon Sanderson made you have made the eventful parts of the book that much more enjoyable.
Overall, I think Brandon Sanderson is a genius. Especially towards the end I just kept gasping and picking my jaw up off the floor. This one is a definite must read if you are into fantasy books.
A Not So Meet Cute
by Meghan Quinn
In this book, we are following our main characters who are looking for love for all the wrong reasons. Lottie is looking for a wealthy husband after getting fired from her job and Huxley has to find a fake pregnant fiancé stat in order to close a business deal.
I’ll be honest, I don’t have much to say about this book because the premise just didn’t resonate with me. Right off the bat I wasn’t a fan of the characters’ morals and just couldn’t root for them. Truthfully, I almost DNF’d this one like 10 pages in. This book does have really high ratings on Goodreads though, so it may jive better with you!
First Lie Wins
by Ashley Elston
We are following Evie Porter who has just moved in with her boyfriend Ryan, however the book starts with Evie renting a fake apartment and moving in fake belongings to make it seem like she actually moved from somewhere but didn’t.
Come to find out, Evie Porter is not her real name and she was hired to get close to Ryan because of a business that he runs. We start to realize that things aren’t as peachy as Evie thought they were with her boss and he is clearly upset about her failures from her last job and that puts forth a series of events where Evie has to decide between the life she wanted to go back to and the life she has now.
I absolutely loved this one. I loved the characters. I had an idea of what was going on but the way it was written I was also constantly second guessing myself, which I think is good, you never want to know right away. The ending was absolute perfection. If I was to give any book this month five stars, I think it would be this one.
There you have it! All the books I read this month. Comment below what you read this month, I would love to hear what you recommend!
If you are looking for even more book recommendations, check out the 5 Star Books I read in 2023. I post the most on my Youtube and Goodreads so you’ll find the most up to date book recommendations there.