No.495: March Reading with Ireland, Mysteries & Middle Grade

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February was an awesome reading month for me (I blame it on the relentlessly bad winter weather) and I read 11 books!  Here are a few things I learned about myself during that time:

  1. I can only read so much about World War II at one time.  In all, I read four books centered around that time period and it was too much.  By the end of February, I was even starting to have strange, slightly disturbing dreams at night!  I think these historical books are important and necessary, but I’ll probably go a good stretch before picking one up again.
  2. This makes me sound like a weirdo, but suspense thrillers are great palate cleansers to read in between heavy books.  They’re generally fast-paced and all relatively the same, but entertaining and fun.
  3. Reading about a deadly pandemic had me taking all the prepper notes.  Lots of “What would we do if..?” questions while I read.

I read most of the books I had picked out for the readathons, but I also allowed myself some random choices throughout the month.  It was a good mix of structure and mood reading.

With spring on the horizon, bringing my focus and time to things outside, I know my reading will soon slow down considerably.  But you know me – I still couldn’t help browsing around for some reading inspiration!  I’m sure I won’t get to all of these, here’s what I found for March:

March Mystery Madness

The prompts for this challenge are “Single, Number, Person, Place, Weather, Color, Time and Space” plus a bonus.  I found four books from my shelf that fit:

The Irish Readathon

I admit that my knowledge of Irish literature/authors is quite limited, so I’m looking forward to diving into both of these highly recommended works:

  • Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
  • Light a Penny Candle by Maeve Binchy
Middle Grade March

Except for school read alouds, I don’t read a lot of middle grade, so this wasn’t a challenge immediately on my radar.  There are a few exceptions that I’ve had tucked away and maybe this is the time to actually read them?  Hoping to read at least one of these:

The Booktube Spin

I still need to read the book from Round One: My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante, but positive news: I also picked up and read two other books I had on the list.

The Buzzword Readathon

The word for March is “time” so I think I’m going to choose The Time in Between by Maria Duenas.  It’s a little intimidating at over 600 pages!

Your turn!  I’d love to hear what book is on your nightstand.