Hey hey, it’s MJ

            I am starting this a little later than usual because my first book this month was a book for school so it doesn’t get a blurb, but I have now read the entire Percy Jackson series which is interesting. 

            I unhauled so many books last month and I kind of feel like this mouth will be similar. The first book on this list I really enjoyed, but it is not something that I want to keep in my permanent collection and that is kind of how I feel about unhauling some books. I don’t want to 100% let go, but I also know that I don’t want it on my shelf and that is totally okay. 

A Vintage Affair by Isabel Wolff (3.8/5)

            It was cute, I did enjoy it overall. The whole plot with Roxy did hit me in a place where I didn’t like it all that much and how much Miles bowed to her. I get wanting to do the best for your kid after losing a parent, but it was excessive. That relationship could have been so good, but it fell so flat. I loved her and Dan though and I really wanted that relationship to be more strongly featured overall. I loved Mrs. Bell and her story as well as the whole plot about Emma, though I also didn’t like Guy and that whole nonsense near the end of the book. I loved the dress shop in total, the vintage feel of everything and just how much has changed since 2009 when this book is based and that was so interesting. Like she snapped her phone shut and that was such a callback to me, because you cannot do that anymore. 

A Lady’s Formula for Love by Elizabeth Everett (3.3/5)

            This one was disappointing, it truly was. I wanted to love it because I have read so many good historical romances over the last year or so and this had promise in my opinion but the characters were unlikable and the story felt so overplayed and overdone. I have no interest in reading the second because I didn’t like the characters enough to actually invest in them. I loved the idea of a retreat for lady scientists, it was a fascinating concept, but it fell so flat for me. The almost instalove between Violet and Arthur just never won me over and normally that is not a trope that I mind. There was just a lot about it that felt clunky and awkward and the villain I figured out really early on. I really did and that made every time that character was in the scene unbelievable in a way. 

The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen (4/5)

            Were the comments about the main character’s body a little unnecessary, yes, they were. But was it a great opening to a fantasy trilogy that I now want to read? Also, yes. I really did enjoy the book as a whole, I have so many questions about who her father actually is, how the heck the Fetch does what he does and who he is, and how the Red Queen is going to act out in the next one. I loved so many of the characters though the main character felt almost over powered, I want to know about the magic system and why she is the only one who can wield the sapphires. I really like the fact that it’s like a postmodern society that has gone back to an almost medieval way of life and I am going to read the second one eventually. 

Twisted Lies by Ana Huang (5/5)

            Ana! Way to close out a series, this was the best one. I loved Twisted Games and this was a series that I started to read because of BookTok, this book was amazing and completely worth the 550 pages that it was. I have a new order for series favorites which is so exciting because Christian, that’s it, just Christian. Also Stella, just in general, the whole book was phenomenal, I had no complaints. I will probably read her other books and love them as well because at this point, I am invested. The wrap up with everyone at the end, that brought so many emotions out because I started this series about a year ago and a lot has changed in that time. Mr. Unicorn gets to be my favorite character though, I love that so much.

The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty (3.5/5)

            It was my March Book of the Month and hopefully unlike February I actually wrote the post the day after finishing it like I promised myself I would. I did like it, I need to say that, but it took me 200 something pages to get into it and for a 470-page book that seems excessive. I liked the themes and the characters and the insanity of it all, I don’t think I will continue to read the series though. It was good, but it took too long for me to get hooked. 

The Harvest Man by Alex Grecian (3.7/5)

            I read it quickly, it pulled me in from almost the first page and it was so good. I hate that it ended on a cliff hanger, but here we are with me trying to figure out how the last book is going to go. There was just so much shoved into this book, unlike the last one because this is book four in the series. I may have rated The Devil’s Workshop the same but my rating would likely be lower if I read it today. Like I said when I read that one, why was Jack the Ripper the most interesting character? This one brought that back in the most terrifying of ways, I want to know what’s going to happen and I have owned the final novel for several years, so that will get read here eventually. 

The Heiresses by Sara Shepard (3/5)

            Well, this one is getting unhauled, it was very Gossip Girl meets Pretty Little Liars which makes sense because Sara Shepard wrote PLL too, that makes sense. It read a little juvenile for an adult book. Everyone was sleeping with everyone, there was so much drama and I didn’t really feel like anything was actually solved. There was just so much going on at all times that it felt jarring whenever the perspective shifted, the only character I was rooting for was Corinne. Like all of the main women grow throughout the book, but man was there just a lot in this that was weird. 

Prudence by Gail Carriger (4/5)

            I didn’t know that this was a continuation to the Soulless series, though I only read the first one in that series because it was not my jam at the time. I really enjoyed this book though and I love the characters, they are all a lot in their own special way. Rue is such a strong female character and I cannot wait to read the next one, I have a feeling it’s going to be just as crazy. Prim bothered me throughout because she sits there with her judgement and there was just something about that that hit me the wrong way. I will be reading the second one though because I want to see more with this cast of characters. 

The Demon Tailor by Susan McCauley (4/5)

            Super short novella, but it was do dark and really good. The end came up really quickly and left some things undone. I normally don’t read horror, that is not a genre that I normally find myself reaching for, this was an Amazon one that I bought in 2021 and didn’t get around to reading until now. It was good, seriously. I love serial killers, well, let me rephrase that. I like long dead serial killers, otherwise not a huge fan. It was only 122 pages so it was a really quick read. Bloody, gory, and hecking terrifying, but good.

The Little Black Dress by Piper James (5/5)

            This was for sure a “BookTok made me buy it book” and I don’t regret it. I read it the same day as I read The Demon Tailor I was only going to read half and then it sucked me in. I love grumpy/sunshine, office romance is fun, and it was in Vegas! There was so much good in this book, it was a little much at points but it was so good and I read it all in a day…oops. I have no more physical books to read before I go home tomorrow night so I will be working on a Kindle book tomorrow…Well. It was good though, the miscommunication trope and third act break up will always be tropes the bug me (I don’t write them for that reason), but the groveling, it was amazing and this book went from 0 to 60 in about three pages. It was so good though!

A Soul to Keep by Opal Reyne (5/5)

            Well… I feel like that’s all I want to say about this book. I saw it on Prime Reads and now I own a Kindle. This is the book that made me want to own a Kindle and I will still probably buy it in paperback when I get a chance. It was really good, very Beauty & The Beast, I have moral questions for myself at the moment…I really do and I know that two years ago me would be concerned for my well-being, even current me is worried for my well-being. Not normal a romance sub-genre I read, fae is usually my thing, but here I am.

More Teacher Misery by Jane Morris (4/5)

            I read Teacher Misery in March of last year and found it hilarious and heartbreaking that so many teachers go through so much and it’s just something that we all have to deal with. I cannot imagine what a book from her would look like post pandemic, post virtual teaching, and the state of education today. I live in a state where there is now this huge education reform and it’s going to be a mess; it’s going to suck public education dry and we already live in a country where there is a drastic and ever-growing shortage of teachers. Yes, I am a teacher for the kids, but dealing with parents, people who have never been in education making laws about it, the state testing, exhaustion, apathy, lack of respect and pay, and everything else. It does not shock me when a fellow teacher tells me that they are leaving, that they are done and it’s a country taking everything out on a population of individuals who just want to impart knowledge on the next generation. But clearly, even with a master’s degree in education and countless hours of training and PD, we are still not allowed to be experts in our own fields. 

Terms and Conditions by Lauren Asher (5/5)

            Thought I wrote this blurb days ago, I was wrong! It was so good; they were both so much as a couple. Marriage of convenience and all of that and I loved it. The miscommunication in it will always rub me the wrong way because that’s so annoying. I hate the miscommunication trope and the third act break-up. Like Declan is an ass and he’s an ass to everyone but Iris. It went from 0 to 60 super quick and I really did enjoy it because it was well written and had me laughing and shaking my head so many times. I will read the last in the series eventually and I know that, it’ll just be a while because I have about five dozen books that I need to and want to read. 

The Umbra King by Jamie Applegate Hunter (5/5)

            I finished this last night and I only had to finish two full books in the last two days of the month because I am an idiot and started this one and one for school at the same time and I wanted to finish them both before the end of the month. This took me some time to get into, it really did but man when I got into it, I could not put it down. I called the final twist and I am so mad at Caius at the moment. I will be reading the second one on Kindle Unlimited probably next week, I thought about this book all night after I finished it. I am so mad at the ending and I have to have some self-control and read a few of my TBR books or I am going to lose the plot and not finish my TBR this year. 

            Well, I read 17 books and finished another one in the month of March so I read 18 books this month. I cannot believe that because that is so many books, Spring Break was for sure a factor in reading so many and that is totally fine. I read a lot of good books this month and finally broke down and bought a Kindle and got Kindle Unlimited. Sheerly to read through a lot on my wish list and if I like them enough, I will still buy the paperback because I have a problem…

            I am not hoping to read this many books in April and I am not going to push myself to do so. My goal most months is 10, I say 6 is my realistic and I would like to read 13, but I don’t know if I will be able to. 

            So many books, I swear I didn’t mean to read this many this month, but here we are. I told my mother last night that it is better than a drug habit, somedays I question if that is true, it is, I promise, I would much rather read. I joke about that all the time, but I don’t do drugs and I don’t want to, I don’t even drink. 

            That took a weird turn! So we are moving away from that, if you want to check out all of the other books that I have read this year you totally can in January and February’s posts! 

            I will be back eventually with another post, I promise, it’s just been creatively difficult to continue working on blog posts. I started this blog as a different person than I am today and I need to adapt it to who I am today…I’ll get there.

            So, until next time I hope that everyone stays safe, happy, and healthy! 

            -MJ

Let’s Keep Track Shall We?: 

General Fiction: 4/12 (Someday, Someday, Maybe, White Girl Problems, A Vintage Affair, The Heiresses, )

Sci-Fi/Fantasy: 4/12 (Howl’s Moving Castle, The Transference Engine, Queen of the Tearling, Prudence, )

Historical: 4/12 (The Gown, Secrets of Nanreath Hall, The Wild Dark Flowers, The Harvest Man, )

Free Choice: 6/15 (A Poisoned Season, Dark Horizons, Things in Jars, The City We Became, Twisted Lies, The Demon Tailor, )

Memoirs/Autobiographies: 2/2 (You Will Get Through This Night, As You Wish)

General Non-Fiction: 2/2 (Mindset, More Teacher Misery)

Book of The Month: 3/12 (Lunar Love, Georgie, All Along, The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi, )

Extras: 11/? (Cocky Roommate, Portrait of a Scotsman, A Touch of Darkness, These Vicious Masks, Loathe to Love You, Book Lovers, A Lady’s Formula for Love, The Little Black Dress, A Soul to Keep, Terms and Conditions, The Umbra King, )

Battle of the Books (it’s for school!): 7/?  (The Lightening Thief, Sea of Monsters, The Titan’s Curse, Battle of the Labyrinth, The Last Olympian, Friendship According to Humphrey, Peter and The Starchasers, )