March has come and gone and spring is officially in the air. I’ve had a few good weather days this month that teased at the 80-degree sunshine that will soon be here to stay.
My reading was a bit lagging in the middle of the month but resurged well in the last 10 days or so, ending with 9 books total.
By far my favorite book of the month was Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. I also seem to be on a streak of reading quite a few female authors in a row from the end of last month into early this month.
The Spine & Leaf Books 2022 Reading Challenge has really increased the number of books I’m reading this year. Some of that is also joining the book blogging community. I now read so many more book reviews and book recommendation lists that I can’t help but want to read all the books. I’m proud of the progress I’ve made and I’m looking forward to hitting 100 books this year… that’s double the challenge!
So here’s the list below for my March Book Update of the 2022 Reading Challenge! Be sure to comment below on what you’ve been reading this past month. I’m very excited to hear about everyone’s progress!
#9- Author You Already Know
21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari
Harari is probably better known for his first two books Sapiens and Homo Deus, however, this third endeavor proves as good as the others. Realworld examples and solutions to our modern-day world. A bit haunting and eerie.
#12- More Than 20 Years Old
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Classic Agatha Christie. Murder and investigation. Well-written, of course, and I did not predict the ending. There were enough clues to give me hints, but I couldn’t piece it together before Detective Poirot walked the reader through the final reveal.
#18- One Word Title
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
This was my favorite book of the month. It was unique and captivating. An alternate universe with only the narrator and the Other. I was enthralled with Clarke’s suspense and plot development throughout.
#21- Under 100 Pages
Expect the Unexpected by National Geographic
Based on the National Geographic documentaries, this short book is packed with quotes and insight from Dr. Fauci. He really knows his way in medicine and epidemiology and I really got the sense that he’s a good man doing his best in a messed up world.
#29- Chapter Titles
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Written during the famous NaNoWriMo, Morgenstern’s The Night Circus is a fun-for-all circus adventure. There are more characters than you can count though and the narration jumps between perspectives a bit too much to keep the story streamlined. But it’s fun and imaginative, just best read when in a light mood.
#39- By an Author that Shares Your Name
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
The women of paleontology are the remarkable creatures we need to be reading about, but the now-extinct Jurassic era animals are pretty cool too. A historical fiction centered around Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot, two of the world’s first and now best-known paleontologists.
#41- Guilty Pleasure
Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs
TV series “Bones” fans will either be thrilled to have a new adventure or thoroughly disappointed when they realize that book Dr. Brennan is not the same as TV Dr. Brennan. Reichs’ creative forensic anthropology series is unique in its murder mystery format but is missing the action and character development.
#47- Based on a Real Person
Alone on the Wall by Alex Honnold and David Roberts
Honnold shares his rock climbing stories with the help of author David Roberts. This memoir/biography was written before Honnold’s amazing feat of free soloing El Capitan, so you know what he means when he talks of continuing to do bigger and funnier things in the future. Really exciting and some great research and interviewing were done by Roberts.
#50- That Makes You Smile
The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
I’ve always liked the feel of a good library. That’s why this one made me smile. The whole time I got to reminisce about hanging out at my hometown library and pursuing books for pure joy. There was also a good bit of investigative plot and action so I really enjoyed The Invisible Library.
Another month down, more good books read. We’re now one-quarter of the way through with our 2022 Reading Challenge! Have you read 12.5 of your 50 books yet? Let me know in the comments below if you’re ahead of schedule or need to ramp up your reading this spring.
Are any numbers on the list giving you trouble? Check out the Book Recommendations page here at Spine and Leaf Books for some ideas or see what I’ve read so far in the January Book Update and February Book Update.
Happy reading and see you next month!
Spine & Leaf Books 
So for March I’ve read 6 books which puts me at 26 books for the challenge and 74 books total for the year.
I’m going to end up reading 62 books total for the challenge this year. In February for example, I had also read the two other books of a trilogy for #08 |animal in the name| and I’m counting those extra ones. That example is a perfect one since all three books had an animal in the name (Grizzly Bell Rock, Something Weasel this Way Comes, Panther in a Pear Tree). Same happens here; I’m counting that I read the sequel of the book for #13.
#20 Over 500 pages long: Antoinette Stockenberg Dream a Little Dream -512- Romantic Suspense w/a Ghost
2 stars. The book is funny, really funny, up until 20% and then it gets old. Very. Old. I was already tired of the blame at 35% and almost didn’t finish the book, like so many other reviewers. The editing needs a serious pass and that was really distracting.
#13A Released in the month/year you were born ~Jan 1965: |PRINT| G.C. Edmondson The Ship that Sailed the Time Stream (Time Stream #1) -189- SF 4 stars. When reading, remind yourself that this book was written in the 1960’s when everything was peace ☮ and love ♥, thus we got a bunch of clean naked ladies aboard the ship to the utter happiness of the sailors :-D. Interesting facts – true or not, I didn’t care – and a fun ride. A bit of romance, suspense, mystery, some violence (especially with the Moors). The action was the main interest here and there was lots of it. Some stuff were fantastic, which makes it a great science fiction story. Entertaining.
I also read the sequel G.C. Edmondson To Sail the Century Sea (Time Stream #2) -194- SF, which was also a print and gave it a 4 star. The sequel is ~10 years after the end of the first book. It’s a bit confusing but still interesting. More conversations between lines, sort of “are you thinking what I’m thinking?” “yes”, but I had no idea what they were thinking, which brought some confusion. Good finale.
#26 With a magical element: Stephen Hawley Martin Actual Magic: The Secret to Manifesting Your Desires -62- 4 stars. At first I was shocked that the author would mix magic and religion, well Christianity, because the Bible is completely against using magic for all sorts of things (like seeing the future). We’re talking about the mind and the heart. Like he says, though, watch out for what you wish for. It’s like the joke where the old man who gets a wish and ask the genie for a wife that is much younger than him and the genie made HIM older, not her younger! I really liked all the analogies as it helps to understand everything he says. The concept is not new to me; I’ve seen it happened and it works great.
#09 From a NEW author: Simon Smith Looking For A Weegie To Love : One Man, One App, One Goal -125-
4 stars. NOT FOR THE PRUDES! Jack is not shy about anything that he’s done in the past or will do in the future. Re: Sandys Superstars and Stoya Destroya. Several times I had to ask myself “Why?” He didn’t know what he was doing there and then another time he was glad it was over. Why, then, do it? The end threw me off completely. Why did he need to put (lots) of distance behind him? The end is sad. This is not a love story, if you’re looking for one. Fortunately, I wasn’t. I was just curious to see a man’s POV on online dating.
#37 That’s a murder mystery: Wendy H. Jones Antiques and Alibis -278- Humorous Whodunit 2 stars. TRIGGER: Violence against women and children. The author also judges people who don’t leave their home when this happens. I was counting on a “humorous whodunit” as described by the author. I had a few smiles and many moments that got old fast. Exceptions: Cassandra wanted to “beg one of my numerous offspring for a lift”. She has no children and she was talking about her siblings. Then she thinks fight or flight. “flight won, and I lashed out”. LMAO. Great introduction to Eagal (dog): “Never one to shy away from his duties, he made sure any passing human got scrubbed clean”. Many plays on words about ballet, which was cute. The main character, Cassandra, is not likeable (indiscreet, liar, hypocrite, etc.) and it’s steady through the book. The end got me face-palming. During the story we are told many times that young Theo cannot sleep without his teddy bear and his mother and sister are not sleeping either because of that. Everyone is on the brink of going mad. When Cassandra finds the teddy, she has a choice of calling the mother to get the teddy so everyone can have a wink or go get a bite. Guess what she chose? She actually called her client the day after. The editing was so bad, I kept thinking “kill me now”.
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