I’m sad to say March is over, my favourite month of the year is no longer upon us, so with great nostalgia, let’s wrap up March!
I read 10 books this month, and despite all the procrastinating I did this month, I managed to catch up on my reviews (except 3, which are written and scheduled for early next month). Here’s a look back at what I read this month…
The Good:
The standout reads of the month were:
Frailty by Betsy Reavley, a brilliant, five star, psychological thriller that plays out every parents worst nightmare – reviewed here.
Six Stories by Matt Wesolowski, a story of murder, narrated in six podcasts, haunting and real, I’d believe you if you said this was True Crime and not a work of fiction. You can read my review here.
Painkiller by N.J. Fountain, a great one for fans of slow-burners and unreliable narrators, reviewed here.
Sweetpea by C.J. Skuse, black comedy at its funniest, a great read, so worthy of the five stars I awarded it! Review coming next month.
Also read, reviewed and recommended this month were:
Follow Me Down by Sherri Smith
Dangerous to Know by Anne Buist
Purged by Peter Laws
Miss Christie Regrets by Guy Fraser-Sampson
On the blog next month will be reviews for these two books I also read:
Other bookish posts this month:
Bookish Ramblings: Back to Unbound and my new book pledge…
Book extract from Porcelain: Flesh of Innocents by Lee Cockburn
Book Box Unboxing: Ninja Book Box (A Shakespearean Mystery)
Urbane Unboxed: Welcome Box & Box 1 (March ’17)
I also held a birthday giveaway and the winners were: Marija @ Inside My Library Mind and Leah @ Fiction Fan Blog
The New:
To see the newest additions to my shelves: Birthday Book Haul and #BookHaul: March 17
Exciting news…
I’m adding in a new weekly feature to the blog!
It’s exactly what the banner says, each Sunday, I’ll post a mini review of a short story I’ve read recently. I was meant to introduce this feature at the start of the new year, but that whole me-procarastinating thing delayed it – it’s here now and that’s all that matters. If you’re a reader of short stories, get involved!
Oh, one last thing:
My Instagram book club – Criminally Good Book Club – are reading Perfect Days by Raphael Montes in April, please join us! You can find us on Instagram at: @criminallygoodbookclub
The path to true love rarely runs smoothly…
Teo, a medical student, meets Clarice at a party. Teo doesn’t really like people, they’re too messy, but he immediately realises that he and Clarice are meant to be together. And if Clarice doesn’t accept that? Well, they just need to spend some time together, and she’ll come to realise that too.
And yes, he has bought handcuffs and yes, he has taken her prisoner and yes, he is lying to her mother and to his mother and to the people at the hotel he’s keeping her at, but it’s all for her own good.
She’ll understand. She’ll fall in love. She’ll settle down and be his loving wife.
Won’t she?
***
And that, ladies and gentlemen, brings us to the end of March’s wrap up.
What were your bookish highlights of the month?
Keeper of Pages 
For some reason I thought Sweet Pea was a creepy book. I have no idea where I got that! 😄
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So did I at first, I requested it solely on its cover. But it’s not creepy, it is rude, inappropriate, sarcastic and so so funny. My review of it will be up on the 4th April
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Curious about Sweetpea, I didn’t request it but I might add it to the TBR after all your ravings!
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It was so so funny, Rhiannon is a wonderful character, I can’t remember the last time a book make me laugh so much, I love black humour and this one certainly delivered, my full review will be up on 4th April.
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Fantastic wrap-up post! I loved Painkiller too and I’m really looking forward to reading Sweetpea!
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Sweetpea will have you laughing the whole way through!
And Painkiller really surprised me, I was intrigued by the concept and it turned out to be way better than I expected 😊
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I’m even more excited for it now! I love a funny book 😀
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Ok, Sweetpea is funny?? That cover looks like a dark thriller. I need some details before your review please!🤗 Also, I’m really curious about your thoughts on A Presence of Absence…liked or not?
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Sweetpea – similar feelings I had when I read Normal (the likeable serial killer, that reminded me of Dexter) but much stronger. Funny, rude, inappropriate, so so entertaining – full review on 4th April.
A Presence of Absence – liked, I see so much potential for the next book. More than the plot, the characters make this book good. Full review coming on 5th.
That’s all your getting for now 😉
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I’m leaning toward trying Sweetpea…I’ll patiently wait until tues for full review, thanks forth early scoop😊
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You sure have a busy month! So many thrillers 🙂 I guess you like the adrenaline rush 🙂 What qualify as a short story? Good luck on your new feature. I do like to read mini reviews 🙂 Sweet Pea is funny? I will have to check that book out 🙂 I don’t like it when thrillers gets too scary haha..
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Yeah I guess you could say I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie when it comes to books!
What qualifies as a short story? That is a very good question and I struggled to answer it myself, according to google, it’s a story no longer than 20,000 words! I’ll be reviewing those, also flash fiction (short short stories, usually only 1000 words), also novellas and books made up of several short stories. (Amazon and Goodreads have been great in helping me find loads).
And yeah, Sweetpea is so entertaining, it’s dark humour, not dark scary haha
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Oh that’s great! Normally I only pay attention to books by pages not word count so I’m thinking 20,000 words must be around 200 pages or less? 😊
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I have no idea how many pages that would equal too 🙈 I think it’s all subjective really. The first book I’ve got scheduled is 11 pages long, another I’ve got my eye on is 38 pages and then there are some longer ones at 140ish pages. But I think 200 pages and under is a good benchmark 😊
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The highlights for me this month were Gone Without a Trace and The Wanderers, both of which I’ve reviewed, and You Don’t Know Me and The House, which I’ll be reviewing next month. Like the sound of the new feature 🙂
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You Don’t Know Me, I’ve got that one to read, I’m glad it was a highlight as I’m excited to read it. I still have mixed feelings about reading The House so hopefully your review will sway me! GWaT is on my wishlist after reading your review 😊
I’ve already scheduled the first 2 weeks of SSS so I can stay ahead and keep it up – seeing your review of The Caretaker (which is my second week choice) made me get my ass in gear and sort it out so thanks for that haha!
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You Don’t Know Me is amazing, and I did love The House. 😃 Looking forward to seeing what you thought of The Caretaker.
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