Everything I read in March (in brief . . . with daffodils)

March:

31. Joan is Okay by Weike Wang - The story of an extremely introverted, workaholic doctor who prefers machines over people. Joan is not necessarily what you could call happy, but she's content with her life; she's OK. Unfortunately, everyone around her wants her to be something she's not. Her brother and mother (visiting from China when the pandemic breaks out) think she should marry and settle down, move to a smaller city near her brother, maybe have kids. Her employer thinks she needs to take more time off. Her neighbor, who is a shopaholic, tries to make her apartment more homey by giving her stacks of books, furniture, trinkets — usually things he's bought on impulse and doesn't need. I loved the author's turn of phrase and would honestly read anything she wrote but thought the book lost a little something in the final third or so. It went from being a story about Joan dealing with people who want to change her to a story of immigration and Chinese culture and lost me a bit. Still loved it; I just was disappointed with the ending. 

32. Black Girls Must Die Exhausted by Jayne Allen - Someone described this book as "chick lit" and I thought, "Oh. I didn't think of it that way at all." Maybe? It's about Tabitha, a woman who is in her thirties, has a great boyfriend, and enough of a nest egg to make a downpayment on a house. A potential promotion is on the horizon and all seems to be going to plan when she finds out she needs to have her eggs harvested and frozen (at great expense) or she won't be able to have children of her own. But, what will Tabitha's boyfriend think, and is it worth spending her entire savings? Really enjoyed this book and would like to read the next one by this author.

33. The Poppy Factory by Liz Trenow - After Jess, who served a tour of duty as a medic in Afghanistan returns home with PTSD, she begins drinking heavily to subdue the nightmares and gradually starts to spiral out of control. Then, Jess's mother discovers the diaries of Jess's great-grandmother, Rose, whose husband Alfie went through the exact same thing after WWI. As she begins to see similarities in herself and Alfie, Jess begins to find the courage to reach out and get the help she needs. I loved this blend of historical and contemporary fiction. Unlike most, it doesn't jump around a lot. You stay with one character for a long time before going back to the other.

34. The Giant's Necklace by Michael Morpurgo - A children's book (~80 pages, as I recall, but no chapters, so Middle Grade Light) about a girl named Cherry who is collecting shells to make a giant necklace. Cherry needs enough more shells for her necklace to reach to the toaster so she goes with her family on one last trip to the Cornish Cove near their rented cottage. While she's collecting shells and after her family has returned to the cottage, a storm moves in and she falls into the water but later washes up, climbs the rocks, and finds a cave where the ghosts of two miners help her return home. But, it turns out she's a ghost, too. This one shocked me. Some other readers thought of it as a "ghost story" or a good way to help kids deal with death but I found it horrifying. 

35. The Summer of Broken Things by Margaret Peterson Haddix - Most of the books I've read by Haddix have been eerie Middle Grade series books, so this one's a departure, a YA about two teenagers. A rich teen's father says she has to spend the summer in Spain with him but he'll let Avery take one friend. Then, he chooses the friend, a poor girl she used to play with but now looks down upon, Kayla. They don't get along at all. Both learn to get around Madrid, Kayla following the plan to take immersive Spanish courses and making lots of new friends, Avery doing whatever pleases her. But then things fall apart and it's only the steadfastness of Kayla and her strength in a crisis that finally teaches Avery her lesson. Loved the armchair travel, in particular. 

36. The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher - Carrie Fisher's story about her time as a 19-year-old actress making a little sci-fi film that became a surprising success. Not about the making of the movie, unfortunately, but still interesting. Instead, a good 2/3 of the book is about Carrie's affair with Harrison Ford, who was married with two children and his 30s. Part is recollection, part is her (very poetic and beautifully written but angsty) diary entries, the rest is mostly about being Princess Leia for life, no matter where she went, although other side topics like her mother's failed marriages and their difficulty finding trustworthy people to manage money are mentioned. 

37. Black Brother, Black Brother by Jewell Parker Rhodes - One of my favorites of the month, a YA about two mixed-race brothers attending a fancy private school after moving from an area in which both were accepted. One brother looks black, the other white. In the new school, the darker-skinned brother, Donte, is always getting into trouble, although he's not a troublemaker. It's partly because he has a bully getting him into trouble, partly racism. But, instead of lashing out, Donte chooses to take fencing lessons. His bully is a champion fencer and Donte's goal is to become skilled and beat the bully at his own game. What a wonderful story! I love it that Donte never tries to get off the hook by accusing his bully and never attacks him, physically or verbally. Instead, Donte chooses to win by bettering himself. 

38. Birds by Miranda Krestovnikoff and Angela Harding - A children's picture book I bought for the illustrations. I followed Angela Harding on Instagram for a while (she fell to the thinning out of accounts that don't follow me back). I love her art and have wanted to own something by her, for a while, and this book looked like a good shot at getting some of her art to admire. Humorously, after reading the book I can say that I think it really needed photographs so that you could see what the birds looked like in real life and I knocked a point off my Goodreads rating for that. But, wow, what an informative book! I learned so much more than I would have expected from a children's picture book. 

39. The Eighteen-Carat Kid and Other Stories by P. G. Wodehouse - A book of Wodehouse's early short stories. For those who are unfamiliar with Wodehouse, he wrote a number of series', including the Jeeves and Wooster series. The stories in The Eighteen-Carat Kid include the story of a headmaster at a private school who tries to thwart the efforts of various bad guys attempting to kidnap the son of a wealthy American. That's probably my favorite and it's the title story. Great stories, as always. The only one I had a little trouble following was one that took place at a cricket match but it was only the cricket bits that I didn't get. The story itself was a good one.

40. Fault Lines by Emily Itami - Another favorite, the story of a Tokyoite named Mizuki who is a stay-at-home mother with two children. Mizuki doesn't feel like she's all that great at mothering and her husband hardly notices her, anymore. So, when she meets a man who enjoys her company, she has an affair (which surprisingly remains platonic for a long time). Whether or not you've been to Tokyo, Fault Lines is another great one for armchair travel. I particularly enjoyed it when the main character went to areas with which I had some familiarity. Fault Lines is very light-hearted. The author has a great sense of humor. But, there are darker moments that she manages to turn funny, as in the time when Mizuki decides to jump off her balcony and then changes her mind and her pants get caught in the railing. From then on, she refers to it as "the suicide balcony". Highly recommended. 

41. The Maid by Nita Prose - Molly is perfectly suited to be a maid. She grew up with a grandmother who cleaned the home of a wealthy family and had certain chores for the days of the week to keep their apartment sparkling. But, Molly's grandmother has passed away, she has lost her grandmother's nest egg, and now she's found a dead body and is being accused of murder. What Molly has on her side is a flawless memory for detail, her unique directness, and a few good friends willing to help. Absolutely delightful and another new favorite. Highly recommended. I loved every minute of the reading. 

42. Three Things I Know Are True by Betty Culley - The story of a teen, Liv, whose brother horsed around and accidentally shot himself with the neighbor's loaded gun. Jonah is permanently brain damaged and his mother is suing the neighbors to try to get his medical care covered. Meanwhile, sister Liv acts out at school but then begins meeting Jonah's best friend Clay secretly (and, occasionally Clay's mother, as well) and slowly they begin to heal. This YA, told completely in verse, kept me up into the wee hours of the morning. I had some issues with it (some people and circumstances were a little too perfect) but I'm glad I read it. 

43. Sisters of Night and Fog by Erika Robuck - This is the only book I reviewed in March so you can hop through the link to read my full review. The short version is that it's the fictionalized true story of two women who worked fighting the Nazis. They're quite different but their stories eventually intertwine. They alternate chapters: Violette, Virginia, Violette, Virginia. So, if you don't like bouncing back and forth, this one might bug you a bit. But, it's an excellent book, very detailed and clearly well researched. It is both heartbreaking and uplifting. Save this one for when you can handle the horror of Nazi cruelty. Parts of it are rough. 

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