We’ve officially hit a whole year of exploring our at-home hobbies extensively, and for many, like myself, that means a LOT more reading to pass the time. With more and more vaccines rolling out every day, (our house is 3/4 of the way to full vax status - YAY!) it looks like we’ll soon be able to start doing the things we missed so much over the past year. I’m so excited to start traveling and exploring again, but I want to continue hitting the pages just as much as I hit the streets. I hope you do too.

All this to say, the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge remains alive and well. If you’ve read something amazing lately, please send it my way. I think something I’ve treasured so much over this past year is how many conversations I’ve had with different family and friends about what we’re reading. I’ve gotten so many good recommendations from them, be it genre-busters or something completely off my radar. It’s been an unexpected way to connect, and honestly, without all of us stuck at home, I don’t think it would have happened.

Anyway, here’s everything I enjoyed in March. As always, for review clarity, I’ll put hours listened for audio books or pages for physical books:

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
V.E. Schwab

Stats: Fantasy, 448 pages

Quick summary
The book follows the life of Adeline LaRue after she makes a deal with the darkness in 1714 to escape marriage and a life confined to her small French village. The book flips back and forth from 1714 to present day until the two timelines merge.

What I thought:
Short chapters, cursed deals with old gods, split timelines, star-crossed love... it’s the perfect recipe for my kind of historical fiction. This book gave me some strong Night Circus vibes a la Erin Morgenstern, which if you don’t recall was one of my favs last year.

Who should read it:
Let’s just say when I posted my review raving about it on Instagram, I had multiple people comment that they loved it too. Just make room for it on your list.

Born to Run
Christopher McDougall

Stats: Nonfiction, 11 hours and 6 minutes

Quick summary
Born to Run is the fascinating story of the great race between the Tarahumara or “Running People,” known for casually running hundreds of miles in one session, and western ultra runners. It also sprinkles in biomechanical evidence for how humans evolved to be distance runners.

What I thought:
I promised my brother I would read this forever ago and I finally got to it! I love reading running books, as nerdy as that sounds. It’s like finding your people in book form.

Who should read it:
Runner friends, read this immediately. Non-runners, add it too, because believe it or not, we were all born to run.

The Authenticity Project
Clare Pooley

Stats: Fiction, 368 pages

Quick summary
Lonely artist Julian Jessop leaves a green journal titled The Authenticity Project with the prompt: “Everyone lies about their lives. What would happen if you shared the truth instead? The one thing that defines you, that makes everything else about you fall into place?” The book makes its way around to five strangers, each struggling with their own identity, despite what it may look like on the outside.

What I thought:
This book was light and totally predictable, but I loved it. There were many instances where conversations seemed a little far-fetched, but as I always say, it’s fiction; it can be that way.

Who should read it:
This is your quintessential beach read. Also a great warm fuzzy when you’re stressed or overwhelmed with life and need something easy. We’ve all been there.

Girl A
Abigail Dean

Stats: Fiction, 352 pages

Quick summary
This is the story of Girl A. The girl who escaped from her infamous family’s House of Horrors. This is her life after and how her and her siblings navigate what to do with the house of their abuse following their mother’s death.

What I thought:
So many things I didn’t like about this one. There were way too many characters. There are seven siblings, plus a bunch of miscellaneous characters (like Girl A’s boss) thrown in for no apparent reason other than name confusion. Additionally, the story drifts back and forth between the past and present, but not in a clean manner (seriously, it’s almost paragraph to paragraph). There’s also pretty graphic descriptions of child abuse which I found difficult to read.

Who should read it:
I honestly can’t recommend this one.

What have you enjoyed lately? Leave a comment! I’m always looking for a great read.