March was hectic, and if you’re a reader of my blog you could probably tell since I went radio silent around halfway through! I had two big assignments due in March and they took up most of my writing mojo, sorry blog.

Reading Wrap

In March I read 10 books! I genuinely have no idea how I found the time, though I guess I used reading as my break from assignments. It was another really varied reading month – I started working through the Climate Fiction Prize longlist, and interspersed that with some non-fiction and a couple of shorter fantasy books. I do have a lot of reviews to catch up on now though…

• The Two Lives of Faven Sythe by Megan E. O’Keefe. Space pirates! I don’t think I need to say more, but, this was a really good, quick sci-fi following Faven who is searching for her mentor and gets caught up in a world of space-faring piracy.
• Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim. This was fine. There’s actually nothing wrong with the book, but I think it is time for me to accept that I have lost interest in YA stories for the most part now. Fantasy tailoring is a great plot, though!
• Sunbirth by An Yu. A surreal story set in a town surrounded by desert. The sun is disappearing, and life is getting harder. Then the Beacons appear, but are they saviour or doom? This was not a book I’d have picked up if it weren’t part of the Climate Fiction Prize longlist, but I really liked it.
• The Tiger’s Share by Keshava Guha. Another longlist read. Set in India, it follows Tara, a lawyer whose father reveals a startling side of himself upon retirement. Overall, this was good, but I don’t think I understood it properly. I appreciated the ecological themes, but I think it would have been a more effective story if I had a better grasp of Indian culture.
• Every Version of You by Grace Chan. Another longlist book, but one I have had on my tbr for a while. Set in a future where the climate has failed, and the earth is too hot, people now live their lives inside VR. This was a really poignant, thought-provoking story and it really hold a mirror up to our current world and asks us to take a good, long look at what we are doing.
• Kill Billionaire by Anders Lustgarten (arc). What a wild book! Kayla is just 14, but when her home is ravaged by out-of-control wildfires, she decides to do something about climate change. Namely, killing the ones responsible. This book was funny, full of rage and incredibly cathartic to read as someone who cares deeply about our world. Another one that doesn’t shy away from exposing our reality and asking us to think about it!
• Hum by Helen Phillips. Another tbr + longlist read. Hum follows May, living with her family in a technological world ravaged by climate change. With a payout from being a test subject, she treats her family to a short holiday in the Botanical Garden, the only place in the city that has any greenery at all. But the garden is not the dream she hoped for. Another book giving us uncomfortable truths about the world. This one was a quick read, but no less effective for it.
• Slime: A Natural History by Susanne Wedlich. Fascinating and repulsive, slime is everywhere. Here we go through the history of slime, from its role in the creation of life through to its possibilities for our future. This book, while a little dense, was super interesting, and I enjoyed that we looked at slime in so many different way – how it makes us feel, what it does, how it’s used etc.
• Dusk by Robbie Arnott. Another Prize read! This story follows twins Iris and Floyd as they join the hunt for a puma that has been killing shepherds in the highlands. The writing was excellent and incredibly atmospheric, and I didn’t mind the meandering plot at all. I enjoyed it overall.
• The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop by Takuya Asakura. I read this for Pagebound’s special event readalong. We follow a variety of characters as they get called to the Bookshop to work through their regrets, aided by Sakura and her cat Kobako. This follows the same pattern as a lot of translated books of this type, but it was still very cute and a quick read. If you love these kinds of books, I do recommend this one as I found the translation to be pretty good!

Books Aquired

I gained 4 books in March. 3 were sent to me by publishers, though one was a very exciting giveaway prize that came with an original artwork by the author! I then purchased an ebook from Kobo, since it is the next bookclub read over on r/Fantasy and I am hosting! (Come join me, it’s cat book month!)

• The Elegance of Ferns by Solvejg Nitzke
• The Intertidal Zone by Ruth Searle (giveaway prize)
• Wilderlands by Eloise Kane
• Sabriel by Garth Nix

Reading Challenges

Blog Wrap

REVIEWS:

• When the Forest Breathes by Susanne Simard
• Mad Sisters of Esi by Tashan Mehta
• Endemic by James Harding-Morris
• The Memory Bookshop by Song Yu-jeong

DISCUSSIONS:

• Let’s Talk Bookish: Women Who’ve Shaped My Reading Life

OTHER:

• February Wrap-Up
• WWW Wednesday: 11/03/26

Life Wrap

You Tell Me: How was your March? What was your best read?