Show Us Your Books April 2025

March ended up being a really good reading month for me. I was reading along with the 2025 Tournament of Books list as much as possible and found two really good ones right at the end.

Here’s the best of the best from March:

5 Star Reads

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins - I went into this buddy read with a bad attitude, but it ended up being amazing. The characters in this one stole the show.

Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino - I absolutely adored this book. A coming of age story about a possible alien born right around the same year I was? Yes, please. It was the second audiobook in a row that I listened to where I wanted to buy a paper copy so I can underline all of the parts I loved.

The History of Sound by Ben Shattuck - This audiobook hit just right. It’s a set of interconnected short stories each read by a different narrator. Next I want to read the paper version and take notes on how they all relate. I loved the New England settings and the pace of the stories. Really good.

4 Star Reads

Star of the Sea by Joseph O’Connor - I enjoyed this book even though I think I‘m going to have to read it again to fully understand what happened.

The Wedding People by Alison Espach - I assumed this would be total fluff (not that there’s anything wrong with that) but it was pretty deep albeit in a fluffy way. I liked what it had to say about taking care of yourself, finding the true you as you get older, loneliness, and grief. I loved how the author handled the pandemic. It made me laugh too.

Untamed by Will Harlan - We visited Cumberland Island last Easter without knowing much about it. Between the beaches, the abandoned mansions, and the wild horses it was like stepping into a novel. I’m now on a mission to learn as much as I can about it. This nonfiction book was a good starting place to learn about some of the history, gossip, and scandals.

Love and Death in Kathmandu by Amy Willesse - It took me a while to get through this book about the massacre of Nepal’s Royal family in 2001, but I ended up liking it. I still have a lot of questions about what happened, but the authors did a good job of setting the scene as best they could. I read a lot of mountaineering books so it was good to get a different sense of the country’s recent history.

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Walking Wednesday March 19, 2025

March 19th already! How did that happen? I love this time of year when the sun comes out and billions of flowers just appear where there was just brown dirt the day before. I’m enjoying it before summer comes and it feels like walking through soup!

This week’s audiobook is Ten Birds That Changed The World by Stephen Moss. This is the book that finally got me to upgrade to Everand Premium so I hope it’s worth it!

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Walking Wednesday March 12, 2025

From ice to flowers. Welcome to March! Time is flying like usual but it’s lighter out at night when I go for my walks. Hooray!

I’m about to start Fire Weather by John Vaillant. A tough topic, but it’s important to know about. This is one of the 52 non-fiction books I want to read this year. I think it’s #4 from my list so I better get going!

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On My Nightstand March 23, 2024

a stack of books teetering on the edge of my nightsand

It’s a cold and rainy Saturday to start spring break. I have a lot to do, but this day just calls for reading under blankets so we’ll see. Maybe I’ll split the difference.

I have some time off this week so I’m hoping to get through a big stack of books! I’m finally seeing the end of Brothers Karamazov in the distance, and I want to make some progress on my challenges. March has not been an easy reading month for me. Hoping for better things in April.

Have a great week!

Quote of the week

Opportunity did not knock until I built the door.
— Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

What I’m Reading This Week

On Kindle - Death in the Sunshine by Steph Broadribb - Sometimes you just need a cozy mystery to get past your concentration issues you know?

On Paper - The Physicist’s Daughter by Mary Anna Evans - For a book club. So far so good.

On Audio- The Stand by Stephen King - I’ve been wanting to re-read this for a while, and found out I had the audio version hiding on my phone.

This post is linked to The Sunday Post on Caffeinated Reviewer.

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