Books Read in March

Book By Book

Before I jump into my March summary of books read and progress in reading challenges, be sure to also check out my March Reading Wrap-Up on YouTube. It’s not a duplicate of this post, but a brief summary of the books I read last month and what I liked about each one. It’s meant to complement this blog post and provide a little something extra, in case you want to know more about these great books.

And now, here are the books I finished in March:

The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne (Ireland) – adult fiction

Heart Spring Mountain by Robin MacArthur (VT) – adult fiction on audio

My Name Is Memory by Ann Brashares (VA) – adult fiction

All Together Now by Hope Larson (CA) – middle-grade graphic novel

Whisky for Breakfast by Christopher P. Mooney (UK) – adult fiction/short stories

Rabbit, Run by John Updike (PA) – classic adult fiction

The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart (WA) – middle-grade fiction on audio

Twins by Varian Johnson and Shannon Wright – middle-grade graphic novel

March was an all-fiction month for me! I read four adult novels and one collection of short stories. I also read three middle-grade novels, two of which were graphic novels. I listened to two books (one adult novel and one middle-grade novel) on audio. So, despite it all being fiction, there was a whole lot of variety! My favorite book of the month–and added to my list of favorite books ever–was The Heart’s Invisible Furies, a novel that stole my heart, making me laugh and cry. I absolutely loved it and rated it a 10 in my book group, which is rare for me. The middle-grade runner-up was The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise, which is now my favorite Dan Gemeinhart novel and was a delight to listen to on audio.

Progress in 2021 Reading Challenges:
You can see all of the reading challenges I am participating in and full lists of the books read for each at the challenges link above. I have some fun ones going this year!

Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2021 – Four of my eight books in March were from my own shelves.

2021 Monthly Motif Reading Challenge – March was Countries and Cultures, so The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne, set in Ireland, fit well.

Back to the Classics 2021 – I read my second classic of 2021, Rabbit, Run by John Updike, which I put into the category A classic with an animal in the title.

2021 AtoZ Reading Challenge - It’s getting tougher now, with lots of H’s, M’s, and R’s, but I did manage three more letters: A, T, and W. For the March Mini Challenge, a book written by an author of a different race than you, I read Twins by Varian Johnson and Shannon Wright.

PopSugar Reading Challenge 2021 – this is a unique one, with 50 quirky categories. I added another 6 categories to my list this month:

1. A book about forgetting – My Name Is Memory by Ann Brashares
2.  A book featuring 3 (actually, 5!) generations – Heart Spring Mountain by Robin MacArthur 
3.  A book that has the same title as a song – All Together Now by Hope Larson 
4. A book with fewer than 1000 review on Amazon/Goodreads -  Whisky for Breakfast by Christopher P. Mooney
5. A book everyone seems to have read but you – The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne
6. A free book from your TBR list – The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart

2021 Nonfiction Reader Challenge – No new nonfiction last month.

Diversity Reading Challenge 2021 – Three of my books were diverse last month, though I didn’t read anything that fit the monthly theme of female authors in male-dominated genres.

Travel the World in Books Reading Challenge – I made another stop in the UK last month and added Ireland to my global travel list.

2021 Literary Escapes Challenge – I added four new states, Vermont, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Washington.

And finally, Bookish Bingo hosted by Chapter Break – not really a challenge per se, but a fun game that I play each month! Stop by to print out this month’s Bingo card and play along. In March, I filled 21 spaces on my bingo card:

Spaces Filled:

The Heart’s Invisible Furies – e-book, Irish/Ireland

Heart Spring Mountain – not in a series, bad luck, audio book, trope (returning home)

My Name Is Memory – book club read, library book, green on the cover

All Together Now – free book, in a series

Whisky for Breakfast – detective, gold or money, new release

The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise – empowered female

Rabbit, Run – passion/temper, shelf love

Twins – read a physical book, siblings

Free Space

What was your favorite book read in March?