What I Read: My March 2023 Reads, Ratings, and Book Reviews
This year is zooming by, and some days I feel like I am just getting dragged along with it! Today, I am sharing my March 2023 reads, ratings, and book reviews. I had some FUN reads this month. Apparently I was on a heist kick, because I read two books about con artists trying to find normal lives. I love how a good book can bring you into a different world and mindset. Reading those two so close together really made me feel like I could take on the world as a Robin Hood-esque queen (don’t worry, I won’t try).
My 2023 Reading Goal / Some Background
As I mentioned in my January reading recap post and again last month, my goal for 2023 is to read 52 books. This was inspired by a group I found on Reddit called the 52 Book Challenge. I love seeing what others around the world are reading. Essentially, you are reading one book a week throughout the year. I LOVE this challenge and how it allows me to see what others are reading all over the world!
This Month: A Quick Recap
This was the first month this year that I read all of my books via a physical copy, none on my Kindle. The reason for this is because I am moving so I am trying to purge what I can before the end of the month. No idea how this move (and other adventures) will alter my number of reads for April … only time will tell.
If you want to see more reads I’ve recommended (or check out Ashley’s corner), click here.
My March 2023 Reads and Reviews
1 - Lucky by Marissa Stapley
Lucky is a girl on the run – whether she is 11 and helping create ploys with her father, or 26 wanted by the FBI. She has never had the “normal” life she’s always dreamed of, nor found the mother she’s always wanted to meet. When she discovers the lottery ticket she bought at a random gas stop actually is the multimillion dollar winner, she has to decide whether to turn herself in to collect her funds… or stay on the run potentially forever.
One of my best friends gave me this book last year during a particularly tough time in my life, citing that it is one of her favorite “feel happy” books. I absolutely love that (and her).
This was the cutest book I’ve read in a long time. It was an easy read, and could easily be done in a day. (Picture this: you, on vacay, feet in the sand, this awesome, easy read in one hand, a cocktail / mocktail in the other. Sounds like peak happiness to me!) I loved the characters, emphasis on family, and the way the author made Lucky (the main character) so dimensional. Whether she was 11 or 26, I felt like I could relate to her and her thoughts / feelings.
This would be such a fun book club book (it’s only 232 pages!) or a fun mother-daughter read (I’d recommend the daughter be at least around 13)!
Trigger warning: miscarriage
Support the blog, and order it from Amazon.
2 - The Last Flight by Julie Clark
Meet Claire: the wife of a wealthy – yet abusive – politician.
Meet Eva: an orphaned college dropout who cooks drugs in her basement for a controlling local dealer with no way out.
Both are trying to escape their lives … and both happen to be flying out of JFK on the same day. They pull a “parent trap” and switch tickets and identities.
WOW – this may be my first 5 star read since January? It was so fast paced and pulled me out of the reading slump I had been in. It was a very on-brand read for International Women’s Month.
Order The Last Flight on Amazon.
3 - Born to Rock by Gordon Korman
Leo Caraway is president of the young republicans club, but after losing his scholarship to Harvard for being accused of cheating on an exam, he is forced to go on tour with his dad, “King Maggot” and his punk rock band in order to pay for school.
So fun fact about this book: it was assigned to my small, private middle school as required summer reading when I was transitioning from sixth to seventh grade (age 12). Some parents complained and it got taken off the list of requirements … something about the first sentence in the book talking about cavity searches and the third page referring to the Republican Party as “The Big Lie”. We were much more sheltered back then.
Anyways … since I am more than double the age I was at that time, I decided I must be old enough to read it now. There were some moments in this book that made me full on laugh out loud. Said moments brought my rating up. While it wasn’t something I would normally read on my own accord, I’m glad I did it. It was a quick read, especially since I skimmed some chapters I didn’t find particularly interesting.
4 - So That Happened by Katie Bailey
A delayed flight, meddling senior citizen, a run in with her ex and his pregnant wife, and airport roadside hotel room shortage all added up to one complete disaster for Annie … and forced her to spend the night with the grumpy (yet sexy) man she sat next to on the plane. On the way to her first day of work in a new city – of course! To make matters worse, she walks into her first day on the job and realizes that the same man is now her boss, turning her world upside down.
This book was EXACTLY what I needed at the point of time in which I read it. First off, this is the type of situation I would actually find myself in, which made it even better. Typically, I need my romcoms to be a little bit more ~spicy~, but for what it lacked in spice this one made up for in actual hilarity. The sexual tension between Annie and Liam didn’t hurt, either. SUCH a cute, laugh out loud hilarious read – I recommend!
Free with Kindle Unlimited!
5 - The Lies I Tell by Julia Clark
Con-artist Meg Williams ruined Kat Roberts’ life, and now that Meg has returned to town, Kat is determined to expose her for everything she is … and Meg is onto her. When Kat forges a friendship with Meg in order to get to know her better, things get twisty. What parts of their friendship are real … and which are fronts each of the ladies are putting on for the other to see?
Two Julia books in one month! Clearly I enjoy her a little bit. Anything by Julia is now an instant read for me. The only thing keeping this one from being five stars was the pace. I feel like it could have been a little bit shorter and to the point, especially when it came to the chapters from Kat’s perspective. That SAID – I absolutely loved this twisty little novel. It was my second female con artist read this month (as I said earlier), and it was absolutely fascinating. HIGHLY recommend.
I got this book back this summer as an early release with Book of the Month, so I wanted to go ahead and drop a link here in case getting books published early and at a discounted price is something you’re interested in! Using my link (here) gets you your first book at a discount, and you can cancel any time.
My March 2023 Reading List: Reads and Reviews
