The March ’18 Overview

In March I managed to get quite some books in, although to be honest two of them were rather thin. 

So what did I read last month? Read on and find out! As always they have been given a rating X out of 5 and a short review. If you click the title it will take you to the books’ Goodreads page.

March

‘Song of Solomon ’ by Toni Morrison ***

The first book I finished was for my book club. I was not a massive fan of the plot/characters, but the writing style was beautiful and I am curious to read more by Morrison.

‘The End’ by Samuel Becket ** 

I did not enjoy reading this. It is a ‘modern classic mini’ by Penguin Publishing and I have a few more to read, but this one is not a recommendation. (Although the way he describes disgusting things is a work of art).

‘Hag-Seed: The Tempest Retold’ by Margaret Atwood ***** 

THIS WAS AMAZING. It is a meta retelling of The Tempest and I would highly recommend reading the play first. The whole time you try to match the characters to the characters within the original play, but it is so much more than that. By letting inmates reimagine the play within the book you learn a lot about The Tempest and IT IS GREAT.

‘The Angel Maker’ by Stefan Brijs ****

Another book club read. It is actually a Dutch book, but for fun, we decided to read it in English. I thought it was really interesting and the discussions in the book club itself were also interesting. It is about faith, science and a modern sort of Frankenstein.

‘Gezien de feiten’ by Griet op de Beeck ***

The ‘boekenweek’ gift this year. It was ok, but not great. The plot was simple, the characters remained quite flat and it feels like it could have been a lot more if it hadn’t needed to be so short.

‘Will Grayson, Will Grayson’ by John Green and David Levithan

I really liked this. It is written by two authors who both write from the perspective of a ‘Will Grayson’. At some point in the book the two boys meet and the plot further unfolds from there. It was highly enjoyable and interesting two read from two authors within one book.

Review March

So six books this month, a nice result! But did I do what I wanted to do?

Last months the plan was as follows:

• ‘Hag-Seed’ by Margaret Atwood
• ‘Grit’ by Angela Duckworth
• ‘The Angel Maker’ by Stefan Brijs
• ‘The Merchant of Venice’ by Shakespeare (in preparation for ‘Shylock is my Name’ another Hogarth retelling)

Alright, I’ve read 2 out of 4. I did start in ‘Grit’, but I haven’t finished it yet and I don’t think I will make it a priority next month. I think ‘The Merchant of Venice’ will be one for next month.

April

Let’s take a look at what I want to read in April.

• ‘The Merchant of Venice’ by Shakespeare (in preparation for ‘Shylock is my Name’ another Hogarth retelling)
• ‘Trigger Warning’ by Neil Gaiman
• ‘His Bloody Project’ by Graeme Macrae Burnet

A small list this time, mostly because I have no idea what I feel like reading this month What are you planning to read this month? Let me know in the comments below, I would love to know!