March Reads | 2016

Here’s what I read in March:

The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy: And Handbook for Girl Geeks by Sam Maggs

I consider myself a geek. I love playing video games, I read graphic novels, I’m that strange person who needs to collect all the POP! figures just like Pokemon…And I’m on a committee to help run a pop culture convention. THIS was the book for me. It gave me recommendations, now I really want to see Hero and Haywire. It gave me tips for cosplaying – something I’ve wanted to do for ages. And it was hilarious and helpful when it came to trolls and how to deal with them. Highly recommended for anyone who is a geek.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

I adored The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte and loved Jane Eyre by Charlotte. Wuthering Heights? Ehh. I appreciated the writing and the complexities of the characters, however it was so starkly depressing that I found it hard to enjoy the novel. The characters are downright cruel and selfish and tragedy after tragedy occurs. At least the novel ends on a tone of hope.

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

After Wuthering Heights I felt like I needed something light and fun. Rebel of the Sands definitely begins like that, it starts off with the a gunslinger competition of all things! A blend of the Western genre and a world inspired by Middle Eastern mythology – it was an interesting premise that I had to read. However much to my disappointment, this Young Adult fantasy quickly turned very generic in regards to its plot and characters. I felt like I had passed down a path I had trodden multiple times and couldn’t wait to finish it.

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

And then along came Ancillary Justice. I had tried to read it the year before but couldn’t get into it, however this time I just adored the world and its myriad of interesting characters. Ancillary Justice is about an Ancillary (sort of an AI who can inhabit so many different bodies and has so for thousands of years) who now only inhabits one body and is out for revenge.It was hard getting into the novel at first, gender is described differently – everyone is referenced as a “she” even if they are male, but you slowly ease into it and the story becomes a trip. This is vastly different Sci-Fi to what I have experienced before but that is what makes the novel unique and interesting.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter #3) by J.K Rowling

Can I just say I wish I had re-read the Harry Potter books multiple times? It has been such a treat to reread them for the first time and I’m picking up tidbits I hadn’t realized before. Also it’s nice to read Prisoner of Azkaban as an adult now as I no longer get too scared to read further. Plus the novel only affirms my love for Professor Remus Lupin.

The Pillars of the World (Tir Alainn #1) by Anne Bishop

I read this for the Vaginal Fantasy bookclub and I’m so glad I did after loathing Anne Bishop’s other book Written in Red from her Others series. Pillars of the World brought back elements I have been missing from my reading life: fantasy romance and a bit of darkness. This is a novel full of magic, terror, fae people and witches. It was such a lovely escape that I devoured its contents over a very small span of time and I had so much fun that I’m looking eagerly to reading the rest of the series.

The Rebirth of Rapunzel: A Mythic Biography of the Maiden in the Tower by Kate Forsyth

Kate Forsyth is the bomb – to say it in a not so articulate manner. I adore her novels: Bitter Greens, The Wild Girl, The Beast’s Garden and I intend to read her Witches of Eileanan series. And it seemed a logical step to read her exigesis on the evolution of the Rapunzel fairytale. It was a very enlightening piece that helped me understand the themes of the Rapunzel tale and why it has continued to play a large part in our fairytale history, its feminist retellings and also Forsyth’s research process. This was fun read to linger over the Easter weekend and I adored every second of it.

The Flowers of War by Geling Yan

As you will come to learn, I love historical novels and one of the periods of history that I have always enjoyed and will continue to read about is 20th century China. The Flowers of War is about the sacking of Nanking by the Japanese and an American church in the middle of it as a refuge for the priests, schoolgirls, prostitutes and Chinese soldiers. This was an interesting take on the affects of war and how people will hurt and belittle each other to survive. It isn’t my favorite novel about this time period but it ends on a fascinating tone that I cannot help but think of it.

Animal Farm by George Orwell

I know I said I would read 1984 first but I was scrolling through my Kindle for something short and stumbled upon this gem of a novel. Animal Farm was…not as cheesy as I thought it was going to be, it is a fascinating mirror (albeit about a farm in England) to the Russian revolution, the aftermath and the leaders Lenin and Stalin. Although you don’t need to know anything about the revolution to enjoy the novel, I felt having some knowledge really increased my enjoyment and appreciation of the novel’s themes. And it was hilarious reading about pigs getting drunk – need I say more?

Favorite book of the month: The Pillars of the World by Anne Bishop

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Image for header taken from oldfirestation.org.uk