Greetings all! I can hardly believe we’re through the first quarter of the year! So far still hanging in there with my reading challenge, although I was really hoping to have finished more of my education reads by now and be moved into new ones. But March wasn’t a bad month for reading overall. I read 10 books, 2 were from my first round of selections for the 5×5 challenge, and 3 others will have a place on my Literary Life Challenge. This is the most critical time of the year though. I really need to keep my reading game strong through these last two months of school so that my 6 weeks of vacation can be full of pre-reading and maybe a series binge. I know, I know, I’m a party animal 😉

The Books

1. Passionate Practice: The Musician’s Guide to Learning, Memorizing, and Performing by Margaret Elson. This was one of my music category reads and I think it was a valuable read as a performer. I’m always trying to get around the performance nerves and there were some helpful ideas in this. It is very practical and walks you through different mental exercises that can help you to stay focused and relaxed during performance.
2. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Coelho’s tale of a young shepherd setting out on his personal quest is a fairly short read. There were some inspiring quotes, and the attitude towards personal growth is quite good. The way Coelho mixes up all kinds of religions was weird though, and the ending was not very satisfying.
3. Whose Body? by Dorothy Sayers . I have heard all kinds of recommendations for Dorothy Sayers mysteries and this one (First of the Lord Peter Wimsey series) did not disappoint. A mysteriously dead bather sets the stage and draws Lord Peter into an investigation that seems to go all over England. It took me a while to get into this story, but once I did I was hooked. Definitely plan to read more of this series over the summer.
4. The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn. Based on the true story of Mila Pavlichenko, a Russian sniper, Diamond Eye takes you on a wild ride through the eastern battlefields of WWII, to a goodwill tour in the US. I adore Quinn’s writing style and this book does not disappoint. A wonderfully crafted story around the life of a real historic figure and a lesser known part of the Second World War.
5. Fragile Designs by Colleen Coble. When Carly Tucker’s husband is murdered, she is left to unravel the mystery and find a new way to support their newborn son. Her grandmother proposes opening a joint bed and breakfast, but neither of them expect to uncover a decades old family secret and treasure that will endanger and change their lives forever. Predictable in some ways, but a pleasant read for a Saturday afternoon.
6. Marco Polo: His Travels and Adventures by George Makepeace Towle. This biographical account of Marco Polo’s life is deceptively small. It looks like a slender volume, but the language is complex and the action never stops. It’s assigned in Year 3 of our homeschool curriculum and I have started it exactly 3 times now. We never finished it until this year. It’s not the easiest book to get through, but Eva enjoyed it the most out of my kids who have read it so far.
7. The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon. Another absolutely riveting historical fiction read, this one about an 18th century midwife named Martha Ballard. As a midwife, Martha is privy to a lot that happens behind closed doors. She documents it all in her journal–births, deaths, community events. When a body is found frozen in the ice of the river in the dead of winter that just happens to be one of the alleged perpetrators of a horrible crime, she is drawn into an investigation that will rock their small community. This book was excellent, one of my favorites so far this year. Another based on true events and real people. Highly recommend!
8. The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden by Karina Yan Glaser. The second book in the Vanderbeekers series finds that motley crew at the beginning of summer. When their beloved neighbors are stricken with illness, the Vanderbeekers set out to grow a secret garden. It was a nice read, good family values, a community working together, etc., but it felt like it wasn’t essentially different from the first book in the series. Same type of plot, similar conflicts and misunderstandings. I was underwhelmed. The kids loved it though.
9. Just Open the Door by Jen Schmidt Another of my reading challenge books! Schmidt presents a creative look at hospitality, and what it can look like in different seasons of life. I disagree with some of her religious views, but I loved the practical glimpses into different ways to practice being hospitable. I want to be hospitable and generous with our time and friendships, but sometimes I struggle to know how to fit it into busy lives. I thought this book had a lot of really practical tips and I appreciated that.
10. I Am David by Anne Holm. David has escaped from a prison camp in Eastern Europe where he spent most of his life, and is trying to make his way to safety. I know the details aren’t the point of this book, but the lack thereof drove me crazy. It is supposed to be the story of his odyssey, adventures, and emotional growth as he makes his way to safety. But the geography doesn’t make any sense and the timeline is barely feasible. He escaped from a prison camp in Eastern Europe–presumably German–but then he somehow ends up in Italy and has to hike his way all the way back through Italy and Austria and Switzerland and even Germany! to get to Denmark. And the timeline! Let’s talk about the timeline! David is supposedly 12 but he remembers nothing of life outside the camp. Presumably wwii is still being fought, which means it is prior to 1945. Dachau was the first prison camp Hitler opened, mainly for political prisoners, in 1933. The idea that an infant would have ended up there at that time is shaky to begin with, but even if he did, it would have been 1944-1945 before he was twelve anyways and there was nothing about the war. It was very frustrating to me. But it was moderately well-written (if you can excuse the lack of crucial details, something I clearly have a hard time doing), had an interesting premise, and the children enjoyed it. Maybe it wasn’t actually supposed to be historical, but merely hypothetical?

Those are my books of March! I know we’re halfway into April now, but better late than never, right? Ha!