March 2021 Wrap-Up and April TBR

In the place of my usual WWW Wednesday post, I have my end of my end of month wrap up and a look at what is coming up in my bookish world in April.

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March Wrap-Up

It’s been a good reading month – I’ve read some great books, including a few outside my comfort zone! This month, I’ve read 13 books. I’ve struggled a bit with digital reading, so these have been mainly physical books – unusual for me and a lovely change.

My NetGalley is at 76% – this will be a focus for me in April as I really want to get back to that elusive 80%!

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I started this month with the absolutely brilliant ‘The Three Locks’ by Bonnie MacBird for a blog tour. This is the fourth in her series featuring Sherlock Holmes and I adored the warm and respectful way she has recreated Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective. This mystery is cleverly intricate and features – among many other things – Victorian stage magicians, a missing girl and a mysterious locked box. You can read my review here.

I loved this book so much that I followed it up with the first two books in the series – I don’t think the order matters too much as they work as brilliant stand alones. Both ‘Art in the Blood’ (centred around an art theft) and ‘Unquiet Spirits’ (a mystery surrounding a whisky-producing family in Scotland) proved every bit as engrossing as I’d hoped and I look forward to the third in the series which I have lined up for next month.

After this, I read ‘Behind Closed Doors’ by Catherine Alliott, a book that was a touch more serious than I expected from Alliott (based on my previous reading). I thoroughly enjoyed this story about a woman suddenly freed from a difficult marriage and her steps towards finding her place in the world – and a new love, of course. My blog tour review is here.

Next up was a short but thought-provoking read – ‘Sex and the City of Ladies: Rewriting History with Cleopatra, Lucrezia Borgia and Catherine the Great’ by Lisa Hilton. I’ll admit that I was more familiar with Hilton for her modern, racy thrillers set in the art world, but this was interesting. She explores how women in history have been vilified doing exactly the same as their male counterparts who instead are often celebrated for their actions.

I finally finished my audiobook of ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ by Douglas Adams this month. I’ve enjoyed listening with my son (his first exposure to this old favourite book of mine) and Stephen Fry’s narration is lovely. This is a book that I’ve come back to many times since I first read it as a teenager, but it never gets old…even if the amazing, fancy Guide at the centre of the story is basically just Wikipedia on a tablet computer! How times move on!

[Incidentally, while we’re here, it is worth noting that Amazon’s audiobook service has some great deals on for new users – last I checked, they were offering 3 month subscriptions (so 3 audiobooks to keep) for 99p, or free one-month trials. It’s also worth signing up to their Audible Daily Deal service as some brilliant books have been on there for £1.99 or £2.99). It isn’t something I write about much on the blog, but I love Audible!]

Back to the March reads and next was ‘Last Place You Look’ by Louisa Scarr. This is an engaging police procedural and the first in a new series. I joined the blog tour for this one with Damp Pebbles – you can read my review here.

An unusual read for me was ‘Bloodlust and Bonnets’ by Emily McGovern, a graphic novel about a sassy Regency heroine, Lord Byron and some vampires. I loved the humour of this book which was the March book club read for The Write Reads group. I’ll definitely be looking into more graphic novels.

Another book club read this month (with the lovely ladies of the Tsundoku Squad) was ‘The Islanders’ by S V Leonard. This was a lively mix of Agatha Christie’s ‘And Then There Were None’ and Love Island – a deadly countdown and plenty of corpses live on reality TV. This was a quick, fun and engaging read – my review is here.

I also finally finished Katie Fforde’s, ‘A Wedding in the Country’ on NetGalley. This was a charming, 1960s-set book in which a young woman leaves home for life in a London that is just starting to swing. My review is here.

Then I zoomed through ‘The Shadow in the Glass’ by JJA Harwood for a Random Things blog tour – I absolutely loved this Victorian-set retelling of Cinderella. It is gothic and chilling and absolutely immersive – highly recommended! My review is here.

On the non-fiction front, I read ‘How to Live. What to Do’ by Josh Cohen, a psychoanalyst who looks at life through the lens of literature. I enjoyed this though-provoking and engaging book a lot – my review is here.

Lastly, I read ‘Truth or Dare’ by M J Arlidge, the tenth book in the police procedural/thriller series featuring DI Helen Grace. I’ve loved the pace and clever plotting of this series and this book is no exception. A review will follow nearer publication date in June.

There we have it! 13 books – 3 five star ones (‘Unquiet Spirits’, ‘The Three Locks’ and ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’). The rest are 4 stars – because I’ve got very good at picking books that I know I’ll like!

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April TBR

I will finish ‘Tomorrow Sex Will Be Good Again’ by Katherine Angel on the recommendation of the lovely Ellie H on Twitter. It is a really interesting look at issues around sex and consent.

I also need to finish ‘Insatiable’ by Daisy Buchanan which is proving to be blush-inducingly rude but also very funny. I have no idea where the story is going but it has made my head spin so far!

I am planning a bit of a NetGalley blitz in April if my headaches allow. ‘The Road Trip’ by Beth O’Leary will be up early as I have loved her other books and cannot wait to curl up with this one.

‘Dangerous Women’ by Hope Adams is another book that seems to be calling to me from my NetGalley TBR. I am a huge fan of historical fiction, doubly so if it is crime fiction – so this one really appeals.

I also have a few blog tours in April – I’ll be joining the one for ‘What Beauty There is’ by Cory Anderson (a YA novel that looks way sadder than I think I can cope with!) This is for The Write Reads.

I’ll also be doing the blog tour with HQ for ‘The Therapist’ by B A Paris. This looks to be a gripping read!

I’m also joining the tour for ‘The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls’ by Mona Eltahawy. This feminist manifesto that advocates fighting back and being heard looks intriguing and – from what I’ve read – the writing is persuasive and engaging.

I’m also planning on reading the third in the Bonnie MacBird Sherlock Holmes series, ‘The Devil’s Due’. I can’t rave about these books enough.

Many thanks to NetGalley, blog tour hosts, publishers and authors for books in exchange for an honest review.

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