Best and Strangest: March

This month has been busy - school, work, family, trips out of town. With all that, I haven't had time to do nearly all the reading I've wanted to do (though let's be honest, I never get to do all the reading I want to do). However, I was still able to finish 11 books this month, which isn't a new record or anything, but is still pretty solid. Below are my picks for the best and strangest of the month, followed by all the other books I read in March:

BEST

• Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank - This is a book that I can't believe I'd never heard of until now. It was recommended to me by a friend who grew up in Florida, where the novel is set (she actually grew up 20 or so miles from the town that the story focuses on). I wasn't sure what to expect of it, but I absolutely loved this book. The stories of survival after a nuclear apocalypse made me wonder how I'd survive in such a situation and prompted many interesting discussions with friends who had read it about what would be different today and what benefits we could get from our location. I've had this on my mind for weeks after reading it and that doesn't often happen to me with books. The Cellist of Sarajevo was a fascinating follow-up read.

STRANGEST

• Puckoon by Spike Milligan - Oh how I love David Bowie. I was delighted at the prospect of #BowieBookClub and I still am thoroughly enjoying, but Bowie and I have wildly different taste in books. Puckoon is full of British/Irish humor and would be bizarre just based on the wild plot (a town is accidentally divided down the middle in the midst of a war), but there are so many small additions that make it worth reading. My favorite part is Dan Milligan, who spends most of the novel being propelled into action by the author and complaining that the author made his legs look weird. If you want a bizarre read, look no further than this.

THE REST OF MARCH'S BOOKS

★★★

★★

★★★

★★★

★★★

★★★★

★★★

★★★★

★★★

What have you read this month? What was your best read? Your strangest read? Have you read any of my March books?

March: Best and strangest

MY BEST BOOKS OF MARCH 2017

-The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins - One of the first detective novels ever written, this book was groundbreaking when it was originally released. These days, it’s considered to be a classic and one of the forerunners of the thriller/detective genre. It’s a great read and it’s easy to see why this book was such a big deal. My only complaint: The ending is a bit meh. There’s all this buildup and then…..oh. Okay. That’s it. You can read more of my thoughts here.

-Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus by Orson Scott Card - It’s been years since I read any Orson Scott Card and this was definitely not what I expected of him. And I mean that in the best way possible. Card is an absolutely fantastic author, but this still blew me away. It’s one of those book that I’ll be ranting about for years to come. If you like time travel or serious moral/ethical questions or history or any of the above, this story is definitely for you. Read my full Goodreads review to read me gushing some more.

MY STRANGEST BOOK OF MARCH 2017

-The Last Hot Time by John M. Ford - I should preface this by saying that I’ve never read adult contemporary fantasy before. And it was quite the experience. The Last Hot Time is a set up like a film noir - drinking, gambling, impropriety, you know the rest. That in and of itself doesn’t sound too weird, but throw in elves, gang wars, magic bullets, curses…..and it gets a bit more complicated. It continued to feel like a film noir, but with fantasy characters and issues, which made things interesting. I got the feeling the author is a weird dude because no normal person could have thought up such an interesting premise.

Am I glad I read this?: Ultimately, I guess so?! I definitely didn’t love this book. It was a bit of a chore to force myself through it. I loved the author’s idea, but his execution left something to be desired. You can read more of my thoughts on Goodreads. If nothing else, this book opened the door to contemporary fantasy for me and I’ve added Borderland to my TBR (so maybe I’ll actually read it someday) because of this book. I dunno that I like contemporary fantasy now, but the idea intrigues me and I want to test it out a bit more.

What did you read this month? Anything absolutely mind-blowingly incredible? Anything beyond bizarre?