March was a mixed month for me: my degree can’t decide if it’s going well or not, work is now picking up majorly and tiring me out, I joined my first DnD group and I’m really enjoying the experience and to top it off our puppy has just turned 10 months and has forgotten all of his training!

My reading reflected the array of events and emotions I’m experiencing in my real life too this month. As the title suggests, many of the books I read were library loans so that was great for my 2023 reading resolutions, it’s also great for my bank account because it stopped me from wasting money on some not so great books!

The three library books I picked up this month were an interesting mix, and all books I’ve wanted to read but have been hesitant to buy, and it appears with good reason. Kicking it off with the good, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus was relentlessly shoved into my face by Waterstones last year, and I was incredibly hesitant to pick it up as nothing about chemistry or cooking remotely interests me. I finally caved when I saw it on Libby, and I am so glad I did (and somewhat kicking myself for not picking up the gorgeous exclusive editions when they were around). This was not at all what I was expected, and was so heartfelt I started crying about 100 pages in, and quickly found myself devouring the rest in hope it was going to maintain it’s excellence (it did). It’s one I recommend to everyone who has been hesitant to pick it up so far.

My good luck with the library loans stopped there. Clearly, last month I was in a bit of a silly mood when I decided to give The Duke and I a go. I have seen the first season of Bridgerton and enjoyed it for the trash TV it is, I thought I might feel the same about the book, I very much did not. The dialogue between the two characters was off-putting, and included put downs only 12 year old me would have thought were clever; and the scene that was so controversial between the two love interests in the show is somehow even worse in the book. If you’re a lover for romance go for it, but if you’re cold, twisted and don’t believe in such things like me maybe give this one a miss.

How to Kill Your Family, whilst not nearly as cringey as The Duke and I, somehow ended up being the most boring book I read in March; this is incredibly impressive when you consider the plot focuses on a young women avenging her mother by killing her estranged family. The true problem with this, minus the Buzzfeed/millennial humour the internet – at least in my experience – has grown out of, is it can’t quite decide on who it wants the protagonist, and therefore the book, to be. It veers wildly between snobbish and classicist to ‘eat-the-rich’ to dragging the whole of society as inferior to the interests and feelings of the protagonist; there is nothing wrong with an unlikeable female protagonist, as long as the unlikability is consistent.

Running on booktok this March, many of us took part in the Trans Rights Readathon, which included donating, fundraising and promoting and reading books from trans, gender diverse and non-binary authors. Due to some uni commitments I was only able to read one book in that dedicated week, but I am glad I chose Bitter for that purpose. The prequel to Pet, though you don’t need to read that to understand this book, this story follows Bitter, a young student at an art school based in Lucille, a town effectively run by a corrupt billionaire (they are a bit on the nose but whatever), filled with largely young activists fighting back against the oppressive system. The tale largely surrounds Bitter as they try and figure out their place in activism, and how they feel about violence. It was a good read, and not at all what I expected, I will be reading more from Akwaeke Emezi in the future!

Another Kind is a graphic novel that was recommended to me by a bookseller based off my love for another graphic novel: Nimona. Whilst the art style is very different, a lot of the themes present there are here in Another Kind and so I understand where they were coming from. This was a really fun and engaging story of a young group of misfits with extraordinary powers, suddenly released from their government facility after an unexpected betrayal and their journey to finding a home. I do highly recommend it to any graphic novel reader looking for a sweet story of found family!