Today’s post covers the second half of the books I read in March 2023. I shared what I read in the first half of the month here. I shared my five star reads here. Since I had so many 5 star reads this month, I don’t have that many additional books to add in today’s post! The Amazon links to the books I’ve read are affiliate links and if you use them and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission. If you’ve read any of these books or are interested in them, I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
Title: Hidden Systems
Author: Dan Nott
Genre: YA Non Fiction Comics
Publisher: Random House Graphic, 3/14/23
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
If you’ve ever wondered how the internet works, where the “cloud” is actually located, how electricity gets to everyone, or how clean water can be guaranteed, this book is for you.
“What was the first message sent over the internet? How much water does a single person use every day? How was the electric light invented? For every utility we use each day, there’s a hidden history–a story of intrigue, drama, humor, and inequity. This graphic novel provides a guided tour through the science of the past–and reveals how the decisions people made while inventing and constructing early technology still affect the way people use it today. Full of art, maps, and diagrams, Hidden Systems is a thoughtful, humorous exploration of the history of science and what needs to be done now to change the future.”
With comics and drawings, the hidden systems behind the internet, electricity, and water are explained in understandable ways. Their history and their use in the future were also described. I really liked the section about the internet and I learned a lot. I hope I can convince my 15 year old to read this because I think he’d like it a lot.
Title: Unspoken
Author: Kelly Rimmer
Genre: Romance
Publisher: HQN, 11/26/19
Source: Library Audio plus had print copy on my shelf
Why I Read It: Waiting on my shelf
My Rating: 4 Stars
As part of my clear the shelf challenge, I finally read the second book in Kelly Rimmer’s Start Up in the City series. The first book was called Unexpected and I read it in 2019. I also received Unspoken in 2019 and I listened to the audio this month. I wasn’t a huge fan of the male narrator. You do not have to read these books in order as while Paul works with characters from the first book, he is not at work in this one. Isabel and Paul were married and are approaching the date of their divorce when they both decide to take a weekend at their vacation home and wind up there together. Isabel felt that Paul didn’t put her before his career and Paul didn’t know how Isabel felt because she didn’t tell him. Now he has gotten therapy and has changed a lot and is able to talk to Isabel about their issues.
“Isabel Winton had planned to spend the last few days of her marriage at her vacation home, intending to reflect, regroup…or maybe just do some solitary sulking. Instead, she collides with her almost ex, Paul, who has the same idea. Too stubborn to leave, Isabel figures this is a chance for them to get some closure. But she’s astonished to see that months apart have transformed her emotionally aloof husband into ‘Paul 2.0,’ more open than ever before. Paul was blindsided when Isabel left him. He had no idea she felt he was more committed to his career than to their marriage. With his new, hard-won self-awareness, he blames himself for letting her walk away. But winning her back will take more than simple words. It’ll mean finding the courage to grow, to trust and grab a second chance at life by each other’s sides.”
I am not a huge fan of second chance romances where nothing has changed and the relationship is likely to end up suffering the same problems that caused the earlier break up. I found that Isabel and Paul did a good job working through their previous issues and I was able to believe that things might work for them this time around.
Title: The Lost English Girl
Author: Julia Kelly
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Gallery Books, 3/7/23
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 3.5 Stars (Rounded up to 4)
This story is about the evacuation of English children during World War II. When Viv, who is Catholic, has a fling with Joshua, who is Jewish, the two are forced together when she gets pregnant. Joshua moves to America to pursue his dreams of becoming a musician, but he returns to England to fight in the war. Viv is convinced to send her daughter away to keep her safe.
“Liverpool, 1935: Raised in a strict Catholic family, Viv Byrne knows what’s expected of her: marry a Catholic man from her working-class neighborhood and have his children. However, when she finds herself pregnant after a fling with Joshua Levinson, a Jewish man with dreams of becoming a famous Jazz musician, Viv knows that a swift wedding is the only answer. Her only solace is that marrying Joshua will mean escaping her strict mother’s scrutiny. But when Joshua makes a life-changing choice on their wedding day, Viv is forced once again into the arms of her disapproving family. Five years later and on the eve of World War II, Viv is faced with the impossible choice to evacuate her young daughter, Maggie, to the countryside estate of the affluent Thompson family. In New York City, Joshua gives up his failing musical career to serve in the Royal Air Force, fight for his country, and try to piece together his feelings about the family, wife, and daughter he left behind at nineteen. However, tragedy strikes when Viv learns that the countryside safe haven she sent her daughter to wasn’t immune from the horrors of war. It is only years later, with Joshua’s help, that Viv learns the secrets of their shared past and what it will take to put a family back together again.”
I did find this one a bit too long, and much prefer the middle grade stories I’ve read from this time period. It is also the second book I’ve read recently about the process of sending away children and uprooting them again to reunite them with family.
Title: Georgie, All Along
Author: Kate Clayborn
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Kensington Books, 1/24/23
Source: Once Upon a Book Club Box
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
Georgie, All Along was a cute story about when Georgie returns home to Virginia, feeling unsure on what is next for her. She runs into Levi, the brother of her high school crush and it turns out that he and his dog are staying in Georgie’s parents’ house – as is she. When she finds a notebook detailing things she wanted to do in high school but never got around to doing, she sets out to complete some of these items. Soon enough, Levi offers to join her!
“Longtime personal assistant Georgie Mulcahy has made a career out of putting others before herself. When an unexpected upheaval sends her away from her hectic job in L.A. and back to her hometown, Georgie must confront an uncomfortable truth: her own wants and needs have always been a disconcertingly blank page. But then Georgie comes across a forgotten artifact—a ‘friendfic’ diary she wrote as a teenager, filled with possibilities she once imagined. To an overwhelmed Georgie, the diary’s simple, small-scale ideas are a lifeline—a guidebook for getting started on a new path. Georgie’s plans hit a snag when she comes face to face with an unexpected roommate—Levi Fanning, onetime town troublemaker and current town hermit. But this quiet, grouchy man is more than just his reputation, and he offers to help Georgie with her quest. As the two make their way through her wishlist, Georgie begins to realize that what she truly wants might not be in the pages of her diary after all, but right by her side—if only they can both find a way to let go of the pasts that hold them back.”
This was a grumpy/sunshine couple with some forced proximity, and a slower build up with some open door intimate scenes. I loved Levi! Overall I enjoyed the book and the matching gifts were amazing! For a 10% discount you can use my code NOTINJERSEY at Once Upon a Book Club.
Title: He Said, She Said
Author: Kwame Alexander
Genre: YA Contemporary
Publisher: Recorded Books, 11/19/13
Source: Library Audio plus purchased copy
Why I Read It: Was waiting on my shelf
My Rating: 3 Stars
I purchased this book in 2020 and listened to it this month. I suppose this is one of the reasons I don’t like to buy books before knowing whether I’ll love them! This was not a hit for me, sadly, as I have enjoyed other books by Kwame Alexander.
“He says: Omar ‘T-Diddy’ Smalls has got it made—a full football ride to UMiami, hero-worship status at school, and pick of any girl at West Charleston High. She says: Football, shmootball. Here’s what Claudia Clarke cares about: Harvard, the poor, the disenfranchised, the hungry, the staggering teen pregnancy rate, investigative journalism . . . the list goes on. She does not have a minute to waste on Mr. T-Diddy Smalls and his harem of bimbos. He Said, She Said is a fun and fresh novel from Kwame Alexander that throws these two high school seniors together when they unexpectedly end up leading the biggest social protest this side of the Mississippi—with a lot of help from Facebook and Twitter. The stakes are high, the romance is hot, and when these worlds collide, watch out!”
It may be that this was published 10 years ago, but it doesn’t hold up to current standards, in my opinion. The way the boys talked about and treated the girls was upsetting to me. Claudia’s main role in the book is to fall for Omar when he joins her nonviolent protest in order to impress her. The idea of the protest was interesting and could have been more of the focus of the book. Instead, it was more about how all the girls wanted Omar, even Claudia.
Title: I Will Find You
Author: Harlan Coben
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing, 3/14/23
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
I remember reading some of Harlan Coben’s books in the past and wanted to check out a new one by him. He is a NJ based author and it is always fun when his settings reflect places I know from when I lived there. This book is about David, who is in prison for killing his son. He is innocent, but hasn’t argued his sentence because with his son dead, he doesn’t really care where he lives his life. However, when his former sister in law visits him and shows him proof that his son may actually be alive, he sets out to find the truth. What follows is David’s escape and subsequent chase to find out who was killed that night if it wasn’t his son, and if his son is alive, where is he?
“David Burroughs was once a devoted father to his three-year-old son Matthew, living a dream life just a short drive away from the working-class suburb where he and his wife, Cheryl, first fell in love–until one fateful night when David woke suddenly to discover Matthew had been murdered while David was asleep just down the hall. Half a decade later, David’s been wrongly accused and convicted of the murder, left to serve out his time in a maximum-security prison—a fate which, grieving and wracked with guilt, David didn’t have the will to fight. The world has moved on without him. Then Cheryl’s younger sister, Rachel, makes a surprise appearance during visiting hours bearing a strange photograph. It’s a vacation shot of a bustling amusement park a friend shared with her, and in the background, just barely in frame, is a boy bearing an eerie resemblance to David’s son. Even though it can’t be, David just knows: Matthew is still alive. David plans a harrowing escape, determined to achieve the impossible – save his son, clear his own name, and discover the real story of what happened. But with his life on the line and the FBI following his every move, can David evade capture long enough to reveal the shocking truth?”
I thought this was a fun read with an interesting plot that kept things moving. The side characters were given viewpoints in the 3rd person (while David’s parts were in 1st) and I found myself a little more interested in some of the side characters than in David himself. I found it amusing how everyone seemed to want to help David – he must have been a likeable guy!
There you have it, the rest of my March reading! This post included 6 of the books I read in March. Of these books, 4 were print and 2 were audio books. Genres included non fiction, romance, historical fiction, thriller, and contemporary. 2 of these were YA.
Have you read any of these books or do you want to? What have you been reading lately?