March 2021 Book Haul

I controlled myself a bit better this month than last month – see here my ridiculous February book hauls! I’m really excited to get to these reads as mostly all of them were on my anticipated reads of 2021 list! (Not pictured here is Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley).

A big thank you to the publishers who graciously sent me beautiful, finished copies of some of these books (the rest were bought by moi).

Good Eggs

Written by Rebecca Hardiman

Published by Atria Books

This story sounds 100% perfect for me: a combination of familial drama, learning to live your best, true life, and a kleptomaniac 80-something year old woman … it has all the elements! Kevin Gogarty is having a rough patch – his wife is away on business, his teenage daughter is acting up at her boarding school, and his 83 year old grandmother has been caught shoplifting … again. Deciding to hire a home aide to help out, Sylvia seems like the saving grace he needs. Until she launches the family into its greatest crisis yet! This just sounds like a fun, hilarious, heartwarming adventure and I can’t wait to get into it this month.

You can find it here: Bookshop.org

The Ladies of the Secret Circus

Written by Constance Sayers

Published by Redhook

Romance, history, family curses, secrets, a circus setting and Paris in the 1920s … do you really need to know more? Basically this is the perfect bowl of buzzword soup for me! Told in dual timeline, this story takes us to Paris 1925 where Cecile Cabot and her family run a magical circus. She is stuck in this circus world until she meets a charismatic young painter … Virginia, 2005, Lara Barnes’ life is exactly as she hoped – until her fiancé disappears on their wedding day. Her search for answers leads her to her great grandmother’s journals and the secrets of a magical circus and a dark, multi-generational familial curse.

You can find it here: Bookshop.org

Klara and the Sun

Written by Kazuo Ishiguro

Published by Knopf Publishing Group

Not going to lie, I’m super intimated to begin this book – being a Nobel prize winning author comes with significant heft and expectation! But the premise of this book – an Artificial Intelligence examining the human condition – really draws me in. Klara (an Artificial Friend) who, from her spot in the store, carefully watches the world and people around her while waiting and hoping to one day be chosen by a customer. When she is finally picked by ill teenager – Josie – in spite of her mother’s protestations – Klara will go home with this broken family and learn of the full gauntlet of human emotion … questioning always what is love and can AI’s, in fact, feel it?

You can find it here: Bookshop.org

Winter’s Orbit

Written by Everina Maxwell

Published by Tor Books

Basically I’ve seen this described as the political, science fiction twist to the popular Red, White and Royal Blue novel by Casey McQuiston. While admittedly that wasn’t my most favourite novel ever, this one really caught my attention. After Prince Taam’s death – his widower, Jainan, and his cousin, Kiem, are forced into a hurried, arranged marriage in order to keep rising hostilities between the two worlds under control. When evidence arises that Prince Taam might have been murdered, these two enemies will have to ally as they navigate court, solve a murder, and prevent an interplanetary war!

You can find it here: Bookshop.org

No One is Talking About This

Written by Patricia Lockwood

Published by Riverhead Books

Ironically, for how much praise and starred ratings I see for this itty bitty novel, I hear/see nothing about it in social media! Being someone who is part of the social media engine and fights the pulls & strains, highs & lows of it – this novel is greatly appealing to me. Giving off almost science fiction, post apocalyptic vibes, it is actually branded as a general fiction story that follows a popular social media titan as she tours the world meeting her fans. Suddenly convinced that she has been sucked into “a portal” where her thoughts and feelings are being controlled by the voices surrounding her – our main character begins a seemingly deep, psychological, existential exploration of herself, her thoughts, and her own individuality apart from our “scrolling-obsessed” world.

You can find it here: Bookshop.org

Firekeeper’s Daughter

Written by Angeline Boulley

Published by Henry Holt & Co.

When 18 year old Daunis Fontaine witnesses a violent act she is drawn into an undercover investigation. This girl, who has never felt at home in her culture or outside it, will use her combined knowledge of Chemistry and Ojibwe traditional medicine to try and solve this crime. This sounds like such an interesting, original Young Adult mystery/thriller – concepts not often seen in fantasy dominated genre.

You can find it here: Bookshop.org

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