Well, I hit an all-time high in March. Thanks to great audio books and the 8 hour drive to and from my sister’s new home in Illinois, plus several books I COULD NOT PUT DOWN, I read eleven books this month. YAY!

I loved all of the non-fiction I read this month for very different reasons, but if I had to name a favorite I’d probably go with the one that has stuck with me the most. I listened to this at the very beginning of the month, and I’m still thinking about it.

I also thoroughly enjoyed all the fiction I read, including some totally discussable reads that would make great book club choices. But if I’m being honest? My favorite reads in March were light and fluffy, with hardly any substance at all: a new cozy mystery series that I’m practically obsessed with.

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Every month I do quick reviews of the books I’ve read: Because I love to share good things and because the only thing I like better than reading books is TALKING about books.

This was a GREAT reading month, partially because of good books, and partially because my poor kids had influenza, so I was stuck at home for over a week.

We have a wonderful non-fiction book I think you all should read, an excellent book club read, a sweet story from an author I’ve loved in the past, another book from an author whose works I make myself wait to read until I really need happiness, and the latest in two fun mystery series (one of which I actually read in January and somehow missed in last month’s post.

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Every month I do quick reviews of the books I’ve read. I LOVE to read, but have very specific tastes and am a highly sensitive reader, so for years I just read non-fiction and middle-grade novels (with Hunger Games and the like, large portions of YA entered territory too stressful or graphic for me.)

I like and can highly recommend nearly every thing I read, because I (finally) learned how to pick good books for myself.

It took me years to learn what I like and don’t like in books, and to make peace with why I read and what I like to read (as an English major, I wish I liked more “important” and less “fluffy” fiction, but I’ve decided to let myself off the hook for that. Who decides what is fluffy and what is important anyway? And why is so much that is labeled “women’s fiction” also considered fluffy, even when it is about important subjects?)

I am still trying to stretch and grow as a reader, and we all need to push against the attention span our brains are being trained into by the internet and social media. But I had nearly quit reading because I didn’t feel OK about reading what I wanted to read, and when I did, I didn’t know how to find it.

So: If you’re looking for negative reviews, you usually won’t find them from me. I only read things I’m relatively sure I’m going to enjoy. I have a limited amount of time to read, and I don’t want to waste it with something that isn’t for me.

I’m also nearly always reading at least 3 (often more) books: An audio book, a non-fiction, and a fiction. This month I returned to a beloved audiobook series, read a FANTASTIC Christian memoir, finally finished the non-fiction book I’ve been reading over many months, and fought my way through a great fiction book that wasn’t as much a-book-for-me as I would hope (but it was good and I think many of you will enjoy it more than I did!)

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