March 2025 Wrap Up

I did not do a mid-month wrap up this month, apparently. So today I will wrap up the whole month. Make sure you're hydrated. Here we go.

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson - The first book I finished was one I started way back near the beginning of March. It is quite long, but I really enjoyed it. Incidentally, Sanderson originally titled the series Mistborn and this was called The Final Empire, but everyone calls this one Mistborn so often, the publishers gave up putting the actual title on the cover. I maintain that it's because The Final Empire is a dumb name for the first book in a series. The plotting in this is fantastic. The characters were whole people who grow and change. The romance was minimal and believable. It was great.

Pride and Prejudice in Space by Alexis Lampley - This was surprising. I didn't expect it to be as creative as it was. It's a retelling, so you know how it's going to end. The fun part is seeing HOW the author changes things to match the new setting. Lampley did a great job and I really enjoyed this all the way through.

Every Tom, Dick, & Harry by Elinor Lipman - Emma takes over her parents' estate sale business and takes on the sale of a house that once was a b&b with a house of prostitution as well. Also, her old math teacher has lost his (horrendous) wife (to a lightning strike on the golf course) and the house went to her daughters from a former marriage. He moves in to Emma's guest bedroom and they quickly become fast friends. There is romance (not between them), and some seriously deranged characters. It was light and fluffy and frequently hilarious.

Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behavior by Kate Fox - As an anthropologist, Fox has words to describe behaviors I am aware of, but didn't realize were nameable. Like, not wanting people in your house. It use to drive me nuts that my dad never wanted to host parties or invite people to dinner. Now I get it. This book is full of things like this and is also quite humorous.

A Secret Sisterhood: The Literary Friendships of Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot, and Virginia Woolf by Emily Miorikawa & Emma Claire Sweeney - This was interesting in that I did not know of these friendships, even though I know quite a bit about Austen and Bronte. I felt like the ending didn't wrap up quite completely, but the rest of it was fascinating. One problem I had with it was that it was frequently implied that there were homorerotic undertones to the friendships. Like, if you are saying they were more than friends, go ahead and say it. If not, then leave it out.

The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict - This was fun. Dorothy Allingham has started the Detection Club which is peopled by famous mystery writers. She invites 4 other female writers to join which ruffles some male feathers in the group. To prove they are deserving, they decide to solve an actual murder. There is something about Benedict's writing that just seems slightly juvenile. I don't know what it is. It just almost feels like fan fiction instead of the writing of an author with dozens of books published.

Love & Friendship: In Which Jane Austen's Lady Susan Vernon is Entirely Vindicated by Whit Stillman - Ok, my reaction to this is complicated. I didn't really like it, but it is actual genius. The author takes the original Austen story she wrote as a teen, and retells it. It's told from the perspective of the nephew of one of the characters who is completely in thrall to Lady Susan. His whole purpose in writing it is to show that the "spinster authoress" was one of the mean people who said terrible things about his aunt and uncle and made people despise them, when in reality, they were the sweetest angels on the earth. He made up words and used them repeatedly, which was really funny. I can appreciate the creativity used to create this.

The Paris Express by Emma Donoghue - It is confirmed. Emma Donoghue is a genius. This is told in rotating perspectives of various passengers on the train and the crew. One of the passengers is a teenage girl who is an anarchist. Her metal lunch pail contains a bomb she plans to detonate at whatever point would take out the most number of important government types. This is based on an actual train wreck that happened in 1895 at Montparnasse station. The characters are amazing, even though you only get to know them over the span of one train journey.

8 books in March. Not too shabby! I'll take it.