 Hi everyone, welcome back to my channel. Today we're going to be doing a good old box-standard monthly wrap-up. March was a really good reading month for me. I am reading so many amazing new releases at the moment that I can't wait to tell you all about. A massive thank you to all of the publishers who sent me copies of these books. I'm just super into reading at the moment. I mean I guess I'm always super into reading, but right now even more. We've got eight books to talk about today from literary fiction to a beloved classic reread to romance. Let's get into them, shall we? First up we have Dog-hearted Essays on Our Fierce and Familiar Companions edited by Rowan Hissea Buchanan and Jessica J. Lee. This is a brand new collection of essays just published on the 16th of March by Dawn's Books. In here a bunch of contemporary authors write about their own experiences with dogs. That's about it to be honest and it is glorious. So I totally adored this. I guess it goes without saying as I was so excited to read this but I am a dog person. Dogs speak to my soul. I was brought up with dogs. I love all kinds of dogs. I love hearing about other people's dogs. The essays in here range from being totally joyful to weird and hilarious to heartbreaking to tender and uplifting. There's a real spread in here. Each of the authors have really just ran with their own experiences of dogs in their lives. This was a joy to read. It really captures the singular experiences that can come from owning dogs. I also particularly liked the writing of a couple authors in here so I think I'm going to now go and check out their other work which is pretty cool. If you're a dog person and you like to read about dogs then you can't go wrong with this. Also a lovely gift I feel for any dog loving people in your life. In the end I gave this one 4.5 stars. Next up we have Wayward by Amelia Hart. This is a new historical novel that recently came out in February from the Borough Press. Following three different women from three different generations of the same family, this book follows the story of Altha in 1619 who is accused of witchcraft and is on trial for the murder of a local farmer. Violet in 1942 who is trapped in her father's estate and endlessly wonders about her deceased mother who was rumoured to be mad. And also Kate in 2019 who flees her abusive partner to go to a ramshackle cottage inherited by her great aunt. This was a grey breed. I really really liked this book exploring female resilience and the power of nature. This is punchy and empowering and while it is kind of obvious at times I didn't really mind that one bit. I am a sucker for books that focus on different generations of the same family especially if they are women. I love books with non-linear structures, books that jump around in time and switch perspectives. All of this was done really well. I found this to be quite well put together and well paced. It is intriguing and gripping and delicious to read. I also particularly loved the Cumbrian English setting in here which is where I was brought up. I just loved the cottagey witchy naturey vibes. If this sounds like something you'd be interested in reading I would definitely recommend it. It delivered everything that I expected and hoped it would. So in the end I gave this one four stars. Next up in March I read Fury's Stories of the Wicked, Wild and Untamed. This is a new collection of short stories. It came out on the 16th of March by Virago. Made to celebrate Virago's 50th year of publishing stories by women, this collection is comprised of stories from many different female authors each using a synonym of Virago to inspire the story. Virago being a historically derogatory word for a domineering or bad-tempered woman. So this was a lot of fun. In here we have new and original stories from authors such as Margaret Atwood, Helen Oyemi, Ally Smith, Kirsty Logan. It is introduced by Sandy Toxvig which is pretty cool. The stories in here are pretty wide ranging from more fiery and angry reads to more fantastical and odd reads. I love the idea of reclaiming these words. I'm turning them into stories and I love the freedom that these authors had to do so in creative ways. We even have a short graphic novel style story in here which is pretty cool. There were definitely stronger and weaker stories in here, some of the stories I didn't really gel with at all. Overall it was a fun read, it's a cool concept and so I gave it three stars. Next up I read to 2040 by Jury Graham. This is an upcoming contemporary poetry collection publishing on the 27th of April from The Amazing Carkinet Press. This collection explores a potentially inevitable apocalyptic world painting a ruined landscape and asking questions about our mortality. So Carkinet first introduced me to Jury Graham a couple of years ago with her collection Runaway and I totally fell in love. She is such an experienced, confident and masterful poet, she blows me away. The poems here are incredible in scope from panning shots of vast skylines to singular worms burrowing in soil. Jury Graham is just such a visionary, she really makes you stop and think. I will say that this poetry isn't the easiest to read, it isn't the most consumable or transparent. It definitely takes some work at least for me but I find it to be super rewarding. I don't think I loved this collection quite as much as I loved Runaway for some reason I just didn't connect with these poems as much as I did the earlier ones. That being said I did really love reading this and when I did connect with a poem it totally flawed me. I would highly recommend this to anybody who loves contemporary poetry, anybody who's up for a bit of a challenge, she's clearly a star and in the end I gave this one four stars. Next up we have Six Days by Danny Atkins. This is a new contemporary romance novel that came out in January from Aria. It tells a story of 20-something Gemma whose fiance does not turn up to their wedding. Gemma is convinced that Finn would not abandon her and so over the next six days she continues to search for him even though all of the emerging signs seem to point to the fact that Gemma doesn't know Finn as well as she thought she did. I really enjoyed this book, it was exactly what I thought it was going to be, a really readable romance novel with lots of swoony moments but also tinged with a hint of mystery surrounding this guy and where he's gone and why. The main character in here is honestly pretty meh, I don't think that she will be sticking with me. I did like a couple of the side characters though, her best friend and their relationship was very sweet. Really this book was about the plot, it was about the chapters jumping around in time, it was about all of the seeds of information being sown about this couple allowing you to slowly piece everything together. This could have gone anyway really but when the end did come I have to say I wasn't blown away. I did like it though, it felt very fitting and on the whole the package just felt quite nice and enjoyable. Nothing to call home about but I did fly through this so in the end I gave it three stars. Next up in March I read Persuasion by Jane Austen. This is not a brand new novel, obviously. This is in fact the best novel that Jane Austen ever published. Fact. It follows the story of the apparently unremarkable late 20s Ann Elliott whose first love reenters her life years after she was persuaded to break off their engagement by her family and friends. This was a reread for me, this is one of my favourite novels of all time. This was Jane Austen's final published novel, it is her most romantic, her most sophisticated and the best. I don't know if I've said that. I love everything about this, I love Jane Austen. Her writing is spectacularly perceptive and witty, her characters are delightful and hilarious. Her examination of society and all of the different powers at play in here are so spot on. This is pretty short, it is just the right length allowing you the perfect amount of insight into these small places and these people and their fascinating relationships. Ann Elliott and Captain Wentworth are frustrating and relatable and dreamy. I just love their love. I could reread this over and over, of course I gave it five stars. Next up we have How to Think Like a Woman by Reagan Penaluna. This is a new non-fiction book that came out on the 2nd of March by Peninsula Press. It details the author's own experiences with the patriarchy and sexism in academia as well as detailing the lives and works of four female philosophers who influenced Reagan Penaluna. This book was very exciting to me. You may or may not know that I did a philosophy degree, I adore philosophy. This book totally grabbed my attention due to the lack of discussion surrounding female philosophers and the absence of female philosophers on university syllabuses. I loved learning about the four philosophers in here, Masham, Astell, Cockburn and Wollstonecroft. The amount of philosophy that was written by these women that was then claimed by the big male names in philosophy will blow your mind. I also really enjoyed reading about Reagan Penaluna's personal story through her 20s and 30s. All areas of this book were great and just the general female empowering vibes were a good time. This was educational and entertaining, which is exactly what I wanted. A really solid read for anyone wanting to learn more about female philosophers, so in the end I gave it four stars. And the final book that I read in March was Old God's Time by Sebastian Barry. This is a new literary novel published by Faber and Faber on the 2nd of March. It follows the story of a retired policeman living a quiet life in a small apartment overlooking the Irish Sea. When two former colleagues turn up asking about an old case, Tom finds himself thrown back into a dark and unresolved past. I am a massive Sebastian Barry fan. I totally loved his earlier novel Days Without End. I was really excited for this new novel by him and I was not let down. This was superb. There is something about Sebastian Barry's writing that is so captivating. Mirroring the protagonist's thoughts as they drift in and out of whatever is happening at a specific moment, the prose in here just flows from one topic to another so seamlessly. It slowly builds and builds this picture of what is happening to this man and what has happened to him in the past. On a description level, the prose in here is totally stunning. I love the location in here, the little home and the Irish village that the protagonist lives in come across so clearly. Everything just feels so fully realized. It is so impressive. There is real heartache and gut-punching stuff in here. It isn't a light read by any stretch. But it's just so beautiful. Everything comes together so well and then suddenly you're at the end. That's how it felt to me. An incredibly skilled and assured book. You just know you're in safe hands with Sebastian Barry. So in the end I gave this one 4.5 stars. So there we go. Those were all of the books that I read in March. It was a good time. I really hope you enjoyed watching this video. Have you read any of these books? What else did you read in March? Thank you so much for watching as always. I appreciate it so much. Really looking forward to chatting down below as always and I will see you really soon in another video. Bye guys.