March 2025 Book Reviews!
- Christine
- Apr 1
- 12 min read
Spring has definitely sprung here in South Carolina! As some of you know, my favorite thing to do in the evenings is sit out on our lanai and read a book. Well, my "happy place" will temporarily be in turmoil soon, as we are in the process of doing a big expansion of our lanai, including installing an outdoor kitchen. So while the end product will be amazing, I'm anticipating being a bit out of sorts for awhile.
Even though my reading "nook" will temporarily have to move, I think I look forward to my reading time every evening even more. It's a way for me to bring some calm to my mind after a busy (and noisy) day.
Do you have a favorite place you like to read? If not, consider giving yourself the gift of creating one. And once you've created it, take a look at the book reviews I've listed below, and pick one you'd like to read.
Don't want to wait for my monthly blog post to see the books I'm reading? Follow me on Goodreads or The Story Graph to see my reviews real time!
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Catch As Catch Can: Building A Legacy By Finding Opportunity In Every Obstacle by George Tinsley Sr.
George Tinsley has a very inspiring story, which he tells in this book. He grew up in Louisville, and was raised by the woman he called "Mama", until she passed away while he was still a young boy. He was then taken in by her son and his wife.
Tinsley struggled in school and was even told by a teacher that he should drop out. Eventually, he found his way and excelled academically and in basketball, throughout high school and college. After a brief stint playing professional basketball, Tinsley began working for KFC. He eventually became owner of his own franchise and turned that into a successful restaurant empire.
While the story is inspiring, it doesn't flow well. In his writing, Tinsley tends to jump around and be very repetitive. That made the book choppy and hard to follow at times. Inspiring story that can use some editing help.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Three out of five stars.
Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor
This is a very difficult book to read for several reasons. First and foremost for me personally is the writing style itself. Each chapter is just one long paragraph (and the chapters are quite long in some cases). And within that one paragraph are very, very long run on sentences. While I understand the tone that the author was trying to achieve by writing in this style, it is very difficult to read. I felt like I was constantly losing my place. If you didn't complete an entire chapter, putting down the book and picking it back up was difficult to even know where you were.
Additionally, the book is very dark, graphic and explicit. It is just not going to be for everyone. And even if you don't find the book offensive and can be open to it, it's just hard text to read emotionally. The story takes place in Mexico, and is about a town "witch" who is found murdered. Each subsequent chapter analyzes a different character either directly involved or peripherally involved in the crime.
Finally, I just found it very challenging to understand all the characters and really piece the story together.
As some other reviewers have said, I can appreciate this book, but I'm not sure I can say I personally liked this book. This book is #82 on the New York Times list of the "Best 100 Books of the 21st Century". Three out of five stars.
Into The Ice: The Northwest Passage, The Polar Sun, And a 175-Year-Old Mystery by Mark Synnott
I really enjoyed this book by Mark Synnott, as he shared his experience sailing the Northwest Passage. He also shares the story of Sir John Franklin, who was the captain of the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror. Franklin attempted to sail the Northwest Passage 175 years before, but never returned.
Synnott weaves his modern day experience with where it is believed that Franklin sailed prior. The book is very well written and while it could get a bit too technical at times, Synnott does a great job of describing his experience.
It was very interesting to read about this part of the world, and eye opening to learn about how climate change has affected things there.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Four out of five stars.
This book will be published April 15, 2025. To pre-order your book on Amazon, click here: Kindle, audiobook or hardcover.
Fruit Of The Dead by Rachel Lyon
This book is a modern take on the Greek myth of Persephone and Demeter. Cory is an 18 year old trying to find herself. She takes a job as a camp counselor for the summer. When a father of one of the campers shows up at the end of the summer and offers her a job babysitting his kids on his private island for a few weeks until they go home to his ex-wife, Cory jumps at the chance.
Turns out that the father is CEO of a pharmaceutical company and is currently facing legal trouble due to the painkiller drugs his company manufactures. He quickly isolates Cory from the rest of the world, including her mother.
This is a story of manipulation and how this older and rich man takes advantage of a young lost girl. It is also a story of a mother who realizes her mistakes and will do anything to save her daughter.
I really enjoyed this one, but the themes are very deep and dark.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
A Millionaire Vision: How To Create The Life You Really Want by Don M. Green
For me personally, the measure of a good business book is whether or not I take away at least a couple of pieces of concrete advice. In this instance, that didn't happen for me.
The basic theme of the book is that you need to set goals and visualize them happening to achieve them. Makes sense. But my problem with this book is that it is so simplistic, that it almost implies that all you have to do is visualize something and it will just happen, like a snap of your finger.
The book is full of lots and lots of inspirational quotes. Again, great, but where is the substance? The other thing I didn't care for, was that the books referred to religion a lot. I have no problem if religion is your thing, but it doesn't belong in a business book.
The plus side is that this is very short and a quick read. It took me less than 2 hours, so not a lot of time lost.
Inspirational, maybe. Helpful, not really.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Two out of five stars.
The Story Of The Lost Child (Neapolitan Novels, Book 4) by Elena Ferrante
This is book four of a four part series. I will start this review out by saying that I did not read the first three books. And while this book can definitely stand on its own, I do think it was hard to figure out all the characters, despite the helpful summary the author included at the beginning of the book.
At its base, this book (and the series) is about the friendship between two women - Elena and Lila. This book covers the time beginning from their late 30s. Layered on top of the story is all of their relationships - with men, with their children, with their parents, with each other - as well as what was happening in both their neighborhood in Naples and Italy in general.
While the women have been friends since childhood, there is clearly an undercurrent of jealously and animosity between the two as well.
As I was reading the book, I was thinking it was a solid three rating, but I do feel at the end I considered a four. So if I could do half stars here, it would be a 3.5. It was a bit monotonous and honestly hard to get into. However, the writing was excellent.
This book is #80 on the New York Times list of the "Best 100 Books of the 21st Century".
A Year Of Living Curiously: 365 Things Really Worth Knowing by Elizabeth Foley and Beth Coates
This would be a great book to give as a gift to someone who is big trivia fan. The book is intended for you to read the entry for each day, so reading it as I did straight through wasn't exactly what the authors were clearly aiming for. With that said, I think someone who enjoys trivia and learning new things would enjoy this as something to pick up each day.
The trivia doesn't have any certain theme. It ranges from how to make certain cocktails and where they come from, to the concept of infinity. Some of it is interesting and some not as much. Most is kind of useless other than learning something new. The authors are also from the UK, and the book is written with a British audience in mind. So there were a few entries I just didn't get.
Fun book and fun gift.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
To purchase this book on Amazon, click here: hardcover.
The Covert Code: Mastering The Art Of Digital Marketing by Anna Covert
If you follow my reviews regularly, you know that when I read a business book, I expect it to give me good, substantive information that I can implement. This book does that.
If you are a small to medium business looking to improve your digital marketing, this book would be a great resource for you. It does get quite technical, so you have to have a baseline knowledge first. But it gives you good practical advice and even step by step directions in some instances.
I feel some business books are too much fluff and the author is just looking to get you to hire them or buy their program. That is not the case here. In fact, the author basically says in the intro that her marketing agency has more business than it can handle, so she wrote this book to get her techniques out to anybody who wants them. Definitely worth your time if this topic is of interest to you.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
The Ozempic Revolution: A Doctor's Proven Plan For Success To Help You Reverse Obesity, End Yo-Yo Dieting, And Protect Yourself From Disease by Alexandra Sowa
While this book is clearly geared towards people who are taking one of the GLP-1s or considering doing so, it's also well worth the read for anyone who has struggled with their weight and diets over the years. In fact, I think it's worth a read for anyone who is just interested in eating healthier and understanding the science between nutrition and bodyweight.
If you are considering a GLP-1, this would be a very helpful book, as it looks at not only the science behind the medication, but also gives you a plan for a holistic approach to your health.
Very informative and easy and quick to read.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Four out of five stars!
Knock Three Times by Colleen McManus Hein
This book is the story of three people - Rose, Stephen and Claire - who live in Rose's house through the beginning of the Covid pandemic.
Rose and her husband Luke own a large house that becomes too big for them when their children grow up and move out of the house. Luke has the idea that he can convert the 2nd and 3rd floor into separate apartments and they can take on boarders. Stephen and Claire have both recently been separated from their spouses and they move into the apartments.
When Luke unexpectedly passes away, and then shortly after the Covid pandemic starts, Rose finds herself forming a friendship with her two new boarders. Additionally, Stephen and Claire start to discover that they might be finding in each other are the things they never had in their previous relationships.
This is a sweet story about these three people going through such a hard time in life together. It definitely brings back memories when the book describes things like social distancing, disinfecting groceries when you brought them home, sewing masks, etc. In each chapter of the book, the narration alternates between the three main characters, as well as the each of their previous spouses. It almost feels like you are reading their journals.
Not the most sophisticated writing, but a short and sweet book that I found easy to read and enjoyed.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Four out of five stars! Note that this book is currently out of print and not available on Amazon.
A Manual For Cleaning Women: Selected Stories by Lucia Berlin
I'm not normally a big fan of short story collections, but this one is quite good. Although not one cohesive story, most of the short stories in this collection relate to each other and are semi-autobiographical.
As always with a collection like this, there were a few misses for me. But overall, amazing writing and intriguing stories. This book was ranked at #79 on the New York Times list of the "Best 100 Books of the 21st Century". Four out of five stars!
The Last Light Over Oslo by Alix Rickloff
This is an historical fiction book about Daisy Harriman, who was appointed by President Roosevelt to be the ambassador to Norway right before the start of WWII. The story follows her as war breaks out in Norway, and she eventually accompanies the Princess and her children first to Sweden and then eventually on a ship to the U.S. through Finland.
And while Harriman was a real person and the story real, her cousin's daughter Cleo, who is also a main character in the book is completely fictional.
While I thought this book was good, it just never really grabbed me. I found the story to drag a bit and just never seemed too exciting. It's not a book that I couldn't wait to pick back up every night. The story lacked some cohesiveness for me and I never felt the interest in the characters that I normally do in this genre.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Three out of four stars.
We Pretty Pieces Of Flesh by Colwill Brown
I'll start this review by saying that by the end of this book, I realized I absolutely loved this story. But I will also say that I got about 2 pages into the book when I first picked it up, and almost gave up immediately. The book is completely written in a Yorkshire dialect. Not just the dialogue - but the whole book. It is VERY difficult to read. As I got further into the book, it got easier, but I can see a lot of people giving up right away.
The story itself is about three friends who are inseparable as young girls, but ultimately grow apart as adults. It's told from the alternating perspective of the girls and explores their different relationships with each other.
I understand what the author was trying to do by writing in this style, but I'm afraid the book will lose a lot of potential readers because it is just so hard to read and follow.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Three out of five stars.
The Silent Wife (Detective Kat Ballantyne, Book 3) by Andy Maslen
This is a very solid mystery/thriller. While it is the third book in the series, I did not read the first two books and you don't need to in order to enjoy this one.
Very good plot twists that keep you guessing. The characters are interesting. The story is well written and thought out. The book ends in a bit of a cliffhanger to get you to keep reading the series.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Four out of five stars!
I hope spring has sprung wherever you are and you have a chance to enjoy the weather and some good books! See you next month!
What books do you recommend I read next? Let me know! Did you check out any of these books? I'd love to hear what you think! Comment below or e-mail me at tips2livebywriter@gmail.com.
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