Books I Read in March
+ Some current reads.
March has been strange. I spent part of it in the Carolinas wrapping up book changes I shouldn’t have touched only to get news yesterday that makes me pretty sure that edits will be delayed again.1 Started venturing back into “the real world” i.e. other and jobs and trajectories, because that’s what I need next.
And I read some good books, largely retreating into childhood favorites, but not nearly as many as a “normal” month—and few new titles. With my 15-year blog anniversary approaching, I’ve gotten nostalgic for the books and series that made me love to read in the first place.2 Still, I’m not surprised my attention scattered for a few weeks, as it takes me a beat to come down from the churn of book edits.
What I Read in March
I’m slowing down some on writing-related reads, partly because I’m largely done on the research side (have been for a while) and needing to read sixteen other works just to get 0.000001% more accuracy and nuance is veering into obsessive perfectionism rather than genuine helpfulness. Law of diminishing returns, baby. Also, I still do like writing memoirs but they’re an every-so-often now because I’m not feeling quite as warm and glowy towards the job of being a full-time writer at the moment.
RELATED POSTS: Bird by Bird by Ann Lamott3; Books I Might Read for Mountain Sounds Edits?
NEED TO REVIEW: Art Work by Sally Mann; Writing, Creativity and Soul by Sue Monk Kidd; Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard.
FABULOUS INDIE BOOKSTORE: Highland Books in Brevard, NC.4
I noted my faerie bargain kick, and am happily listening to a Holly Black audiobook. But tell me why I saw Fairies of Northern Appalachia: A History of the Little People in the Mountains and go— “Oh, I have to read that so my research is complete. Just in case there’s something I don’t know.” Re: Appalachian setting that I also lived in for several years and returned to every summer. The hunger for the next book never stops, even when—like now—I’m in a little bit of a slump.
RELATED REVIEWS: The Cruel Prince by Holly Black; The Accident Season by Moïra Fowley-Doyle. Talked about this kick in a video here.
Some other winning, immersive reads. Sweep me away.
RELATED REVIEWS: House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland; The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland; Cinder by Marissa Meyer; The House Saphir by Marissa Meyer; Renegades by Marissa Meyer; Gilded by Marissa Meyer; etc.
I embraced reading ‘10s YA this month and reconnecting with my childhood book blogger roots of supernatural fare. (Still love.) But I’m also boot-camping myself on the business side because oh God, look at the industries. I’ve read plenty in the business and productivity lanes already and do believe many could be compressed into 4,000-word blog posts, but I digress, but you might catch some titles with some phrase like Negotiating Your Power: Find Your Why in 7 Easy Arguments and the like up ahead.
Side note: I also finally used a Swedish VPN to get a one-month subscription to a Swedish streaming service so I could watch the Beartown show. I’m midway through the first episode and thrilled about it, because every couple of months I’ll try to figure out how to finally watch it. Will report back.
RELATED REVIEWS: Beartown by Fredrik Backman (+ book club voice note.)
I also had way more false starts in books this months—library holds I abandoned before page 50. I’m casting a wide net in my reading list, but that also means there are more popular titles I’ve been able to tell immediately are not for me—at least not now.
Some Books I Just Started Yesterday (That Seem Good So Far)
Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash — I wasn’t expecting to not like this, but I do get nervous about anything buzzy or polarizing because I’m always hoping my experience veers positive but that I’m not accidentally influenced by the public conversation. (Basically, I add in an unintentional layer of questioning my own like or dislike.) I’m pleasantly surprised by how amusing I find her humor, so I’m hopeful.
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore—So, my team used The God of the Woods as a comp title for me, which is fitting. When it first came out, I panicked a little that it could occupy the space of Mountain Sounds (a summer camp book) but it turns out to be much more of a slow-burn mystery. Still: there are elements and topics that overlap, hence its use. I tended to read all my suggested comps (which was actually a reason my first literary agency and I parted ways—disagreement in comps that made us realize we had different visions) but trust my agents so entirely—and we were close enough to going out to editors—that I knew reading this one then would just make me panic and overthink.
When editing, I also worry sometimes that anything too similar in any way can 1) bleed into my work or 2) that I’ll accidentally use something or someone will assume that I did, so I’m actually semi-careful about the timing of reading comps. So I’m finally getting to this one now.5
Also, the success of Heated Rivalry and adjacent hockey fic6 taught me that it would be excellent for me if The God of the Woods TV show pops off, because my book’s timing seems similar (unless the events of this last week mess with my release date, which is a major possibility.) Everyone fall in love with the TV show and unleash a major craving for summer camp books, ‘kay?
There is absolutely nothing I would love more than to be able to devote more time and energy to Words Like Silver, which has remained a one-person effort since age 13. If my work makes a difference to you, I’d love if you’d consider becoming a subscriber or upgrading your subscription below. You can also make a one-time donation on my website or purchase a book for my library. Anything makes such a massive difference, and I appreciate the support more than you can imagine.
I am Sisyphus, and also have no control over anything.
A fondness also surfaced by my frustration with the proposed nationwide book ban. Kids having the access to books required to form their own taste and hunger to read matters.
I thought I’d transferred this over to Substack already but I guess not.
Of course, buying directly is best—but I rotate the benefiting independent bookstore from any Bookshop affiliate links.
Reminder to self: write about my thoughts on comp titles and reading right before writing for priming your brain.
I rarely check my blog stats, but this is my most popular post of all time—which, lol.