March Reads 2024
March Reads 2024: 9 Books I Read this Month
By: Brittany Shields
Unfortunately, I had some disappointments this month. Books that I was looking forward to reading but that fell a little short.
But I did end the month strong with Dark Matter and 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You— both great reads! In fact, five of my books were 5 star reads so that’s not too shabby.
Three of these were new releases and part of my list of Most Anticipated Books of 2024.
I also fulfilled 4 prompts for this year’s Shelf Reflection’s 2024 Reading Challenge.
I spent a little time catching up on some other books I needed to read. One I got for Christmas, one that I had received from a publisher, and a couple that have been in my queue on NetGalley. It’s a lot to juggle but I love all the avenues where I’m introduced to new books and authors.
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1. The Guest by B.A. Paris
Genre: Mystery
[On my list of Most Anticipated Books of 2024]
[Fulfilled ‘Two books with similar titles’ prompt as part of Shelf Reflection’s 2024 Reading Challenge]
This is my fifth B.A. Paris book now, so I’ve kinda got her style of books figured out now. They are slow burn domestic-type thrillers.
With the exception of The Prisoner (which is probably my favorite and has more action than the others), most of her books make you start to wonder if the book is worth finishing.
Unfortunately, I’m not entirely sure if the ending was worth it like it was for The Therapist or The Breakdown.
The basic premise is that a long-time friend from Paris (Laure) shows up at Gabriel and Iris’s house in the London area citing marital problems and asking if she can stay there for a bit…. the guest.
She overstays her welcome— like so hard… even I wanted to punch her in the face— and Pierre (her husband and also their friend) isn’t communicating with them.
Then a body is found. And another one.
This one is quite the tangled up domestic mess.
Read my full review for a word on the ‘bomb’ and a bunch of spoiler comments.
2. The Murder Wheel (Joseph Spector #2) by Tom Mead
Genre: Mystery
“No matter how large or small an illusion, there is one thing to remember: your audience is in front of you. Keep them there.”
I enjoyed the first Joseph Spector Mystery— Death and the Conjuror— and this one was similar.
Like the first book, it’s a good locked room mystery with a couple other ‘impossible’ crimes/situations on the side. As it is a series, the setting is the same— London in the 1930s— and the main character is the same— Joseph Spector, magician/detective.
The first locked-room mystery is a murder that happens at the top of a Ferris Wheel.
The others occur during a magic show at the local theater.
If you’re looking for a low-key mystery to give you a break from the high octane thrillers, this may be a good palate cleanser.
If you’re a fan of the Christie, you should definitely give Tom Mead’s books a try.
Read my full review for more plot details, some things I wish were a little different, and some cool new words I learned!
3. James: The Steadfast Life by Jeremy & Kristin Schmucker
Genre: Devotional/ Theology
“The Christian life is not just about giving our hearts to Jesus, but about surrendering every word, thought, deed, attitude and moment to Him.”
I am a fan of The Daily Grace Co. studies and resources. I’ve reviewed several on my website.
James is a popular book of the Bible. It’s most known for the ‘taming of the tongue’ section, but I hadn’t realized how much of the book refers to Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount.
The Schmuckers have written a great study resource for the book of James that helps us see the intent of the author and always points to the gospel.
I like that they titled this study ‘The Steadfast Life.’ Steadfast means resolute, unwavering. James exhorts us to be steadfast and patient in trials and suffering, but there is also this thread of steadfastness in conviction, in wisdom, and in obedience.
Read my full review to get more information on how this study is set up!
4. Unwrap My Heart by Alex Falcone and Ezra Fox
Genre: YA/ Humor/ Romance
“I could stare into the blank space where his eyes should be all day.”
My husband saw this book on TikTok and got it for me for Christmas. I had never heard of it before. (Perhaps if I had been privy to any TikTok hype my impression of it could have been different, but we’ll never know.)
But once I saw the blurb on the front calling the book ‘Unfortunate’ and saw that these two comedians and writers decided to give the people what they wanted: a love story about a girl who falls in love with a mummy, I was in!
It truly is the story no one asked for and they play the best parts up in the best way.
You don’t read this book because you want to read a love story. You read it because it’s absurd and the authors know it. It’s only 173 pages so they don’t even ask for a big time commitment.
Don’t overthink it. Just accept it for what it is and have a good laugh and then move on with your life. It’s what they would want for you.
Read my full review for ‘the rundown’, some of my favorite parts, and my complete recommendation.
5. The Deconstruction of Christianity: What It Is, Why It’s Destructive, and How to Respond by Alisa Childers and Tim Barnett
Genre: Cultural/Christian Living
[On my list of Most Anticipated Books of 2024]
“Faithfulness to God comes at a cost. It’s easier to submit to societal opinions than to stand on scriptural truth.”
[Note: if you are less of a reader and prefer podcasts, HERE is a link to one of Childers’ podcasts where she talks about a lot of this information.]
With the same easy to follow arguments and illustrations of her book, Live Your Truth (and Other Lies), Alisa Childers and co-author Tim Barnett expose what’s really happening during deconstruction and remind us of the importance of truth and holding fast to God’s Word.
Childers and Barnett take a nuanced and confusing topic— deconstruction— and bring clarity and distinction. It is clear they were committed to researching this topic within the spheres it operates and heard from the most influential deconstructionists.
They look at the what, why, and who of the whole process with a desire to help us understand the deconstruction community, of which our loved ones may be part, and to know how to stay grounded in biblical conviction with compassion.
Lots to cover with this book, check out my full review to see what was out of the scope of the book, hear their distinction between reforming and deconstructing, see the breakdown in chapter content, get a bunch more quotes, and find a list of books that expound on many of the topics discussed!
6. A Death at the Party by Amy Stuart
Genre: Mystery
“Somehow, it came to this: a dead body on my bathroom floor.”
This book begins by telling us that Nadine, the main character, is in her bathroom with a dying man, choosing not to call the police and allowing him to die.
“You did this.” she says.
So who is this guy?
We rewind and the book is spent following Nadine around the day of the party to see what brought us to that point. It’s one of those books that happens all in one day.
Stuart throws a lot of options at us throughout the book of men Nadine might have a motive to kill.
It reminded me a bit of the book The Guest List which is also a book that takes place in one day (actually it’s two)— a wedding instead of a birthday party— but both have a death of someone and you aren’t told who it is til the end.
Read my full review for more plot details and other drama happening, reasons why this book didn’t really work for me, and get a content advisory.
7. The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill
Genre: Mystery
[On my list of Most Anticipated Books of 2024]
[Fulfilled ‘Book with a brother and sister relationship’ prompt as part of Shelf Reflection’s 2024 Reading Challenge]
“Perhaps the dead are afraid to live as much as we are afraid to die.”
I think I would have liked this book better if I hadn’t read the summary first. I did enjoy the book, but the Goodreads summary was misleading to me and wasn’t really the bulk of what the book was about.
Theo, an aspiring writer, gets dragged into a mess of murders after she gets involved with another writer who she finds murdered in his home just 24 hours after she had given her manuscript to him.
As others around her also get murdered, she is a suspect… and by association her lawyer brother as well.
She has to figure out who murdered her friend and why. Who can she can trust now that she and her brother are in danger.
Another aspect of this book is the interspersed snippets of chat room discussion on a conspiracy theory known as the Frankenstein Project which they believe is an experiment being conducted on people, dead and alive.
Read my full review for more details about what was misleading and why, though I enjoyed reading it, it left me unsatisfied.
8. 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You by Tony Reinke
Genre: Non-Fiction/Christian Living
[Fulfilled ‘A nonfiction book about technology’ prompt as part of Shelf Reflection’s 2024 Reading Challenge]
“With my phone, I find myself always teetering between useful efficiency and meaningless habit.”
This book is not an anti-technology book. Or even an anti-smartphone book. Reinke is fascinated by technology and its advancements.
“my aim is to avoid both extremes: the utopian optimism of the technophiliac and the dystopian pessimism of the technophobe.”
He has written this book to help us use our phone in better ways. To think about how our phones are influencing us and changing us and to help us take captive our habits and thoughts and order them properly.
“The question of this book is simple: What is the best use of my smartphone in the flourishing of my life?”
It was convicting to read this book and realize the deeper influence my phone has on my ability to listen and hear God, distracting me from meeting physical needs around me (tangibly and spiritually), keeping me from silence, enabling me to speak harshly with little immediate kickback, inflating my fear of missing something, weakening my ability to process information, and luring me to become “like what I like.”
I think all would benefit from reading this book and changing our mindsets and boundaries with our phones.
Read my full review to get a summary of the twelve ways, see what parts stood out to me, and get a link to Reinke’s other book on technology that’s also really good.
9. Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
Genre: Sci-Fi/Thriller
[Fulfilled ‘Book with a male main character’ prompt as part of Shelf Reflection’s 2024 Reading Challenge]
“We couldn’t possible contend with simultaneously observing all possible realities at once… but if we could, where would it take us?”
This book lives up to the hype!
This is my first Blake Crouch book and I know it won’t be my last. It was definitely a story that was hard to put down.
I know a lot people aren’t into sci-fi or feel like books about the multiverse hurt their brains, but I think this one is pretty accessible to any reader.
This book seeks to explore the questions— What if my life could have been different? What if I had made different choices? Am I actually living the life I want?
“My life is great. It’s just not exceptional. And there was a time when it could have been.”
Jason and Daniela got unexpectedly pregnant with a son early in their relationship causing them to give up intense careers in quantum physics research and art respectively.
They see friends and colleagues achieving the things they used to think they would do.
But all that changes for Jason. A version of himself from a different universe made the choice to continue his research instead of being a family man. His research led him to create a special box that allows him to break the barriers of reality and traverse through the multiverse. Having realized his research-focused life was unfulfilling, he enters Jason’s universe and effectively takes over his life, forcing Jason to switch places with him.
This launches Jason into a heart-wrenching and devastating journey across the multi-verse to try to get back to his family.
This one is coming to Apple TV as a series so you’ll want to read this book soon in preparation.
Read my full review for some of my ponderings on the concepts of this book and links to some other awesome books similar to this one!
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