Monthly Reviews- March 2024

 🌈 March Reviews ☘️

March 1st-31st

Book 22: Natalie Haynes Stands Up For the Classics: More Comical Tales from Ancient Greece and Rome, Series 5-8

By Natalie Haynes

Listened February 28th- March 2nd, 2024

Release Year: 2022

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Another great set that I enjoyed even better than the first. I love how she mostly focused on the mythological characters this time around.

Book 23: Reynard’s Tale: A Story of Love and Mischief 

By Ben Hatke

Read March 4th, 2024

Release Year: 2023

Pages: 80

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I did not enjoy this as much as I thought I would. A couple of years ago, I read my first version of the Reynard the fox tale and fell in love with the character. So when I saw this version, I had to pick it up. I really did not enjoy the fragmented way this was written. The writing felt very juvenile at times and did not fit with the story. It feels like a children’s book with the writing style but it’s too risqué for them. I know it is supposed to by a story for adults but it just does not feel like one at all. Ben Hatke’s illustrations are stunning and I wish I would have liked this more.

Book 24: Women & Power: A Manifesto

By Mary Beard

Read March 6th- 7th

Release Year: 2017

Pages: 115

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I read an essay that was a part of this a couple of years ago for one of my jobs and highly enjoyed it, so I had been wanting to read this manifesto ever since. The essay, at least in my opinion, was a better form for this content.  

Book 25: Echo Echo: Reverso Poems About Greek Myths

By Marilyn Singer

Read March 8th

Release Year: 2016

Pages: 32

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I have been wanting to read Marilyn Singer’s Reverso poetry books for years and I could not have enjoyed this more. She did such an incredible job creating the sets of poems. I love how well they each fit together and cannot imagine the work that went into this collection. Also, the illustrations are absolutely stunning. I highly recommend this to poetry and Greek mythology lovers. I will be getting a copy of this for my collection and will be picking up her other Reverso books.

Book 26: What You Need to Be Warm

By Neil Gaiman 

Read March 9th

Release Year: 2023

Pages: 32

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A wonderful poem with beautiful illustrations. I will definitely be finding a copy of this for my Neil Gaiman collection.

Book 27: The Untold Tales of I Hate Fairyland

By Gabriel Ba, Fabio Moon, Aaron Conley, Jorge Corona, Morgan Beem, and Mike Del Mundo 

Read March 8th- 9th

Release Year: 2024

Pages: 145

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I almost stopped reading this after a couple of the stories, but decided to keep going. There were a few that I liked quite a bit, though most of them were not for me at all. I was looking forward to more adventures with Gert and was thinking this would be much better than it was. I don’t recommend picking this up.

Book 28: Plaza Suite

By Neil Simon 

Listened March 10th

Release Year: 1968

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I remember watching this play back in college around ten years ago and loving it. So, when I saw this audio edition, I wanted to revisit it again. This time around I didn’t enjoy it as much as before, except for the final part. The third part is hilarious and had me laughing out loud. Maybe the humor works better when you can see what is going on. I’ll have to watch the film version again and see.

Book 29: Most Ardently

By Gabe Cole Novoa

Read March 10th-12th

Release Year: 2024

Pages: 304

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Pride and Prejudice is one of the most popular romances of all time and I have adored it ever since I first read it many years ago. In Most Ardently, Gabe Cole Novoa remixes the classic story with our main character being Oliver Bennet, a young transman, who feels trapped in his society's expectations for women of the time. He was born Elizabeth Bennet and at this point in his life, he is ready to start openly living his true identity as a man. 

Many of the original story's main beats play out throughout the plot but with deviations. I love the relationship between Darcy and Oliver. It was great to watch them fall in love during the story and I just could not get enough of them together. The characters are similar to their classic counterparts but a bit younger. Also, I love Oliver's dad just as much as I always loved Elizabeth's father. It was a joy reading the scenes with him. Oliver is a powerful character who you cannot help but love from the very beginning of the story. 

I highly recommend picking up the audiobook for this wonderful book. The narrator does an incredible job narrating Oliver's story. I will be buying a copy for my collection and know I will be rereading this very soon. 

*I was given an ARC of this book and listened to the audiobook version after it was released. All opinions are my own. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley.*

Book 30: Doctor Who: Rose

By Russell T. Davies

Read March 16th

Release Year: 2018

Pages: 224

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A great adaptation of the first episode from the 9th Doctor’s story arc, titled Rose. I enjoyed how this expanded upon many of the side characters throughout and on the story a bit. Along with the expansions on these characters, there are references to many other characters and Doctors (10th Doctor, Donna Noble, etc). Also, the ilustrations were great. I hope they decide to illustrate some of the other adaptations of Doctor Who episodes. Definitely, recommend this to fans of the show.

Book 31: Oedipus the King

By Sophocles 

Read March 27th

Release Year: 430

Pages: 104

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I listened to the audio version of this play with Michael Sheen as Oedipus and followed along with my physical version. This is a story I knew most of the plot but highly enjoyed listening to it. Michael is an incredible actor and does a marvelous job in the titular role. I highly recommend listening to that version of the play.

Book 32: The Carpet People

By Terry Pratchett 

Read March 31st

Release Year: 1971

Pages: 269

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I have been wanting to read this book for quite awhile but wanted to wait until I could listen to the version read by David Tennant. David does a great job narrating the story and creating voices for each of the characters. He will always be one of my favorite audiobook narrators. 

The book was not as enjoyable as I wanted it to be but I’m glad I finally finished Terry’s first book. It definitely feels like an early Terry Pratchett novel. You can feel his signature wit and style coming through. It reminds me of his many short stories from his collections, which makes sense because this was started around the time he first penned those stories (when he was 17 years old).

If you want to read this book, I recommend picking up David Tennant’s version. His narration is great.