All the books I bought in March | Books and Baking

I’ve had this post in my drafts for ages and totally forgot to post it as I’ve been really busy recently, but here are the books I bought in March!

I’ve been trying to limit my book buying habits as I definitely buy more books than I have time to read – but after being on a book buying ban in February, I definitely made up for it by buying some new books. I don’t think I’ll be buying anymore for a while as I try to work my way through my ever-increasing tbr pile!

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In terms of book buying bans, I think I’m going to stop having them because I do love buying and reading books. But I am definitely going to try and limit the amount of books I buy and make sure to try and get my tbr pile down a little before I do buy some more!

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The Girl With The Louding Voice by Abi Daré

All of the reviews that I’ve seen about this book are amazing and have said it is a must-read novel. It follows a teenage girl who is growing up in a rural Nigerian village and longs to get an education so that she can find her “louding voice”. It sounds like such an inspiring story that I am sure I will absolutely love! As someone who is an advocate for universal education, this is definitely right up my street.

The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta

I wanted to read The Black Flamingo for the longest time and I’ve just recently finished and I loved it! My review is up on my bookstagram here, if you are interested. The story follows a boy who is coming to terms with his identity as a mixed-race gay teen, and then at university where he finds his wings as a drag artist – The Black Flamingo. I’ve recently finished this heart-warming story about finding yourself and it is also in verse which I absolutely love to read!

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Mythos by Stephen Fry

I’ve always wanted to read books based on Greek Mythology and after doing a poll on my bookstagram a lot of people recommended Mythos as a good starting point. I definitely want to read The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller in the future, and I think this will be a good introduction to the genre as a whole. In Mythos, Stephen Fry retells a range of Greek Myths in a captivating and fun way!

The Girl of Ink and Stars by Karan Millwood Hargrave

I love reading children’s books – anyone else? And I also want to get into the fantasy genre, so I think that reading some children’s fantasy books will help me to grasp new worlds and the general format of fantasy books. This book sounds amazing – I love that there is magic involved, and I think that the fact that this story is also an adventure novel will make it even more fun to read.

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When Life Gives You Mangoes by Kereen Getten

Longlisted for the 2021 Jhalak Prize, this story is about a young girl who can’t remember anything from her previous summer after a hurricane. But her whole world changes with the arrival of a new girl in the village she lives in. I am so intrigued by this middle grade book, which explores a plethora of important themes. Also, I’m loving the representation here! I’ve finished this book which is included in my March Wrap Up which you can find here and I really enjoyed it!

A Court of Thorns and Rose by Sarah J. Maas

This was probably my MOST anticipated book on this list – A Court of Thorns and Roses. I did a buddy read of this with one of my good friends last month and I enjoyed it but it wasn’t a five star read for me. Although I don’t read fantasy, I’ve been told this is a relatively good place to start with the genre and I do kind of agree. If you’ve read this one, what did you think of it?

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Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

I am a big Shakespeare fan and when I first heard about this book, I knew I needed to read it. That being said I couldn’t justify paying £20 for the hardback and whilst waiting for the paperback to be released, I saw that the price had dropped, and I just couldn’t not buy it. Also, this was nominated for the April book club I co-run for university, so I guess the timing was perfect! Although this is not necessarily a direct story about Shakespeare’s life, the Elizabethan setting and exploration of family dynamics definitely sounds intriguing. I’ve just finished this, review will be coming soon!

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Have you bought any new books recently? Let me know what you’re reading this month in the comments😊.