Greetings folks, back again to bring you the books I read in March. I actually quite enjoyed all of these books this month - I hoped to get another one in but that giant one you see in the picture is actually 530 pages long so that took a little while... also I'm still on that "falling asleep while reading" hype for some reason, so that also contributed, along with wine.

Anyway, enough rambling Siof, let's get into the books.

1. When Light is like Water - Molly McCloskey

This book was a random choice in my Oxfam haul - Ed actually chose it for me as I wanted to pick a fourth book and couldn't decide on one, so he chose this one for me.

The story follows Alice - a young American woman on her travels in the west of Ireland - who falls in love with an Irishman in the local bar (quel surprise). She ends up marrying him and settling down with him in Ireland, in a place where she struggles to find where she belongs. One summer, she begins an affair that breaks her marriage and changes the course of her life.

A few years on, Alice has spent time working in war zones around the world, gone through the death of her mother, and finds herself back in Ireland, in an attempt to understand the route her life took and why.

This book was an easy read, not overly exciting but a nice story to follow Alice through the years and through her mistakes and losses.

2. The Midnight Library - Matt Haig

Trigger Warning: Suicide

I have heard so much about this book and everyone seems to love it, and it is safe to say I absolutely LOVED it too, it was so magical.

The book follows Nora Seed, who has attempted to take her own life and finds herself in a library - somewhere between life and death. In this library, every book shows another life you could have lived, and you have the chance to experience that life, to see if you would undo your regrets if you could, and what alternative life - if any - would have made you feel differently about staying alive, if you had made different choices.

I really adored this book, it is such a smart concept for a story and really makes you think about your own life, and how, even when we may think our life would be different/better if we had made this decision or that, ultimately we are on the path we are meant to be on, and that path can always lead to new and better experiences that are worth staying alive for. A really gorgeous book that everyone should read.

3. Everything I never told you - Celeste Ng

Trigger Warning: Suicide, racism, Anti-Asian racism

This book opens with the death of 16 year old Lydia (that's not a spoiler, it's on the first page) who is the beloved and adored daughter of Marilyn and James Lee - a mixed-race Chinsese/Caucasian couple living in Ohio in the 1970s, where such relationships were rare and thus frowned upon as a result.

The entire book is basically the family (parents and siblings) trying to find out how Lydia ended up at the bottom of the lake and why. We explore many different potential scenarios with them during the novel, and discover the nature of Lydia's relationship with her parents and the pressure she was under from them to be what her mother felt she never was. We also experience various methods each family member used to try and cope with their extreme loss - some of which were questionable and potentially problematic.

I really enjoyed most of the book as we went through the family's grief and attempting to understand what happened to Lydia, but by the end I felt like it was a real anti-climax when you find out what really happened, and it almost didn't make sense to me based on all the potential scenarios the book brings you through. So I liked the writing and the book in general, but I felt the end did not make sense at all.

I read this as I read another of Celeste Ng's books Little Fires Everywhere last Summer and loved it, and while this one was still good, the end was a bit disappointing.

4. All the light we cannot see - Anthony Doerr

I saw this book recommended on Beth Sandland's Book Club Instagram (a great follow if that's your jam) as one to read if you enjoyed The Nightingale, which you may remember was one of my favourite books of 2020, so I couldn't not try this one, and I was not disappointed.

This story follows a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths unexpectedly collide as France is occupied by the Germans during the devastation of World War II. The blind French girl - Marie-Laure - lives in Paris with her father, when, at 12 years old she and her father flee to her reclusive Grand-uncle's house in Saint Malo by the sea, as Paris is being claimed by the Germans.

Werner is a young German orphan, growing up with his younger sister in a children's home in a mining town, after their father is killed in the mines. He and his sister are transfixed by radios and what they can hear on the airwaves. Werner ends up being enlisted into the army (with Hitler at the helm) to fix radios and track down any French people illegally using them.

This is such a gorgeous story - albeit heart-breaking - and I loved that it was such a long book because you really feel like you're in the lives of the characters of Marie-Laure and Werner and you're almost on edge wishing the best for them in the circumstances. A gorgeous read, would definitely recommend, especially if you read and liked The Nightingale.

Et voila! Some amazing books to add to your list if they sound like your kind of thing. Always open to new recommendations too so please do send any on to me. You can DM me on Instagram if that's easier - I also have a books highlight on there which I update with what I'm currently reading if you're ever curious.

I hope everyone is doing okay with the new announcements re: restrictions/vaccines/the shit-show that is Ireland - I know I'm finding it very tough and I am so done with everything, so if you're feeling that way too, please just look after yourself and reach out to loved ones (or me) for any support you need.

Lots of love and stay safe,

S ✗

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