This month I had some tough reads that made it difficult for me to pick up more books. So, for the last two weeks of the month, I avoided reading because I just didn’t want to go back there again with the heaviness of the topics. But I finally found my way out of the reading slump at the end of March and I’m excited to pick up my next book for this month. I managed to read 6 books last month, more than I thought I’d get through.
This post contains affiliate links (read my disclaimer). Thanks for helping me adult!
WINTER COUNTS BY DAVID HESKA WANBLI WEIDEN
**TRIGGER WARNING: THIS BOOK TALKS ABOUT A LOT OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF ABUSE. SEXUAL, PHYSICAL, AND DRUG ABUSE ARE JUST A FEW EXAMPLES**
Virgil Wounded Horse is the local enforcer on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. When justice is denied by the American legal system or the tribal council, Virgil is hired to deliver his own punishment, the kind that’s hard to forget. But when heroin makes its way into the reservation and finds Virgil’s nephew, his vigilantism suddenly becomes personal. He enlists the help of his ex-girlfriend and sets out to learn where the drugs are coming from, and how to make them stop.
They follow a lead to Denver and find that drug cartels are rapidly expanding and forming new and terrifying alliances. And back on the reservation, a new tribal council initiative raises uncomfortable questions about money and power. As Virgil starts to link the pieces together, he must face his own demons and reclaim his Native identity. He realizes that being a Native American in the twenty-first century comes at an incredible cost.
I absolutely loved this book. It was heartbreaking, and painful, yet necessary. I have literally recommended this book to everyone that I know is a reader. The author takes you on an amazing journey about Virgil, the reclamation of his Native identity, and his relationship with his brother and ex-girlfriend. It was eye opening for me to learn about the intense struggles that Native Americans have to face in their own country. I highly recommend this book.
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
WRONG PLACE WRONG TIME BY GILLIAN MCALLISTER
Gillian McAllister has been an author I’ve seen being recommended as someone to read for mysteries/thrillers. So I was excited when my local library sent me the notification that Wrong Place, Wrong Time was ready for me to pick up. I have to say that I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I’d hoped to.
Jen is waiting for her 17-year-old son, Todd, to return home. But as she sees him approaching the house, she realizes he’s armed and walking toward a man. Alarmed, she runs outside, attempting to stop the inevitable harm that Todd causes this man. Frantic, she spirals trying to understand the who, what, why, and how while also processing the fact that Todd’s future is shattered. Eventually falling asleep in despair, she wakes up, and it’s yesterday. And every day she wakes up, it’s a day, month, or year earlier and further away from the crime. Each time Jen wakes up, she’s on a mission to understand what the trigger was for this crime in hopes of a chance to stop it.
The premise of the mystery is intriguing because who doesn’t want to redo a day to get a broader understanding of why things played out the way they did. For a while, I was captivated by the mystery because I wanted to understand why she kept moving through time. However, it took a little too long to get to the point of Jen’s spiral backward through time. I mean, by the end, I understood the necessity to move through time to get to the root of everything, but maybe there was a quicker way to do so. Also, the end really annoyed me. Why end with a cliffhanger?! Especially if there’s not a sequel.
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️☆
HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE BY KELLYE GARRETT
I didn’t realize this book was a cozy mystery until I started reading it. I don’t usually like reading cozy mysteries because they can be a bit annoying. Watching cozy mysteries, on the other hand, is almost as mindless as reality tv and a great way for me to unwind from a stressful day.
Dayna Anderson – a semi-famous, mega-broke Black actress – didn’t set out to solve a murder. But after witnessing a deadly hit-and-run, she figures pursuing the fifteen-grand reward isn’t the craziest thing a Hollywood actress has done for some cash. What starts as simply trying to remember a speeding car soon blossoms into a full-on investigation. As Dayna digs deeper into the victim’s life, she’s determined to find the woman’s killer. Dayna chases down leads at paparazzi hot spots, celeb homes, and movie premieres when she connects the accident to a notorious Hollywood crime spree. She loves every second—until someone tries to kill her.
The high point of this book is it’s quite funny. There were many moments when I laughed out loud. However, the cringy moments outweighed those whenever Dayne would accuse someone of a crime that they didn’t commit. This book was all about the girl who cried murder. If you’re into cozy mysteries, this series is for you.
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️☆
Order from Amazon
HOLLYWOOD ENDING BY KELLYE GARRETT
Because I hate starting a series and not finishing it, I immediately read the second book. Like the first one, it was funny, the mystery moved quickly, and it captivated me. However, Dayne is annoying, making it hard for me to want to cheer her on. Tinseltown’s awards season is in full swing, and everyone is obsessed with dressing up, scoring free swag, and getting invited to the biggest awards shows of the year. But when popular Silver Sphere Awards publicist Lyla Davis is killed during a botched ATM robbery, the celebratory mood abruptly stops. Dayna Anderson uncovers the killer almost immediately. Unfortunately, what starts as an open-and-shut case is anything but. Lyla’s murder was no robbery gone wrong. Someone hired the gunman to kill her. Diving back into the investigation, Dayna gets a backstage look at the worlds of gossip blogging, Hollywood royalty, and one of entertainment’s most respected awards shows–all while trying to avoid her own Hollywood ending.
Apparently, there’s a third book in the series, but I can’t find it at my library, and I didn’t enjoy the first two books enough to want to purchase the third. So, I won’t be finishing this series as I’d hoped.
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️☆
Order from Amazon
NOTHING TO SEE HERE BY KEVIN WILSON
I think I’m becoming quite fond of magical realism books. This is the second one I’ve read in the last two months and I can’t say I hate it. Lillian and Madison were roommates at their elite boarding school. This unlikely pair became inseparable friends until Lillian had to leave school unexpectedly because of a scandal and they’ve barely spoken since. That changes when Lillian gets a letter from Madison pleading for help with her twin stepkids who are moving in with her family. But there’s a catch – the twins spontaneously combust into flames whenever they get agitated. Lillian accepts because she has nothing to lose with her dead-end life at home. Lillian and the twins learn to trust each other—and stay cool—while also staying out of the way of Madison’s buttoned-up politician husband. Surprised by her own ingenuity yet unused to the intense feelings of protectiveness she feels for them, Lillian ultimately begins to accept that she needs these strange children as much as they need her—urgently and fiercely.
I started and finished this book on my plane ride to the wedding last month. It was an easy read that kept me hooked the entire time. The story is much deeper than people trying to figure out how to care for children that combust into families. I think it’s about the intricacies and difficulties of families in general but especially blended families. At the core, the book about three people who have felt unwanted finding each other. The ending made my heart happy.
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
IN THE NIGHT OF MEMORY BY LINDA LEGARDE GROVER
This was a tough book to get through. Not because it wasn’t well written, but rather because it’s a heartbreaking tale and history of the many lost Native women. Told from the perspective of the different women that were touched by the loss of Loretta Gallette – a daughter of the Mozhay Point Reservation – the book begins with Loretta surrendering her young girls to the county – Azure Sky and Rainfall Dawn ages 3 and 4. After surrendering the girls, Loretta disappears and becomes one more missing Native woman in Indian Country’s long devastating history of loss. After a string of foster placements, from cold to kind to cruel, the girls find their way back to their extended Mozhay family, and a new set of challenges, and stories unfolds. Though reconciliation is possible, some ruptures simply cannot be repaired; they can only be lived through or lived with.
I kept putting this book down because it was tough for me. Tough because I think of the hardships and genocide that Native Americans have endured when all they wanted to do was live peacefully on their land. The fact that there are many tribes that no longer exist and have been relegated to reservations really hurts my heart. While understanding that this book is fiction, it’s based on the centuries of loss of Native children and women that only their family and friends seem to care about. Maybe if I was in a better headspace I would have been able to truly appreciate the beauty of this book.
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️☆
WHAT BOOKS DID Y’ALL READ IN MARCH?
