Books Read in March 2012
I was busy this month with special volunteer work and so my reading list is relatively short. I did manage to read two full e-books on my Kindle, meaning I spent a little more time on the treadmill – and that’s a good thing!
How about you? Did you read anything exciting in March?
1. The Saturdays
NYC in 1941, when a ten-year-old girl could go out by herself for a special Saturday. How could I not be charmed? And I have been, ever since first reading this as a child. Five stars over & over & over again. 5 stars
2. Half-Blood Blues
Winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize, it has so many winning elements: jazz, Paris, WWII. Edugyan captures the voice of the American musician protagonist perfectly, but the plot could be a touch stronger. Four stars for the story and a half star for the FABULOUS cover (at least on the edition I read). I’m sure it’s the best I’ll see all year. 4½ stars
3. The Art of Fielding
I wanted to LOVE this the way I love baseball. I did greatly enjoy it, being reminded with every word of John Irving. But at the end, I said “That’s it?!” 4 stars.
4. The Innocence of Father Brown
My first Chesterton, but not my last. I didn’t know Father Brown books were short story collections – or at least this one is. Naturally, some stories are better than others. I’m still undecided as to whether the stories are fairly clued. 4 stars overall.
5. The Return of Captain John Emmett
The first of what is promised to be a series featuring former WWI officer Lawrence Bartram. Solid mystery, great period detail. 4 stars
6. The Calling
First in the series introducing Hazel Micaleff, in charge of a provincial police detachment 3 hours north of Toronto. I had trouble putting this down. I’m rating this four stars which is high praise for me for a serial killer novel. 4 stars
7. White River Junctions
White River Junction, Vermont was once a bustling community built around the railroad. With the decline of railroad transport, it’s met the modern fate of countless towns across North America. Dave Norman lovingly reconstructs the town in words, through the buildings, the people and the stories in White River Junction. 4 stars
8. Walden; Or, Life in the Woods
E.B. White says in a follow-up essay to this book that “To reject the book because of the immaturity of the author and the bugs in the logic is to throw away a bottle of good wine because it contains bits of cork.” I think there was some must in the bottom of the wine bottle too. I won’t throw it away, E.B., but I’m not rating it a five, either. 3½ stars
9. Broken Music: A Mystery
Definitely a WWI mystery, which is why I picked it up. But it’s also a romance and suffers from the untouched physical and mental health of the love interests, and a resulting happy ending. 3½ stars
10. A Small Furry Prayer: Dog Rescue and the Meaning of Life
The title wasn’t fooling. Kotler and his wife are deeply involved in dog rescue. I was prepared to hear about the difficulties of moving to the country & a new lifestyle, of the struggles of finding homes for the dogs, of dogs being sick and of dogs dying, but I wasn’t looking for metaphysical speculation and “deep ecology”. 3 stars
For my Canadian readers:
The Saturdays
Half-Blood Blues
The Art of Fielding
The Innocence of Father Brown
The Calling: A Hazel Micallef Mystery
White River Junctions
Walden; Or, Life in the Woods
Broken Music: A Mystery
A Small Furry Prayer
Kindle versions:
The Art of Fielding
Vanity Fair’s How a Book is Born: The Making of The Art of Fielding
The Innocence of Father Brown
The Calling
White River Junctions
Walden ; or Life in the Woods – Enhanced 
Broken Music: A Mystery
A Small Furry Prayer
You had a great March! I love that you enjoyed a lot of the books you read this month.
I, too, loved that I enjoyed a great many of the books I read in March, Athira. It was a good month, with a couple of volumes that I’d been waiting MONTHS to get my hands on!
I listened to The Art of Fielding on audio and totally enjoyed it but was a bit put off by the end. Not only did it get a little implausible (the whole “grave digging” bit) but it left me wanting more. I wanted an epilogue or something!!!!! Also, I wish Owen had gotten a chance to talk. He was one of my favorites. Still, it was better than the average book. I guess I should work on my review, huh?
Mrs. J.- I agree the ending was the just the weak link. I must get my review posted as well.
Mrs. J. – I feel much the same. The grave-digging bit was off the wall, and the ending felt truncated.