Tanya Patrice here! Last month Kim shared her February TBR (Black Authored Books), so this month. it’s my turn to share what’s on my reading list for March. I’m all about reading new and upcoming releases – advanced reader copies which I requested on NetGalley.
Good Dirt, Charmaine Wilkerson
I read Wilkerson’s debut novel last year, Black Cake, and loved it. When I saw that she was coming out with her sophomore novel, this immediately went on my reading list. I’ve already started reading Good Dirt and loving it so far.
When ten-year-old Ebby Freeman heard the gunshot, time stopped. And when she saw her brother, Baz, lying on the floor surrounded by the shattered pieces of a centuries-old jar, life as Ebby knew it shattered as well. The crime was never solved, and because the Freemans were one of the only Black families in a particularly well-to-do enclave of New England, the case has had an enduring, voyeuristic pull for the public. The last thing the Freemans want is another media frenzy splashing their family across the papers, but when Ebby’s high profile romance falls apart without any explanation, that’s exactly what they get.
The Rainfall Market, You Yeong-Gwang
The summary of this book is what got me interested in The Rainfall Market, a new novel from a debut author.
On the outskirts of Rainbow Town, there is an old, abandoned house. They say that if you send a letter detailing your misfortunes there, you could receive a ticket. If you bring this ticket to the house on the first day of the rainy season, you’ll be granted entrance into the mysterious Rainfall Market – where you can choose to completely change your life. No one is more surprised than Serin when she receives a ticket. Lonely and with no real prospects for a future, Serin ventures to the market, determined to create a better life for herself. The catch? Serin only has one week to find her happiness or be doomed to vanish into the market forever.
The Bones Beneath My Skin, TJ Klune
I read my first book by TJ Klune last year, Under the Whispering Door, and it was so delightful. This led me to request to read an advanced reader copy of his latest book, The Bones Beneath My Skin.
In the spring of 1995, Nate Cartwright has lost everything: his parents are dead, his older brother wants nothing to do with him, and he’s been fired from his job as a journalist in Washington DC. With nothing left to lose, he returns to his family’s summer cabin outside the small mountain town of Roseland, Oregon to try and find some sense of direction. The cabin should be empty. It’s not. Inside is a man named Alex. And with him is an extraordinary little girl who calls herself Artemis Darth Vader. Artemis, who isn’t exactly as she appears.
Once Was Willem, M.R. Carey
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve read a book by Carey, but the books I’ve read by him are always unique, like The Girl With All the Gifts.
Pennick for all its beauty was ever a place with a dark reputation. The forests of the Chase were said to be home to nixies and boggarts, and there was a common belief, passed down through many generations, that the castle housed an unquiet ghost of terrible and malign power. These rumours I can attest were all true; indeed they fell short of the truth by a long way . . .
Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man), Jesse Q. Sutanto
There should be more books with older protagonists, so despite Vera’s meddling ways, I’m up for reading another book about her amateur sleuthing and general minding of other people’s business in this 2nd book in the Vera Wong series.
Ever since a man was found dead in Vera’s teahouse, life has been good. For Vera that is. She’s surrounded by loved ones, her shop is bustling, and best of all, her son, Tilly, has a girlfriend! All thanks to Vera, because Tilly’s girlfriend is none other than Officer Selena Gray. The very same Officer Gray that she had harassed while investigating the teahouse murder. Still, Vera wishes more dead bodies would pop up in her shop, but one mustn’t be ungrateful, even if one is slightly…bored.
The Maid’s Secret (Molly the Maid #3), Nita Prose
I’ve read the other 2 books in the Molly the Maid series, and Molly is just such an unforgettable character, that I’m back for more.
Molly’s entire existence is upended when a film crew descends upon the hotel to shoot the hit reality TV show Hidden Treasures, starring popular art appraisers Brown and Beagle. On a whim, Molly brings in a shoebox containing a few of her gran’s old things for appraisal, and much to everyone’s surprise, one item turns out to be a rare and priceless treasure. Instantly, Molly is both a multi-millionaire and a media sensation—the world’s rags-to-riches darling—until the priceless piece vanishes from the hotel in the boldest, brashest antiquities heist in recent memory.
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, Stephen Graham Jones
I can’t say I’ve loved everything I’ve read by SGJ, but a historical fiction, vampire novel – yes please!!
A diary, written in 1912 by a Lutheran pastor is discovered within a wall. What it unveils is a slow massacre, a chain of events that go back to 217 Blackfeet dead in the snow. Told in transcribed interviews by a Blackfeet named Good Stab, who shares the narrative of his peculiar life over a series of confessional visits.
These are some of the books on my reading list for March … and likely April. What’s one new release you’re most looking forward to reading?
