Another month gone. A quarter of the year checked off the calendar. Time passes so swiftly. And what do we do with it? Do we use it wisely? Do we fritter it away? Do we tell it where to go or wonder where it's gone? Everyone has 168 hours in a week, but it's what we do with them that matters. Some days I'm better at telling the time where to go than others (making sure I read something every day remains a priority), and other days I get to the end of the day and think, "Well, that could have gone better." But no matter what, the idea is that we do what we can with the time we have been given. Whether your life is long or short, use your years well.
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| Photo by Glen Carrie on Unsplash |
And speaking of hours spent reading, March was a struggle for me in that department. I've been working my way through a Kindle book about the history of Britain's early kings (one star, but still forced myself to finish), which seriously slogged me down. I had several books that I picked up for free (using trade credit at a local used bookstore) and was hoping that having books that I was excited to read would put me well-past my four books last month, but alas. Life and other responsibilities (and slogging through that king book) have kept me slightly off the pace.
However, I'm still reading every day, even if it's not as much as I would hope (I'm embracing my 2025 motto: doing something is better than doing nothing!), and below are my quick reviews of what I did read in March. I'd love to hear about your favorite book from the last month, so hit me up in the comments!
- The Bullet that Missed by Richard Osman - ★★★★★ About half-way through this book I thought, "Oh shoot. This is slow and going to be a disappointment." And about three chapters later I was snort-laughing and finished the rest of the book in a day. So hilarious, mixed with a tinge of sadness (the realities of aging and setting your plot in a retirement home). I absolutely LOVED the new additions to the mix, and even though I had already somewhat suspected the "who" in the "done it" part of the story, the whole thing was just a delightful escape for a few hours. In fact, it made me break my 2025 rule of reading 10 books before I was allowed to buy another. I immediately went to the Kindle store and used Kindle and Amazon credits (and a little cash) to buy book #4 so I could start reading immediately. (And was immediately crushed by the first chapter, but people have to be killed or there's no murder to solve, right?) Morality warning: there are all kinds of people, of all ages, hooking up in this book, but nothing graphic. I just wanted to mention it, especially since there was nothing like that in the first book. {Amazon Associates Link}
- The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman - ★★ Five stars for writing - Osman is very talented when it comes to creating characters and slowly giving them more depth. When chapter 60 hit, I bawled like a baby, which I hated as a reader, and appreciated as a writer. That being said...yes, you see that right, two stars for the story this time. The downside of making your primary characters of geriatric age is...death. But compared to Book #1, this took more liberties (with relationships and involving sexuality) than I want in a "cozy murder" book. And deaths. Lots of deaths in this story. Humor as well, but not enough to counteract the death theme. It was just, in general, darker. Although well written, I just didn't enjoy this book nearly as much as I did Books 1-3. I'll give book #5 a try when it comes out, and hope it goes back into the safer realms of the first three, but we'll have to wait and see. Morality warning: This time around, Osman created a homosexual past (and possibly future) for one of the main characters. This comes towards the end of the book, and there's a hint that it might become an ongoing story line.
- Unruly by David Mitchell - ★ I'm all for making learning history fun (and funny), especially when it comes to the terribly lengthy history of England's creation and monarchy. But I couldn't get past the vulgarity (including a number of F-bombs) used by the author. There are so many amazing words in the English language, in my opinion it's just laziness to substitute profanity for humor and wit. Language is a beautiful thing when well used. My enjoyment of the content was tainted by the vocabulary. I was hoping for a major win here, something that would make learning about the various kings (and occasional queens) of England a little more palatable, but, alas, the quest continues.
