Rosepoint Reviews – March Recap – April Weather is no Joke

Rosepoint Review Recap-March-Hello April!

Definitely going to be a wet and wild April with lingering thunderstorms from March—a crazy pattern with warm temps to 70s plunging 40 degrees in a few hours.  Normally, I’d be starting seedlings, thinking garden, planning appropriate veggies and symbiotic flowers.

First goal: Take down that poor tree in front of our kitchen window that only had one viable limb left. The CE surprised me by getting a big jump on it before I was even dressed and by mid-afternoon we had it down, limbs in the garbage bin, area raked and swept. What a job! I’m hoping it will be a good spot for some water plants. I tried lotus flowers last year, but failed to provide sufficient sun. This may be too much sun. We’ll see.

Old tree on the left and after it's cleared.
Old tree on the left–tree is gone on the right.
Hail, same spot
Hail one day later, same spot.

March is birthday month for me and I was celebrated with a visit from our daughter, granddaughter, and great-grandkids. The little ones are so much bigger than last we saw them, the youngest still a baby. They got to have a tour of Chicago from our son who works there, a short and sweet visit, but so happy to see them all.

Of course, we also celebrate Reading Ireland Month in March and I participated once again, experiencing a recommendable movie, a wacky newly released series, as well as ebooks and audiobooks. We made our usual corned beef and cabbage (better this year), which also made delicious leftovers—the CE’s fav.

The CE and I read or listened to a total of ten books in March. As always, the major source of our books is the library (audiobooks and ebooks). (We also review books from NetGalley and author and publisher requests.) The links on titles are to our reviews that include purchase information.

Rosepoint Reviews - March Recap

Singing Bones by S G Ullman (CE review-publisher request)
Countdown by Sara Driscoll
The Burning Soul by John Connolly (CE review)
Murder in an Irish Churchyard by Carlene O’Connor

Audiobooks

See How They Hide by Allison Brennan (mini-reviews)
My Husband’s Wife by Alice Feeney (mini-review)
Thirst Trap by Gráinne O’Hare
The Compound by Aisling Rawle
To the Moon and Back by Karen Kingsbury
The Storied Life of A J Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

 

Favorite Book of the Month

Can I cheat just a bit and nominate a movie instead of a book? What if the movie was based on a book–written by Declan Power? The Siege of Jadotville was compelling and powerful.

Favorite for March – The Siege of Jadotville

 

Reading Challenges

My Reading Challenges page…March was just too busy to update. My Goodreads count is still off, but landing page shows 40 of a challenge of 175.

To all my dear readers and fellow bloggers, thank you so much for taking the time to check out my posts and reviews. I’m trying to up my bloghopping and hope to see you soon.

©2026 V Williams

Rosepoint Reviews – March Recap – Hello April—Are We There Yet?

Rosepoint Review Recap-March-Hello April!

 

New great-granddaughterMarch was a big one around here—with the birth of a new great-granddaughter on March 7 and my birthday—a big one. Age changes perceptions, but it’s both encouraging and getting scary.

March is also a month of weather extremes; snow one day and warm enough to ride a bike the next. I’ve learned the hard way that I can’t start my garden until late April, so that’s a ways off yet but beginning to think I might be able to clean and prepare the deck. Living in the Rust Belt is a whole new experience.

Of course, around here, we also celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and for the last several years have participated in #ReadingIrelandMonth, so jumped on board with that as well. We read or listened to thirteen books in March, six of which were dedicated to #begorrathon23, and as many NetGalley books as audiobooks with some oldie but goodies as well. (Links below are to my reviews that include purchase info.)

Rosepoint Publishing - March Recap

The Book Woman’s Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson (audiobook-bookclub selection)
The Strange Courtship of Kathleen O’Dwyer by Robert Temple (CE review for #begorrathon23)
Molasses Murder in a Nutshell by Frances McNamara
The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens (audiobook)
Retribution by Robert McCaw (CE review)
The Sea by John Banville (#begorrathon23)
Desert Star by Michael Connelly (audiobook-#begorrathon23)
Cold Light of Day by Elizabeth Goddard (CE review)
A Week in Summer (audiobook-#begorrathon23)
The Rose Code by Kate Quinn (audiobook-#begorrathon23)
Operation Storm King by Elliott Sumers (CE review)
The Donut Legion by Joe R Lansdale
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly (audiobook-#begorrathon23)

Have you read any of the above? We narrowed the scope of genres last month but still included historical fiction, thrillers, fantasy, crime, and even a touch of horror (John Connolly).

Favorite Book of the Month

Hands down—no contest. I’m a consummate fan of Kate Quinn—my second book The Rose Code as spell-binding as The Huntress, interested me so much I continued to research Bletchley Park after reading her Epilogue. So that is the March choice for Book of the Month.

Blogger Post

I didn’t have a lot of time to do blog hopping in February, but I did catch several of my favorites, including those from Yesha at Books Teacups and Reviews. I particularly enjoy her personality which not only shines through on her blog posts but her stories on Instagram as well. If you haven’t already, check out her blog and follow her. She’ll lighten your day.

 

Reading Challenges

My Reading Challenges page… I have 38 books of a goal of 145 in Goodreads (three books ahead of schedule) and keep a 97% feedback ratio in NetGalley. Lagging behind on the others but hope to have it caught up shortly.

For us, March spells participation in Reading Ireland Month 2023 and just loved Cathy’s post on March 31 regarding the eventful month for Irish literature. If you haven’t had a chance to read that, I’d urge you to enjoy her list of Irish lit accomplishments along with her humorous comment regarding Wild Mountain Thyme—somewhat of a “cult classic”. (Yeah, Christopher Walken has been seriously miscast in more than one film!)  I love participating in this challenge and also posted a poem from my grandfather—which would totally confirm his story of kissing the Blarney Stone (maybe more than once?). I also included a post regarding one of our more inglorious St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations–here—in case you missed it.

Once again, thank you sooo much for reading and commenting on my posts. I always appreciate the participation!

©2023 V Williams

#RosepointPub