What I Read in March #whatjanessareads (18 Books)

For the last day of the month, what else would I post than what I read?
I got through several more of the Canada Reads books (including the one that won!) as well as some more relaxing ones. As usual, most of my reading was on my KOBO, so the picture is pretty barren.

Check out my Goodreads 2016 challenge here! I'm waayyy ahead of the 100 I pledged to read. Nice.
What I read in February
What I read in January
What I read in 2015 (200 books in one year)

Not sure what to read? The Novel Cure gives you suggestions based on your mood. Homesick? Travelling on a train? They've got you covered.

My Top 3 Books in March:
"Mr. Churchill's Secretary"
"Jesus Feminist"
"The Heart Goes Last"

"The Ultimate Guide to Homesteading: An Encyclopedia of Independent Living" Nicole Faires
I bought this book several years ago while I was working at camp. It teaches so many insane things: how to deliver calfs (and even human babies), how to check your soil, making soap, hunting... It knows everything. After many years of perusing, I have finally finished it. I'm very excited to use the gardening section this summer with my friends in our "community" garden.

"Mr. Churchill's Secretary" Susan Elia Macneal 
During WWII, Maggie who is a British and American citizen, moves to England to sell her grandmother's house. She happens to be a math genius who has to defer her PhD at MIT for a year because of it. She ends up working as a secretary for Mr. Churchill, the new Prime Minister. Maggie gets involved in some IRA and Nazi conspiracies as well as a murder or two. Seriously great book, the whole time I had no idea what would happen.

Leviticus NIV
Probably one of the most boring reads in the Bible, but at the very last chapter in my student NIV Bible from Zondervan, it explained that God was giving them laws so that they could reclaim the identity as his chosen people. The Israelites had been slaves of Egypt for 400 years, so they now needed their own identity. When you think about it that way, it's kinda cool. It also shows God caring about every aspect of their lives.

"All the Broken Things" Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer
One of the Canada Reads books for 2016. Probably my second favourite of the 7/15 I've read so far. It's a super weird story: Bo is a refugee from Vietnam during/after the Vietnam War with his mom and sister who has been severely affected by Agent Orange (chemical warfare used on Vietnam). He ends up being a bear wrestler for various fairs in Ontario.

"Life-Changing Magic: A Journal: Spark Joy Every Day" Marie Kondo
So many YouTubers read Marie Kondo's book and said it was the best thing that happened to them. Since I'm a hoarder and not too neat, I figured I'd check it out. Her basic concept is to reduce your personal items, and then find places for everything. For each item, it needs to "spark joy," otherwise you can't keep it. While I won't be getting rid of everything, I did take some of the ideas to heart and am in the process of sorting through everything.

"The Readaholics and the Falcon Fiasco" Laura DiSilverio
New mystery series focused on a mystery book club. The main character is a party planner who is hired to plan her ex-boyfriend's wedding, and one of her friends gets murdered. It was alright.

"The Outside Circle: A Graphic Novel" Patti Laboucane-Benson
The one graphic novel in Canada Reads. It discusses issues faced by a young Aboriginal man in Alberta. It's pretty upsetting at times when they include stats of abuse and violence, but don't worry, it has a semi-happy ending. Very dark.

"Jesus Feminist: An Invitation to Revisit the Bible's View of Women" Sarah Bessey
I tried to read this once before and the library reservation ended, so I didn't get to read it. This is a phenomenal book which details why Sarah is a feminist (because Jesus was one, and she is a Christian) and how we should be feminists if we are Christian. She has lots of really great interpretations of the Bible.

"The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie" Alan Bradley
This book is pretty funny. Flavia is a young girl in the 1950s who comes across a murdered man in her garden. She is a very advanced chemist, sassy, and somehow solves the mystery. I'm excited to read more of the series.

Gospel of Matthew - NIV
Reading Leviticus was divided up through Matthew, which was a good way to handle the depressing rules in Leviticus.

"The Illegal" Lawrence Hill
This book won Canada Reads. I still like "Station Eleven" and "All the Broken Things" more, but I'll have to watch the debates to see why the book won. It's set present time and follows a boy from the made-up country of Zantoroland. He becomes a marathon runner to escape the political danger in his country, and ends up having to hide from authorities in the Freedom State, which represents any democratic country.

"The Martian" Andy Weir
I loved the movie, which I watched in theaters. Somehow the movie followed the book exactly, so I didn't actually enjoy it that much. Especially the math. Anyway, the book is about Mark Watney, who gets marooned on Mars, his attempts to survive life on Mars, and NASA's attempts to recover him.

"The Pirate's Wish" Cassandra Rose Clarke
Still a really weird series. Ananna the pirate and Naji the assassin are still trying to break the Unbreakable curse that has linked them together. They travel to mythical islands and meet some royalty. I had kind of expected there to be a third book, but it just ended. It was fine.

"Landing Gear" Kate Pullinger
This book confused me. Another of the Canada Reads books. Basically the book follows the crazy intertwinings of characters following the volcanic eruption in 2010. There were some crazy moments but it wasn't the most interesting.

"Murphy's Law" Rhys Bowen
First in a series about Molly Murphy who escapes from Ireland to America after committing defensive murder of her attempted rapist. She ends up posing as the mother of two kids who are going over to America since the mother is sick and wouldn't be allowed past Ellis Island. While they're on the island, a man she argues with on the boat is murdered. Molly goes badass on us.

"Dead and Gone" Charlaine Harris
Number 9 in True Blood. The werewolves and other shifters "come out" on television. Of course, this causes even more upset. Sookie's pregnant sister-in-law is murdered and strung up on a cross. Is it just regular murder? Or a hate crime?

"Sweetland" Michael Crummey
The most boring Canada Reads book I've read so far. Basically Sweetland lives on an island off Newfoundland that the government is trying to empty. They're paying off everyone to leave the island. Everyone agrees except old Sweetland, who tries to fake his own death and stay there.

"The Heart Goes Last" Margaret Atwood
Love Atwood. In this post-modern book, Charmaine and Stan agree to be a part of a social experiment where half their time they live in a perfect town and have jobs, and the other half they are in jail. Obviously, it's weird. Stan falls in love with the elusive woman who lives in his apartment while he is in jail. That's a problem.