March TBR

To Be Read 

March 2018

Literature allows the reader to experience new situations, lives, and places. This month I am reaching for four books that will do just that for me. I have Spring Break coming up in one week, and since I am an introvert as you might have guessed, I will spend a majority of that time reading. This set of books will also allow me to complete several books that I have started and not completed. 

The books I will be reading this month include: 

1. East of Eden by: John Steinbeck 
1. This book is a multigenerational saga of families living in the Salinas Valley in California. It follows their hardships, loves, and everyday events to illuminate aspects of human disposition. This story is also an allegory for the biblical story of Cain and Abel which has me intrigued to see how Steinbeck translates this to the "modern" Salinas Valley of California. I am over one hundred pages in, and so far there have been gut wrenching betrayals, complex brotherly love, and changing family dynamics with the many characters that we follow throughout this novel. I know this is going to be one that I am going to enjoy mulling over the relationship dynamics, characters, and moral questions. 
2. Page Count: 602
2. Half-Blood Blues by: Esi Edugyan 
1. This novel follows a black jazz group in in Germany during WWII and the struggles that they face in playing their music, conflict with Nazi occupation, and relationships between one another as the group separates throughout the years. I knew nothing going into this book, and I am currently one hundred pages into this novel and still want to go through it blind. Be on the look-out for my review soon!
2. Page Count: 319
3. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by: Gail Honeyman
1. This novel follows the quirky, and socially awkward Eleanor Oliphant through life as she is thrown into many different situations that she wishes to avoid.  Eleanor usually buys two pizzas and a bottle of vodka before the weekend begins, and talks to no one until the following Monday. All of that changes when she and a co-worker find an elderly man collapsed on the sidewalk. This story is hilarious so far, and discusses the deeper meanings of happiness, love and much more. Again I am about one hundred pages into this as well. 
2. Page Count: 325
4. The Woman in The Window by: A.J. Finn
1. This is a thriller following an agoraphobic woman as she witnesses something occur in a neighboring house that she is not supposed to see, and the consequences that follow. I have heard nothing but great things about this novel from many people across the internet. I am currently forty pages in and will decide if I wish to continue around the one hundred page mark. Life is too short for poorly constructed thrillers. 
2. Page Count: 427

Total Page Count: 1,673

This is an attainable goal for this month, though I intend to read more than these when I am home for vacation in a little over one week. What are you all reading, and have you heard of/read any of these novels that I am attempting this month? 

Happy Reading!