Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: March 2024

Back again for another fun month of book suggestions? Here are the things Kristin and I have been reading since the last wrap-up. Be sure to tell us if you see any of your favorite reads, something on the never-ending To-Be-Read list, or if you know of a comparable title we might enjoy. Thanks again for reading! Write on.

Kamryn:

      March was a month of good reading intentions, but alas, I did not get much done. I was able to finish the final installment in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series, The Amber Spyglass, which I had started by the time of the last Wrap-Up. If you like complex, supernatural fantasy, this might be a good read for you. I didn’t tear through B3 like I did B2 (The Subtle Knife), but I do think this is a well-written series with an intense level of worldbuilding. I did call out my cousin for recommending me a series that was pretty sad for the final stretch, but it was still an interesting read.

As I said, I had good intentions for my March reading, but there was so much going on it just did not happen. I took a book on vacation that I didn’t have time to read and I pulled out a different book that I still have yet to crack open. In order to get a little more in, I did finish off two graphic novels though.

As I talked about in a previous blog, I was given a set of Avatar: The Last Airbender graphic novels as a gift and have been slowly delving into those. The first one I read was called Toph Beifong’s Metalbending Academy (Script: Faith Erin Hicks, Art: Peter Wartman, Colors: Adele Matera, Lettering: Richard Starkings and Comicraft’s Jimmy Betancourt), which I was curious about as I figured this would focus on Toph founding the metalbending academy in between Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. It did take place between shows but started more on the established academy, featuring a hilariously surprising team up with Toph and Chong, the hippie-esque Earth Kingdom musician best known for the “Secret Tunnel” song. I was certainly not prepared for that combo and it was fun.

Second, I read another called Suki, Alone (Script: Faith Erin Hicks, Art: Peter Wartman, Colors: Adele Matera, Lettering: Richard Starkings and Comicraft’s Jimmy Betancourt) which took place during the original series, focusing on Suki’s time alone before the rescue at the Boiling Rock. I think I might have liked this one the best out of the three as it highlighted Suki in a period of the show we didn’t get to see, but also gave glimpses of her past. Suki’s always been a main ensemble character, but I liked getting to see a section of the story solely focused on her strengths and weaknesses that fits very specifically in the larger story. You know where it starts and you know exactly what it’s leading to as the rescue at the Boiling Rock is an iconic arc in the original show. Suki is a great character, even if she’s not always at the forefront, so I really liked to see her getting focused on.

Kristin:  

For March, I finished a whopping two books. But they were good books and have helped me slowly get out of my reading slump. 

First, Scum Villain’s Self Saving System by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, what a title. If you’ve been keeping up with the wrap-ups you’ll know that this author has basically taken over my life and I’m very happy about it. This was her debut novel/series and, boy, is it a lot of fun. 

You know from the long and silly title that this book is going to be unique and it’s honestly unlike any other novel I’ve ever read. The protagonist is from the modern world but gets transmigrated into a wuxia (ancient Chinese fantasy) novel but not just any novel, one he read and hated how it was written. He complained of plot holes, poorly written characters and overall an angry disappointment to read. So once he found himself in the very same novel, he sought to fix it. The only problem is that he transmigrated into a character who is the bully/abusive teacher who later in the story gets brutally murdered by the protagonist, a bit of a problem. 

Not only that but there are rules for how he can interact with the world told through an interface that gives or subtracts points based on his performance. And if he loses all his points, his soul is basically gone and he’s just dead. 

It’s a lot happening and some of it was a bit hard to keep up with. If this had been my first MXTX novel I likely would have been pretty lost. But I understood enough to keep up and it all made sense as I kept reading. The humor is once again one of the main things I love about this author’s writing and her ability to talk about dark and difficult things balanced with silly and funny things. The “twist” at the end was great and heartbreaking and I immediately ordered the second novel (being the second one I read). 

Honestly, it’s still my least favorite MXTX novel but that’s not at all a negative. It was enjoyable and funny and unique to her other two novels. Nothing will ever top MDZS for me but I can’t wait to finish the third book and finale. 

That’s all for this month! Be sure to let us know what you’re reading and we’ll see you in April! As always, write-on!