March-April Book Recap

With spring approaching, my reading has slowed a bit. In March and April, I’ve latched on to a couple of series and discovered a new “favorite” author: G. Lawrence. Ms. Lawrence writes historical fiction, specifically focusing on royal families in the British Isles. What I enjoy most about her books is that, unlike much history that depicts women as weak, manipulating, or just plain dense, she writes her female protagonists as strong figures who know who they are and what they want. The stories are well-written, unlike so many self-published novels that leave one feeling a bit cheated; any book from G. Lawrence gets five stars from me.

The first of Ms. Lawrence’s books I read was Shadow of Persephone, quickly followed by No More Time to Dance. These two volumes chronicle the life of Catherine Howard, fourth wife of Henry VIII. So often she is characterized as a ditzy female with incredibly questionable morals, but Ms. Lawrence posits an alternative viewpoint: that Catherine did the best she could in an impossible situation.

Here’s a list of the other books I read in March and April:

The Back of the Yard, Meg Lelvis
Near Death, Richard Wall
Elsewhere, Dean Koontz
Where Shall I Flee, Anne Clare
The Closers, Michael Connelly
Whispering Quilts, R.M. Tappan
Smoke and Mirrors, Elly Griffiths
The Last Librarian, Brandt Legg
The Pilot’s Girl, Catherine Hokin (sequel to The Commandant’s Daughter on my February reading list)
A Slow Fire Burning, Paula Hawkins
Child of Water, G. Lawrence
Children of Virtue and Vengeance, Tomi Adeyemi (audio book–still working on it!)
Abandonded in Death, J.D. Robb
The Lost Tree Runner, Brandt Legg (sequel to The Last Librarian)