March Reading Wrap Up

I deepen my love for the Dune-iverse

Because of my job, I get two weeks off approximately every ten weeks. As I approach the holidays, I find myself in a reading slump. Between my general discontent with work and the fact that my calendar has been packed with parties, weddings, festivals, re-watching The Handmaid’s Tale, dinner dates, and squeezing in exercise, I haven’t had the chance to lie in the bath for hours at a time with a good book.

In conversation, someone mentioned the feeling of contentment that comes with finishing a book. Sadly, I don’t experience that anymore because I move on too quickly. As much as I want to read every book ever written, I often get caught up in the metrics of reading, striving to hit 100 books by the end of the year. I’m trying to temper that and just read when I feel like it, and when I finish a book, I want to sit with it.

I say all this, but then watch me spend the first two weeks of April demolishing books just because I can.

Dune by Frank Herbert

I made a cardinal mistake by reading the book after watching the movie. For some reason, I thought Dune would reflect Isaac Asimov's tendencies and be boring to read, but I was wrong.

Dune is a tapestry of fascinating characters and intricate lore. While reading it, I considered the differences between the novel and the 2022/2024 movies and understood why they opted for those changes. One change I’m glad they made was removing the part where Baron Harkonnen admits to being a gay pedophile; that hasn’t aged too well.

The deep lore of the Dune universe is far more prominent in the book than in the film, and I can understand why it created a buzz when it was first published.

Cure by Katherine Brabon

My book club voted Katherine Brabon’s third novel Body Friend the best read of 2023, so this was highly anticipated.

A mother and daughter with the same chronic condition travel to Italy in search of a healer. They feel desperation for wellness while living with their condition, alongside the guilt the mother carries for passing it on to her daughter.

This book reads like a long sigh on a hot day, I tore through it in a few sittings. It took me a few flip-throughs to figure out whose perspective we were on, but that’s not uncommon for me with novels that tell a story from different perspectives or change timelines. If you have enjoyed Katherine Brabon’s work before, you will love this.

Model Home by Rivers Solomon

Model Home is one of those rare books that balances genre and literary fiction. It explores the mystery of how Ezrl’s parents died while also delving into their character development. This offers a fresh perspective on the haunted house genre and serves as a thoughtful reflection on the effects of suburban racism. This book was very much a stream-of-consciousness novel that covers a wide range of topics without feeling too jammed. There are a few shocks and twists, but I didn’t love the final twist.

Terra Nullius by Claire G. Coleman

I think it would be remiss of me to spoil anything about this book before you read it because the fact that I knew practically nothing about Terra Nullius added so much to the reading experience.

Please just read it.

Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert

After loving the first installment, I thought I would soldier on with the epic Dune series. Based on reviews, I went into Dune Messiah knowing it wasn't the best in the series but I couldn't believe the discrepancy between the first and second installment.

While I still look forward to the final modern Dune movie, I am curious about how this book will translate on screen. Given the changes between the first book and the initial two movies, I believe they’ll be able to pull it off.

This book centres on Paul Atredies's rule over the universe and plots to overthrow him. Honestly, the first half of the book was an unbearable amount of meetings between different groups. By the end, I found it hard to pay attention and probably missed all the good bits. This is the last book before Frank Herbert goes off the deep end with the Dune lore.

Piglet by Lottie Hazell

A woman on the eve of her wedding, Piglett’s fiance drops an unnamed bombshell on her and has to decide if she will walk down the aisle or not. This is very much a novel about a woman who has been treated like shit, and has to decide if she will finally stand up for herself.

There is a strong theme of hunger/food throughout this book that both added to the story but, at times, was too forced. The writing was fine, there were some memorable scenes; however, I found that there were too many characters for them to be completely fleshed out. It was supremely readable, but it won't leave any lasting impression.

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzzane Collins

I have been calling this Sunrise OVER the Reaping for the past two weeks, which is deeply embarrassing. Anyone who has known me for a while knows that I am a diehard Hunger Games fan. I feel like it’s a relatively hidden part of my personality, but I have memorised every bit of the Hunger Games lore. The Hunger Games was one of the first books I truly devoured and loved, as I have written about in My Most Anticipated Reads of 2025.

Suzanne Collins delivered what we wanted with this book. To be honest, I didn’t love A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes as much as I expected because it was (shocking for me to say) too long, and the pace changed quite drastically as the story progressed. This book was well-paced and gave us exactly what a Hunger Games novel should: 300ish pages about kids who are about to die, then kids who are dying, then a bit of rebellion. I know the film is already in the works and is due to be released next year and let me tell you, I will be sitting with my cheese popcorn.