As spring is officially in full bloom and the sunshine is soaking through the trees, we’re beginning to think about using moisturizer with SPF and, of course, reading.
Yes, the New Year’s resolution is still going strong as the third month of the year is coming to a close. After reading 13 books in January and soaking up all the good rom-coms in more last month, too, I have the ranked-and-reviewed edit of the best March books to sort through below.
As always, I have a vigilant eye on new releases and hidden gems worth page-turning through. From current picks from Reese’s Book Club to Read with Jenna, along with Book of the Month, there are so many epic titles I’ve completed and enjoyed this month. Hence, the creation of this review.
RELATED: Best February books we read, ranked and reviewed
In total, I read 16 books cover to cover. Below, you’ll find my review notes along with some commentary from the Amazon Book Editors on most titles. This is a page you’ll want to save for your next book haul, of which should be now. Add to cart, add to cart.
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“Part of Your World” by Abby Jimenez
Amazon “Part of Your World” by Abby Jimenez was the first book I read and March and an absolute five-star read for me. In fact, it goes down in history as one of the most memorable and well-written rom coms I’ve enjoyed.
“This opposite-attracts romance will make you swoon with delight,” Kami Tei, editor of Amazon Books editorial, told The Post. “ER doctor Alexis has expectations to carry on the family legacy; however, her pull to Daniel, the small-town carpenter, has her questioning everything.”
Just as I did, Tei adored Alexis and Daniel but also fell in love with the cast of characters surrounding them. “Compelling topics like classism, depression, and domestic violence bring depth to this story, making it relatable to the everyday struggles of real people,” she added.
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“Yours Truly” by Abby Jimenez
Amazon The second book in the “Part of Your World” series, “Yours Truly” by Abby Jimenez was just as incredible as the first. With a unique premise of the male and female love interest writing notes to each other, their story is one of the most realistic I’ve encountered in a rom-com. Additionally, the representation of mental health was tasteful and relatable to nearly every reader who may struggle with overthinking and other struggles.
“Abby Jimenez continues to elevate her signature realistic romance writing style with ‘Yours Truly,'” Tei added. “Set in the same hospital as her last novel, Part of Your World, this enemies-to-lovers and fake-dating story is more complex than your typical romance. There are struggles with anxiety, illness, betrayal…and, of course, romance.”
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“The Hunting Party” by Lucy Foley
Amazon For a thriller that takes place at a hunting lodge, I’d say “The Hunting Party” by Lucy Foley was a cozy and suspenseful read. While not eerily scary, it was still a well-done who-dun-it where everyone was a suspect.
“Don’t you just hate it when you reunite with old college friends at a remote hunting lodge, and then you get snowed in before you realize one of you is a murderer?” Vannessa Cronin, senior editor of Amazon Books Editorial, questioned. “It makes keeping your friends close and your enemies closer fraught with the difficulty of the deadly kind. A fresh spin on the whodunit, with a great why-dun-it plot line.”
Not to mention, this one keeps those pages turning fast.
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“The Last Love Note” by Emma Grey
Amazon “The Last Love Note” by Emma Grey is an emotional novel about grief, love and reflection. Extremely well done, it was a memorable book that will surely leave a lasting impact after you’ve read the last page.
And, if you know you’ll never stop loving the husband you lost way too soon, what hope can you have for a second chance at love? “Grey’s novel is heartbreaking and funny-bone-tickling by page turns,” Cronin noted. “It captures all of the messy, funny, scary, beautiful and sad stops on the road to realizing that, with hope and resilience, an unexpected second act might still be in the cards.”
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“Bye, Baby” by Carola Lovering
Amazon Meet another five-star read of mine for the month of March: “Bye, Baby” by Carola Lovering. As part of Sarah’s Selects — a seriously good Amazon book club — I finished this in practically one sitting. If you love gripping friendship tropes with an air of mystery and a swanky urban setting, this book is surely for you.
“Billie West is sitting in a New York City apartment when she hears her childhood best friend, Cassie, let out a bloodcurdling scream from the floor above her,” Sarah Gelman, editorial director of Amazon Books Editorial and founder of Sarah Selects, shared. “Cassie is screaming because her baby has disappeared from her apartment. Billie knows this because she is the one who has kidnapped the baby. If this creepy scene doesn’t immediately hook you, check your pulse!”
For that reason “Bye, Baby” is a psychologically twisted story about a longtime friendship and the rift caused not only by time but also when one friend is a parent and the other is not at that phase of life just yet.
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“Listen for the Lie” by Amy Tintera
Amazon “A funny mystery is almost always a contradiction — either the funny or the mystery usually ends up taking a back seat,” Cronin said. “This is not the case in ‘Listen for the Lie,’ in which Lucy returns to her small Texas town to take on a podcaster who’s digging into the night Lucy can’t remember when, to hear the townspeople tell it, she killed her best friend.”
I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery and it surely kept me on my toes. It was also a fairly quick read because I wanted to get to the ending (and, there was a quite shocking twist!) “This is a fresh juicy murder mystery with a deliciously untrustworthy narrator,” Cronin added. “You will want to discuss this read with someone.”
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“Women of Good Fortune” by Sophie Wan
Amazon “Women of Good Fortune” by Sophie Wan is giving “Crazy Rich Asians“: it’s witty, infused with Asian culture that will fascinate you and has a memorable plot.
Set against a high-society Shanghai wedding, this novel centers around a reluctant bride and her two best friends. All of them have their own feelings as to how society treats women and are *very* much over it, so they conjure a plan to steal all the gift money on the big day of the marriage that, at its core, wasn’t of true love. This was one of the most unique books I’ve read and a must-read, for sure.
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“Fool Me Once” by Ashley Winstead
Amazon “Fool Me Once” by Ashley Winstead has been on my reading list for a while and a book I’d recommend to anyone who loves plots starring ambitious characters in a glossy, glamorous setting. Lee Stone, a high-powered communications director at a women-run electric car company, had four major heartbreaks of her own. Then, someone from her past shows up…
When Ben shows up five years later, working as a policy expert for the most liberal governor in Texas history, it happens to be the same time Lee is fighting to get a clean energy bill rolling. Soon enough, they’re forced to work together, where old flames are on the rise. Well-written, unique and coming-of-age, I found this fiction read to be delightful from beginning to end.
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“Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family” by Robert Kolker
Amazon For lovers of sociology and family dynamics, “Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family” by Robert Kolker is an inside look at a midcentury American family with twelve children, six of them diagnosed with schizophrenia. Ultimately, the family ties became science’s “great hope,” per Goodreads, in the quest to understand the disease.
“Six of Don and Mimi Galvin’s twelve children were diagnosed with schizophrenia, starting when the eldest was a teen, and mental illness rampaged through the family,” Cronin explained. “Kolker frames an unforgettable, heart-rending story against the bewildering history of schizophrenia, and elevates both with outstanding reportage, deep empathy and superb storytelling.”
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“Anita de Monte Laughs Last” by Xóchitl González
Amazon As Reese’s Book Club pick for March, “Anita de Monte Laughs Last” by Xóchitl González happened to be featured on my personal to-read list as well, so I was excited to dive into this one. It reminded me much of “Gilmore Girls” in a unique way, as the protagonist was a student of art who had an infectious drive for what she pursued.
This novel moves back and forth through different time periods, from Anita’s rising art fame in 1985 to Raquel, a third-year art history student in 1998. Without giving too much away, it’s a witty and clever examination of power, love and art and — most importantly — what dictates our legacy.
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“Never Too Late” by Danielle Steel
Amazon As a women with dozens of New York Times’ best-sellers, Danielle Steel continues to publish relaxing and character-centric stories with unique messages. “Never Too Late” is her latest novel, which I found refreshing and a bit different from the other books I read this month.
Following the death of her beloved husband, Kezia Cooper Hobson decides to leave her home in San Francisco and move to a luxury penthouse in Manhattan, where her two daughters live. Soon enough, Kezia finds smoke and flames pour from famous landmarks, which leads to great bonding and healing among the characters. Simply put, it’s a book that’ll open everyone’s perspectives, for sure.
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“The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros
Amazon For the month of March, Read with Jenna had two book club picks, and I decided to read “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros as it was more my speed.
Translated all over the world and considered an academic classic, this novel, in a nutshell, is the story of a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing for herself who and what she will become.
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“My Husband” by Maud Ventura
Amazon OK, we all need to talk about “My Husband” by Maud Ventura. If you love gripping novels about relationships and obsession, this story is one of the quickest reads, with the main premise of a woman wholeheartedly obsessed with her husband. In a way, it’s a raw satire.
Darkly funny and marked with a poignant twist, you’ll come to find out if their relationship will withstand her passionate love — or, if that love will allow for the relationship to crumble.
Other March Books to Read, per the Amazon Books Editorial team
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“Expiration Dates” by Rebecca Serle
Amazon “I know I love a book when I can’t stop thinking about it,” Abby Abell, senior editor of Amazon Books Editorial, told The Post. “That’s how I feel about the latest from Rebecca Serle (author of “In Five Years” and “One Italian Summer”), which is one of our Best of the Month reads.”
What’s more, I read an advance copy of this title a few months ago and loved it, all because this other focuses on magical realism which gives extra oomph to your traditional fiction read. “For over twenty years, Daphne has received a note telling her how long her relationships will last,” Abell shared. “Until one day, Daphne receives a note with just a name —Jack.”
Ultimately, this novel goes beyond a lighthearted romance to explore the ways we let fate shape our lives, for better or worse.
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“The Hunter” by Tana French
Amazon “With plotlines that mine family, deception, and revenge, Irish author French delivers a mesmerizing master class in character development and plotting, propelled by all the atmosphere and suspense of a thriller, but studded with the pinprick emotional accuracy of a top-notch literary novel,” Cronin shared.
She told The Post that not only she but the Amazon Books Editorial team at large, were so bummed when it ended, “we thought about starting it all over again.”
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“This Could Be Us” by Kennedy Ryan
Amazon Have you ever been so into a story that nothing else around you registers, as you take slow, deep breaths and absorb every word? That is exactly the trance “This Could Be Us” put the Amazon Books Editorial team in.
“So multi-dimensional — as life can be — ‘This Could Be Us’ covers both the negative and the positive outcomes of divorce, self-discovery, autism, raising kids, the power of friendships and other huge life changes…but it is written in a way that is real and relatable,” Tei offered.
Steeped in lessons of self-love and opening yourself to receive the love you deserve from others,” she said “this is a read you won’t be able to put down.”
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“If You Can’t Take The Heat: Tales of Food, Feminism and Fury”by Geraldine DeRuiter
Amazon Come for the amazing cover, stay for the laugh-out-loud funny and blisteringly smart read.
“Food writer Geraldine DeRuiter dishes out pop culture, thought-provoking insights, and hard-fought wisdom that will make you chortle, tear up, and text everyone you know,” Lindsay Powers, senior editor of Amazon Books Editorial, said. “This is one of our Best of the Month nonfiction reads.”
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“The Trading Game: A Confession” by Gary Stevenson
Amazon “It seems like dishy finance reads are having a moment — Carrie Sun’s memoir of working at a hedge fund, Michael Lewis’s biography of Sam Bankman-Fried and now ‘The Trading Game,'” Al Woodworth, senior editor of Amazon Books Editorial, shared.
Describing deals as “bank robbery,” Stevenson lays bare the high-stakes world of risk and reward that dominated his time in trading. “If you’re a fan of the show “Billions” or loved the canonical Liars Poker, Stevenson’s memoir will hit like the rush of a deal,” he added.
Hunting for a headline-worthy haul? Keep shopping with Post Wanted.