I cannot believe it’s almost April! Somehow it still feels like the beginning of the year, maybe because I didn’t have many resolutions I could break as time passed. March has been full of travels for me, so I didn’t have much as time for reading or blogging as I’d like. I love travelling so no regrets here!

I spent a weekend in Dublin and another one in Naples, both fantastic. Then one lazy weekend at home (but at least I managed to go to a guided  tour of the lovely Wallace Collection). Easter weekend I spent with my mum and her dogs in a nice hotel in on the lake, we slept, walked and took some pictures (actually she did). As you can see not much time left to read.

My book buying ban should officially finish tomorrow, I broke it only once over 3 months, but in the meantime I got 7 books from Netgalley (I didn’t buy them!) and brought 6 or 7 books back from home. At the same time I managed to read 24 books, meaning my stash has not shrunk as much as I hoped and I still own few hundred books I probably should read at some point. That’s why I decided to extend the ban for another ban and keep going with #ReadMyOwnDamnBooks hosted by Andi at Estella’s Revenge.

Here’s what I managed to read this month:

24. Strange Affair – Peter Robinson – back to early times of Inspector Banks, a great read.
23. The Shore – Sara Taylor – one of the treasures found on blogs. A thought provoking book about community, family, men and women, a real treat.
22. Police – Jo Nesbo – I cannot believe I waited over a year to read the last Harry Hole book, I guess I didn’t want to let Harry go. Great read as always, I will be going back to this series form time to time, unlike the Millenium trilogy this one didn’t age, it still holds it’s ground.
21. The Art Whisperer – Charlotte Elkins, Aaron Elkins – this was as bad as the title suggests, but I needed something light and stupid as a break from ‘Ferranting’.
20. The Story of a New Name – Elena Ferrante – second installment was a bit more challenging for me than the first one, more details will be coming soon in my review.
19. My Brilliant Friend – Elena Ferrante – I read it before going to Naples to get myself in the mood. The first book in the series takes place mainly in the poor neighbourhood where Lena and Lila grew up. It’s a great picture of friendship between two girls. 
18. Siódemka – Ziemowit Szczerek – fantastic and surreal trip on one of Polish main roads, between Cracow our former capital and Warsaw the current one. This book is harsh and crazy, it has guts, it was a pleasant change of reading culture from US and western Europe more to the east.

What have you been up to in March?

Photo by Violetta Kaszubowska