What Am I Reading: March Release + To Be Read

Oh happy birthday month! What a perfect way to start this glorious month off by telling you what books I am excited about that will be released as well as what I am planning on reading. I will admit -- my reading game has been off recently as work and life happens, but I promise that it will come back. In any event, here are the books coming out in March that I would love to get my hands on as well as what I am reading.

New Book Releases for the month of March
1: The Devils Detective by Simon Kurt:

I originally signed up to receive an Advanced Readers Copy of this book simply because of the combination of the supernatural as well as a detective story. Unfortunately I did not get one but does not mean I am not excited about this book! This book is set to be released on March 3rd. Here is the book description: Debut novelist Simon Kurt Unsworth sends the detective novel to Hell. In The Devil's Detective, a sea change is coming to Hell . . . and a man named Thomas Fool is caught in the middle. Thomas Fool is an Information Man, an investigator tasked with cataloging and filing reports on the endless stream of violence and brutality that flows through Hell. His job holds no reward or satisfaction, because Hell has rules but no justice. Each new crime is stamped "Do Not Investigate" and dutifully filed away in the depths of the Bureaucracy. But when an important political delegation arrives and a human is found murdered in a horrific manner—extravagant even by Hell's standards—everything changes. The murders escalate, and their severity points to the kind of killer not seen for many generations. Something is challenging the rules and order of Hell, so the Bureaucracy sends Fool to identify and track down the killer. . . . But how do you investigate murder in a place where death is common currency? Or when your main suspect pool is a legion of demons? With no memory of his past and only an irresistible need for justice, Fool will piece together clues and follow a trail that leads directly into the heart of a dark and chaotic conspiracy. A revolution is brewing in Hell . . . and nothing is what it seems. The Devil's Detective is an audacious, highly suspenseful thriller set against a nightmarish and wildly vivid world. Simon Kurt Unsworth has created a phantasmagoric thrill ride filled with stunning set pieces and characters that spring from our deepest nightmares. It will have readers of both thrillers and horror hanging on by their fingernails until the final word. In Hell, hope is your worst enemy.

2: H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald

One of the many conversations my love and I have had is our love for birds of prey. Him -- its all about the red tailed hawk. Me -- its all about the owl. So when I saw this book in one of my many book blogs that I follow, I took it as a sign of fate. This book is set to release on March 3rd as well. Here is the book description: When Helen Macdonald's father died suddenly on a London street, she was devastated. An experienced falconer—Helen had been captivated by hawks since childhood—she'd never before been tempted to train one of the most vicious predators, the goshawk. But in her grief, she saw that the goshawk's fierce and feral temperament mirrored her own. Resolving to purchase and raise the deadly creature as a means to cope with her loss, she adopted Mabel, and turned to the guidance of The Once and Future King author T.H. White's chronicle The Goshawk to begin her challenging endeavor. Projecting herself "in the hawk's wild mind to tame her" tested the limits of Macdonald's humanity and changed her life. Heart-wrenching and humorous, this book is an unflinching account of bereavement and a unique look at the magnetism of an extraordinary beast, with a parallel examination of a legendary writer's eccentric falconry. Obsession, madness, memory, myth, and history combine to achieve a distinctive blend of nature writing and memoir from an outstanding literary innovator.

3: The Alex Crow by Andrew Smith

Another book involving a bird of prey that my love and I have discussed, and of course I got excited about it. This book is set to be released on March 10, 2015. Here is the book description: Skillfully blending multiple story strands that transcend time and place, award-winning Grasshopper Jungle author Andrew Smith chronicles the story of Ariel, a refugee who is the sole survivor of an attack on his small village. Now living with an adoptive family in Sunday, West Virginia, Ariel's story is juxtaposed against those of a schizophrenic bomber and the diaries of a failed arctic expedition from the late nineteenth century . . . and a depressed, bionic reincarnated crow.

4: The Wicked Will Rise by Danielle Paige

This is the long awaited sequel to Dorothy Must Die penned by the same author. I will admit -- I am not a big Wizard of Oz fan but I am a big fan of having the villains have the last laugh so I throughly enjoy DMD. This book set to be released on March 31, 2015. Here is the book description: In this sequel to the New York Times bestselling Dorothy Must Die, who is good—and who is actually Wicked? My name is Amy Gumm—and I'm the other girl from Kansas. After a tornado swept through my trailer park, I ended up in Oz. But it wasn't like the Oz I knew from books and movies. Dorothy had returned, but she was now a ruthless dictator. Glinda could no longer be called the Good Witch. And the Wicked Witches who were left? They'd joined forces as the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked, and they wanted to recruit me. My mission? Kill Dorothy. Except my job as assassin didn't work out as planned. Dorothy is still alive. The Order has vanished. And the home I couldn't wait to leave behind might be in danger. Somehow, across a twisted and divided land, I have to find the Order, protect the true ruler of Oz, take Dorothy and her henchmen down—and try to figure out what I'm really doing here.

5: The Haunting of Sunshine Girl (Book One) by Paige McKenzie and Alyssa Sheinmel

Supernatural elements in this book? Check. Story about a strong heroine that does not need a love angle? Check. Falls into the thriller/suspense genre that my love got me into? Check. Of course I am exited for this! This book is set to be released on March 24, 2015. Here is the book description: Shortly after her sixteenth birthday, Sunshine Griffith and her mother Kat move from sunny Austin, Texas, to the rain-drenched town of Ridgemont, Washington. Though Sunshine is adopted, she and her mother have always been close, sharing a special bond filled with laughter and inside jokes. But from the moment they arrive, Sunshine feels her world darken with an eeriness she cannot place. And even if Kat doesn’t recognize it, Sunshine knows that something about their new house is just ... creepy. In the days that follow, things only get stranger. Sunshine is followed around the house by an icy breeze, phantom wind slams her bedroom door shut, and eventually, the laughter Sunshine hears on her first night evolves into sobs. She can hardly believe it, but as the spirits haunting her house become more frightening—and it becomes clear that Kat is in danger—Sunshine must accept what she is, pass the test before her, and save her mother from a fate worse than death.

6: Kick Ass 3 by Mark Millar and John Romits

From time to time, I do read graphic novels/comic book from time to time and this series pulled me in like no other. I am a DC/independent comic book reader by the way if you are wondering, my faithful reader. This graphic novel is set to release on March 17, 2015. Here is the book description: The grand finale of Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.'s blockbuster! With Hit-Girl in jail, Kick-Ass must lead the super-hero team Justice Forever. But heroes have been outlawed, leaving Kick-Ass to dodge both cops and some terrifying new foes! For the first time, Kick-Ass begins to doubt. Is he in too deep? Meanwhile, Hit-Girl starts running all the gangs in the joint, and a broken Red Mist gets an education from a terrifying crime boss. Soon every costumed hero is not only running from the law...they're running for their lives. As the body count rises, Kick-Ass must decide if bringing justice to the city is truly worth the price. Plus: the secret origin of Hit-Girl! How did litt le Mindy McCready earn her assassin stripes? Find out as KICK-ASS comes to its epic conclusion!

What I Am Reading in the month of March
It is Dennis Lehane marathon month for me! My boyfriend has tried to get me to read his books as Dennis Lehane is his favorite author and well now it is time that I do. Here are the Dennis Lehane books I am reading.

1: A Drink Before The War by Dennis Lehane

Now before George had me delve into this series, he did prime me with other true crime/detective/thriller stories -- namely Robert B. Parker. I instantly fell in love with the three series that he exposed me to (Jesse Stone/Spenser/Level 26) and wanted more. Therefore...in steps in Dennis Lehane. Here is the book description: As richly complex and brutal as the terrain it depicts, here is the mesmerizing, darkly original novel that heralded the arrival of Dennis Lehane, the master of the new noir—and introduced Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro, his smart and tough private investigators weaned on the blue-collar streets of Dorchester. A cabal of powerful Boston politicians is willing to pay Kenzie and Gennaro big money for a seemingly small job: to find a missing cleaning woman who stole some secret documents. As Kenzie and Gennaro learn, however, this crime is no ordinary theft. It's about justice, about right and wrong. But in Boston, finding the truth isn't just a dirty business . . . it's deadly.

2: Darkness,Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane

Here is the book description: The master of the new noir, Dennis Lehane magnificently evokes the dignity and savagery of working-class Boston in this terrifying tale of darkness and redemption.Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro’s latest client is a prominent Boston psychiatrist running scared from a vengeful Irish mob. The private investigators know something about cold-blooded retribution. Born and bred on the mean streets of blue-collar Dorchester, they’ve seen the darkness that lives in the hearts of the unfortunate. But an evil for which even they are unprepared is about to strike as secrets long-dormant erupt, setting off a chain of violent murders that will stain everything—including the truth.

3: World Gone By by Dennis Lehane

Now this book is not part of the Kenzie/Gennaro series. In fact, this is the latest work of Lehane's in which I received an advanced copy of! This book is actually not slated to be released until March 10, 2015; so yes I could have included it above but decided to keep all of the Lehane books together. Methods to my madness my dear readers...here is the book description: Dennis Lehane, the New York Times bestselling author of The Given Day and Live by Night, returns with a psychologically and morally complex novel of blood, crime, passion, and vengeance, set in Cuba and Ybor City, Florida, during World War II, in which Joe Coughlin must confront the cost of his criminal past and present. Ten years have passed since Joe Coughlin’s enemies killed his wife and destroyed his empire, and much has changed. Prohibition is dead, the world is at war again, and Joe’s son, Tomás, is growing up. Now, the former crime kingpin works as a consigliore to the Bartolo crime family, traveling between Tampa and Cuba, his wife’s homeland. A master who moves in and out of the black, white, and Cuban underworlds, Joe effortlessly mixes with Tampa’s social elite, U.S. Naval intelligence, the Lansky-Luciano mob, and the mob-financed government of Fulgencio Batista. He has everything—money, power, a beautiful mistress, and anonymity. But success cannot protect him from the dark truth of his past—and ultimately, the wages of a lifetime of sin will finally be paid in full. Dennis Lehane vividly recreates the rise of the mob during a world at war, from a masterfully choreographed Ash Wednesday gun battle in the streets of Ybor City to a chilling, heartbreaking climax in a Cuban sugar cane field. Told with verve and skill, World Gone By is a superb work of historical fiction from one of “the most interesting and accomplished American novelists” (Washington Post) writing today.

So what books are you reading? Any books that I missed that are coming out this month that you are excited about? Let me know in the comments below!