If you recall, February was not a very good reading month for me. I struggled to finish one book and I blamed it, mostly, on the fact that the book wasn’t that good. Yet it suckered me in and by the time I realized I didn’t care about the story I was already 50% through and past the point of giving up. Don’t you hate that? I give a book a healthy amount of time before I decide that I’m not going to commit to it. There’s just something unfulfilling about starting a book and not finishing it. It almost makes me feel dirty inside. Geeklings, I don’t want to feel dirty inside. Which is exactly why I tend to stick with books that I have no real emotional attachment to. There’s always the hope that the book will improve even though you know it’s not going to. Maybe it’s because I’m a sucker for punishment or a forever optimist, but the long and the short of it is I find it hard to give up on books. Which is why February didn’t go according to plan.

Now March, March was a better reading month for sure. I was able to get four books in, two novels and two graphic novels. I’ve always lived by the philosophy that graphic novels shouldn’t count towards reading lists but over the last couple of years I’ve kind of softened to the idea. Maybe because I read so many of them. I am a tad bit biased. Why shouldn’t they count though? They’re books aren’t they? They’re over a hundred pages? Just because they’re comics doesn’t make them less than novels. Am I right here? Graphic novels should totally count towards ones reading list, yes? By all means sound off in the comments below or on the Faceyspace page or any where else you can find me (*ahem* Twitter @iamgeek32 *ahem*). I’m actually really curious to what you guys think.

As for what I read last month, as I know the suspense is killing you, allow me to tell you allllllll about them books. Starting with…

7. Old Man Logan by Mark Millar- I originally started reading this to prep myself for Logan as I felt that it was going to borrow a lot of the themes for the film. I couldn’t have been more wrong about that as Logan stands on it’s own. I’ve already written a bit about Old Man Logan (if you don’t believe me just click here), but what I can say is, I forgot just how brutal this series was. This book is no joke and takes a Wolverine who has been stripped of everything and puts him in a world where he may not have found redemption but some sort of peace. Only to rip that away from him as well. Old Man Logan is the Unforgiven of comic books, and one of my favorite Wolverine stories ever. The art is terrific and Millar does a tremendous job of giving us a side of Wolverine we didn’t think was possible while maintaining the core essence of the character.

8. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab– I really enjoyed this book. For starters it felt the opposite of Fellside (February’s book of doom) and welcomed me in with open arms. Almost saying, “Kevin we’ll make up for your lousy reading experience last month”. The other thing was it provided very accessible fantasy. I’m fickle when it comes to my fantasy novels as if I can’t relate to the world that they live in then there’s a good chance the book isn’t going to hook me. It’s strange, I know, but if the book is spending too much time establishing elf races and different languages then they’ve already lost me. A Darker Shade of Magic, book one in the Shades of Magic series, is very accessible fantasy that provides characters that you instantly start pulling for and a story that moves pretty quickly. I loved the pacing of this book and how the importance of magic was set up, and the repercussions it had throughout the different landscapes. They’ve got me for the next two books. I want to see how this thing plays out.

9. Firestarter by Stephen King– I can’t believe it took till March for me to read my first Stephen King book of the year. I’ve enjoyed going back and reading a number of his earlier books that I just haven’t gotten to you yet. In some ways I feel like Desmond in LOST saving Our Mutual Friend as the last Dickens book he ever reads. Well, the last book he reads ever. I like the idea of knowing what the last book you’ll read will be. It’s sort of romantic. While I don’t have that with Uncle Stevie there are still tons of his books I haven’t read (I think I’ve read to close to fifty of his novels) and I like going back slowly and picking at them. I liked Firestarter but felt that it was bit long. The book started off well but I felt some of the middle could have been weeded out. I will say though that I loved the last half of the book as it steamed rolled towards the ending. I found both Charlie and Rainbird to be intriguing characters, Rainbird with how he was systematically evil and Charlie in how she was older than her years, and when the novel ended I wouldn’t have minded spending more time with them. In fact I wonder if Charlie shows up anywhere else in the Stephen King universe. Or maybe is alluded to. I kind of miss her a little.

10. Locke and Key Vol. 1 by Joe Hill– I have all these graphic novels on my Fancy Comic Book Reader that I buy when they’re on sale at Comixology, and they have now started to build up in my library. I figured if I bought them then I might as well read them. I’m a big fan of Joe Hill’s, Horns and The Fireman were tremendous reads, so I was naturally curious to see how he transcended into the graphic novel medium. I have to say this series is creepy as hell. I found myself a couple of times throughout this book feeling those like creepy shivers feelings. Almost as if there was a clown somewhere in the room but I couldn’t find it. Oh god, think of that. That’s the worst thing I’ve ever said. I’m going to puke. Any way Locke and Key develops it’s characters tremendously well, packs in some feels with the terror, and opens the door (pun intended) to a bigger mystery. I have a feeling that I’m going to be consuming more of this series sooner rather than later.

There you have it Geeklings, this was my reading list for March. Like I said a much better month. Hoping to ride that momentum through April. My Good Reads yearly challenge of 42 books isn’t going to read itself. As always, if you guys have any suggestions feel free to share.