I finally finished bingeing (is it really a binge, though, if it takes you the better part of a year?) Once Upon a Time last month. The final season had a mostly different cast, and I was not a fan of one of the new actors in particular, so it took me a little more time to get through it. But I kept coming back because Alice (in Wonderland but she’s “been to lots of places”) was one of the key characters in the last season. I loved her part in the storyline as well as Rose Reynolds’s portrayal of the character.
So this month, in addition to tracking down the Once Upon a Time in Wonderland spinoff, I’m prolonging the Alice magic by re-reading Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There. As I love all manner of tweaks and retellings, I may also read one or several of these:
- A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney
- The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
- Her Mad Hatter by Marie Hall
- Splintered by A.G. Howard
- Meditations in Wonderland by Anna Patrick
- Heartless by Marissa Meyer
I’m open to other Alice/Mad Hatter/Queen of Hearts/Wonderland retellings, of course. Fortunately, there are so many. Hit me with your faves.
Book Clubs
- The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel
- Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult
- The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry (pre-reading a book club selection for April so I can share my copy)
- Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko
- Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake
- When We Were Birds by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo
- How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
- Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
- Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor
Reading Challenges
Most of the books I’ve read so far this year have completed prompts on my challenges. A proper update on how each one is going is coming in the next few weeks, but these are the ones I’ve picked out specifically for this month.
- Read Harder – Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust (queer retelling of a fairytale)
- Girlxoxo – The Beautiful by Renée Ahdieh (keyword: beautiful)
- 52 Book Club – The Maid by Nita Prose (we’ll try this January book club selection again to fulfill the prompt “published in 2022”)
- POPSUGAR – The two original Lewis Carroll selections listed above (from the advanced section – a duology – although I do have a lot of duologies on my general TBR list)
Lush Reads
A nice blend of challenge and comfort.
- Bitter and Sweet by Tsh Oxenreider (Lent selection)
- Welcome Home by Najwa Zebian
- The Comfort Book by Matt Haig
- 100 Ways To Happy Chic Your Life by Jonathan Adler
Additional Options
Mostly books that need to go back to the library soon but also some long-standing TBRs.
- Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (Am I starting with book one of a series just to later check off “palindromic title” of book 3 Maddaddam on a reading challenge? Maybe. But also maybe just…Margaret Atwood.)
- Freedom Is a Constant Struggle by Angela Y. Davis
- Harry’s Trees by Jon Cohen
- The Eternal Audience of One by Rémy Ngamije
What are you reading this month?
M. Suzanne Terry 
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