March Recap

March felt like a long month, but it was a productive month for me. I’ve decided to try to get a little more creative by taking pictures of my books again for my reviews, and spruce up my posts and whatnot. It’s fun! I like changing things up and making improvements, but I am always careful to make sure this blog never crosses the line from “fun reprieve from real life” to “obligation I’m dragging my feet to accomplish.” I’ve abandoned past blogs and social media because of that, but I refuse to with this one, mainly because I love talking about books and I love the community I’ve been getting to know here!

March was a bit of a mix of good and not so good reads, but the good were pretty great, so I don’t have a whole lot to complain about. I will only say this- historical fiction, why’d you do me so wrong this month??

What I read in March

THE GOOD

 

Bone Gap by Laura Ruby • 5/5 stars
I adored this book, and it is definitely my favorite of the month. I read this book in two nights and enjoyed every minute of it, but by the time I got to the end, I didn’t want to finish because I didn’t want to leave the characters. I found it to be a very profound book, and I loved it. Full review.

Heartless by Marissa Meyer • 4.5/5 stars
This book was a lot of great fun. I’ve never been a huge fan of Alice in Wonderland, but this origin story of the Queen of Hearts totally swept me off my feet. It was also my introduction to Marissa Meyer’s storytelling, and since I enjoyed it so much I may consider trying out her other stuff in the future. Full review.

Shades of Magic series by V.E. Schwab • 4/5 stars
This series was the highlight of my month for me. I loved the characters, the world, and the adventures. They brought me a lot of good, genuine pleasure and I had a lot of fun escaping into these novels. Full reviews for A Darker Shade of Magic, A Gathering of Shadows, and A Conjuring of Light.

THE NOT SO GOOD

 

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas • 2.5/5 stars
I just can’t get into these books. I gave this second Throne of Glass book a chance because I heard it was a big improvement over its predecessor, and I do agree that it is, but there was still a lot lacking for me, and I think it mostly has to do with Maas’s writing style. I don’t dislike the plot, but I just can’t get into her delivery of it or connect with her characters. This is where I must part with this series. Full review.

Front Lines by Michael Grant• 2/5 stars
This book had such an interesting premise – what if girls were allowed to enlist in World War II? – but unfortunately it fell very flat for me. Full review.

Kasper Mützenmacher’s Cursed Hat by Keith Fentonmiller • 1/5 star
The synopsis for this book had a lot of elements I love – Fantasy, Greek Mythology, history surrounding World War II – but I found that it tried to cram too much into one novel, and unfortunately it didn’t work for me. It also didn’t sell me on its portrayal of history. Full review.

On to April

I’m currently reading Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones, published in 1985. To be honest, the reason I picked it up is because I saw a list that Maggie Stiefvater made of her all-time favorite books and this one sounded the most interesting. It’s about a girl with two sets of memories of her childhood- one normal and boring, and one of terrible mystery. It’s a little slow so far, but I’m enjoying it.

As usual, I don’t have much else planned for April, though I just bought More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera and The Accident Season by Moïra Fowley-Doyle, and I’m really looking forward to those.

My March Achievement: I finished writing The Worst Book In Existence

I finally, FINALLY finished writing this book I’ve been working on since December 2015. It was not supposed to be a book, just a relatively short story for a friend who asked me to write her daughter something. It ended up totaling over 99,000 words (300ish pages on my document) and becoming the bane of my existence, but IT’S DONE.

It’s the first very long personal project I’ve been able to finish since I was in high school and honestly, half the battle was just not quitting when newer ideas seemed so much more exciting and this one was begging me to throw it in the trashcan. It’s horrifically bad, probably -500 stars, but a terrible complete first draft is worth more than the 10 incomplete first drafts that I had piled up before (I’ve had this idea for years and abandoned it until my friend asked me for a story and I revived it again). It showed me what I really want the story to be and gave me a clearer picture of what I’m going to do with the second draft. But first I shall spruce it up, deliver it to my friend, lock it away, and let it develop in my brain for a while before I write anything down.

Anyway, March was a pretty good month for me, and I hope April will be good to all of you! What do you plan on reading next month?