March 2016 Rewind

18:30 Cilla 13 Comments


Much like February, March has been a month of adaptation. I'm still adjusting to being a student again. It's an odd kind of studentship too; there's still the writing-essays-doing-readings component to it, but the focus has shifted to practical, you're-considered-young-professionals-now type of things. It's a challenging course, but honestly it's also really exciting. While I often feel like I'm flailing about in a sea of information, the teaching staff is so good about looking out for us. I'm slowly learning how to swim, to keep going with that metaphor.

I'm also slowly figuring out my time management. I still find myself having little energy or time to be involved in the blogging community, and I fall short of my reading and writing goals in general. I've accepted that something's got to give while I settle in though, but I'm hoping I'll only get more organised from here!




New to My Shelves

Purchased


I bought Frankie at the YA Squad 2016 event, and I got to briefly chat to Shivaun. She's a sweetheart, and I'm excited to read a book that's set in Melbourne! Yellow was bought at the same event. Meg talked about the importance of having quiet characters in novels, something I feel quite strongly about. There's one in Yellow apparently, so I really look forward to that. And I wasn't about to pass on Stars Above.

Status of my 2016 book budget: $90. Geez, I'm most definitely not allowed to buy anything else if I want to stick to my $100 annual budget. 

Borrowed


I popped into the library just before Easter break started and went a little crazy. I didn't actually think I was going to have time, but I've finished These Broken Stars and Risk

For Review


Reviews

Other Things on the Blog

  • I discussed how human can a furry narrator be in adult contemporary novels.
  • Cam and I launched a new feature! What would happen if you take a character from a book and throw them into a different universe, one from television or movie? This month, we're mashing up characters from The Princess Diaries with the world of Star City and Central City

Challenges Progress

  • Goodreads challenge: 12/30 books
  • Discussion challenge: 3/24 discussion posts
  • Diverse Reads challenge: 6 books
  • #RockMyTBR challenge: 5 books
  • Backlist Books challenge: 5 books
  • Around the World challenge: Check out my map here.
  • Commenting 365 challenge: 28/365 comments 

Around the Blogosphere

As mentioned before, I'm not very active in the blogosphere at the moment, but here are a couple of posts that have caught my eye in March:


Non-bookish loves

A colleague lend me copies of BBC's adaptations of classics, including Emma, North and South, Pride and Prejudice, and Cranford. I spent several Saturdays engrossed in them, and let me just say - all I want is for Richard Armitage to look at me like this:


I bawled my eyes out at this performance by Kelly Clarkson. 



Also, I can't believe American Idol is almost over! I haven't watched it in the last few years, but I remember waking up at 6am to watch the David Cook/David Archuleta finale - that was how much I loved it. I saw most of this season though, and I love the judges; I actually think they're the best set of judges Idol has had.

In Store for Next Month

  • Go Set A Watchman review -- I swear this is coming
  • More discussion posts
  • My first blogoversary is coming up! I would have to look up when this is XD but I'm excited for it!
  • A buddy review for Queen of the Tearling
  • Second installment of Plucked

How was March for you? What was the best book you read last month? 
Are you looking forward to April?

13 comments:

  1. I’m in grad school, so I understand the difficulties of being a student and running a book blog. Sometimes the amount of reading and writing gets overwhelming. I hope April is easier for you.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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    1. Right?? I hope grad school is treating you well!

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  2. Richard Armitage in North and South is so lovely!! Good luck with your course, I found it dead weird going back to student life too (although I'm only part time so it feels more like night school or something.) Thanks for the mention!

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    1. Isn't he?? <3 Thank you, and good luck with going back to studying! Even going part time would require some adjusting, I bet!

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  3. THESE BROKEN STARS. YESSSS! It is absolutely amazing and I hope you end up liking it as much as I did Cilla! :) And Under a Painted Sky and Stars Above are great too. Thanks for sharing and, as always, fabulous recap! ♥

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    1. I finished These Broken Stars and loved it! :D I'm on Under a Painted Sky now and it's a lot of fun too. Thanks for stopping by, Zoe! <3

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  4. Sigh, Richard Armitage--best part of that whole mini-series if you ask me :P

    Though I stopped watching American Idol a long time ago, I definitely agree that Keith, Jennifer and Harry are my favourite judging combo of all the past seasons.

    Good luck with school and all that balancing! It gets easier!

    Lauren @ SERIESous Book Reviews #Commenting365

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    1. Oh he really isss! *__* I think Keith, Jennifer, and Harry strike the right balance between friendly and constructively critical, which makes it more interesting to watch. Thank you so much, Lauren!

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  5. Gah, I love Career of Evil. Hope you can read it soon! And I'm so jealous you have a review copy of Jerkbait; it sounds great! And the author is fantastic.

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.blogspot.com

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    1. It's next on my TBR! :D Jerkbait was an interesting read for sure, and Mia's really friendly too!

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  6. I was listening to KASE 101 the other morning, and they were talking about American Idol. One of their big points is that it is no longer like "winning the Super Bowl" when you win American Idol, that the wow factor has greatly decreased. I have enjoyed many of Kelly Clarkson's songs!

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    1. Yesss, I think after fifteen years, it's understandable that it lost some of its novelty. I certainly grew tired of it around season 7 and only tuned back in this year! Kelly is definitely one of their best singers though!

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  7. I feel you on the student thing! After finishing high school and having my Christmas break, to return to full time study is difficult to say the least! I love your Oz books for this month and I'm so excited to read Frankie after hearing the rave reviews!

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Thanks for reading! It makes my day to hear your thoughts and I will respond asap. :)