Tuesday, March 31, 2015

March Wrap-up

How is the end of March already?! I had SUCH a busy month. It was The Littest AND N's birthday and there were parties and celebrations every weekend. Plus Mother's Day and the start of theme park season means that I felt absolutely rushed up my feet this past month.  With Easter and the school holidays coming up, I don't feel like this will change much any time soon but there you go.

It was an amazing month, March. I went to UKYABA and to an exclusive MiraInk event with Maria V Snyder. On a personal level, I also did a wildlife experience at Chessington and the boys fed meerkats AND I took part in a WORLD RECORD. That's right, I took part in a world record for the most people dressed up as penguins in the same area. BOOM. That's going on the CV.

Here is how my reading and blogging and booktubing went during the month of March:


Books read in March:

1. Secrets of the Henna Girl by Sufiya Ahmed (4 stars)
2. This Is Not A Love Story by Keren David (4 stars)
3. Lies My Girlfriend Told Me by Julie Anne Peters (3 stars)
4. Liccle Bit by Alex Wheatle (4 stars)
5. Rock Hard by Nalini Singh (3 stars)
6. Terror Kid by Benjamin Zephaniah (3 stars)
7. This Book Is Gay by James Dawson (5 stars)
8. She Wore Red Trainers by Na'ima B. Robert (3 stars)
9. Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan (4 stars)
10. If You Were Me by Sam Hepburn (4 stars)
11. Urban Legends by Helen Grant (5 stars)
12. Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon (4 stars)


Total read in March: 12

Total in 2015: 40


So I decided that for my reading in March, I would only read books written by POC authors or books with an LGBT story line. Aside from one book that doesn't fit that criteria, this month I read 7 books by POC authors (Sufiya Ahmed, Alex Wheatle, Nalini Singh, Benjamin Zephaniah, Na'ima B. Robert, Sam Hepburn and Nicola Yoon) and I read 4 books with an LGBT story line (This Is Not A Love Story, Lies My Girlfriend Told Me, This Book Is Gay and Two Boys Kissing). I also started several other books but when I finish those books, I'll talk about them in a later monthly wrap-up post!

I really enjoyd this diversity push this month and it has inspired me to do and read more.  I'm not going to let this be a one-off thing. Watch this space.

My favourite book of the month...


March Book of the month:

This Book Is Gay by James Dawson

It has to be This Book Is Gay by James Dawson. Just because of how important it is. And it's written in such a fun, funny, informative way. 






British Books Challenge and UKYA in 2015:


British Books Challenge - Link Your March Reviews
UKYA Published in March 2015

UKYA published by POC Authors in 2015
Amazing UKYA covers in 2015




Love Libraries


Matt from Teen Librarian

This month I started a new feature on my blog called Love Libraries. If you would like to take part in the feature, do let me know!

Books reviewed in March:

Game Changer by Tim Bowler
Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi
The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski
Deception by CJ Redwine
She Wore Red Trainers by Na'ima B. Robert
Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

6 reviews posted this month! A respectable number, even if it is half of my usual amount! Hopefully we'll see me crawling out of my blogging/reviewing slump soon?


Other posts in March:

How I Blog
Dementia and my dad

World Book Day 2015
Cross-posting reviews to Amazon
Blog Tour: Kris Humphrey's Favourite Fantasy Novels
The Real Life Locations that Inspired Urban Legends by Helen Grant
Book Blogger Problems: Netgalley
MiraInk Event and Interview with Maria V. Snyder

And while I sometimes find it difficult to maintain a constant stream of reviews, I don't generally seem to mind writing other types of posts. Some of these other bookish posts were quite popular this month, particularly the Netgalley post!

Booktube videos in March:

5 Books I'd Save From a Fire
Interview with Maria V. Snyder

Michelle recommends diverse books
Michelle Loves the Anticipation

Far fewer videos this month than normal! That is due to the level of emotion I felt whilst filming the top 5 books I'd save from a fire video. Lots of people picked up on the fact that I did cry during filming and some said they felt that emotion. (Sorry!) I really didn't feel much like filming after that, unfortunately. It brought too many feelings. I did very much enjoy interviewing Maria V Snyder this month though, that was amazing. I SO want to interview authors on a regular basis. Let that happen, yes?

Progress in my reading challenges in March


LGBT Challenge in 2015:

This Is Not A Love Story by Keren David
Lies My Girlfriend Told Me by Julie Anne Peters
This Book Is Gay by James Dawson
Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan

Total for March: 4
Total for 2015: 10

I read 4 books this month that count towards my LGBT challenge. Absolutely loved three of them and one was just okay. I started several other books that would count towards this challenge as well and I'm super excited to continue with them... 




British Books Challenge 2015:

Secrets of the Henna Girl by Sufiya Ahmed

This Is Not A Love Story by Keren David
Liccle Bit by Alex Wheatle
Terror Kid by Benjamin Zephaniah
This Book Is Gay by James Dawson
She Wore Red Trainers by Na'ima B. Robert
If You Were Me by Sam Hepburn
Urban Legends by Helen Grant

Total for March: 8

Today for 2015: 16

Oooh, well done, me on reading books for the British Books Challenge this month. I read 8 books this month which doubles my number overall for all of 2015. I'm really pleased with that and I hope to read many more books by British authors in the next few months. I'm really falling behind on my UKYA in 2015 goals :) 

All quite interesting books this month! 


What was your favourite book(s) read in March?

2 comments:

  1. Ooh. I missed your Tim Bowler review. I really like his books, so I'm off to check it out now!

    ReplyDelete

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