February & March Wrap-Up + April Reading Month (2018)

Since I was on a hiatus around the time this post was supposed to go up for the February wrap-up, I decided to combine both the months into a single post. Both February and March were decent reading months, although I was still reeling from the effects of the book slump I mentioned in January, and my reading time was cut down severely due to work stress. I didn’t do well blogging-wise either as I was absent for a few weeks without any notice. However, I did manage some decent progress, so let’s focus on that.

I finished a total of 7 books in the months of February and March, which is much lesser than I had hoped to read. However, I’m still on track for my Goodreads goal, so I’m not too stressed about the numbers. I had already started with A Conjuring of Light by V. E. Schwab, the third book in her Shades of Magic series, at the end of January, but only managed to complete it by the end of February. It was my favourite book in the series and it was only due to time constraints that I didn’t consume the book faster. Overall, I really liked the entire series and can’t wait to read more from Schwab. Next I bought Lyra’s Oxford by Philip Pullman on an impulse and finished it in one sitting. It was such a nice experience to dive back into the world created by Pullman and this little collection of short stories made me more excited for the next book in The Book of Dust series.

In March I started and devoured one of my most anticipated February releases – American Panda by Gloria Chao. It was every bit as wonderful as I’d anticipated. I also listened to two audiobooks – one was a classic by Agatha Christie, And Then There Were None, and the other a business non-fiction, The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz. While I enjoyed both of them, and especially the narration of the former, they didn’t up on my favourites list. For the Crone Bloggers book club, I read The Fandom by Anna Day. It was quite a struggle to get into initially, but by the end I was won over and quite enjoyed the story. Finally, I finished March on a high note with a wonderful book called Owl Eyes, the debut novel by Molly Lazer. I got approved for the ARC on Net Galley and I was blown away by how good it was in every aspect!

• 200 WordPress followers!
• My first ARC approval of 2018 – Owl Eyes (review link)
• First ever author interview on my blog (Q&A link)
• My posts were featured on others’ wrap-ups and blogging highlights (Thanks to The Cursed Books and Avalinah’s Books)
• My first bookish subscription box experience

I didn’t do a lot of blog hopping this month, I’ll admit (I’m sure my apologies won’t work anymore). Here are some of my favourites from the months of February and March –

• My dearest blogging sis Charvi discusses whether a book blog can survive solely on book reviews
• Ayundabhuvana shares her favourite sidekicks in fiction and why she loves them
• Pages Unbound had a bi-weekly Tolkien event celebrating Tolkien Reading Day recently and in this post, Krysta talks about 16 badass women of Middle-Earth
• Avalinah has another guest post in her #NewBloggers101 series and this time Pamela from Reverie Society debunks the myth that Bookstagram props are ridiculously expensive
• Ilsa tackles a rather tough topic to talk about and opens up on how she’s been feeling about her blog recently

• Dread Nation by Justina Ireland (April 3rd) – a dystopian novel which features zombie and tackles topics like race and privilege
• Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody (April 10th) – has got all of the hype and has elements of an underground casino scene set in a fantasy world
• Winter Glass (Spindle Fire #2) by Lexa Hillyer (April 10th) – I put it on this list solely because I follow this author on Twitter, think she’s an amazing person and wanted to support her (also, I don’t want to spoil anything by putting a synopsis here)
• Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli (April 24th) – considered a sequel to the popular Simon vs Homo Sapiens Agenda, it focuses on Leah, who was a minor character in Simon, and has some amazing representation
• Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young (April 24th) – a debut fantasy that has a badass Viking heroine who must come to terms with the fact that her brother, whom she long thought of as dead, fights alongside her tribe’s rival

I had made a summer TBR for myself in a Top Ten Tuesday post recently (check it out here), so I’ll be looking to cross off books from that list during April. I have already finished Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff and look forward to reading Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo and Everless by Sara Holland. I have two ARCs to be finished in April – To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo and Smoke Thieves by Sally Green (already on the TBR list). For The Cursed Book Club, I will be reading Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco and I’m very excited for it because I’ve heard mostly good things about this series. For the Crone Bloggers group book, I’m going to attempt to finish The Extinction Trials by S. M. Wilson before the 22nd of April.

---

How were February and March like for you? How has the first quarter of the year been, reading-wise? Share the good, the bad and the ugly things with me in the comments section below.