March Wrap-Up

It’s March Wrap Up time and this month wasn’t any less busy than the ones before. How come I’m always so busy? You’d think I would have more time but it seems like I have less and less time each month? It’s kinda weird but it is the way it is. I honestly don’t even know what to say about March because I had so many appointments and did so many things that it all kinda blurred together and now my mind is blank and I can’t even think of a single thing I did even though I did plenty?! Do you ever have month like that or is it just me? *lol*

Reading wise I didn’t get done all too much either because me being so busy made it hard to find some reading time. The fact I read two classics probably didn’t help as well because I just realized that I’m no big fan of classics. XD So if March taught me anything then that I better should only read a few classics every once in a while and not read them in one month. It took me 7 days to finish „Of Mice and Men“ and this book had like 171 pages. Haha! And I took „The Three Musketeers“ with me from February. So it took me 2 months to finish this beast of 567 pages. Classics are either short or super long but I never seem to enjoy them as much as the other books I read. >_< At least I didn’t enjoy those two as much as I thought I would. Anyway!

Before I try to think of more things I did or didn’t do in March, I’ll just cut my brain some slack and go for my monthly wrap-up instead! I mean that’s what you’re here for, right? 😉

Books read: 4 (4 books & 0 webcomic, I really should get back into my webcomic era. *lol*)

Pages read: 1.575 („Of Mice and Men“ was short but the rest clearly made up for it. )

Average rating: 3,5 (I blame it all on the classics. Haha! )

Books that were on my reading list: 1 ( 0 from 2021, 0 from 2022 and 1 from 2023. Okay, this month was bad. *lol* Only one book from my TBRs. >_< )

March Reads:

       

Here’s to Us:

Believe it or not but I’ve been dying to read this book! The minute I finished „What If It’s Us“ in 2019 I wanted to get a sequel because that ending! That ending killed me!! T_T As it seems Becky and Adam heard their fans pleas and decided to go for a sequel and boy this was everything I wanted it to be! I’m so happy I was finally able to get my hands on a copy and it was so awesome to be back in NYC with Arthur, Ben and their friends! This was exactly what I needed after finishing „What If It’s Us“ and I’m a very happy camper right now. If you want to read my full review you can do it here! 

Of Mice and Men:

I read Steinbecks „East of Eden“ a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it, so I thought why not read „Of Mice and Men“ too? I mean a lot of BookTubers I follow were raving about it and said it’s a good book so I kinda expected to love it too? Unfortunately this didn’t happen and while I get what the author wanted to say with this book I still don’t like the execution of the idea?! It’s hard to explain it without going into too much detail and maybe that’s why I always had the impression that it’s a good book. Because all the YouTubers that spoke about it, kept their review very general and without any spoilers. What it comes down to is that it’s a good book but that I had my issues with it. If you want to read my full review about it (including small spoilers because I wanted to explain my reasoning for giving it 3 paws) you can follow the link above.

Delilah Green Doesn’t Care:

I really, really enjoyed this book! It’s so rare to come across well written f/f books that have a believable and realistic portrayal of a sapphic realationship and this book totally delivered on that front! Honestly, I was so happy I read this! It restored my faith in f/f relationships in books and I was very thrilled to find out that this is a series with 3 books in total! I’ll definitely pick up the other two books as well because I can’t wait to see what will happen to the other characters! Especially Iris! She’s the coolest! *lol*

The Three Musketeers:

I finally finished „The Three Musketeers“ after taking the book with me into March. I started to read it with other BookTubers as part of a readalong in February but because the book is so huge I fell behind and couldn’t keep up with the others anymore. (I blame my busy months for that. XD) Also the book wasn’t bad but it also didn’t sweep me off my feet and this made it hard to pick it up at night. If you’re already tired to read a 560+ pages classic probably isn’t the best reading choice. *LOL* And I kinda came out of this book disenchanted with the glorious tale of the three musketeers and d’Artagnan. This certainly didn’t help the books cause and I found myself pushing through it in the end. >_< I’ll make sure to write a coherent and longish review to explain what I did and didn’t like. Please stay tuned for that one. 😉

This said: How was your March? Did you read many books? Which book was your favourite and which book was a disappointment? Did you already read the books I mentioned and if „yes“ did you enjoy them? Are you a classic fan or are you like me and mostly end up not enjoying them? XD (I can’t be the only one, right?! Please tell me I’m not the only one!)

Talk to me and let me know! 

And as always take care and stay healthy and safe!

*hugs’n’kisses*

The Sassy Library Fox

March Wrap-Up

Well, March was definitely not my month. *lol* I barely managed to read anything and my health was basically non-existent for about two weeks. Some of you might already know that I have asthma because I’m pretty certain I already wrote about it in one of my former blog posts and this year it was acting up big time again. In the middle of March I could barely breathe and every single breath was an effort, well and then I had some sort of anaphylactic shock because apparently I ate something wrong and from there on out things only got even worse. >_< I got a respiratory tract infection on top of everything else and was knocked out for two weeks straight.

It was so bad I actually didn’t leave my flat for those two mentioned weeks and spent my days just sleeping and doing nothing. At the end I could at least watch Netflix, but it took me really long to be healthy enough to read again. So yeah, my reading suffered and my new BookTube channel collected some dust. XD Thankfully the subscribers I already had didn’t desert me and just patiently waited for more content. *lol* If you’re one of them and reading this now: THANK YOU SO MUCH!! ❤  I think the only reason my blog didn’t suffer was because I always write my blog post at least 2 weeks in advance … I did struggle when I got back though. I had no more blog posts and still didn’t feel well enough to write new ones. Somehow it still worked out, don’t ask me how because I really don’t know! Haha!

I’m really sorry if I missed some of your blog posts and I’ll definitely make sure to catch up on everything! I’m currently taking my asthma spray each day so that it won’t act up again and I went back to work as well. Let’s hope it will never get this bad again. XD This said let’s talk about the 5 books I actually DID manage to read! *lol* ;-P

Books read: 5 (5 books & 0 webcomic, Considering the month I had 5 books is actually an achievement. *lol*)

Pages read:  2.527 (I finally finished „Darkdawn“ and „Crescent City“ so that’s why the page number is so high.)

Average rating: 4,4 (I’m not surprised about this rating because the books were all great!)

Books that were on my reading list:  3 (0 from 2020 and 3 from 2021. Finally a month in which I actually read books from my 2021 book list! *lol*)

March Reads:

           

 

     

 

Darkdawn:

 

I really enjoyed the final book in this trilogy, especially because it was a buddy read with my Yoongi! ❤ Unfortunately the ending was a little bit too much for my taste and even though we finally got some answers „Darkdawn“ wasn’t as good as the other two books. I wasn’t happy about how things ended and after everything Mia went through I really wished for idk… more closure. A different kind of closure? *lol* I still can’t put my finger on it. All I know is that I didn’t like the ending and a certain someone! XD Yoongi, you know who I mean! Haha! ;-P

 

Heartstopper:

 

I love this comic series and I’ll always love it until the day I die. Am I exaggerating? Nope! Never! It’s really such a great series and Alice Oseman knows exactly what she’s doing. I love all the diversity, the relatable characters, the many LGBTQ+ reps, the strong friendships, the different troubles and the fact that the sibilings and parents actually care about the MCs! This is such a heartwarming comfort read and I can recommend it to everyone! If you crave to read something wholesome: This is the right choice for you! 

 

Beach Read:

 

This book totally surprised me and definitely wasn’t what I expected it to be! It was really great though and despite the very serious topics that were tackled it was still an enjoyable read and I paged through it in no time. January and August were a great couple and I loved the little snippets we got of the real life of authors. XD Also I think Emily Henry named them January and August not only to give them both month names but also to emphasize how different they are. *lol* Smooth move! XD

 

House of Eart and Blood:

 

 

This book was one hell of a ride and even though the real action only started after page 500 it was still amazing! I loved to get to know this world and all the different houses and hierarchies within it. This was well thought-out and I adored all the strong friendships and bonds between the characters. ❤ Also the slow-burn that started as a friendship and with time turned into more was great! We definitely need more books like that! My full review will be up on here soon! 😉 

Dead Beat:

 

 

I think this was one of the best Dresden Files books so far! I mean there were necromancers, vampires, fallen angels, a little bit of faeries and of course Thomas, Harry’s dog and Bob the skull! XD What’s not to love? *lol* This series is definitely getting darker and darker with every new book though and I’m kind of curious where Butcher will go with Harry’s character. Considering this was only book 7 it seems like I’ve a lot to look forward to. And tell you what? I’m ready. *lol*

 

 

How was your March? Did you read many books and if yes were they good? 🙂 Are you allergic too or am I the only one who’s suffering in spring? What have you been up to in March? Were you able to go out and to enjoy the nice weather or is your country in another lockdown like mine? XD

Talk to me and let me know! 😉

*hugs’n’kisses*

The Sassy Library Fox

 

March Wrap-Up

Okay, not gonna lie here, March was a tough month. Not only book wise but also life wise. You might say one led to the other. When COVID-19 hit my country everything came to a standstill and our lives changed rather drastically. From one day to the next I stopped commuting to work, set up a home office and tried to work from home as best as I could. With a little kid that’s constantly around me because kindergarten is closed too and with my hubby on top of that March was quite a trying and exhausting month though.

I constantly found myself falling into bed right after work and was no good for anything. Thankfully my kid is still taking naps because damn I needed them badly too. *lol* Since the situation in Austria didn’t get any better (at least not up until now) I’ll be on short-time work from now on. So there’s that. More time to take care of my family, to cook for them and hopefully also more time to read and to blog? XD You can always dream, right? Now that my reading slump is over I’ll hopefully read more again.

One thing is for certain though: Now that I’m spending so much time at home my flat is super tidy. I swear it probably was never as clean as it is now! *lol* Or well, maybe it was when I moved into it 6 years ago and scrubbed literally EVERYTHING! 😛

On a side note: There happened something super amazing in March (understatement of the century!!) and I just need to gush about it, so please bear with me! *lol* It won’t take long, I’ll just mention that for some weird, crazy and completely unfathomable reason I ended up being number 99 in the Goodreads Global Top 100 of ALL FREAKING TIME! THANK YOU GUYS SO DAMN MUCH!!! I can’t even… AKDFASDFJASKDFJSAKFSJDFKASJFD! Okay, that’s it, I’m fine. *faints*

Anyway, enough of my weirdness and musings and right back to the few books I actually managed to read last month! XD

Books read: 6

Pages read:  1.642 (Not as great as February but considering that I was in a slight book slump due to work and COVID-19 this actually isn’t all too bad!)

Average rating: 4,00 (That’s quite okay I suppose! I expected „The Death Cure“ to pull the rest of the books down, but apparently my other two 5 paws reads saved the rating. *lol*)

Books that were on my reading list:  1 (from 2019, boy I really need to finish some of my books!! >_< )

March Reads:

         

       

Akairya:

Abrianna Leaming was so nice to give me a free copy of her book and I enjoyed it immensely! 😀 Yes, it might have taken me way too long to get to it but once I did I kind of rushed through it. This was a great fantasy middle grade book and if you like dragons, magic and elfs this might be the perfect book for you. 😉

Clockwork Angel:

Ahh it felt so good to be back in this world! I wanted to reread this series for ages and I finally started with the first book! What can I say? I still love Will, I still adore Jem and Tessa is as great as ever! All those bookish discussions, the characters and their interactions. Amazing! If you want to read my full review on this masterpiece you can do it here!

The Death Cure:

I kind of expected not to like it and unfortunately I was proven right. I really enjoyed the first book but from „The Scorch Trials“ on this series just didn’t make any sense. (at least not for me) In the last book there was no aim and no purpose, the characters would say one thing and do another and urgh… that kind of irked me big time. This felt so aimless that I just couldn’t give it a better rating. Truth be told, Minho and Newt were the only reason I kept on reading and that definitely wasn’t enough! >_<

Thank God I’m Fired:

Another review copy from an author I appreciate and hold in high regard. 🙂 You might say Sandeep Pawar is an own voice when it comes to IT topics and to say he’s a funny voice would be a huge understatement! I really enjoy his books because they aren’t only fun but also show the human side of IT and this in a very entertaining way. So if you’re interested in this sort of thing, search no more. Sandeep already delivered. 😛

The Last Olympian:

Ha! I loved this! Uncle Rick once again proved why he is a genius and one of the best authors to read when it comes to Greek Mythology! This was quite action packed and definitely held my attention until the very last page! A worthy final for a great series! I wish I could read „The Heroes of Olympus“ now but unfortunately my library is still closed. T_T So for now I’ll just have to wait. (Dang! I wanted to read about Nico di Angelo so badly!! He’s my precious son and I love him to pieces! ❤ )

The Summer Palace:

I can’t believe I waited 3 years to read this! But then again I can and boy, was it worth the long wait! *lol* I loved this short story so much and it was everything I ever wanted for my two boys! ❤ This was the ending I would have loved to read when I finished „King’s Rising“ and it made my heart sing with joy! I just love, love and LOVE Laurent and Damen! They are everything! XD

How was your March? Did you manage to read more books than I did or were you in a reading slump as well? Are your libraries closed too? And if yes, where do you get your books from now? How’s the current situation at your country? And the most important question: Are you still healthy and okay?!

Talk to me and let me know!

Also on a last, rather serious but still optimistic note: Stay healthy and take care! ❤ We can get through this and if we stick together we’ll come out of it stronger than before!

*hugs’n’kisses*

The Sassy Library Fox

March Wrap-Up

Do I get an award for being even worse off than last month? *lol* I swear March was so bad!!! I only managed to read a total of four books and three mangas. And under normal circumstances I wouldn’t even bother to mention the mangas because they are so short and I more or less usually always read them as a kind of „book snack“ in between. XD

Still, considering the fact that my allergy was acting up and gave me a hell of a time, emphasis on „hell“, it’s a small miracle I even accomplished to read that much. What made it even worse was that a nasty bronchitis chose that moment of physical weakness to jump on the train as well. So I suddenly found myself wheezing and gasping for air while I was shook by coughing and fever fits. Not a nice way to spend your days, I can assure you.

Well, anyway. I’m still alive and breathing, my glass is half full and not half empty and now that I have the right antiallergics I’m actually doing fine. *lol* (It might have helped that it rained over those last few days, so a huge thanks to the weather gods! XD)

This said, let’s finally move on to my statistic:

Books read: 7

Pages read: 2.970 (Not a lot, especially if you consider that three of them were Fruits Basket volumes. *lol*)

Average rating: 4

Books that were on my reading list: 3 (1 from 2018 and 2 from 2019)

March Reads:

 

 

The Heart’s Invisible Furies:

With a total of 736 pages this book was really thick! I could have easily used it as a tool for self-defence! *lol* Fortunately I didn’t have to, even though I sometimes had a sudden urge to smack some of the ignorant characters that made Cyril’s life even harder than it already was. XD Still, this book was so good! My personal conclusion:

Particularly sad,
hilariously vivid,
achingly beautiful
and ridiculously charming.

Do I have to say more? If yes you can read my full review here! 😉

The Lies of Locke Lamora:

This book had such a slow start but damn it, did it get good once the world building and the characters were thoroughly introduced. I loved this so much and after reaching the halfway mark I just couldn’t put it down anymore. I needed to know what would happen next and my heart beats and bleeds for Locke and Jean! ❤ Truth be told, I was so stoked that I already borrowed the second book from the library and hopefully will read it soon! If you want to find out even more about The Gentleman Bastards, just read my review. =)

Dead Before Dawn:

About a year ago Caroline Peckham was so nice to offer me an ARC of her last book in the „V Games“ series and of course I said yes! I mean: That woman can write and after reading her first book, „V ‚Games“, I was already hooked! XD Dead Before Dawn was once again a fast paced and pretty bloody read but once you get used to that intriguing mixture of „Resident Evil“ meets „The Hunger Games“ you don’t want to stop reading anymore. No regrets with this one, except of the fact that it actually took me an entire year to get to it. *facepalm* Sorry, Caroline! ❤

Fruits Basket Vol. 15 – 17:

I loved this series as a teen and I just rediscovered it a few months ago. So I’m slowly but gradually working my way through all of those 23 volumes and so far it’s only getting better and better! ❤ If you’re looking for a manga with angsty characters that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside this might be exactly the right thing for you. XD Be careful though, despite it’s nice appearance „Fruits Basket“ can get pretty dark at times as well.

Children of Blood and Bone:

I only just finished this book on the 31st of March so I didn’t have any time to write a proper review. Well, at least not yet. It’s definitely going to be a four paws read though. I can see why so many people love „Children of Blood and Bone“ and even though I enjoyed my buddy read with the lovely Uzma  I still have to admit that I might have a rather unpopular opinion when it comes to certain parts of this book. *lol* If you got curious now, stay tuned. I’ll hopefully get around to write my review soon. ;-P

So what about you? Did you already read some of the books I read in March and if yes did you like them?!  Which books were on your reading list last month? Were they good and do you have any recommendations?

Talk to me and let me know! =)

The Sassy Library Fox