Monthly wrap-up – March 2019

Hi friends, happy soon-to-be April! Some things have changed here on the blog, design-wise!! I am way too excited about it ahhh. You might have noticed it already or/and will notice it a little bit in this post, on the blog itself and more. Okay, more on this later on, let’s get started on what happened this March.

in real life

Once again, I was excited to be March and once again, it has been disappointing. I feel like I’ve been ranting a little bit in that part of my wrap-ups lately, but it’s been a stupidly, mental-health challenging last 8 months and I guess I’m allowed to rant a little bit, too. I had an exciting weekend away planned and fate decided for me to fall sick and ruin it, so that was fun.

Otherwise, it’s been the usual working – commuting – reading – blogging routine. On a more positive side, sunshine has decided to show up and it’s been a little spring-like lately where I live, which has done wonders for my mental health a little bit in these last weeks. I’m like a plant, really, I live with the sunshine okay.

And I like April. Let’s hope April will be nice and good.

on books

I seem to have read a little less this month, I’m not sure why, but I’m still ahead on my Goodreads challenge and… well, I’m enjoying the books I’m reading for the most part so that really matters more than a number, right? I can’t help but be anxious and want to read all the books all at once, at times.

📖 Books I read

ONCE&FUTURE ☂️ This gender-bent Arthur retelling sounded incredibly promising and, if the diverse, badass cast of characters was indeed, great, I was a little disappointed overall. 📖 read my full review

WE SET THE DARK ON FIRE ☂️  I AM GOING TO BE SCREAMING ABOUT THIS BOOK FOREVER I LOVED IT SO MUCH AND PLEASE READ IT OKAY. I can’t be coherent here I’m sorry I loved this so muuuuuuuuch.

THE NEAR WITCH ☂️ I have been loving everything Schwab writes and I was thrilled to read her debut. I loved the atmosphere, but ended up a little disappointed by the romance. 📖 read my full review

COLD DAY IN THE SUN ☂️ A sweet, adorable contemporary with a badass main character I grew to love and a soft, realistic romance, too. That was a lot of fun!

THE DEVOURING GRAY ☂️ This was SO atmospheric and strange and creepy and definitely a strong debut with squad goals. I loved the characters a lot, too.

IF I’M BEING HONEST ☂️ IT’S OFFICIAL, I am trash for everything these authors write okay. I adored Always, Never Yours, their debut, and loved this one even more. Amazing main character and growth and friendship and family and love and add this to your TBRs.

 

  • Goodreads Challenge: 20/60 books : Still ahead of my goodreads challenge 🔥 🔥
  • Year of The Asian Reading Challenge: 2/10 books: I guess I’m on track, but I still need to read more books. GOOD NEWS THOUGH FRIENDS. I’m going to buy Girls of Paper and Fire today. *insert high pitched scream here*

in-real-life

I’m… well, I’m done with my WIP. It feels strange, excting and stressful all at once to have written another draft of that story I’ve been working on for over 4 YEARS now.

Maybe I’ll try to send this draft to some beta readers soon, if I manage to find the guts to do it. I’m way too nervous, but also ready to get some feedback at the same time?!

I’m hoping to maybe try to get to another story or work on something else soon, too. I wanted to participate in Camp NaNo, maybe, but we’re March 31st and I have nothing ready for tomorrow, so that’s probably not a wise idea. Still, I’m definitely going to be working on something else soon, I’m itching to write more and write something different, too.

So… my WIP is done, well this draft is at 80K and in the past month I haven’t been tooooo bad at writing.

  • Words written: 5347.

on the blog

So you might have noticed it, or not at all, but some things have changed on the blog – and a little bit on this monthly wrap-up, too ! About over a month ago, I decided to change things up, inspired by my friend Kat’s series of blog posts about branding and… thanks to her talent and her brand new design shop, here we are! New graphics overall for the blog that you’ll see here and there thanks to her and I am so, so happy and grateful. I hope you like it as much as I do!

☂️ Check out my friend Kat’s design shop and services!

Special mention to my sister that worked on brand new featured images for ALL of my upcoming posts, this monthly wrap-up image included! Some posts are going to have little changes here and there as they come next month, hope you’ll like them!

Other than that, it’s been an okay month overall on the blog with… A LOT OF BOOKS. I have never reviewed THAT many books in a month on the blog, I’m astonished as I’m doing this wrap-up to see that. I kind of did a lot of mini and bullet reviews, but still…. look at ALL THE BOOKS.

📖 Book reviews

     

Click on the book covers to be redirected to my reviews.

💻 Book blogging

📚 Book discussions

📝 Book Tags & Awards

💬 Author Features

I still have a lot of exciting author features planned out for next month, as well as a couple ideas of blog posts here and there that I hope I can get to write and that you will enjoy. Other than that, I’m still perpetually late on reviews, a little stressed out about interacting, but I’m hoping to just continue try to relax and enjoy it all.

I feel like I have been slacking a little bit when it comes to blog hopping and especially saving blog posts I loved this month, but between falling sick and trying to take more breaks for myself, too, well… I guess that’s just life. I still have posts for you, friends, don’t you worry, you can’t stop me for too long!

📚 Books & Reading

💻 Book Blogging

Is there a blog post you are particularily proud of this month? Feel free to send it along with your comment!


How was March for you? Anything exciting happened? Is spring/fall coming soon where you live?

What were your latest favorite books this month? Also, aerm, what do you think of my new graphics? Tell me everything in comments!

 

 

 

 

Twitter ☂️ Goodreads ☂️ Bloglovin’ ☂️ Support the blog

Posted by

Book blogger, travel blogger, writer. 📚 |🌍 | 💞 Writing & Communications Graduate. French. Living on love, wanderlust and ya books.

131 thoughts on “Monthly wrap-up – March 2019

  1. Aww! I do hope that April brings more sunshine and health for you! I know that I am in need of some myself. So many fantastic contemporaries to look forward to on your list! I really loved Cold Day in the Sun as well. Have a fantastic month, Marie! ❤

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you so, so much, you’re so sweet ❤
      I'm so happy you liked Cold Day In the Sun, I loved this book so much as well, such a lovely read 🙂
      Hoping April will be lovely to you! 🙂

      Like

  2. Marie, I’m genuinely so in love with these new graphics, they look so adorable????? My favorite one is for sure the rain boots (?) one. It looks so cute!
    The Devouring Gray is a book that has been getting mixed reviews lately, and I’m intrigued. This cover gave me a lot of Riverdale vibes. I’m not the biggest fan of Riverdale and I do understand the show’s writing is kinda trashy, but I also lowkey bingewatched the first two seasons and check the Tumblr tag on a regular basis, so I think I’m a fan nonetheless? Hahah. I’ve seen some people comparing it to Riverdale, so I might check it out in the future!
    Also, congratulations on finishing your WIP! That’s sooooo awesome! I really can not wait to the day we’ll get to know more about it. As far as my own writing, I feel like, yet again, I’ve been changing things on my own outline, so I’m rewriting a lot at the moment. My writing process is a mess and I really need to be more organized about it!
    I hope April treats you better mental health wise! Hopefully, it will get warmer where you live, and you’ll start to feel better too! Wishing you a lot of positive and warm vibes 😊

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Aww thank you so, so much, I’m so happy you like the graphics!! I’m so happy with how they all turned out ❤

      I'd be curious to hear what you think of The Devouring Gray, I don't watch Riverdale so I can't really compare both, but I really enjoyed the book and the atmosphere especially! 🙂

      Thank you!! I hope to share more about it soon, well… when I find the guts to talk about it again haha 🙂 I hope you'll find your writing rhythm and organization, I know it takes a while to do that, I'm not that organized either unfortunately :/
      Thank you so much for your sweet comment! I hope you will have a wonderful April ❤

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Loving all the new graphics, Marie! Kat is such a wizz. I think I may be using her services in the future but I have 0 ideas of how to brand my blog. I also keep wondering whether I should change my name to something more interesting (you couldn’t get more basic than Blogs of a Bookaholic which I came up with on a whim when I thought I’d probably only blog for a week, lol!)

    Interesting to see your thoughts on Once and Future. I just got it in a book box and I hadn’t heard of it! I’m a bit scared to pick it up because I’m not a big science fiction fan, despite the premise sounding interesting. I’m off to check out your review!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Aww thank you Becky, so happy you like them! ❤ Chatting with Kat has been such a huge help for rebranding everything and for everything to look pretty and coherent, too, I 200% recommend her services if you can and want to give it a try! 🙂 And your blog name might feel "basic", but I think it's great!! 😀

      I'm curious to hear what you think of Once & Future, I was a little disappointed by it, but some people loved it! 🙂
      Thank you so much for your sweet comment, Becky ❤ Have a lovely april!

      Liked by 1 person

  4. Aaaaah your post/blod design is so pretty, I love it!! That’s also a good wrap-up, so inspiring! I love all the articles you give, gonna read them to inspire me to do better! Thanks!! The blog I’m proud of is my own ahah, I like how it grows! Have a good day!!

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Aaah! Thank you so much for featuring my post (we seriously don’t deserve you)! and I’m so proud that you were able to review so many books! I usually can write 5 reviews max per month, lol. Also, I would totally be interested in beta-ing your book (but also I’m super unsure of if I can do it in time). ❤ ❤ Anyways, I HOPE YOU HAVE AN AMAZING APRIL.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Oh you’re so welcome, your post was amazing! ❤
      Thank you so much – and… there's no timeframe AT ALL, I haven't even decided when I'll send it to beta readers anyway haha. Thank you for your support! ❤ ❤

      Like

  6. Omg Marie the new graphics are adorable! I especially love the ‘Let’s Chat’ one with the rain boots, but the little hats are so cute too. I know I’m very behind on my blog hopping right now since I’m reading your recap almost halfway through the month, but I hope you’re having a good month so far haha!

    Liked by 1 person

  7. I really love the new design!!! Sorry for not noticing and commenting on it earlier :/
    Also, I get that the better weather helps with your mental health. It was the same for me. Suddenly the sun was out and I didn’t feel so .. apathetic towards everything. It got cold again and I wanted to do nothing but stay in bed and sleep though. I hope the sun comes back and stays for the both of us ❤ here's to April being a good month!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Ah no worries at all, Kat, thank you, I’m so happy you like it! ❤ ❤
      Same here, my mood and mental health is so weather-related, too. I hope that spring is here to stay now, fingers crossed. ❤
      Thank you so much, I hope April is treating you well ❤

      Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.
https://drizzleandhurricanebooks.com/2019/03/31/monthly-wrap-up-march-2019/?like_comment=60808&_wpnonce=e652b32c44
drizzleandhurricanebooks.com
crawl=CC-MAIN-2020-40
185221
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:BKOZRQHJ6HB3XGZN6KIMQKWZSBFLR2YC
<urn:uuid:ca240def-065f-4f8d-ada0-e10e6325c943>
2020-09-30T09:27:22Z
192.0.78.24
text/html
sha1:ZFJMPUPMF3MO6WOBKXDMCPQTEBXCSLWA
<urn:uuid:5fc3acfa-70ab-48f8-9937-102a2c50d2f3>
https://drizzleandhurricanebooks.com/2019/03/31/monthly-wrap-up-march-2019/?like_comment=60808&_wpnonce=e652b32c44
response
<urn:uuid:846372d1-210a-4a4a-8aa7-17c77d131bae>
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2020-40
publisher: Common Crawl
description: Wide crawl of the web for September 2020
operator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)
hostname: ip-10-67-67-152.ec2.internal
software: Apache Nutch 1.17 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)
robots: checked via crawler-commons 1.2-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)
format: WARC File Format 1.1
conformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/