March Reflection

Published on by Isabelle @ Nine Tale Vixen

Only those with tenacity can march forward in March.

Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

Wow, the year is just whooshing right by, as are all my deadlines and work/reading/sleeping time. (That’s apparently an unintentional reference to the Douglas Adams quote, by the way!) I don’t know how we’re already a quarter of the way through the year, but honestly I’m not complaining since this semester has been one long struggle and I haven’t been feeling very tenacious. I’m also not prepared for summer and finding work experience related to my major and starting actual pharmacy classes in the fall if all goes according to plan and I’ll stop here before I spiral too far.

That said, this month I did get through a decent amount of reading (almost entirely ARCs and #ReviewPit books!) and I managed to keep up with my blogging schedule, though I also had a week of spring break; we’ll have to see how April goes without that respite.

A confession: as I finish up this post [10:30-11pm Friday night, in case anyone is wondering since I mentioned it], I should really be sleeping or studying for my organic chemistry exam on Sunday evening. (But I will otherwise be mostly AFK until Monday morning so it’s no good yelling at me when you read this! 😜) 

My Top March Posts

(Honorable mention: My first blog tour!)

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I didn’t have as much time to bloghop as I wanted so I’m sure I missed a lot, but here are a few other Awesome March Posts!

I’d decided that I wanted to take this month to get my pile of review copies under control before they flattened me into a slump-puddle, and I’m pleased to announce that I did pretty well! They made up the majority of what I read this month, and I got through 18 of them, which is over half of what I had left. (Of course, it also helps that I had spring break and the 6-hour flights to/from home to work my way through more books than usual.)

Clicking on the titles below will take you to the book’s Goodreads page; clicking on the flames (which indicate my rating out of 5) will take you to my review. Books marked as [ARC] were received as Advance Review Copies; [RC] indicates a post-release review copy.

13 total, 3.60 average rating

Top read of the month: Descendant of the Crane by Joan He

April 2nd and 9th are apparently particularly good days for new releases, but there’s lots of exciting titles on the horizon throughout the month!

ARCs I Have

TBR After Release

In case you missed it, Bookending Spring — from the brilliant minds and organizing capabilities of Sam & Clo — is happening next month! I’ll be participating for sure (posts have been scheduled and started, y’all, we’re serious about this okay), and you should absolutely sign up if you haven’t already 😉

April is also Camp NaNoWriMo, the younger and more lenient sibling of National Novel Writing Month: while the latter challenges you to write 50k words in 30 days, for Camp you can set your own goal and hang out in virtual cabins with friends! (And if you’re looking for bookish friends, the Writer’s Nest Discord has one already set up and open — you can grab the discord invite link from the page I linked then ping me in the NaNoWriMo channel, or shoot me a DM if you just want to join the cabin and not the server.) Since it’s been a very long time since I’ve really worked on my original fiction, I’m aiming to finally finish a years-old multichapter fanfiction WIP and/or write 25k … ideally both, but I’ll count whichever happens first as a win even if I don’t get to the second.

School-wise, it should be a lighter month; this will hopefully give me some extra time to work on the blog and related social media accounts, and to finish up the rest of my review copies. Summer vacation is also on the horizon (since my university lets out after finals in mid-May), at which point I will have to face the next stage of Adulting — but more on all that when we actually get there.

So basically, beyond the two exciting events mentioned above, April is kind of just an in-between month for me. But that’s totally okay too, because honestly I could use a bit of a breather to just reflect on my life habits/routines and goals.

What’s the best book you read in March? Did you read any of this month’s releases, or ARCs of April/May releases? Have you set any goals for April?

28 thoughts on “March Reflection”

  1. Awh thanks for the promo for Bookending Spring Izzy! squishes in hug April is gonna be a busy month for me twirls around cause organising other people is harder than organising yourself sobs I mean as I type this comment, I only read one book this March, but it was still a really good read for me. This Is What It Feels Like by Rebecca Barrow and it’s just everything I needed this month, I hate this slump. My April goals will be up on monday mwahahaha, where we also see my Tidyathon list, which I can’t wait to start on because wow I’ve got so much planned for next month. Save me Izzy xD I can’t wait to see your posts for BEspring19 though and wooo for reading so many ARCs and review copies pops party poppers

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    1. wheeeee thank YOU for the lovely long comment Clo 💕 organizing other people is definitely harder than organizing yourself, it’s why I hate doing group projects in school — but you and Sam are doing AMAZING, keep it up 💪🏼 slumps suck but I’m glad the book you did get to read was a great one! looking forward to seeing your Tidyathon list, we miss you in the GYST channel 😉

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  2. Woo, so many ARCs! I am so glad that you used March to its fullest to get on top of things.
    I can not wait for Camp NaNoWriMo! I hope you are able to achieve your goal and write a lot. It’s nice to hear that April will be a lighter and easier month for you. I hope you thoroughly enjoy it!
    Also, I am so excited to read Descendant of the Crane! It is nice to see that you loved it 🙂
    Happy Reading! xx

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  4. Wow, you read alot! Good thing to focus on arcs once in a while eh… or else we get literally drowned by them 😂😂
    Idk if you’ve seen but erm.. like two days ago I got accepted for a NG arc publishing APRIL 2ND!!! Wtf guys- 😒 so eh, not sure about that one being on time xD i’ll do my best starting it today but.. casi impossible for me. Otherwise I only have another arc in July and a blogtour in may. (Generally just really pissed by that first one xd)

    Woohoo for bookending spring !!! You bet im in, although nothing has been written yet xd oopsies
    All my luck for the exams, Alex’s start next week and thus I can’t see him on my day off as he’s being a good boi and studying!, 😘

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  6. wow march was just me working on school stuff so i didn’t really blog Orz and i only read school related stuff xD still, i did enjoy Red Famine by Anne Applebaum, if you’re into russian history. i plan to start going through my tbr starting april 😀

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  7. So many ARCs… so many books I have never even heard of 😀 My favorite read in March was Entwined With You. I didn’t read that much this month (only six books) but I did enjoy rereading this series. I didn’t read any this month’s releases but I did read The Last Life Of Prince Alastor which was released last month!

    I can’t wait to see what you come up with Bookending Spring. I don’t really have much for planned in April besides looking for a job.

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  8. I feel like you and I were just drowning in ARCs this month, talk about a time of bonding lol, and I looooved your quote postcards for ‘A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.’

    Haha I have The Tiger at Midnight on my tbr and preordered, but I’m like just half laughing hysterics at this point, because, who knows when I’ll get to it, but omg I love that cover tho.

    I’m so looking forward to Bookending Spring 2019, and thanks for sharing your March Reflections post, I’m super psyched for what your blog has coming for April!

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  9. 13 books!! You’ve inspired me and now I feel geared to up my reading… I could read only 6 books in March… Love your blog 😊

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  10. AHHHH IZZYYYY THANK YOU FOR BOOSTING BOOKENDING SPRING AND THE SHOUT OUT! You are a gem that no one deserves. I also hella need to get on your level of book reading. Like wow to 13 books! I’m currently still in slump mood but hot damn your post shall be the inspiration for me to be avenged (subtle homage to endgame–25 more days fam!)

    ALSO IDK IF I SAID THIS BEFORE BUT CONGRATS ON YOUR FIRST BLOG TOUR! ❤ love youuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

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    1. ah thank you Sam!! love you toooooooo 💕 hoping your slump skedaddles soon!

      also yes, counting down to endgame – my suitemate actually just bought tickets so we’re for sure seeing it on release day fasdljs;kdjfdsa; I AM NOT READY.

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  11. I am feeling you on the university deadlines and my blog hopping is definitely suffering because of that. But I hope to sort myself out better in April if somehow I would be able to manage that! I hope all the university things go well for you and I am major impressed that you managed to read 13 books as well. I have been hearing such amazing things about Descendant of the Crane as well. Oh, and I am so glad to see you enjoyed Darius the great is not okay as I am hoping to read that one myself :3

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  12. WOW Izzy, I can’t believe you read so much last month while also being in uni. I know that you had Spring Break and all but STILL! you are goals to this gal that’s been slumping most of the year.

    Thanks so much for the shoutout to my stats transparency and stats discussion posts!

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