Well, what a weird month March has been, surely one that will go down in history.
March has been a REALLY tough reading month for me. I think it started off pretty good but then I got bogged down in not really being in the mood and just…not having time due to all the extra things I got involved with (helping organize an online convention, running book bingo, editing a podcast, etc).
Somehow, I managed to finish eleven books though! One sff manga, one sff novella, one thriller, two romances, and six sff novels. Eleven is not a bad number at all, although a bit on the low side for me personally. I’d really hoped to tackle more books this month but no one predicted life would suddenly get so…surreal.
Favorite Reads of the Month:
- Blood Lines by Tanya Huff – I am loving this series still! How it ends up will determine if it becomes one of my favorite UF of all time, but for now it’s a lot of fun. This ‘episode’ features an ancient mummy! We get some relationship stuff between Vicki, Mike and Henry (oh love triangles) and I really liked that this seemed to focus on all three of the characters individually as well.
- Yona of the Dawn vol 21 by Mizuho Kusanagi – This continues to be both a fantastic sprawling epic featuring battles and politics on a grand scale AND an intensely personal story focusing on the individual characters. Loving it.
- The Electric Heir by Victoria Lee – This is such a powerful series, imo. It’s deals with some very dark stuff but the character growth is great, the healing and heartbreak–it has it all. It’s very emotionally engaging and takes place in an interesting futuristic world filled with a cool combination of science and magic.
March’s Book Reviews:
Still doing fantastic on keeping up with reviews (of course, it’s helped that I haven’t finished much the last wee or so…). I had a good bit of these scheduled before the month even began, that’s how caught up I am. I really hope I keep up this momentum when my reading picks up again.
- The Fever King by Victoria Lee – 4.5 stars
- The Rise of the Magicks by Nora Roberts – 4/5 stars
- The Demons We See by Krista D. Ball – 5/5 stars
- Blindsight by Peter Watts – 3/5 stars
- Tournament of Losers by Megan Derr – 5/5 stars
- The Killing Fog by Jeff Wheeler – 4/5 stars
- My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due – 4.5/5 stars
- A Heart so Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer – 3.5/5 stars
- The Electric Heir by Victoria Lee – 4.5/5 stars
Other Posts:
Once again not a ton of other posts aside from reviews and meme posts. I did manage to do one discussion post again though, so I’m keeping up with my goal for one a month. Also have some update posts on a couple of my yearly reading challenges. So far I’m off to a very slow start with both of them…
- March TBR Pile
- Rereads: Comfort Reading vs The Ever Growing TBR
- Announcing r/Fantasy Virtual Con!
- StartOnYourShelfaThon – 1st Quarter Update
- 2020 Audiobook Challenge – 1st Quarter Update
Plans for April:
Let’s first see how I did with March’s plans! In March I wanted to finish up all of my bingo reading and I barely managed to get through it all, but I did finish so yay! And phew–nothing like waiting til the last minute! I also wanted to read some books for review and I got two crossed off my list but I still have two others PLUS 2 more that I got eARCs for from netgalley (whoops!) So, two steps forward, two steps back?
For April, we’re starting a new bingo period. At first I wasn’t going to do bingo but it turns out I do have books in my TBR Pile of Doom that fit every square on the card so I might start on that and kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. I also have those review books that I need to get to. My main goal, now that some of my ‘required reading’ is done with (aside from those review copies) is to really buckle down on my TBR Pile of Doom and start on those back list titles—some of those might be 2020 bingo reads, some of them might be for #StartOnYourShelfathon, and some of them might just be mood reads. Wish me luck because I surely have A LOT of books ahead of me and I’ve been very distracted lately. What are your plans for April? How did your March go? Leave a note in the comments, I’d love to chat!
Way Too Fantasy 
Wow! I don’t know how you manage to do all of it! I would loose myself halfway through it! So.. Congratulations!
And I think this would be the year in which I’ll try the Bingo, so I am quite excited!!!
Thank you! I don’t know either this month has felt like a struggle.
Hope you enjoy bingo! The new card comes out tomorrow on reddit but I should have a post up here by the weekend.
Looks like you had a good reading month! I hope April is just as good!
(www.evelynreads.com)
Thanks Evelyn! Hope you have a great April as well.
Always nice to see Tanya Huff’s name showing up on a reading list!
My April is out of control, and now my company wants me to start working part time which I’m not very happy about! So well see what happens. Good luck, I’m super impressed with your 11 books, I would never be able to read that many😁
Huh. Could be the government assistance thing. I know my boss is applying for one of the Small Business relief loans and also a grant from the state and apparently one of the conditions or maybe an incentive is to keep your staff on. I hope things work out for you Tammy! I wouldn’t want to have to be out and about right now.
Thanks! 11 is so under what I normally read but it feels like quite an accomplishment all things considered.
I’m loving her stuff! When I finish this series I want to read her Confederation books next.
I just picked up the first 3 Valor books!
Nice! I’ve heard fantastic things about them. 🙂
Great reviews this month, Lisa!!
Thanks, Paul, appreciate it!
I keep saying I also had a terrible reading month, but I read 8 books when I’ve been averaging 5 lately, so I guess I did better? I feel like I don’t remember any of them at all. This month is just weird and wrong and I’m glad it’s over.
I know what you mean. It’s almost like I’ve been a zombie the last couple of weeks. Let’s hope we can both make a fresh start this month! ❤
“Surreal” is a great way to describe March! Its been weird for sure! And Congrats on finishing your bingo!!! Good luck with your TBR pile of Doom! I hope you have a good April!
Yeah…it’s been quite the month.
Thank you! It literally came down to the wire lol. Hope you have a fantastic April!
Sooo many five-star reads this month. Got through all six on my list, and considering how big some of them were, I’m impressed (but let’s be real, it was probably COVID). Congrats on eleven, that’s considering it was a slump!
Yeah, eleven is still a lot although a couple of them were on the shorter side…lol. Congratulations on getting through your TBR list! It always feels good when you can complete a goal. 🙂
Hope you have a great April!
Best of luck with all that reading in April!! I’m hoping my reading will pick up this month too.
Thanks! I hope things look up for you this month. ❤
Yes, it’s a mad, mad world at the moment and my reading and blogging has gone to hell in a handcart (although that’s the least of everyone’s worries at the moment).
Good luck with your reading plans this month. I’m hoping to read a little bit more.
Lynn 😀
Yeah, I think everyone’s has to be honest. It’s crazy times we live in, who would have thought something like this would happen? Unreal. Thank you and take care, Lynn–stay safe out there!
OMG Lisa, you weren’t kidding when you said that you’ve been keeping yourself busy! I am also having a really difficult time with reading, so I am very impressed with your 11 books. I hope that April treats you well.
Yeah, I’ve definitely been keeping myself occupied LOL. It’s tough concentrating on any one thing right now (I think this is also why I’ve gotten involved in fifty-eleventy-billion projects) so reading is hard at the moment. I’ve been pushing through though and making some progress this week–hoping to keep it up over the weekend. Take care, Kal!