Monthly Recap: March 2016

Happy last day of March! Can you believe April Fool’s is tomorrow?

In this post, I’ll be recapping my month, including what I read, what I posted, what I hauled, and my progress on my bookish challenges. I’ll also be looking forward to next month, including my (tentative) TBR and other posts coming up! Let’s get started!

I read a total of 15 books, which is pretty amazing for me! I owe it all to spring break, which really gave me time to read and write up some blog posts!

HIGHLIGHTS

          Favorite | Disappointed

BOOKS READ THIS MONTH:

REVIEWS

• THE GREAT HUNT by Wendy Higgins
• A DROP OF NIGHT by Stefan Bachmann
• BEYOND THE RED by Ava Jae
• SHATTER ME by Tahereh Mafi
• THIS IS WHERE THE WORLD ENDS by Amy Zhang
• THE WAY I USED TO BE by Amber Smith
• UNICORN TRACKS by Julia Ember
• THE NEW GUY (AND OTHER SENIOR YEAR DISTRACTIONS) by Amy Spalding 

• I discussed insta-love and if it could be realistic and/or written well.
• I also discussed negative reviews and their effect on other readers and bloggers.
• I talked about changing reviews after reviewing and if that sacrifices our objectivity or makes us more critical.
• I participated in a weekly meme, When I First Saw You, in which bloggers write synopses for books of which they only see the covers. This post’s book featured WHISPER TO ME by Nick Lane, which looks really interesting.

• I participated in TTT: Ten Books To Read If You Are In The Mood For Fantasy and Ten Of My Most Recent 5 Star Reads
• I participated in a few tags: My Life in Books and the Halsey book tag! I really adore Halsey so I was excited to write these posts up!
• In participation of a blogging extravaganza, I interviewed myself. It was really quite fun!
• P.S., if you’re ever having trouble coming up with post ideas, here’s a list of 20 book blog post ideas!

• I was super stoked and honored to be part of the HarperTeen Summer 2016 Blog Tour, hosted by Hannah @ The Irish Banana Review. I helped promote WE WERE NEVER HERE by Jennifer Gilmore. Also, there’s two giveaways, and I also included one in celebration of my 6-month blogoversary! Check it out!
• I hauled 13 books in the first half of March; see what I got!

• I signed up for ARC April and listed out a several ARCs I want to get to in April.
• Want to get to know me more? I listed out 25 bookish facts about yours truly.
• It was my 7th month blogoversary this month, and I celebrated with two giveaways!

I was pretty into Hamilton this month! To be completely honest, I’m not that big a fan of hip hop. Nor am I a huge fan of musicals. But I’m totally and completely digging Hamilton, which is, if you didn’t know, a hip-hop musical. I’ve never heard of anything like it, but I’m loving it so much!

I got a lot of books this month—a whopping 27 (oops). You can read about my mid-month book haul here! Here’s all the books I got this month:

ARCs

FINISHED COPIES

Huge thanks to Penguin, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, the NOVL, YALLWEST and others for sending me some books!

This month was actually pretty awesome. I got a pretty good score (if I say so myself) on my SATs, and I finally got my driver’s license!

I also had spring break, which lasted from the 23rd to the 28th, which gave me ample time to read—I’m really impressed with myself and what I read this month!

For 2016, I signed up for 4 year-long challenges. You can see my overall progress here.

THIS MONTH

No challenges this month!

YEAR LONG

Flights of Fantasy | Goal: 20 | 4 read this month

• BEYOND THE RED by Ava Jae
• THE GREAT HUNT by Wendy Higgins
• QUEEN OF HEARTS by Colleen Oakes
• TRUTHWITCH by Susan Dennard

Contemporary Romance | Goal: 20 | 3 read this month 

• TELL ME THREE THINGS by Julie Buxbaum
• MY KIND OF CRAZY by Robin Reul
• THE NEW GUY (AND OTHER SENIOR YEAR DISTRACTIONS) by Amy Spalding

Debut Author | Goal: 20 | 6 read this month 

• TELL ME THREE THINGS by Julie Buxbaum
• DON’T GET CAUGHT by Kurt Dinan
• MY KIND OF CRAZY by Robin Reul
• THE WAY I USED TO BE by Amber Smith
• BEYOND THE RED by Ava Jae
• UNICORN TRACKS by Julia Ember

Discussions | Goal: 25 | 3 written this month

• In Consideration of Insta-Love | Discussion
• Do Negative Reviews Deter You? | Discussion
• Do You Change Ratings? | Discussion

Alright, so I’m definitely going to try to get to all four of these. I’m going to be reviewing TRAITOR ANGELS, which I’ve heard pretty good things about, and I’m doing two separate read-alongs: one for THESE VICIOUS MASKS and one for the ORPHAN QUEEN duology. I’m super pumped.

• Tomorrow, on April 1st, it’s my stop on the THE WAY I USED TO BE blog tour. There’s going to be a giveaway too! This book was so heartbreaking and emotional; I loved it a lot.
• On April 6th, I’ll be posting my review for DON’T GET CAUGHT by Kurt Dinan, which is part of another blog tour/giveaway!
• On April 7th, I have another review coming up, this time for MY KIND OF CRAZY by Robin Reul; blog tour and giveaway included!
• On April 10th, I’ll be interviewing a special author about her book (hint: it’s Julia Ember and her new novel, UNICORN TRACKS)! Get excited!!

I hope you’ll add some new books to your TBR (and maybe enter some giveaways wink wink)!

How was your month? Let me know in the comments below or link me to your own monthly wrap-up post!