A monthly round up of all things bookish at Sammi Loves Books…It’s my attempt at becoming more accountable in my reading and reviewing habits…
In a nutshell
This month has been a little up and down. My exhaustion has resurfaced again (sigh), and what spare time I’ve had I’ve dedicated to completing my Wattpad Open Novella Contest II entry, The Winter Ghost (which you can find here and read for free, if enjoy ghost stories set in a medieval-esque fantasy world). I completed it the day before the deadline, so it was tight towards the end there, but at least I managed it, and I’m happy with how the story turned out.
I only bought one book this month, and this one’s allowed as it is from a series I started reading before my booking buying ban came into force. I count that as a win! Although that being said, I almost capitulated yesterday when I very nearly bought two books: Essex Poison by Ian Sansom, but realising it was the fourth book in the series, I returned it to the shelf (but mentally added The County Guides series to my “want to read” list), and The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R King, which is the first in the Mary Russel Mysteries. This was harder to resist because I fell in love with the cover and because it was the first in the series, and I have a feeling I will give in and return to buy it in the not-so-distant future…
I have gone back over the books I’ve read so far this year and chosen to add some of them to the Read, Review, Rehome list, not because I’ve since decided I didn’t like them as much as I thought, or that I don’t want to read them again, but because I know the likelihood is I won’t get around to reading them again. I’ve also found I have duplicate copies of some books, so I’ve set aside my preferred copy and add the others to the list. It’s not much progress, but it’s some…
And lastly, I’m changing the day I post my book reviews from Mondays to Tuesdays because life seems to get in the way of blogging more often on Mondays…or so I’m finding…
Books I’ve reviewed
- The Crow Trap by Ann Cleeves
- The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
- The Misbegotten by Katherine Webb
- They Never Get Caught by Margery Allingham (Short Story)
Other Book-Related Posts
Favourite read(s) of the month
- The Misbegotten by Katherine Webb
Books I’ve bought (or been given)
- Fall of a Philanderer by Carola Dunn
Books I’ve downloaded
- None – yay!
What I’ve been reading on Wattpad
- Quite a bit – there’s an ongoing novella writing contest and I’ve been reading some wonderful stories. Check out my Wattpad profile (link in the sidebar) and explore my Open Novella Contest 2019 reading list for interesting suggestions
March’s “Read and Review” Goals*
- The Crow Trap by Ann Cleeves
- Njal’s Saga – traditional Icelandic story
- The Girl on The Train by Paula Hawkins
* Light blue = review posted | Blue = review not posted | Black = did not read / review
What I’m reading and reviewing in April
- The Concubine by Norah Lofts (read, awaiting review)
- A Pair of Hands by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch (read, awaiting review)
- Njal’s Saga – traditional Icelandic story (still reading)
- Bodyguard of Lightning by Stan Nicholls (currently reading)
Goodreads Reading Challenge
My goal is 40. I’ve read 11. 28% complete.
Other reads (books not on Goodreads): 1
- They Never Get Caught by Margery Allingham
Total books read so far this year: 12
Sammi Loves Books Reading Challenge 2019
I’ve completed the following challenges from the list this month:
- 4 – A book set in a place you would like to visit – The Misbegotten by Katherine Webb
Total challenges complete: 4 / 20
You can find the complete list of challenges here.
A to Z Review Index Challenge
None completed this month. 0 / 2
Read, Review, Rehome
Goal: 20 | Total so far: 7 / 20
- The Misbegotten by Katherine Webb
- The Crow Trap by Ann Cleeves
- The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
- The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
- A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters
- The Summer of the Danes by Ellis Peters
Sammi Loves Books 
Whew, I’m feeling vicarious accomplishment (and also getting a bit tired myself) just reading your list! Good job buying only one book during the book ban month, that’s not bad. I am getting almost no reading done myself (still in the middle of my multi-month “Work NaNo”) but I suppose being so busy also keeps me from buying more books, ha ha!
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And…. I’ve already fallen off the wagon. Just ordered 5 books and put two more on the wish list. It was more or less planned, though: the occasion is that the Hugo Finalists list just came out, so I ordered any I could justify in terms of my reading priorities list. I fell behind on my reading this month (not surprisingly) but up to today I’d read 11 books this year and only purchased 4, so at least I’m not in the red yet.
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Oops! Spoke to soon! At least it was planned and the purchases can be justified. It’s the whimsical, unpredictable, uncontrollable book-buying that we need to keep an eye on 😉 Those statistics are looking good with a quarter of the year gone 🙂
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And then my sister and BIL spontaneously gifted me with yet another book out of the blue, so that’s SIX. Whew. This one is definitely not on my priority list, but it is also exceedingly short, so I might read it quickly and get it checked off the list.
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That is one way to stop buying more books! lol
There’s just too much busyness going on these days for my liking…don’t the work gods understand we have piles of books to be read as well as our own stories to write? 🙂
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I clearly did not make the proper offerings to the Work Gods last year, to end up saddled with the mess I’ve been facing this year. Well, this big round of deadlines finishes at the end of the month — whether I’m done or not (ugh) — so in theory the stress will be off. In reality, I will still be wrapping things up on this project and then also starting three new projects in May, not to mention all the backlog of “stuff” that needs doing. So… looking forward to June. 🙂
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You put me to shame. And I’m so far behind on your Winter’s Ghost. Why are there not more hours in the day?
But I’m sad to hear of the return of exhaustion. You know, switching to a Paleo diet cured me entirely of CFS/ME, and that after 13 years, the last few spent mostly housebound. Just a suggestion. 🙂
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Thanks for that suggestion, Crispina. To be honest, I’ve not looked into the Paleo diet beyond the briefest of glimpses, and I think it focuses quite heavily on meat…? As a vegetarian, I’m not sure it’s possible but perhaps I should investigate further.
I too wish there were more hours in the day – I’ve yet to start Alsalda yet and I was hoping to begin that last week… sigh. But I will endeavour to have it read from start to finish before the next round of beta reading 🙂
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Yea, I have to admit, as a vegetarian you could find it difficult on Paleo, though dairy is allowed (if you’re dairy-sensitve, but beans are supposed to be off the menu. However, that’s following it to a T. The general idea is to kick out all precoess foods. That’s the most important part. And suger (esp. the corn-syrup stuff) and grains, but oats are allowed. I was doing well on it until I pigged out on fruit. Fructose is a killed.
As to hours in the day … it does help when my internet connect doesn’t take a four-hour break every afternoon!
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