Howdy Bibliofriends!
March is over, it’s the middle of the Easter holidays, Spring is finally here! There seem to be lots of good things to celebrate in this month’s wrap post… and plenty to look forward to too!
Life Update
Life in March has been busy…! There’s quite a bit going on at work. We took my year group of 30 8-9 year olds away to the Peak District for a Residential which was super fun, but also took up lots of time and energy reserves. I have spent the first week of the holidays catching up with life admin, adulting things and lots of reading!
This month’s sports calendar has also been hectic! There have been horseracing and rugby events on throughout the month. The absolute highlight being my team winning the Premiership Rugby Cup! That victory was such a special night – I think I needed lots of time for my voice to recover from all of the pitchside screaming!
The rest of this Wrap Post follows my usual format (Past Reads, Current Reads, Films/TV, Music) so feel free to skip any irrelevant parts!
What I’ve Been Reading in March
With the busyness of March, I didn’t really read as much as I wanted to, however I am still ahead of schedule on my Goodreads Reading Challenge. I had been waiting for the Easter holidays to dive into Crescent City 3 – House of Flame and Shadow and boy was I glad that I did!!! I felt like I entered a black hole until I’d finished it, and even then I would have to walk around my house at the end of certain chapters with ‘omg omg omg’ going round and round in my head like a public service announcement. It’s definitely been a fun reading month!
This Golden Flame by Emily Victoria ⭐️⭐️⭐️
I loved the mix of Ancient Greece and technical, A.I. automatons. You can check out my spoiler-free review for This Golden Flame here.
Yellowface by R. F. Kuang ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Well if this novel didn’t pack a punch! Savage satire poking a big ‘take-a-look-at-yourself’ finger to the publishing industry… this book absolutely slices and I loved it!! You can read my spoiler-free review here.
A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft ⭐️⭐️⭐️
I haven’t quite digested my feelings on this book yet… I know that I liked elements of it, I just can’t quite verbalise or even put into words which bits those are at the minute – a review will come!
A Feast For Crows [A Song of Ice and Fire #4] by George R. R. Martin ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
These audiobooks have given me a newfound love for this series and I’m desperate to read A Dance with Dragons just so I can actually finish watching the TV Show – I know that Martin hasn’t actually finished writing the book series yet – but I’m trying desperately not to get spoiled by anything!
House of Flame and Shadow [Crescent City #3] by Sarah J. Maas ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
There are no words… yet! Again review incoming, and when I say review I actually mean a longwinded, rambling post where all my inner-thoughts and feelings just fall onto the electronic page! 🤯
#CurrentlyReading
My April TBR is a little packed as I’m attempting to take part in the Magical Readathon hosted by @book_roast! I loved this challenge back when it was related to the OWLs and NEWTs from the Harry Potter series, but now G has intricately designed her own readathon with maps, guilds and different paths and side quests! I’ll be posting more about that tomorrow so stay tuned!
What I’ve Been Watching
As part of a Film Club, we’re often at the Cinema at least once a week so I watch a lot of movies. I’ve been using the app Letterboxd to track what I’ve seen and give them rating. If you’re on the app and want a new follower be sure to add me! My profile name is: tillyj
March has been pretty jam-packed with movies and TV shows!
Movies/TV, I’ve seen:
- Lisa Frankenstein (Cinema) – When I found out that Isabella Summers (the Machine part of Florence + the Machine) had created the score for this movie, I immediately added it to my watch list. It’s a quirky, whimsical film which I enjoyed a lot!
- The Royal Tenenbaums (Disney +) – I’d heard a lot about how great this Wes Anderson film is, the cast is pretty outstanding… however, I still fell asleep partway through.
- Dune (Rewatch) – I am so glad that I rewatched this to refresh my brain before Dune 2. I’ve read the book so I already know what happens but it really got me in the Arrakis zone!
- Dune 2 (Cinema – IMAX) – This was even better than the first movie and made me love the whole Dune series even more. I immediately left the cinema, went to Waterstones and bought the book sequel! 🙈
- Damsel (Netflic) – Loved Millie Bobby-Brown, loved the costumes and the setting, landscapes etc… but seriously, the story is entirely predictable and top tip: when you’re trying to hide from a dragon, please stop screaming!!! 🤷🏻♀️
- Past Lives (Netflix) – Some of my friends highly rated this film and I’d heard that it had a few nods during awards season. I loved the shifts between the characters’ childhoods and their adult lives. I genuinely had no idea where that ending was going, and even still… I’m not sure it was entirely what I wanted!
- Drive-Away Dolls (Cinema) – I’m taking a leaf out of Thumper’s book here in that if I can’t say anything nice, I’m not saying anything at all. Drive-Away Dolls is really not my kind of movie. One of my friends loved it though…
- Irish Wish (Netflix) – I’m not sure if I’m a closet Lindsay Lohan fan or if it was just the Irish vibes that made me watch this. You can guess what happens in the whole story just by watching the trailer. The acting was ok. The costumes and scenes of Ireland were magical and now I feel the need to visit the Cliffs of Moher too.
- Freelance (Netflix) – John Cena, action film, lots of guns – pretty much your average action film!
- Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire(Cinema) – The opening action scene is by far the best ‘ghosthunters’ bit of the whole film. I loved the ideas for the storyline but felt like the mythology of the characters could have been expanded a little. It’s quite slow after the awesomeness of the opening but overall very nostalgic and satisfying.
- Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (Netflix) – Whilst I haven’t read the Bridgerton books, I am a huge fan of the TV show and this spin-off was no exception. I loved the parallels between the young and old(er) characters from the TV show. Again, costumes and scenery were on point, particularly as I could recognise the shots of Blenheim Palace which is not very far away from me at all and I’ve been lucky to visit many times.
- Beef (Netflix) – The opening couple of episodes of this were so good, then I felt like it got a little eccentric and lost its way – I still haven’t quite finished it yet so maybe it’ll have a spectacular ending. A super-fun concept though.
Music
Asides from all of the Taylor Swift music on my phone, I was so excited to finally download Beyoncé’s COWBOY CARTER album! 🤠 For about 18 years whilst I was growing up, I went to Line Dancing classes and even choreographed and taught some of my own – therefore I grew up with this huge love of country music. I love that so many legacy artists within the genre have come out in support of this record and helped contribute to it. Is this pure or typical country, for whatever pure/typical country actually is…? Perhaps not, it takes inspiration from a melting pot of musical genres but the influences are undeniably there within the soul of every track. Beyoncé’s rendition of Jolene keeps the spirit at the heart of an incredibly beloved song whilst turning it completely on its head. No longer is the lead singer begging for Jolene not to mess with her man in a politely assertive way, they are now upfront declaring their authority and calling out Jolene’s crap like an apex predator – it’s so brilliant! This album will definitely be on repeat for the foreseeable – at least until The Tortured Poets Department comes out next month!
And that’s a wrap! How was your March? Did you have a productive month? I’m totally looking forward to the Magical Readathon starting and compiling my book list from the prompts! What are you all looking forward to reading in April?
As always, drop me a comment to chat! ☺️
T xx
thebiblioshelf.com 