MARCH RECAP [2018]

The year is one quarter over ... #mindblown


March was a pretty good month for me too. And here's one more recap. I like recaps but I can never stick with a consistent style which really, really annoys me. So behold the latest... Maybe you can tell me which of my styles you prefer and I can stick to something finally :P



I didn't read quite as much as I put on my tbr - only six books - but they all were good, so that's a win. I also received FOUR BOOKS in exchange for being on two launch teams/participating in blog tours, which means I am on four street/launch teams this spring (what have I gotten myself into) and I need to review five books that I got from authors in exchange for reviews. So be prepared for all that ...

The Geography of You and Me         Flipped         The Secret Language of Sisters         Hope Was Here  

The Geography of You and Me. [by Jennifer E. Smith] [3/5 stars] Two teens meet in an elevator in New York during a city-wide power outage, and try to keep up a long distance friendship over the next year as they both move from place to place. This book was nice. It was about moving. About living in different parts of the world. About writing emails and postcards. About penpals. But it was a bit slow, and didn't seem to have much plot except said long-distance relationship. 

Flipped. [by Wendelin van Draanen] [4/5 stars] Juli has tried to be Bryce's friend since second (I think?) grade, but he's been running and avoiding her from the moment the two became neighbors. This book is about seeing past a person's appearance. It's about how people's perspectives are so different. It's about things not being how they seem. It's about chickens and sycamore trees and eggs. IT'S INCREDIBLY ADORABLE - you really should read it :DD

The Secret Language of Sisters [by Luanne Rice] [4/5 stars] Roo gets into a car accident while texting her sister Tilly, and winds up in the hospital in a coma, paralysed. This book is about sisters. It's about forgiveness. It's about change. It's about disability, and love, and photography, and an eccentric old lady. It's about family. The only "meh" factor was the love ... rectangle/pentagon?? Or the "crush-pentagon". *growls* But you know, it wasn't that bad. In the end, it was super touching and I learned a lot.

Hope Was Here [by Joan Bauer] [4/5 stars] This book was probably my favorite of all! It's about a waitress girl named Hope who, with her aunt, moves into a new town and takes over the running of the restaurant, while the restaurant's owner (who is critically ill) runs for mayor. I loved the restaurant/small town atmosphere. IT WAS SO WELL DONE AND DESCRIBED. I loved Hope, who was such a relatable and REASONABLE main character. And I loved the politics and the role it played, as well at the intrigue. Highly recommend - please go read this!


Midnight at the Electric        I Capture the Castle        Eliza and Her Monsters


Midnight at the Electric [by Jodi Lynn Anderson] [4/5 stars] This book is set in the future and the past. It's about a girl who's going to be part of a project to colonize Mars, and before she leaves, she wants to solve a mystery about a few girls who lived in the past, which leads her, and us, to read the diaries and letters of these girls who lived in the 20th century. I didn't LOVE this book the way some of my friend did, but I really really liked it. Such lovely unique characters. Such lyrical prose. A really gripping story.

I Capture the Castle [by Dodie Smith] [3.5/5 stars] This book is a diary. It's the diary of one Cassandra Mortmain, who lives in an old run down castle (in England) with her slightly eccentric family. The main point of the book is her family trying to get her sister to "marry well" because they are short of money O.o I liked the style, and I liked the characters. The diary style made it seem so much ... more relaxed, less fictional, more real than most books. The aggravating part was the love pentagon ... *cringe* and the fact that our main characters romantic interests MADE LITERALLY NO SENSE TO ME. I mean, what did she see in the guy?? I do not understand. Still, I  can see why this is a classic XD

Eliza and Her Monsters [by Franncesca Zappia] [4/5 stars] This book is about an ordinary nobody-special girl who has created a phenomenal, world famous webcomic series called Monstrous Sea. Her identity is a secret, and then Monstrous Sea's biggest fanfiction writer moves to her school. So this book... while it had a few issues ... was overall good in story and characters and plot. It had some content issues as well as some teen-tropes which some of us do not relate to at all, but those aside I loved watching Eliza, and I related to her in her "internet life". I don't think ALL OF YOU would enjoy this, but some of you quite certainly will :D



I managed to write out two short stories which I'm going to send to a friend to read over and see what she thinks :D I've also written THE END on Broccoli Queen even though I have some skipped/unwritten chapters to fill in. So YAY ME. I hope to get it all typed onto the computer next month. And yes ...

I'M GOING TO DO CAMP NANO. I'm going to be writing more short stories, and typing Broccoli Queen, and maybe a little bit of Nemesis, but I don't want to make any goals for myself, because school comes first. I have set myself a tiny goal (5,000 words, ha!) but I have an epic to push me for more ;) 




The old laptop of mine crashed a while back and so, after lots of research and browsing on my part, we got a new one!! YAY! And it's one of the later models, so it's quite fancy :DD

The main point of this random event is that ... researching computers was actually a lot of fun! It was tiring, staring at the screen and trying to filter through prices and models and various features but I learned things. I learned what's favorable in a laptop, what details to look out for, how to compare, how to read reviews ... I probably read more than enough reviews for my own good. :P Reading reviews of laptops, though fun, is not always the best thing to do. It makes cheaper models sound rather bad, just because it compares them to the $1000+ ones :P



This is a highlight because it was the first time in over a year that I got to hit the ice, and while it took a while to get my feet underneath me it was so much fun ^.^ I learned a few things while trying to regain my balance on ice. 1. Don't look at your feet. This is because you might CRASH into something if you aren't looking around you. 2. Don't look around you too much. You might loose focus on the SKATING and crash from lack of concentration. 3. Don't skate near someone. This distracts you, and makes you nervous. So yeah, those are the lessons this amateur skater picked up :P Unfortunately the ice rink has now been turned into a rink of some other sort, so good-bye skates until next fall.




This was no fun. I've been coughing and blowing my nose for two weeks and skipped a couple of work days because of it. It was also an excuse to fall back on school #lazyme and fail at PE. ARgh. Now I have to catch up on my schedule and as a result -- I'M GOING ON HIATUS. Yeah. Again. I'm sorry I know you will miss me and I will miss you, but I want to finish some of my courses and I don't think I can do that effectively unless I cut back on my hobbies and other activities.

Besides that ... Nano is starting TOMORROW (how is it possible?) and while I've set up a tiny little goal for myself, I still want to write AND SO I NEED TO MAKE MORE TIME FOR MYSELF.




I. am. finally. free. I'M FINALLY FREE OF ALPHA/BETA READING PROJECTS *cheers* I've been doing this ^^ nonstop since September so I'm due for a break :D I have loved alpha/beta reading; I've seen some amazing manuscripts; I've learned so much ... and I don't want to stop doing it! But ... first, the break :D I actually have my next beta project lined up for late this spring o.o I am booked in advance XDD And yup, let me just announce here that if any of you ever need an alpha/beta you can always ask me, even though I can't guarantee I'll be free :DD 


And that's my month in recap. In case you wondered what happened to my "on the blogosphere" WELL I HAVE 100% FORGOTTEN EVERYTHING THAT WAS POSTED THIS MONTH SO *shurgs* except, you can read all my posts right here --



AND I'M GOING ON HIATUS. SO. BYE BYE. SEE YOU ALL END OF APRIL!! *waves*

ARE YOU DOING CAMP NANOWRIMO?
ANY CONTEMPORARY BOOKS THAT YOU READ THIS MONTH?

16 comments:

  1. Wow, I loved reading this wrap-up, Lisa!

    Wow, all of those books sound so cool! I'll have to check out Hope was Here, that sounds like a book I would enjoy a lot.

    I don't blame you for taking the hiatus again, school and life has to come first sometimes.

    I'm also doing Camp NaNo! I'm going to put The White Rose to paper (or in my case, Shaxpir). I can't wait to get started (even though I'm starting a day late - no way am I going to have time to write during Easter!)

    Awesome post, Lisa!

    Catherine
    catherinesrebellingmuse.blogspot.com

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    1. thanks so much, Catherine <3 Hope Nano was fabulous for you!!

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  2. Have a wonderful hiatus, a blessed Easter, may you complete all your NaNo goals, and I hope you have an amazing April! <3

    ~Ivie

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  3. I love Hope Was Here! One of my good friends let me borrow her copy and it was such an adorable little contemporary. I fully blame my friend for getting me into the contemporary genre, but yeah, I really liked it. <3

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    1. IT WAS SOO GOOD I AGREE - I hope to read more of Joan Bauer's books someday :D

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  4. I love Joan Bauer's books, but haven't read the one you mentioned yet, I'm pretty sure. Also, wow, I'm impressed that you actually keep up with your blog tour/books for review/alpha-beta reading! I'm so bad at keeping up-to-date on those.

    Good luck and have a refreshing hiatus!

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  5. Aww, I want to read Flipped now it sounds and looks so cute! :D

    Have a great break. <3

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  6. Hope Was Here and Eliza and Her Monsters were both so good!

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  7. I liked this style of wrap-up. It was clean and concise, with really fun colors! It captured all of the highlights of the month.

    Wow, you're really busy! Lots of reading and everything! That's so awesome!

    I'm sorry you were sick for so long. That's no fun. But hey! You got a new laptop, and that is always exciting!

    Sounds like you had a fun month! I hope that April is just as great!

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  8. My friend was reading flipped so I stole it for a couple minutes haha and it looked so cool! Aww I'm sorry you were sick!

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    1. Oh well good for your friend that she/he found such a good book! Yaaassss it is really cool, you should read the whole thing! Awww thanks, I'm better now ^.^

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  9. Lisa, I just realized I wasn't following you! *instantly changed that* I'm so sorry I haven't been keeping up with your blog like I should! *going to try and change that*

    I love ice skating! I have really good balance, so I picked it up quickly, but I only get to skate once or twice a year. All three points you made were spot on, and had me smiling!

    Sorry to hear you were sick for so long. That's never fun... :(

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  10. Awesome! I will definitely have to check out some of those books :)
    By the way... I tagged you with the Get To Know Me: Writers Edition tag! :D
    https://ladybugfanfics.blogspot.com.au/2018/04/the-get-to-know-me-tag-writers-edition.html

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