Do you ever look back on previous posts and discover things you have absolutely no memory of writing?
I believe that one of the indicators of alcohol addiction is blackouts. I would argue we can apply this to book addiction, only my blackout relates to yet another TBR-related promise I made. In my February post, I genuinely used the phrase “If (okay, when) I buy anything for IWD I’m going to plan to read it around IWD, because otherwise what’s the point?! (Famous Last Words)”
I have no memory of writing this.
Needless to say, that did not happen. Oh the books were bought, they’re just sitting pretty on my shelf. Unread.
The Unread Shelf Project
Despite this, I have GREAT news! My TBR is now smaller than it was in 2017! WHAAAAT. This is all the more incredible given the hilarious size of my March haul…
Pre-2018 TBR: 345
Pre-March TBR: 348
TBR Books Read: 12
TBR Books Given Away: 28
Books Added to TBR: 34
Current TBR: 342
It’s gone down! And look how many I read or got rid of!!
Can we pretend that other number isn’t there? No? Oh fine. In my defence, my pal Jo was de-hauling and sent me a big box of books. Really it’s all her fault and she’s a terrible TBR sponsor*. So about half of that number was free/gifts, one from my subscription box (which to be fair, I have now cancelled) and one was a Netgalley that I got last month but forgot to add to my TBR (so doesn’t really count). The rest was a mix of IWD haul (which I pre-warned you about ergo sssh) and other ones that I have no good explanation for…
*(I don’t mean it Jo I love you please always send me books)
Other goals:
15% Long Books: Behind at 12.1%, I’m starting to think 15% is mildly unrealistic – 12% is still four books in three months so I’ve committed myself to more than one a month?! Did not think that through did I?
25% Non-White Authors: Behind but SO CLOSE at 24.2%
35% International Authors: Behind. Woefully at 12.1%. Hmm.
I’m also trying to be more realistic about my own shortcomings and admitting that I am NOT a moderator, so I need to abstain completely. No more book purchases until my birthday (July). I’m taking this project very seriously for a solid three months. Hopefully I’ll still remember saying that when I come to write my April post.
March Books
ANYWAY, let’s focus on the positives – I read 14 books this month, 12 of them were on my TBR! 😁
My Favourites of the Month:
Rating: 4 stars | Purchase: Wordery | Read if you liked: Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls
Rating: 4 stars | Purchase: Wordery | Read if you liked: Wonder Woman
I liked:
Rating: 5 stars | Purchase: Wordery | Read if you liked: We Should All Be Feminists
Rating: 4 stars | Review: Goodreads | Purchase: Amazon
Rating: 4 stars | Review: Goodreads | Purchase: Wordery | Read if you liked: Britt-Marie Was Here
Rating: 4 stars | Purchase: Wordery | Read if you liked: Persepolis
Rating: 4 stars | Review: Goodreads | Purchase: Wordery | Read if you liked: Women of the Revolution
Rating: 4 stars | Purchase: Wordery
Rating: 4 stars | Review: Goodreads | Purchase: Wordery
I had mixed feelings about:
Rating: 3 stars | Review: Goodreads | Purchase: Wordery
Rating: 3 stars | Review: Martha Is | Purchase: Amazon
Rating: 3 stars | Review: Goodreads | Purchase: Wordery
I didn’t like:
Rating: 2 stars | Review: Goodreads | Purchase: Wordery
Rating: 2 stars | Purchase: Wordery
What’s on in April?
I’ve got four NetGalley’s being published on the 5th April (laughably not going to happen) so I’ll be working through those. First up is The One Who Wrote Destiny by Nikesh Shukla, which I’m very excited about as I LOVED The Good Immigrant. Admittedly, this is fiction as opposed to Good Immigrant which was a collection of essays edited by Shukla, buuuut I don’t care I’ve got a good feeling.
I also need to get to Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge before I see her speak in mid-April, and then I’ll be hosting a Bookstagram readalong of Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi. Full disclosure this was entirely driven by FOMO, I have never seen a book pop up on my feed so often in such a short space of time, it is in pretty much everyone’s April TBR. Can it possibly live up to the hype?! We shall see…
Martha Is 
I love your idea of have reading goals such as reading long books and books by international authors. I’m a pretty slow reader so I don’t think I’d be able to make it a monthly challenge but I’ll definitely be trying to expand my reading horizons.
Also, I read Frankenstein this past year for an English course and really enjoyed it. What put you off of it?
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Thanks Libby! You could totally make it a half yearly challenge or whatever works for you, I’ve found so many amazing books from challenges and goals.
Hmm Frankenstein…I’m not a huge fan of classics anyway but I think I just lost patience with Victor Frankenstein, he was pretty melodramatic. Then couldn’t quite suspend my disbelief about the monster and how he learned perfect English 😂. I think it could be the type of book that benefits from studying it as I’m sure there’s a lot of deeper themes in there and Shelley was clearly a trailblazer, I just didn’t have the patience to really think about it. What did you like about it?
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I completely understand where you’re coming from about Frankenstein! But I found that the melodrama and classic-y tone of the writing really worked for me. I loved how the story was presented in different stories at times (from the sailor’s, Frankenstein’s, and the monster’s perspectives) and thought the themes it explored were super interesting.
I find that normally when I study a text and really delve into it it normally ruins it for me. Like, I just want to read the book, take what I get from it, and enjoy it on my own time. But I found it was the opposite for Frankenstein which is odd!
I will definitely try a challenge of some sort to get me on track for reading more stuff like that! 🙂
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