*Monthly Update* March 2024

 I realize it's already they 6th, but today is my first day off of the month that I didn't have a work obligation (because I was also off on the first but had to drive over an hour away to get new work shoes, paid for by the company, but it cost me half a tank of gas and literally all my motivation for the day). I'm still considering this a win though, as it's two months in a row that I'm posting an update. 

You may remember from my February update post that for the month of March I wanted to focus on non-romance books written by women in honor of women's history month. I did a great job of that. I'd also wanted to read 5 non-fiction books about notable women, and I did less good there (and yes I know less good is horribly improper grammar, but I don't care). I'd also wanted to make a dent in my backlog of reviews. That I didn't do at all. While I have a few reviews handwritten that I need to build blog posts for, it's less than the number of books I added to the "need to be reviewed" list in March as I read 21 books. In my defense, I spent most of March filling in at work for my boss as she was out recovering from surgery, which meant I had earlier shifts that included more physical labor than my job typically entails, with one fewer day off per week than normal as well, so by the time I'd get home from work, I didn't want to do more work, and writing reviews and building blog posts is sort of work. 

I'm starting to feel a bit disillusioned with my history/heritage month focus, so I'm taking April (Arab Heritage Month) and May (Asian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month) off to just read whatever is catching my fancy, although I will likely still try to read at least one applicable book for each month. I plan to return to focused reading in June for LGBTQ+ Pride Month (so please hit me with recs for own voices books that will fit that theme as I can't just look at their author pictures on Amazon to see if they're LGBTQ+). 

Books Read in March

Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston

Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Switched by Sarah Ready

The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray

The Christmas Keeper by Jean McKinlay

The Murder of Madison Garcia by Marcy McCreary

The Immortal Detective by D.B. Woodling

The Tobacco Wives by Adele Myers

Lewis Sinclair and the Gentlemen Cowboys by D.M.S. Flick

Third Eye by Felicia Day

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

The Merciless Ones by Namina Forna

The Secret Wife of Aaron Burr by Susan Holloway Scott

Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte

Icarus by K. Ancrum

Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church by Megan Phelps-Roper

A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones

As Good as Dead by Holly Jackson

The Eternal Ones by Namina Forna

The Ladies of the Secret Circus by Constance Sayers

Once again, for blogging goals I really want to make a serious dent in my backlog of reviews, so that maybe in May my goal can be to rejoin weekly memes I've participated in in the past. I just really don't want to add more blogging work to my plate until I've reduced the review writing burden on myself. But we shall see how it goes. If I can even just keep my list from getting longer I'll probably consider it a win, if we're being honest. 

That's all for now because I have some review posts to build. - Katie