February Recap

February was a month where I didn’t get a lot of reading or blogging done; not as much as I normally do and not as much as I would have liked to. Work took over my whole life, but now February has ended things have calmed down and I’ll be back to my regular reading and blogging schedules.

I only got through four books (five if you could the one I DNF-ed) but I did finally pick up King of Scars, one of my most anticipated releases of this year, and February is a short month so I can’t really be blamed for not getting through as many books as I normally do (which is what I’m telling myself).

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• Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo — Five stars Four stars
• Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo — Five stars
• Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo — Five stars
• King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo — Four stars
• Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand — DNF-ed at Chapter 13

Favourite read; Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo which may have been a re-read but it’s still an incredible book with so many twists that will always have me hooked.

Least favourite read; Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand which I couldn’t finish. I couldn’t get into the story and I found it so hard to connect with any of the main characters.

I may have only read four (five) books this month but I’m still ahead of my Goodreads Reading Challenge, only by two books though instead of three back at the end of January. One of the good things about setting my goal much lower this year is that I can have months like this one, where I don’t read nearly as much as I plan to but I still don’t have to worry about falling behind.

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This is going to be a very short section this month, because my writing update for February is that there is no update. I didn’t write anything, and part of me wants to blame that on work but in a way it was a mixture of work, blogging and reading. In my spare time I had a choice as to whether I could write, or whether I could read and blog, and I chose the latter.

I’m going to stretch myself in March though. Right now my progressive word count should be 18k, and by the end of the month it should be 26k so in my next recap I want to be able to say I’ve completely caught up and written at least 26k words.

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Even though work took over there were still a few things happening in my life which weren’t work-related; after all, it’s all about that healthy work/life balance right? My mental health is still in a good place, and I’ve been making plenty of plans for the future so hopefully in the next few months this section (like my Writing Update section) should be more full.

Highlights:

• I attended the Samantha Shannon event at Waterstones Piccadilly for the release of The Priory of the Orange Tree. It was a great evening, Samantha Shannon is one of my favourite authors so whenever there’s an event of hers on I’ll always make an effort to attend.

• I binge-watched season one of The Umbrella Academy, which is incredible and a new favourite TV of mine. I love the dynamic between all the Hargreeve children and I can’t wait for season two (if there is a season two, fingers crossed).

• I’m making strong progress on learning Dutch using the Duolingo app; I’ve maintained a 48 day streak and  I’m currently at level 31.

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Again I didn’t buy many books this month, but the two that I did buy are two of my most anticipated releases for this year and I can’t wait to dive right into them.

I did have a copy of The Gilded Wolves at one point, but I had to return it because the pages hadn’t been cut properly and I haven’t had any luck finding another copy.

• The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty
• The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

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In March I’m going to be taking part in the Women’s History Month Reading Challenge hosted by Margaret at Weird Zeal. I haven’t got a set reading list, because I’ve learnt from experience I don’t do well with those, but I’m going to try and get through as many of the prompts as I can.

I definitely want to pick up The Kingdom of Cooper (which can cross off the WOC MC square), The Priory of the Orange Tree (which can cross off the Multiple Female POVs square) and In An Absent Dream (which I think can cross off the No Romantic Subplot square). Those are the only three books I have planned though, so if anyone has any recommendations for the other squares let me know.

I’m going to get back in writing again, which I know I said last month but this month I should actually have the time to write, and I will be publishing the post I had planned for February week which goes into a little more detail about my new WIP.

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How was your February?

Did you also read less books than you’d planned to last month, or are you on a strong reading binge and getting through more books than you normally would?

Have you seen The Umbrella Academy, what other shows would you recommend for a fan of that show? Are you taking part in the Women’s History Month Reading Challenge, or is there another reading challenge you’ll be taking part in?

Happy reading.