It’s so weird to think it’s the end of March already. A quarter of the way through 2021! I thought I’d have a go at an end-of-month summary post, to let you know what I’ve been up to.

On a personal level, I started a new job at the end of February, so I’ve been busy with that. I’m also very excited that the podcast I co-host, The Island Library, kicks off with the first episode of season 2 tomorrow. If you want to hear two friends talk about books, you’ll want to check that out!

What I’ve been reading in March

For book club purposes, I read the full Cursebreaker trilogy this month, starting of course with A Curse so Dark and Lonely. There’ll be a podcast episode on this in the not-too-distant future. For now though, I’ll say that this trilogy started off really strong, and while I enjoyed the whole thing, I definitely didn’t think the rest of it lived up to that first book.

I also went on a complete Laini Taylor binge, re-reading the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy and the Strange the Dreamer duology. The atmosphere in these books is just unreal. I can’t think of another fictional world in fantasy that feels quite as real to me as the one(s) in these series! Highly recommend if you’re after some escapist fantasy, although I should warn you that there are some moments that make me cry my eyes out every time I read.

Another interesting read this month was Darius the Great is Not Okay. I won’t go into too much detail, but it’s a really sweet, heartfelt story about a kid with anxiety. Darius and his family go to Iran to visit his mum’s side of the family for the first time, and Darius makes his first real friend. It’s got great characters and complex family dynamics, and just so much heart.

Other March favourites

In terms of other stuff I’ve been enjoying this month, special mention goes to Parks and Recreation. I don’t know why I’ve never watched it before this year, but I’m almost halfway through the whole thing and absolutely loving it. Leslie Knope is a riot.

The other big move of this month was signing up for the Writer’s Weekend. If you’re not familiar, it’s an event in June, occurring virtually this year, where you can attend talks to help you improve your writing and knowledge of the publishing industry. There are several levels you can sign up for, including one where you get to submit some of your work for feedback from agents and industry professionals.

This isn’t sponsored by the way, I just think it’s a cool event, and I’m looking forward to talking more about it after the experience!

How’s your year going?

Anything in particular making you smile this month? Looking forward to anything this Spring? Let me know in the comments!