The Looooong and the Short of It with a Giveaway: March 2022 Wrap-Up Post and What to Expect in April

For once I’m going to say a month did not go by fast. March was sooooooo long! Part of it is probably because, as you know if you’ve read my weekly posts, I’ve been without my library assistant all month. And I won’t have her back for at least another week into April, if even then.

I did end up getting another estimate for my bathroom renovation that was right where I was hoping it would be, and so I am going to end up getting my bathroom done in June I think. Well, as long as the financing goes through. Unfortunately when I did my taxes, they ended up taking most of what I had saved from getting out my Kansas teaching retirement early, so I didn’t really have that to put towards anything other than the down payment for the renovation.

I got my exercise bike delivered, and I had paid the extra $200 for them to set it up. Well they did something wrong and I can’t adjust the seat and have it stay where I’ve adjusted it to. And I haven’t had time to really get anyone on the phone to help with it. So I haven’t exercised yet.

And I ended my month with my spring break which I am currently on as I type this. I think having to wait till the end of the month for the spring break while seeing all my friends post about theirs throughout the month is part of what made it such a long month. But I am having a nice time in Branson in a little condo at a golf resort and trying to do some writing.

I’ve been really getting into the new book blog planner I purchased. And I’ve also been reading so many good books this month! I read/listened to over 20 books this month, 22 to be exact! To be fair, a couple of the audiobooks were shorter ones, and there were one or two novellas in the mix, but still! I thought I was going to have no DNFs, but one of my last reads of the month just didn’t work for me.

March Reviews

Again, I am pretty much caught up on reviews other than audiobooks or April blog tour reviews, and one book I read for a challenge.

• [3 Mar] The Kiss List by Maya Hughes ★★★★★
• [5 Mar] Savvy Sheldon Feels Good as Hell by Taj McCoy ★★★
• [8 Mar] The Accidental Countess by Emma Hart ★★★★★
• [10 Mar] Falling for the Competition by Jen Smith ★★★★
• [11 Mar] You Keep Breaking Us by Carrie Aarons ★★★★½
• [12 Mar] A Million Kisses in Your Lifetime by Monica Murphy ★★★★★
• [14 Mar] Survive the Dome by Kosoko Jackson ★★★★★
• [16 Mar] Love on the Lake by Helena Hunting ★★★★★
• [17 Mar] Our Best Shot by A.M. Williams ★★★½
• [22 Mar] Gouda Friends by Cathy Yardley ★★★★★
• [24 Mar] One-Timer by Teagan Hunter ★★★★½
• [25 Mar] Married by Sunday by Sarah Ready ★★★★½
• [26 Mar] So This Is Ever After by F.T. Lukens ★★★★★
• [29 Mar] Love You Wrong by Julia Kent ★★★★★
• [31 Mar] Beauty and the Baller by Ilsa Madden-Mills ★★★★½

Challenge Wrap-Ups

Not doing as well as I’d like again, but still made a little progress this month.

My goal was 12, I got one done in February, and one done this month that I am counting for both this challenge and my series ender challenge, Well Matched by Jen DeLuca. Originally I didn’t put it on my list for this, only on the series ender challenge, but I’ve decided I can combine books if they work for more than one challenge! I don’t have the review ready yet, look for that next month!

My goal for this one was also 12, and I got two done this month, although one of them was not on my original list and was an audiobook. But I’m going to count it! The one on my original list was Well Matched by Jen DeLuca. The audiobook was His Turn by J.A. Huss. One thing I love about Huss’s audiobooks is that she has her own little bit at the end where she reads what she puts in the back of her books, a little bit of where the characters and idea came from.

Not doing great with this one still! No new ones to add.

• Blogging – Still at 78% on Netgalley, although I had a scare when I dropped to 77%. But now I’m back to 78%. As mentioned above, still working on the challenges little bit by little bit.
• Reading – Having dropped my goal to 200, I’m not as anxious when I drop because I’m still several books ahead of my goal. And with as many as I read in March, that’s been staying strong. For sequels, I actually would say that last month I kind of did that when I listened to Turning Back by J.A. Huss. So really I have done one
• Writing – Okay, that’s what I am supposed to be working on during my spring break trip! So far I’ve got some editing done.

Bookstagram

My favorites from this month:

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What to expect in April 2022

I need to get started packing up my library for the renovations this summer. I wanted to get a lot of weeding done, but that didn’t work out with being alone in the library all the time. I’ve also got tons of books to read, with the latest SmartyPants review books coming out this month! The second weekend I’ll be going to the Missouri Association of School Librarians annual conference as a librarian for the first time. I haven’t been in over 10 years and I was still a classroom teacher at the time.

Here is my proposed list of books to be read in April:

1. The Date from Hell by Gwenda Bond – an e-galley should be read by this weekend or so!
2. Hollywood Games by Evie Alexander – for a blog tour review on the 4th
3. Those Three Little Words by Meghan Quinn – author team review for the 5th
4. My Dearest Darkest by Kayla Cottingham – ARC from publisher, review on the 6th
5. Parks and Provocation by Juliette Cross – SmartyPants Romance (SPR) review not posted till 18th? But it is published on the 7th, so need to have review for Goodreads/Amazon, etc. by the 7th
6. Replaced Parts by Stephanie Hansen – author requested I review, should post on the 9th or 10th
7. Gone Dark by Amanda Panitch – ARC from publisher, review on the 11th
8. Famous in a Small Town by Kylie Scott – review for a blog tour on the 12th
9. Omitted Pieces by Stephanie Hansen – author requested I review, hope to post it on the 14th
10. Queen of the Tiles by Hanna Alkaf – ARC from publisher, review on the 16th or 17th
11. The Reluctant Bride by Monica Murphy – author review team, review on the 19th? – I haven’t read the rest of this series, so I might tell them I pass on this one.
12. Right Number, Wrong Girl by Emma Hart – blog tour review on the 20th or 21st
13. It Started with a Kiss by Lisa Hobman – blog tour review on the 23rd
14. Book Smart by Amanda C. Pennington – another SPR, review posted on blog on 25th, should be read by 12th though
15. Always You by Samantha Young – author review team post on the 26th
16. Not Fooling Anyone by Allie Winters – another SPR, review posted on blog on the 27th, but again, should be read by the 12th
17. The Atelier Assignment by Annie Dyer – blog tour review on the 28th
18. Can’t Help Loving You by Eve Casey – blog tour review on the 29th
19. Burn Down, Rise Up by Vincent Tirado – ARC from publisher for review either on April 30th or May 1st
20. Any audiobooks that I decide to listen to!

I might have overbooked myself. Especially since some of the SmartyPants Romance books come out later in the month but I won’t post a review till May. Oops!

Final Thoughts

So, how was your March? Did you get all the reading you wanted done? Did you have any major winter weather? What are you looking forward to in April?

Giveaway

Below are ARCs I’ve finished and also a couple of finished copies, the winner will get to pick out 3 books from the list. And I know this picture is missing some because I took it before I finished a couple of books. There may even be a few more choices by the end of the month! I will make the giveaway international in that you can pick a book for under $10 if The Book Depository ships to you. Just fill out the Rafflecopter below the picture. I might even do a second winner if we can get over 100 entries into the rafflecopter by the end of the month!

a Rafflecopter giveaway