Why does every month seem to go by so quickly, including the longer ones?! Clearly time flies when you’re having fun. Fellow readers, you know what that means: it’s time for my March 2024 book blog wrap-up! This month marks the end of the SFINCS competition. So my reading will revert back to mostly novels rather than novellas. (And probably way less reviews per month.) Anyway, keep reading my March 2024 book blog wrap-up to see what I was up to!
Book Reviews
I posted seven book reviews in March. From earliest to latest they are:
- Fathomfolk by Eliza Chan
- A Sorrow Named Joy by Sarah Chorn
- The Re-Emergence by Alan Dell
- Ruins of Smoke by Joao Silva
- Blackcap by Benjamin Aeveryn
- An Education In Malice by S.T. Gibson
- The Collector’s Lost Things by Jessica A. McMinn
Blog Statistics
Every month I share some statistics from Google Analytics because I think it helps put expectations into perspective for other micro-bloggers like me who are out there. These statistics are from Google Analytics 4.
As of the evening of March 28, my top five posts for total page views are:
- Arthurian Retellings Reading List: 460 views
- Book Review: Assistant to the Villain by Heather Maehrer: 349 views
- ARC Book Review Etiquette: 336 views
- Book Review: The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake: 271 views
- ARC Review: Two Twisted Crowns by Rachel Gillig: 259 views
I’m pleased to see there’s a good mix of discussion, list, and review posts in this top five! At this point in time I have slightly higher viewing stats (5,000+ views) than February. February had much lower statistics than the previous months. There’s a small chance I might hit the same number of views as I did in November. Hopefully I’m on the rebound and SEO will continue to help bring traffic. Again, traffic isn’t my number one goal. Yet, it’s nice to know there’s a community who cares at least a little bit about what I’m posting.
Finally, I gained a few more followers for a total of 176! Thank you for joining my little bookish niche.
#BeattheBacklog
I read a couple of books from my backlog, both from my pile of physical books. One was LIRAEL by Garth Nix and the other THE PREMONITION by Michael Lewis.
Other Bookish Items
I finished nine books in March, including some SFINCS finalists and ARCs:
- WHAT HAVE WE HERE? by Billy Dee Williams
- BLACKCAP by Benjamin Aeveryn (SFINCS)
- RUINS OF SMOKE by João F. Silva (SFINCS)
- AN EDUCATION IN MALICE by S.T. Gibson (ARC)
- LIRAEL by Garth Nix (buddy read with Chris at Biblio Nerd Reflections)
- SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson (audiobook)
- THE COLLECTOR’S LOST THINGS by Jessica A. McMinn (SFINCS)
- THE LAST PHI HUNTER by Salinee Goldenberg (ARC)
- THE PREMONITION by Michael Lewis
- SHE AND HER CAT by Makoto Shinkai and Naruki Nagakawa, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori
I was nominated for the 2024 Indieverse Awards! It was a nice surprise.
If you missed it, here’s my list of anticipated second quarter book releases in 2024.
Non-Bookish Items
I made more of an effort to work out in March. Honestly, the hardest part is starting the darn work out! After that it’s relatively easy to keep the momentum going for that session. I had two solid weeks of hitting my goal, but fell off in the third week. But I picked it up again in the last week of the month!
Pea seeds are in the ground. I planted four varieties (from a typical pea, to snow pea, to sugar snap), so I hope we get a lot of peas. Unfortunately, I noticed lots of digging activity this week, including where the seeds are. I hope this doesn’t mean the squirrels found all the seeds. However, I’ve got some nice seedlings (peppers, eggplants) going inside. I also started tomatoes about a couple of weeks ago now.
No major health updates. I’m still taking a break, mainly because appointments are harder to come by at this new place. But I have a couple set up in April. My skin and mental health, though, are happy with this break. It’s nice to not be taking medicine that alters, well, me, however temporarily.
We saw DUNE: PART TWO at an IMAX theatre and it was awesome. I’m tempted to see it again. We also watched INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY. It was better than expected and I enjoyed the nostalgia. I’m trying to incorporate more movies into my repertoire and so far so good. I’d like to watch AMERICAN FICTION, but it just left my local theatre.
Finally, I painted our upstairs hallway. I hadn’t done any house painting in about a year. As much as I dislike doing it, it’s not going to paint itself. Annoyingly, there are some ceilings that aren’t white, so we’ll have to paint those, too!
I loved Dune too and thought that it used the book really well. Well done for getting more views and a few more followers too.
I’ve never read the books (to be honest they intimidate me), but it’s good to know they’re being adapted fairly. I watched a summary of Dune: Part 2 on YouTube after I saw it and it mentioned a few things that deviated away from the books, but in a positive way. Regardless, I loved seeing so many people at the theatre to see it…can’t remember the last time I saw a movie surrounded by so many people!
It’s always interesting to see which reviews are getting the most attention. I used to list my top five reviews of the month like you do but stopped for some reason. I think I’ll start doing it again, because I know the results will surprise me! Looks like a really good month!
Agreed! For me, the same 5 or so reviews tend to bump up or down in my Top 5 most-viewed posts of the month. I’m a little surprised The Atlas Six is still in my Top 5, but I guess people are still getting around to finishing the series (myself included, haha).
Looks like you had a pretty good reading month! I’m interested to hear what you thought of the Garth Nix and Billy Dee Williams books, if you plan to review them.
Good luck with that garden, too. Little varmints going after seeds can be such a headache; hopefully there are plenty left in the ground to give you a good crop in a few months.
I did, thank you! I don’t plan on reviewing Lirael, but I enjoyed that one a little more than Sabriel (book one). Sabriel is good but the reader learns more about the magic system in Lirael and the plot thickens. I’ve known about this series for years and am so glad I’m finally reading them.
I did review Williams’s book, but I haven’t posted it yet. But the tldr is his memoir is good, too! I don’t know if there’s an audiobook, but if there is and he narrates, I think that’d be a good way to read it. I loved Williams’s energy and curiosity about life.
I was curious to hear whether your view count bounced back in March, after that February dip! Mine went back up to ‘normal’, with a view count similar to Dec 2023. (I posted the same amount of times in Mar as I did in Feb.) I wonder how April will look…
My view count did bounce back in March! I ended up with similar views to November 2023. I also posted a few more times than in February. I don’t know precisely what happened in February, but I’m glad to see the views are going back up. Hopefully this continues in April!
I’m looking forward to seeing Dune Part 2. I’m glad to hear you loved it!