2023 Reading Challenge: March Update

 Hello Readers, 

I hope everyone is doing well. I decided that for March, I'd do another monthly update. I read a lot, but I've been in a weird funk and a Stardew Valley Rabbit hole where that's the only thing I wanted to do on my computer. As much as I like the game, I'm hoping to climb out of it soon to resume being a productive human for at least some days. I'm blaming the fact that I live in the Arctic Tundra, otherwise known as Minnesota. Most of our snow was gone, and then we got another 9 inches dumped on us. I am really tired of winter and would like sunshine.

For my yearly goal, I'm on a really good pace for 30 books. I'm at 19 books read for the year so far. For the 2023 Reading Challenge, per usual, I found a series to fixate on and have burned through 5/6 Free Space spots. It's business as usual over here. 

I finished 6 books in March, which is much more than I realized. I felt like I hadn't read at all this month. I did actual reviews on two books, Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky and Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco. Here's a quick review of what I read for the rest of the month.  

#29 Read a book that has under 1,000 reviews or ratings on a website or app: The Camden Spiritualist by Emily Organ. When I finished this, I didn't plan to review it here on the blog. I love the series and enjoyed this book, but The Camden Spiritualist is the 12th book of the Penny Green series by Emily Organ. The series follows a formula, and this one referenced the first book quite a bit. It did feel like it came full circle because of all the references, so I'm curious if this will be the last book. I could see it going either way. However, because the books all follow a similar formula, I never have anything new to add to my reviews, which is why I wasn't planning on doing its own post for it. 

#30 Read a Middle-Grade book (ages 8-12): Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones was my choice for a middle-grade book. I am so glad I went with this. It was so cute. I had no idea it was a book and have yet to see the movie. I've always intended to but have yet to get around to it. Anyways, the book is adorable, and I highly recommend it. 

#36 Free Space! Pick any Book: Bad Lands by Stacey Marie Brown: I'm obsessed with this series. It's a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. The writing is quite juvenile and repetitive, but I love the story, and the characters keep it interesting. And it's very, very spicey, which is different for me as I don't really read many books that are on the verge of or considered erotica. Had I realized that when I first heard about it, I probably wouldn't have read it. But now I'm glad I did, and I'm nearly done with the series. If you like Dystopian, Paranormal Romance, it's worth a read.

#48 Free Space! Pick any book: Blood Lands by Stacey Marie Brown: Similar review to the one above. There's not much different I can add to my thoughts here. Bad Lands and Blood Lands blend together for me. When I started them, I was under the weather and ended up on a steroid to calm my allergies down. It kept me wide awake, so I burned through these in a day because I was up until 4 am bouncing off the wall from the medication. I started book six but started feeling better and am now back into my video game rabbit hole. 

So that's where I'm at. If you want to see the whole challenge, you can do so here.