I have really enjoyed March, not least because of Rinn’s excellent March into Middle-earth, which let me dive into books I’ve loved since childhood. I’ve balanced those doorstops with read-alongs and bite-size books for a varied diet. And as March involved an intercontinental trip and Easter, I’ve got through a lot of books…

Reading round-up

• Of Books, and Earth, and Courtship – Aliette de Bodard     
• Open Skies – Yolande Kleinn  
• Swordspoint – Ellen Kushner     
• Best Left in the Shadows – Mark Gelineau & Joe King    
• The Fellowship of the Ring – J R R Tolkien      
• The Bone Knife – Intisar Khanani     
• Faith and Moonlight – Mark Gelineau & Joe King     (review to follow)
• Civil Blood – Mark Gelineau & Joe King      (review to follow)
• The Silmarillion – J R R Tolkien     
• The Passage – Justin Cronin     (review to follow)

It’s always funny seeing the ratings together  at the end of the month and reflecting on how you feel about a book once the dust has settled. Open Skies wasn’t very good, whereas Skinshaper and The Passage are fine, but disappointed me because expectations. Swordspoint, Best Left in the Shadows and Civil Blood might have had an extra half star if I were still giving my heart away in pieces.

Bonus reviews

I don’t always post reviews straight-away (especially for Bite-size Books and read-alongs) so I’ve also published some older reviews this month.

• February reads:
• The Tale of Yin – Joyce Chng    
• Skinshaper – Mark Gelineau & Joe King   
• From the archives:
• The Quick – Lauren Owen    
• A Matter of Oaths – Helen S Wright     
• English As She Is Spoke – Jose Fonseca    
• Tigerman – Nick Harkaway     

Stacking the shelves

I have mostly resisted new books in March. Mostly. Except ARCs. And short stories. And Riverside ❤ This is not the dictionary definition of resistance, you say? Ha. HA.

Conscious demographics

Well that escalated quickly… I’ve now read 24 books this year! (yes, many bite-sized)

My challenge to myself is to read diversely and to love every book. So I’m refactoring this tracker to help me stay mindful.

• 13 male (54%) / 9 female (38%) / 2 trans, non-binary or genderfluid (8%)
• 5 (21%) – by people of colour
• 3 (13%) – by non-het people / 6 (25%) featuring non-het protagonists

Actual challenges

• 24 / 50 books (I… should probably revise this up)
• 7 (29%) – towards the Backlist Challenge (excl. re-reads)