March wrap-up // ft. Netgalley, Corona and books, who would have thunk?

Posted 10-04-2020 by Marion in Allgemein / 0 Comments

Hey, sweet peas!

I know we’re all thinking it but I’m gonna say it again anyway: March was a heck of a month.

Not only seemed it to stretch on for ever and ever and ever, it also was full of stress, anxiety, more stress, tiredness and even more stress.

According to my (in March very badly kept) journal, the following things happend:

♣️ My signed Owl Crate books actually arrived! I’m now proud owner of three signed books and author letters that I bought from Owl Crate. I really love them and one is already read, one is half-read and one is unread. I’m so excited about them and the author letters range from funny to serious. I’m really rather happy, although I might not do that again, since shipping was really quite high.

♣️ I finally got rid of that awful cold. Even though it already started in Mid-February I actually dragged that thing way into March. I’m actually really glad that I got rid of it before that whole Corona thing happened because I’m not sure how other people might have handled me.

♣️ And since we are already kinda on topic: The Corona Virus became a thing. Technically I don’t have to tell you about this since it’s everywhere anyway but on the other hand it has impacted my life as well and that’s why I’m gonna write about it. It’s basically the main reason for my stress at the moment and the stress is the thing that makes me sleep badly and being exhausted the whole time. I’m pretty sure many of you feel the same. At the beginning when all the restrictions came in place for everybody else and I still had to go to work because home office was and is not an option, I have to admit I felt a little resentful. It was like suddenly everybody had summer holidays while I was still in school studying and the roof was on fire. People didn’t keep to the restrictions, so many people still said that it was just a flu and just didn’t give a fuck about the quarantine. Which, for me, was the equivalent of people throwing molatov coctails through the school windows where I was sitting. My workload quintupled and I was just constantly exhausted. And it felt like I couldn’t talk to anybody because everybody was just answering “Hey, at least you still have a job.”
Which is true. It could be so much worse. I know many of you are struggeling and probably even now thinking “Quit your whining!”. And I am glad. I am very glad that I don’t have to pile worries about paying the rent or for food on top of it. It’s just that sometimes a little support from people you trust would be nice.

♣️ I joined Netgalley! I’m still not sure if I got the hang of it and at the moment are still keeping to the Read Now books. Obviously. But I am so psyched that that whole thing exists. So psyched!

I don’t know if it has to do with Corona or just with the fact that as usual my book count goes down after February. It’s just not as much as I have read the month before.

Everdark by Abi Elphinstone was the first book I’ve read by this author and now I never wanna stop. I definitely need all her books asap and if possible also be sucked into the Unmapped Kingdoms and help fight Morg.
It’s a short book but it was full-fletched and the best sick-read I could have found on my stacks.

One of the great things you have to love about Bookstagram is the fact that you’ll easily find amazing books that otherwise would have gone straight over your head. *put Guardians of the Galaxy joke here*
Del Toro Moon by Darby Karchut is one of those gems I found on Instagram and I’m seriously happy that I did.

The Polar Bear Explorers’ Club by Alex Bell is one of the books I got from Owl Crate! The book itself is beautiful (and came with a Polar Bear Explorers’ Club patch, I have you know) although I wasn’t so sure about the story itself. While I enjoyed reading it in general, the more I thought about it afterwards, the worse my opinion got. Do you have that problem sometimes?

I decided to do a reread of The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong. I hadn’t read the series in a while and was curious if I would still like them. I do. I might see some things differently now but I still like the writing.

The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong is the second book in the Darkest Powers trilogy. By now I’m seriously wondering if I would want to be able to see dead people. Or be a werewolf. Or a wizard. I really like how Kelley Armstrong makes these powers seem real and what the backsides are.

Remember when I told you about my goal and the Book Buy Ban? Yeah, I have decided to discard that idea. Technically I have made it through four of the six months that was the goal. (Yay for me!) But in the end I’m just glad that I read something at all, so I don’t care if it’s a newly aquired book or a reread or a book from my tbr pile (that is totally tame and won’t attack you as soon as you enter my flat, I promise)

The Legend of Greg by Chris Rylander is one of the books I got from Owl Crate and I have already started it. So far it’s a surprisingly slow read but has heaps of delightful puns and an exciting story so far.

Well, I already talked about The Polar Bear Explorers’ Club. There is not much more I can add but maybe the fact that the best thing was an old pirate ship frozen on a gigantic wave? Does that sound supercool or not? (lol, super-cool.)

The premise of The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones fascinates me so much. I really wanna read this soon and also, I like the white Owl Crate cover so much more than the regular black one. Just look at it. Also, something you definitely never thought about and now won’t get out of your brain: Your bones are wet all the time.
And this was your PSA for the week!

I was super busy with reviews this month.

At least that’s what I’d like to tell myself.

Everdark by Abi Elphinstone
Del Toro Moon by Darby Karchut
The Polar Bear Explorers’ Club by Alex Bell

I’m still very proud that I kept some kind of consistency throughout all this crazyness. I even managed to take part in some memes and tags and am rather satisfied in general. Let’s see how long I can keep this up before I pull a Calypso and live on my own island and rescue heroes from time to time. (I know she was not voluntarily on that island but you know, my analogies usually suck.)