Tuesday, April 1, 2014

March 2014 Chapter

Welcome to the Read.Write.Repeat. monthly wrap-up.  Every month, I give a quick overview of what books I read, the progress made on the 100 Best Novels goal, a few book-related links, and general blog news.  


March News

Last month, I promised by reading pace would pick up again. I can definitely say I delivered. I read 7 books in March. Unfortunately, if you read my mid-month update, you know grad school has significantly slowed my ability to post.

Hopefully, to this point, you have not noticed much of a difference. January and February reads are still sustaining post frequency at this point and I am trying to write posts in advance whenever I am caught up on schoolwork.

March was the first month where I took a full load for grad school. Thankfully, just these week we started getting into the good reading! I am so excited to share Amusing Ourselves to Death and Geraldine Brooks' Year of Wonders with you! Both are fantastic (thusfar) and thanks to my Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts course.

I am seriously considering knocking Movie Mondays down to once a month. I enjoy doing them, but I do not have the time to specifically seek out many movies these days. At least not ones that my husband is not also interested in. For now, if you missed this month's installments, I wrote about A High Wind in Jamaica, which thoroughly disappointed me, and A Doll's House, also not a big winner. Disappointing month. Maybe that's why I'm willing to cut these back. I do not want to waste my time on bad movies any more than I do on bad books. And we all know that a good book does not a good movie make!


Books Read

  1. Black Chalk - Christopher J. Yates - 3/1
  2. Bel Canto - Ann Patchett - 3/1
  3. The Maze Runner - James Dashner - 3/2
  4. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J. K. Rowling - 3/9
  5. A Doll's House - Henrik Ibsen - 3/16
  6. Empty Mansions - Bill Dedman - 3/25
  7. Kim - Rudyard Kipling - 3/30
Pages Read: 2,404

Favorite Book Read: Choosing a favorite this month is tough because I read some great books! I wanted to pick The Maze Runner, but, ultimately, I am going with Bel Canto. This book is unique and character driven in a way few books are these days. I look forward to sharing it with you later this week!

100 Best Novels Progress

Oh, gosh. Another month behind pace. Can I blame grad school? In my defense, if you take a look at that Goodreads box in the right column, you'll see how many from the list I am currently reading. I'm trying!
  • 1 completed this month (Kim)
  • 21% complete


Articles

House of Ismay has some beautiful literature inspired pins. I have my eye on that To Kill A Mockingbird one.

A collection of fun literary facts that will change the way you look at these books. 

Here's a list of books to read in the spring. Looks like A Room With a View should be the next classic I pick up.

15 Upcoming YA Novels you should know about...according to Buzzfeed, at least.

George R.R. Martin released an excerpt from his highly anticipated Song of Ice and Fire Book 6, The Winds of Winter.

Speaking of books which take forever to get released, here are The 9 Agonizing Stages of Waiting for the Next Book in a Series to Come Out.

Do you remember how I gushed about Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence just last week? Here's a whole list of Books That Will Make You Want to Visit France. And, yes, Mayle's memoir is on there.

There's a lot of buzz right now about Divergent, since the movie just came out. It wasn't too long ago that I shared my thoughts on the final installment of the trilogy, Allegiant. If you've read the whole series, you're going to want to read this article entitled "The Big Problem with 'Divergent' is 'Allegiant." I also strongly recommend reading my friend Suzanne's thoughts on Divergent. She's a newbie to the series and I found her perspective refreshing. I agree whole-heartedly with both assessments of Roth's work.

Finally, if you're feeling nostalgic, here are 22 Books You Should Read Now, Based on Your Childhood Favorites
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What books are you reading to kick off the spring season?

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