Follow me on Instagram to see more images from my month
1. Saw Gayle Forman, Libba Bray & AS King: What a FUN night! Such interesting conversation about feminism, diversity, friendship and more! They reenacted a scene in I Was Here and it was hilarious. I’m always thankful when I get to see Gayle — she’s so fantastic to talk to and just somebody you want to be bffs with basically.
With Gayle and my pal Frankie
2. We actually got a significant snowfall amount — I was already over Winter but we really hadn’t gotten a REAL good snow. Just like tiny snowfall amounts that are more annoying than anything. Love a GOOD snowfall!
3. I was sick 3 out of 4 weeks of this month: Basically March = MISERABLE. KIDS ARE GERM MAGNETS. BOTTOM LINE. Nannying kind of sucks in that way. I’d be sick all week and then get a day or two of being healthy and then BOOOM sick again. OH and then this past weekend I was in bed because I had the worst pain of my life and thought I had appendicitis. GOOD TIMES.
4. Will and I took Genevieve out for a little date– There are so many kids in my sister’s family and we decided to take Genevieve out for a little alone time with us. We did lunch and then took her to this big indoor playground. She had a blast. Her little face was red and she was sweating a little as we dragged her out haha
5. I did a little retail therapy: I was feeling so blue all month because I was sick ALMOST EVERY WEEK so I decided to buy a cute skirt and dress! THANK GOD FOR ONLINE SHOPPING.
I put all my Monthly Rewinds in a Spotify playlist so you can listen to them here now ! SERIOUSLY I think my March playlist is one of my most favorites in a while!! It’s going to be so hard for me to pick. Lots of new loves and lots of new stuff from old faves.
1. Dead – Phoebe Ryan
2. The Balance — Royal Tongues
3. Knocking On Heaven’s Door – RAIGN (I like their other stuff too but this cover is EVERYTHING. And it was on The 100 season 2 finale!!!)
4. Vamala – Champs
5. Hey Now — Matt & Kim
6. We Won’t Sleep — Handsome Ghosts
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
So many favorites released singles so I figured I’d just round those up down here but I listened to all these A LOT:
No Room in Frame – Death Cab For Cutie
Believe – Mumford and Sons (suuuuch a different sound for them but I LOVE!)
Crystals – Of Monsters & Men
Hollow Moon – AWOLNATION
Also, I can’t leave Busy Earnin’ by Jungle off my list! Been my jam all month!
Check out the rest of my March playlist
Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta: MY QUEEN. Loved all her contemporary and SO glad to have started her fantasy trilogy.
The Start Of Me & You by Emery Lord: Emery’s sophomore novel was just as amazing as her debut!
The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows: Oh this fantasy was so fun! Espionage! Taking back the kingdom! Vigilante justice!
I was so glad to finallyyyyy share my review of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli. I was sitting on this review for quite a few months to wait til closer to the release date and I’m so happy so many of you loved it too or are SUPER excited about it!
“In friendship, we are all debtors. We all owe each other for a thousand small kindnesses, for little moments of grace in the chaos.” And then a couple of lines after: “Because with true friends, no one is keeping score. But it still feels good to repay them — even in the tiniest of increments.” – Emery Lord’s The Start Of Me & You
These two lines are pretty much what I think about friendship in a nutshell!
1. My Review of Two YA Monthly Subscription Boxes — I’ve been curious about these and I’m glad my review was so helpful to so many of you who were also super curious!
2. Is It The Author’s Job?: Oh my goodness. This was one of my favorite discussions I’ve had with y’all in a while. Thanks for being so thoughtful and making me think!
3. Books For Readers Who Like Not-So-Easy-To-Like Characters: I had fun putting this list together and loved chatting about the topic of unlikeable characters with you!
4. Books From My Childhood/Teen Years I Want To Revisit: Oh the nostalgia!!
5. That Thing I Regret Not Having: I love doing these Beyond the Pages posts and chatting with you guys about real life things that books make me think of!
ANY of my book talks! Always haha
BUT
I also really had a good time writing about the joy of a good album! Music lovers, where were ya?! 🙂 Or maybe it was just me being super nostalgic and weird and nobody could relate haha
STILLL NADA. Womp womp. I should probably leave this section off until I get my crap together.
1. Even more organization awesomeness from Hannah– I’m dreadfully behind on book blog reading. Like really embarrassingly. So thankful for the Twitters for being all abuzz about Hannah’s post! Hannah is the most organized person EVER and always shares great tips and now she’s got me pining for all these things — THAT FOXY DORI!
2. The People We Don’t Get the Chance To Thank: What a beautiful post from Jess! Definitely made me start making a list of people I’d be remiss if I never got to thank!
3. Email Guidelines for the World: YASSSS. THIS.
4. Hard Is Not A Reason: Oh man did I need this post right now! I feel like I’ve been chalking a lot of things up to being “too hard.” Needed this post to call me out!
5. Authenticity Online: If you read my Monthly Rewinds every month you know I always seem to share a post Shannon writes. Her posts are always so thought-provoking and timely and RELEVANT to me. Also really loved “What Compels Us To Share?” and “Your Perspective Is Important At Any Age” that she wrote in March as well!
So this question isn’t like my typical ones nor is it really an exciting one or too thought-provoking one BUT I’ve been wondering:
Do you like that I just tell my top THREE books I read in my Monthly Rewind or would you prefer I listed ALL the books I read each month and denote my favorite 3? I’ve always just done top but I was curious what you all found most helpful!
Pick a category (or 5… or all of them) and tell me what went on in YOUR life this month!! What sort of things were noteworthy for you this month? New obsessions? Any new song recs?? Best books you read this month? Great posts I missed on your blog? Answer to my question of the month?
Joy @ The Bookshelf Intruder says
Your recaps are so cool! I love Gayle Forman, I love your skirt, and I love tea! But I haven’t tried Echinacea and I had Rooibos only twice but right now I’m so crazy about green tea (loose leaf and matcha powder). I haven’t had coffee in two weeks, which is a long time, and I’m not missing it at all because of tea. 🙂
Hope you’re feeling so much better now. 🙂
Jamie says
Aw thank you! I’ve been doing it this way for the past couple of years and, while time-consuming to put together, I LOVE doing them!
LOVE green tea but never had matcha powder!! Must get some! And yeah, it’s a rare day that I drink coffee because I’d much prefer tea.
And thanks, I AM! 🙂
Emmah says
Hmm, not anything super noteworthy! I FINALLY got out of my book slump though, thanks to a reread of Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour! I got two lovely packages from my OTSP Secret Sister! And I’ve been thinking up lots of crafting ideas. Think I’m going to price how much an 11″x17″ b&w print of the ToG map at Staples will cost me and if it’s not much, get that printed. And then age it with tea, and then frame it!
New obsessions? Not really new, but I’ve really got back into crafting!
Any new song recs?? None of these are super new, but I’ve been obsessed with them during March… “Nothin’ Like You” by: Dan + Shay (really, their entire album though) and “It’s Not Right For You” by: The Script!
Best books you read this month? Besides my reread of Morgan’s book… “Wither” by: Lauren DeStefano!
Jamie says
I really wish I was crafty! You’ll have to post pics of all your crafty fun. Love the ToG map idea!
I LOVED Wither! I read Fever and loved that too. Still haven’t read Sever though!
Kristen@My Friends Are Fiction says
How is it April already? I don’t feel that 2015 should be this far along especially because my kiddo starts school in August. it’s happening TOO FAST. I really have to read Simon. I keep seeing such positive things about it. So happy you loved it too.
Jamie says
RIGHT??? Like didn’t 2015 just start? I mean, I don’t want Winter still and I feel like Winter DID drag but REALLY HOW IS IT APRIL? Yes omg read Simon!! If you need a good mood inducing book…this is it!!
Lindsay says
I really like your recap posts, and this month I added 5 new songs to my spring playlist thanks to you! I discovered MisterWives from your last recap. We’ve got pretty similar taste in music, I think, and I’m always looking to discover new artists. Also, I’m super excited that Of Monsters and Men has a new album coming out this year!
I’m a bit jealous that you got too meet one of your favorite authors. The only author I’ve ever met is Ann M. Martin of Babysitter’s Club fame in third grade. 😉
Lindsay says
P.S. I LOVE Sherlock! We watched all but the final episode of season 3 last fall. I’m kind of “saving” the last episode because I don’t want it to be over and then have to wait however long for the next season!
Jamie says
Thank you! 🙂 AND YAY. I am here all day and every day for music recs/talk. I love music just as much as books!! MISTERWIVES <3333 SO GOOD. If you are looking for more recs I have posts I call New To The Queue where I also talk about music. Or if you have Spotify we can follow each other which would be fun since we have similar taste it seems!! And YES Of Monsters and Men...cannot wait for that album. Loving what I'm hearing already.
AH are there no book events near you?!? 🙁 I will say I'm very lucky that I live in Philly and we get good events/I'm near enough to NYC to go to events too. I think this is like the 6th or 7th time I've seen Gayle so I'm very fortunate to be able to have seen one of my all time FAVES so often!
AHHHHH IDK HOW YOU HAVEN'T WATCH THE LAST EPISODE. SHOCKED. WHAT GOOD SELF RESTRAINT YOU HAVE!!!
Krystianna says
First of all, that’s so awesome that you got to see Gayle Forman, Libba Bray, and A.S. King! They are three of my all time favorite authors, so that’s incredibly cool. I have been wanting to watch Sherlock for the longest time! A while ago, I watched the first episode and fell in love but I had been watching Doctor Who at the same time, and I ended up giving Doctor Who priority. Also, where’d you get that skirt!? I LOVE IT. I’m sorry to hear you were sick a lot, hopefully you aren’t sick at all this month!
Krystianna @ Downright Dystopian
Jamie says
YES I am so lucky that a decent amount of authors come to Philly! And that Gayle loves our local indie so she comes any time she has a book out! We were an “unofficial” stop!
YOU MUST WATCH SHERLOCK. MUST. Also, Doctor Who…I need to watch that one!! Got the skirt from one of my favorite stores called Dynamite. I bought it online and the nice thing is we have a store nearby too (which I went to and exchanged for a smaller size last week so that was convenient!!)
Jessica@Lovin' Los Libros says
As always, another fun recap post! I love checking out your music recs too! So many great music is going to be upon us soon! So excited for Mumford’s new album, as well as Florence+the Machine, Lord Huron, and I know there’s more I just can’t think. LOL. I just discovered a new band today called Catfish and the Bottlemen. I’m totally digging their sound.
I’m sorry to hear you’ve been sick! I just of course got a cold over my spring break, so I’m kinda down about that. You had some great reading though! I loved The Start of Me and You! Melina Marchetta is on my TBR and I’m hoping to read TOQ here in the next couple of days!
Jamie says
Thanks lady! And omg I KNOW SO MUCH GOOD MUSIC COMING OUT. The Florence album. OMG CAN WE HAVE IT NOW. And yessss Catfish and the Bottlemen we are going to see them in May with Banks, The Airborne Toxic Event and Bad Suns (another one of those free summer block parties our alt radio station does..HUZZAH FOR GETTING TICKETS. We actually have another set bc we did it at the same time to ensure we would get them and both got them I WISH YOU LIVED CLOSER).
UGH hopefully you can get some reading done even though the cold totally ganked your spring break time!
Cynthia says
I hope it warms up where you are! You have read some great books. I do prefer to hear what your top three books are each month, as opposed to a list.
Jamie says
Thank you for your opinion! Thinking I’m going to keep it that way!!
Hayley @ Bookblogher says
I love your monthly recaps! Because I follow your blog regularly, I already know what you’ve read if you’ve reviewed it. I like that you just have the top 3 because it really shows me what stands out. I also read Finnikin of the Rock last month and loved it! I’m having some trouble getting my hands on Froi of the Exiles though. So excited to see what you think of the rest of the series!
Jamie says
Thank you! 🙂 And thank you for your opinion…thinking I’m going to stick with my top 3!
I have to get myself to the library to get Froi which I’ve been super lazy haha
Shelumiel says
Jamie! Lovely recap! <3 If I'd pick Top 2 Posts in your feed last month, they'd easily be Is It The Author's Responsibility and your review of Simon Vs (OMGKDBfCOEFKRN!!!!). I also loved that post of Shannon about how everyone's opinion matters, any age, and I wouldn't have found it if you didn't tweet about it–it's so… aaaah! I can't even put a word to best describe how I felt reading it–so thank you so much! Another thing: I wish I can branch out more with my songs-I-listen-to, I've been listening/obsessing with the same tracks in months, not that that's a bad thing either, I just wish I wouldn't be so lazy to look for other artists.
As for your question, I think you should mention all the books you read, but include a description/thoughts of the top 3 only? And I wrote about the so-called "girl books" a while back; I'd be really interested to hear you thoughts (here's the link if you can drop by: http://wp.me/p5Gv39-57)
And oh! I almost forgot! Winger is my favorite read in March! OMG I FELL COMPLETELY IN LOVE, JAMIE! Have you read it?
Cheers,
Shelumiel
Jessica Lawlor says
Thanks for including me here, love! Hope you feel MUCH better in April! 🙂