Easter and Craziness: March Wrap Up

(Just a note before we start: Unfortunately, due to Internet issues, there aren’t any pretty pictures for this post. Sorry about that)

Hello guys!! Can you believe we’re a whole week into April already?? It’s crazy, but I’m going to update you on my March. These posts of mine tend to be really, really long, but today I’m going to attempt to shorten my monthly wrap-up posts, in the hope that I won’t sound so rambly!

Before we start, I just want to mention that yesterday I did a guest post for Audrey Caylin on the importance of hope and you really should go have a look, and check out Audrey’s blog as well, because it’s amazing (and she’s amazing too).

~Reading~

I read thirteen books in March, but instead of doing a mini-review for all thirteen of them, I’m just going to pick a notable few and review those.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. I did it, guys! I did it! I finished the world’s largest boring tome of a novel. Okay, so my feelings on Anna are mixed. One hand, it had some very interesting sections, beautiful writing and it was obviously well written. On the other hand, I found it really boring, hence why it took me three months to read (it was also 33 hours long on the audiobook). While I didn’t like it now, I think that if I come back in a decade or so, I might like it more, so I plan on doing that. 3/5.

The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells. I really liked this one! It wasn’t long, but I was riveted once I started listening to it and I finished it very quickly, captivated the whole time. This is my second Wells book, and both times he’s managed to capture me and hold my attention for the whole book. A+ storytelling. 4/5

After and Soon by Morris Gleitzman. I’ve mentioned this series before. And they just keep getting better…and more heartbreaking. Not that I needed a heart, or anything. Seriously though, I really loved these books, and I think they’re one of the most accurate and captivating Holocaust stories that I’ve ever read (and I’ve read a few). 5/5.

Liliom by Ferenc Molnar. This is the play that the musical Carousel is based on and I read it in one sitting during a long car trip. I found it interesting, but I couldn’t like any of the characters, which ruined it for me. 2 ½/5

Rowan of Rin by Emily Rodda. Emily Rodda’s books were an integral part of my childhood and I absolutely love them, even now. The Rowan books are my favourites and I wouldn’t be able to count how many times I’ve reread them. 5/5.

Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens. So, Anna Karenina was a 33hr long audiobook. Little Dorrit was a 36hr long audiobook. And one took me three months. Little Dorrit took me less than a month. And I loved it. I’m currently watching the BBC miniseries with my family. It’s an awesome book and one of the best of Dickens, though it’s little known compared to Oliver Twist and Great Expectations (it’s not as good as ATOTC though. Nothing will ever be). 5/5

I crossed three books off my classics list, which unfortunately means I’m one book behind, however I don’t feel bad because Anna Karenina and Little Dorrit are massive. The Invisible Man was just fun though!

In April, I’m hoping to read The Jungle Book, Oliver Twist, The Silmarillion (which technically isn’t a classic, but a lot of it was written over a hundred years ago, so…it’s on my list) and Le Morte D’arthur.

~Writing~

Most of my writing this month centred around editing. I’ve edited almost the whole of Kameradschaft, which I’ve now renamed Comrade, because that’s an actual pronounceable name. I only have one chapter unedited, but I’ve had to put it away for now because of Camp NaNo. I’m hoping I’ll be able to catch some time in April just to touch up the first chapter, which has some issues, which is why I left it to last.

I attempted to edit Rose Mask, but that crashed and burned. I’m so glad to return to work on Comrade though, because it’s one of my favourite stories and I love it passionately!

I also finished the outline for the Stars Fill Infinity sequel, and I started writing it on April 1^st.

I also edited several short stories to be ready for some competitions and I entered one of those short stories. I’ll keep you updated 😀

~Listening~

Nothing really new in the way of music this month. A KP friend of mine introduced me to a few new (old) musicals, which is taking me out of my comfort zone, since all the musicals I listen to are from the ‘80s forward. However, I have fallen in love with Brigadoon, mostly because it has awesome music and the dancing is amazing, and you know that I’m a Highland/Scottish dancer and love everything to do with Scottish dancing.

Other than that, I’ve been listening to the French Les Mis album on repeat, specifically the songs Donnez, Donnez (the French version of Look Down), and C’est la faut a Voltaire, which is one of Gavroche’s song and doesn’t translate into English very well, but’s a really fun song.

I also like the French Oliver Twist le Musical, which is also quite fun and has cool music, but I haven’t finished listening to it yet.

I do have one new favourite non-musical song. It’s by Rend Collective and called Weep with Me. We sang it at youth group last night after I presented a talk on hope and it fitted really well with the theme and just a really sorrowful but hopeful song.

~Watching~

I haven’t watched many movies this month, except for Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and I started the Little Dorrit miniseries. Oh yes, and I’ve been watching a 1958 version of A Tale of Two Cities on Youtube, which is amazing.

~Blogging~

I took a hiatus for the first two weeks of March, which was really relaxing. I’m still not quite back into the swing of things, but hopefully May, once Camp NaNo is over, will be steadier! I’m not sure what you can expect from blogging this month, but I’ve been accruing and snatching a few tags, so I might do some of those!

~Doing~

We had our country show on the first weekend, which was really fun! I filled in rabbit holes on Saturday (people wonder why I hate rabbits), and then I did the horse stewarding on Sunday, which was fun, because I was stewarding for the miniature horse and the ponies. I could have taken home one of the Shetlands in particular.

My nan had a birthday party, so we travelled a long way to see her and that was exhausting, but nice. I made her origami flowers, which were crushed in the car, but which I managed to resurrect again.

There were the normal crazy Easter things. We visited my grandad down at the coast on the Easter Saturday and went to church on Friday and Sunday. Sunday was also the start of Camp NaNo!

Other than that, March was a crazy month, but nothing really exciting happened.

There we go! I kept that pretty short, didn’t I? How was your March? Did you get much writing done? What was the best read of the month? And exciting personal things happen? I can’t wait to hear from you 😊