Bookish Breakdown No 27: March 2021

Last Updated on March 31, 2021 by ThoughtsStained

Hello, lovelies!

Well, this is certainly been a Month.

What I did:

• Shaved half my head to finally go after a hairstyle that I’ve always wanted (hint: I am in love).
• Got critiqued during my graduate workshop and didn’t die!
• FINISHED BLOOD PRICE EDITS.
• Completed some fun projects for my day job that made me realize that I really love Canva and I’m…not half bad at it? 👀
• Had phone chats with friends to stay in touch.
• Did a video call for my Mom’s birthday and a phone call for my brother’s!
• Got a new diagnosis that will hopefully help, going forward.
• Applied for a bunch of jobs in case I’m let go in my day job as a result of budget crisis.
• Got my first vaccination!
• Sent out my first newsletter (which you can subscribe to here)

See what I mean about it being a Month? It’s no surprise that this has been my slowest reading month of the year, as I also was working on finishing my own edits and completing a large freelancing editing project, to boot; so, I’m failing trying to not beat myself up for not reading nearly as much as I wanted to!

So, let’s check in and see how I did creatively this month.

What I Read

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Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad (continued)
Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender (finished)
Solace Lost by Michael Sliter

Also, for class:

The Trouble with Humpadori by Vidhu Aggerwhal
The Way a Line Hallucinates Its Own Linearity by Danielle Vogel

What I Hauled

ARCS

**Thank you to Orbit Books for these fantastic ARCs!**

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The World Gives Way by Marissa Levien
The Dragon of Jin-Sayeng by K.S. Villoso
The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri
For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten
The Queen of Izmoroz by Jon Skovron

Library Snags:

**Nothing this month**

Purchased:

**Nothing this month**

Received for Review:

**Nothing this month**

Gifts:

My AMAZING friend Wes surprised me with a “mystery box” from my local bookstore, giving them the topics of anti-racism and diverse fantasy to surprise me with. I think all involved killed it. Thank you so much!!

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We Still Here by Marc Lamont Hill
Emergent Strategy by Adrienne Maree Brown
We Do This ‘Til We Free Us by Mariame Kaba
The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo
The Black Tides of Heaven by Neon Yang
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

What I Posted

In this section, I like to share posts that I personally wrote this past month that I either really enjoyed writing, am really proud of or wish might have gotten a little more attention.

🏹 Let’s Talk Bookish: Diversity in Books
🏹 Let’s Talk Bookish: Diversity in Publishing (And What Book Bloggers Can Do About It)
🏹 Pandemic Punches and Potentials: One Year On
🏹 #NotAllMen: Actually, It Is (Your Responsibility)

Reading Challenges Update

2021 Discussion Challenge: 6/24

StoryGraph: 14/50

ARCs: 3/12

Backlist Books: 2/12

Monthly Diverse Reads: 2 versus 2 (Goal: Every month, read equal to or more diverse reads than those written by authors who (or feature characters that) match my identity, listing diverse books first.)

My “worst” reading month so far this year, but considering how bloody busy I was in March and how many deadlines needed to be hit by April 1st, I’m trying to be a little bit more lenient with myself (instead of feeling guilty and anxious because look at all the amazing books I got this month!!).

Intentions Update

Sharing where I’m at on my yearly intentions, all of which I detailed in this post.

Writing ✔️

It took some really heavy writing days, but I FINISHED MY EDITS! *throws balloons* Now, to do some fun stuff (like make some mood boards) and start on a brand new story.

Reading ✖️

Definitely could have read more, even with how busy it was (I really need to start going to bed earlier).

Freelance Editing ✔️

Finished a massive project and started working with two more clients on some smaller work. I’m so excited with how much I’ve grown this business and hope I can continue to grow, while also carving out some time to enhance my skills!

Blogging ✔️

Not necessarily a slump, but I didn’t blog for almost an entire week thanks to skipping blog prep over the weekend prior. Yet, I had a solid amount of posts, got caught up on comments and blog hopping, so yep, still adore this hobby (and put way too much time into it, honestly).

Self-Love ✖️

I really, really struggled with this this month.

Allyship and Activism ✔️

Continued Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad. This workbook is a MUST for anyone who wants to commit or practice anti-racist work and has been a great eye-opener for me, personally.

Other ✖️

So, remember how I said the following:

• For March, I think I want to focus on three things:
  • Take better care of my hair and try one new way to style it!
  • Write letters
  • Work on kitchen home projects

Ahahahaha, I did none of those things. Well, I guess, if you count shaving off half my head, I technically did find a new way to style it…

For April, I really want to write letters (I have such awesome stationary I want to use) and get some projects done around the house.

Posts I Enjoyed

Curious what blog posts I really enjoyed around the blogsophere this month? Check them out here (also, definitely *did not* get to blog hop like I wanted to this month. I miss it!):

⚔️ Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books stared a new feature on her blog titled, “Book Bloggers Talk,” where she hosts various bloggers to each share their thoughts on a topic and I LOVE THIS. Can’t wait to see more in this series!

⚔️ R.K. Brainerd @ Awake Dragon shares a wonderful post about beta reading.

⚔️ CW @ The Quiet Pond shares an INCREDIBLE book blogger resource on 8 tips to help manage book blogging with a busy schedule and my goodness, I wish I had this resource when I first started out!!

⚔️ Sofia @ Bookish Wanderess shares a fantastic rec list of 8 non-fiction books by Black authors and I was very happy to add to my TBR from this!

⚔️ Dianthaa @ Dianthaa Dabbles shares an INCREDIBLE list of upcoming spec fic releases (84 of them!!) by Black authors!

⚔️ Kacen @ Kacen Callender, Author shares a really personal post about using writing as a coping mechanism.

For April, I hope that the weather will be warmer (and less rainy/snowy) so I can enjoy outside more, that I can start building a morning routine, that I continue to feel confident with my hair and continue working with my therapist through things. I plan to read some good books, play Outriders, celebrate my partner’s 38th birthday (and 2nd pandemic birthday) and start drafting my first foray into fantasy romance.

I hope you all have a wonderful month! 🖤