Monthly Wrapups

What I’ve been up to in April 🌷 The start of a new semester & My Birthday

Caro @ bookcheshirecat

April Wrapup

Hello fellow bookworms 🌷 Despite being a self-declared autumn/winter person, I have been enjoying the few more sunny days that spring has brought, as it’s nice to see everything blooming! I still cannot believe we’re a quarter through the year already, my semester break flew by faster than I had anticipated! I’m already deep in my next semester of university which means another quick announcement. I’m busier now and have been thinking about how to approach blogging during my semester. I don’t want to take a hiatus every time (except for exam season), so for now I’ll try my best to keep up, but won’t be able to promise 2 posts per week. I’ll try to have 1 post up each week for certain and with some luck 2, but that just depends on how busy this particular week will be. Let’s hope for the best! ❤

Important Resources

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whatiread

🔄 = Reread 💌 = Library Books 🌈 = #QueerBookFun2021

 😊 = Readalong/Buddy Read 📚 = #TackleYourTBR2021 ⌛ = Digital Arc

I read 9 books in April and participated in two great Readathons! I really missed taking part in Readathons, as I couldn’t join any during my exam season. Like in the past years, I was very excited for the Easter Readathon, which always takes place over the long Easter Weekend and a great time to dedicate time to reading 💛 I even joined some fun reading sprints, which was very nice! I also took part in the #ReadFatPositive Readathon, as I wanted to make an effort to read more books with fat representation, which worked very well as I found two amazing books to love 🥰 Despite having two disappointing reads this month, the majority of the books I read were great and I even found a new favorite book! ❤

OC Update

I read 3 books out of my comfort zone this month and really liked what I was reading!! I was highly recommended The House in the Cerulean Sea by the bookish community and I ended up LOVING it!! 🥺 I read Spoiler Alert (Adult Romance) and The (Other) F Word (YA Nonficiton Anthology) for the #ReadFatPositive Readathon and can highly recommend both of them as they were so body positive and empowering 🥰 Especially Spoiler Alert surprised me, as it was full of fandom love and healthy communication!

OOCZ 2021_ April

The House in the Cerulean Sea (T.J. Klune) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 🌈 💌

Spoiler Alert (Olivia Dade) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 📚

The (Other) F Word (edited by Angie Manfredi) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 💌

March 2021

Readathon TBR's (1)

1. The Girl from the Other Side Vol 3. (Nagabe) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 💌 ➽ Review

2. The Half-Orphan’s Handbook (Joan F. Smith) ⭐⭐⭐.5 ⌛ ➽ Review

March 2021 (1)

Readathon TBR's

3. Spoiler Alert (Olivia Dade) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 📚 ➽ Review

4. The (Other) F Word (edited by Angie Manfredi) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 💌 ➽ Review

5. Dumplin’ (Julie Murphy) ⭐⭐⭐.5 💌 🎧 ➽ RTC!

Other Books

 

6. The House in the Cerulean Sea (T.J. Klune) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 🌈 💌 ➽ Review

7. Cheer Up! (Crystal Frasier) ⭐⭐⭐.5 🌈 ⌛ ➽ Review

8. A Dark and Hollow Star (Ashley Shuttleworth) ⭐⭐.5 🌈 ⌛ ➽ Review

9. Igniting Darkness (Ashley Shuttleworth) ⭐⭐ 📚😊 ➽ RTC!

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Favorite Book 💕

whatiposted

What I’ve been up to in March 🌼 End of Finals & Semester Break ~ 8 Authors I Discovered in 2020 ❤ Finding new favorites

8 Authors I Discovered in 2020 ❤ Finding new favorites ~ Review: Network Effect by Martha Wells 🌀 A full length Murderbot Novel

How many of my Anticipated 2020 Releases did I actually read? 📚 ~ Blog Tour: The Half-Orphan’s Handbook by Joan F. Smith 📚 ~ Books with autistic representation 📚 #autismacceptancemonth

faveposts

For this section of my wrapup I’m linking up with the Favorite Blog Posts of the Month Meme that has been created by Kristin @ kristinkravesbooks to showcase our favorite blogs of the month! 💗

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life stuff

The last days of my semester break & my birthday ✨ I tried to enjoy the last two weeks of my semester break in April with my family, which was nice! It was also my birthday and I’m grateful that I could spend it with my loved ones before I had to go back to Uni! Once again, it was a quiet event as cases are constantly rising again, so nothing is really open anymore. I still got a lovely birthday cake from a family friend and some nice gifts 🥰 If I’m being honest, my birthday weekend wasn’t that great though, as my grandma wasn’t feeling well (she’s much better now!) and I was coming to terms with the fact that I’m supposed to be even more of an adult now 😅

Time for a new semester full of work again 😅 I wasn’t remotely ready for the new semester. Despite having time to relax, I didn’t feel like it was enough to recharge, so the workload hit me hard. I don’t know what it was, but I started into the semester super unconcentrated, distracted and feeling tired 🥺 The workload feels even heavier this time, as my seminars take up more credits and the prof assign so much more homework and readings compared to last semester 😅 I’m still finding my way back into online classes, so I hope I can adjust soon!! My reading and blogging has definitely suffered a bit at the end of April, so I hope May is better in that regard!

Things that made me happy 😊

➽ Starting to watch Shadow and Bone!! ❤ The adaption of the Grishaverse dropped just last week and I’m currently watching it with a friend! We’re both loving it and I cannot believe that we’re getting to see our beloved characters on the screen. There has been much love for the show already, so I’m hoping that we’ll also get a second season 🥰 Shadow and Bone is already one of my TV highlights of the year!! ❤ Apart from that, I also watched the first seasons of The Irregulars and Mismatched in April 🌷

➽ Listening to more of The Magnus Archives 💕 I talked about this last month as well but I’m LOVING The Magnus Archives, which is something I never expected to happen at all. I’m the biggest scaredy cat ever and this is a horror podcast, but it’s SO good and I love the characters so much, which is why it works so well for me! The Magnus Archives has become a big source of comfort for me and something to help me keep going 🥺 Forever grateful that Veronika recommended this to me ❤

IMG_8214

Birthday Book Haul 🥰 🎉

looking ahead

It’s Gonna Be May 🌸 Sadly I’m probably going to be pretty busy in May, trying to juggle all my assignments, homework and readings. I wanted to participate in a Readathon, but I don’t think it’s going to happen, especially as I’m prioritizing the library books I’m having checked out or on hold for the moment! I’m very excited for them though, especially as there are two adult romance I have been wanting to read 🥰 I also want to make an effort to read some books by Asian Authors this month – even though I won’t officially join the Asian Readathon – and I’ve listed some of my priority reads below. Despite the workload, I hope to enjoy the sunnier days and do as much reading and blogging as possible! 🙏

Priority Books for May 🌸

  • Spirit Bound (Richelle Mead) 🔄 St. Vladimir’s Readalong
  • The Ex Talk (Rachel Lynn Solomon) ❤ Library Hold coming in Soon
  • The Roommate (Rosie Danan) ❤ Library Hold coming in Soon
  • Please Don’t Hug Me (Kay Kerr) ❤ My Library just got this!!

Books by Asian Authors I Want to Read 🌸

  • Monstress Volume 1 (Marjorie M. Liu)
  • Darius the Great Deserves Better (Adib Khorram)
  • Other Words for Home (Jasmine Warga)

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What were you up to in April? What was your favorite book? I hope you’re staying safe! ❤

Published by Caro @ bookcheshirecat

21 thoughts on “What I’ve been up to in April 🌷 The start of a new semester & My Birthday”

  1. The only time I managed to juggle full time work and blogging was when I did a mind-numbing job that didn’t require much from me. I admire you for even attempting to keep your schedule up (even if you’ll post less regularly) because I KNOW how hard it can be. I hope you can still enjoy blogging and uni.
    Also, HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY! I’m sorry your birthday weekend wasn’t as happy as it could have been. I wish you a more joyful year to come. Stay happy and healthy! ❤

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    1. Thank you so much, Kat! ❤ As evident by this late reply it has been tough to juggle university and blogging with so many assignments I have to do, but at least I still managed to somewhat dedicate some time for me to unwind 😄 Thank you!! I was grateful to be at least with my family! I hope you had a good May 🥰

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  3. happy belated birthday, caro! ❤ you really juggle a lot of responsibilities right now, so do take your time! 🙂 i've heard a lot of amazing things about spoiler alert, not only about the fandom aspect but also about the communication so it's really high on my tbr 🙂

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    1. Thank you so much, Tasya! ❤ Spoiler Alert was such a good book and it made me so happy! The fandom aspect was lovely and I like that there was lots of good communication and chemistry between the main couple! I hope you had a good May 🥰

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    2. Thank you so much, Morgan! ❤ My semester has been busy so far, but I did make some time for blogging and reading, as I do need a break sometimes 😄 I’m also so happy to have loved The House in the Cerulean Sea as it’s such a comfort read 🥰 I hope you had a good May!

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  5. house in the cerulean sea is also in my out of comfort zone challenge TBR and i hope to love it! my friend got a hardcover copy of it, so i’m counting on borrowing it hahah i’ll probably only be able to get to it during winter break, but i’m so excited! i’ve only heard amazing things about this one!

    i’m sorry to hear your birthday weekend was stressful, but i’m glad to hear you still got some nice gifts and a good birthday cake! you deserve it! 🤍

    i think the adjusting period for any change is always the hardest. i’ve also been super overwhelmed lately, and it’s a strange feeling to grapple. i hope you can also adjust and figure out a good schedule soon!

    i also watched mismatched this month! and while it was quite different from when dimple met rishi, i still enjoyed it for how it was. my sister really liked the irregulars and i want to give it a shot as well!

    i finished please don’t hug me this past month and really enjoyed it! i’ll be looking forward to hear your thoughts. wishing you an amazing may, caro!

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    1. I hope you end up liking The House in the Cerulean Sea! I didn’t like the author’s YA book, so I was hesitant, but this one was SO GOOD!! The ultimate comfort read 🥰 I got it from my library but I definitely need my own copy as well 🙂

      Thank you, Lais! I’m just glad that I got to spend it with my family 💕 This semester has been busy so far, but I’m trying to make it work! I hope you’ll also be able to find a good balance 🙏

      Mismatched was definitely fun (and I think not meant as an accurate adaption, rather a ‘inspired by’ adaption), though I’m not sure how the second season will go, as it ended quite differently than the book 👀 I hope you enjoy the Irregulars!

      Please Don’t Hug Me was so good!! I’m really happy that I read it 🥰 I hope you had a good May!

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  6. caro, thank you so much for linking to my post!! also since i’ve come back… i have heard so many things about a house in the cerulean sea AHHH which surprised me because it’s middle-grade!! BUT I NEED TO READ IT. also, the ex talk has been on my list!! hope you enjoy it ❤

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    1. You’re welcome ❤ I kept hearing so many good things about The House in the Cerulean Sea, so I just had to check it out and see for myself 😄 I think it’s actually Adult, but it doesn’t feel like it! I didn’t end up reading The Ex Talk but I still have high hopes for it 🙂

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  7. Truly just feel so uncontrollably happy about the Shadow and Bone adaptation, and I don’t know what to do with myself every time any of the cast posts anything. I just started my second watch of it so that I can properly rewind and scream repeatedly, and it’s been so much fun.

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    1. I still cannot believe that we got a Shadow and Bone adaption either! It’s amazing to see it pop up at my Netflix homepage and I’m happy that it was in the Top10 Charts that Netflix has for so long 🥰 I definitely need to do a rewatch as well! 🙂

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  8. Happy belated birthday! ❤ ❤ I’m so happy you loved Spoiler Alert! I remember being pleasantly surprised by its focus on fandom culture and on being yourself and learning to share your interests with others as opposed to keeping them a secret. I feel like there are multiple YA books which mention fandoms or interests, but not really any adult books which show that it’s okay to be engrossed in something that you love even as an adult. So that was such a nice read for me. 😀 I hope we’ll get a confirmation about S2 of Shadow and Bone – I heard that it seems to be doing really well, so that’s promising. 🙂 I hope you’ll love The Roommate, and I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on The Ex Talk, I hope you’ll like it more than I did.
    Hope you’ll have a nice May! ❤

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    1. Thank you so much!! ❤ Spoiler Alert was truly such a delight to read, especially as I love stories that have a fandom element! It was also so nice to see an older character loving to write fanfic and being involved online 🥰 It’s true that often see YA books about fandom, but I really need more Adult books about fandom as well 🙂 Shadow & Bone seems to be pretty popular so I have high hopes for a second season 🙏 I ended up enjoying The Roommate and I’m curious about the companion book! I didn’t get around to reading The Ex Talk, but at least I got the e-book on sale 😄
      I hope you had a good May 💕

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  9. Happy belated Birthday, beautiful!! 🎉✨ I’m also watching Shadow & Bone and dying inside because I love them SO MUCH!! 😍 so far, I’m loving it, it’s perfect 😭 & Thank you very much for mentioning my post, I’m so glad you liked it! ❤️❤️ I hope you have an incredible month where you can get to read everything you want 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

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    1. Thank you so much, Sofii!! 🥺❤ Shadow and Bone was so good! I still cannot believe we got such a fantastic adaptation! Now I really hope that there is going to be a second season 🙏 Always happy to share your posts 🥰 Thank you! I hope you had a good May 🌷

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