March has been quite a busy month for this blogger who’s been posting on the Interwebs for about 7 months so far. While a bit nervous to put so much of myself out there for all to see, it’s been refreshing and powerful in many ways.
Key Metrics in March
- 62 Posts (average of 2 per day)
- 20 – 365 Challenge
- 38 – Book Reviews
- 2 – TV & Film Reviews
- 2 – General Blog
- 38 Book Reviews
- 14 – Books read in March
- 24 – Reviews written from prior years
- Site Metrics (NEW)
- 964 – Views
- 313 – Visitors
- 42 – Followers
- 308 – Likes
- 96 – Comments
*** March has officially been the blog’s best and most popular month!
What did I read in March 2017? Let’s dive into the reading specifics…
3+ stars to Kylie Logan’s Gone with the Twins, the fifth book in the “League of Literary Ladies” mystery series about a woman who owns a B&B on an island between Ohio and Canada and helps the local police solve crimes using her skills as…
3+ stars to Jenn McKinlay’s Sprinkle with Murder, the first book in the “Cupcake Bakery” cozy mystery series. I’m a fan of Ms. McKinlay, as I enjoy both her “Hat Shop” and “Library Lovers” mystery series, which pushed me to try this one….
4+ of 5 stars to Sally Hepworth’s The Mother’s Promise, a touching story that will give you a tremendous amount to consider. I received this ARC from St. Martin’s Press as a giveaway through Goodreads, choosing it because it had a grippi…
4+ stars to Daisy Goodwin’s Victoria, a historical fiction novel released with a PBS TV series bringing the book to life on Sunday evenings. I was very sad when Downton Abbey was ending, but looked forward to the release of “The Gilded A…
4 stars to Amanda Prowse’s book The Idea of You, a fictional story about a women craving motherhood but facing many barriers to success. I was offered this book through NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing in exchange for a fair an honest…
4 stars to Nell Hampton’s Kale to the Queen, the first book in the new “Kensington Palace Chef” mystery series. I thoroughly adored this book and am very excited to see how this new series does in the coming years. A definite read for co…
3 of 5 stars to A.H. Gabhart’s Murder at the Courthouse, the first in the “Hidden Springs” cozy mystery series. I downloaded this free e-book for Kindle and read it on my iPad. While the story was clever and interesting, it wasn’t as app…
I found a plethora of free cozy mysteries on Amazon — all first in the series — and downloaded them without really looking into any details other than a brief plot overview. Murder on a cruise ship seemed like a different angle. I down…
4 stars to M. Louisa Locke’s Maids of Misfortune, the first book in the “Victorian San Francisco” mystery series and a great blend of murder mystery charm and historical shenanigans. I found the book on Amazon as a free Kindle e-read and…
3 stars to David Lagercrantz’s The Girl in the Spider’s Web, the fourth book in the “Millenium” thriller series, written by a new author given the original, Steig Larsson, passed away several years ago. While the book carries on with gre…
3 stars to Mary Ellis’s Sunset in Old Savannah, the fourth in her “Secrets of the South” mystery series. In this book, the Price Investigation team heads to Savannah to investigate a new case and enjoy this lovely view:This was my in…
4 stars to Melinda Mullet’s Single Malt Murder: A Whisky Business Mystery, the first book in the new “Whisky Business” cozy mystery series. I stumbled across this book on NetGalley as a pre-release opportunity to read and review. I’m so …
3 stars to Caroline Fardig’s Brew or Die: A Java Jive Mystery, the fourth book in her “Java Jive” mystery series. When I first began reading this book, it reminded me of either Sue Grafton’s “Kinsey Millhone Alphabet” series or Janet Eva…
3 stars to Nicola Cornick’s House of Shadows, an ARC I received through NetGalley last week in exchange for an honest review. I realized it takes time to build up a good rating before publishers choose you to read new releases by famous …
Favorite Book
- The Mother’s Promise
Least Favorite Book
- Murder on the Oceania
365 Challenge – Daily Characteristics
- Dedication (1)
- Honesty (2)
- Consistency (3)
- Creativity (4)
- Shy (5)
- Old Soul (6)
- Irish (7)
- Considerate (8)
- Envious (9)
- Pragmatic (10)
- Dreamer (11)
- Reader (12)
- Culinary (13)
- German (14)
- Sarcastic (15)
- Punctual (16)
- Quiet (17)
- Pale (18)
- Competitive (19)
365 Challenge Surprise
- Considering myself an “Old Soul” was a impactful one. It made me proud of who I am.
Final Thoughts
- March was awesome.
- April will be even cooler.
- I’m gonna run out of characteristics
- I need to focus on trips and vacations
- Should I list expected books to read for April and do a compare?
- Thank you for reading and commenting!!!
great post! You’ve made me really curious and eager to check out some of these books!
mind checking out my blog?
Nice, and thank you. Yes, will review and follow shortly to catch all your posts.
You’re doing great! I’ve considered a 365 challenge but I just can’t find the time for it. I’ve a house full of kids and spend multiple hours a week at physical therapy/occupational therapy and then music lessons with them. I’ve been doing good lately with getting 3 posts a week though and I’m trying hard to spend time updating old posts from when I updated from blogger.
Maybe one day I’ll have more time to blog!
I totally understand, not easy with so much going on. Maybe start with a smaller challenge. Good luck. Glad to be chatting.
I miss connecting with people on a personal level and it’s hard knowing the fine line to draw. I don’t want to turn off my readers but I also want to talk about my personal life sometimes. I think for now I’ll add a monthly wrap up that includes personal thoughts and go from there. Thank you for inspiring me today!
Totally understand. I was worried about including the 365 Challenge on the same one with all my book reviews and blogging. Then I realized if I only do 1 post on the 365 challenge a day, people can ignore 1 and it’s cool. But a monthly wrap up is a great way to start. Looking forward to seeing April!
Plus, you can set blog posts to come through weekly rather than daily to your email and utilize the wordpress app to see posts and easily communicate without clogging up your email. That’s what I personally do 🙂
Good plan. I’m mix and match on it. Tried to stop all the email, but then I had too many all at once. Now I go thru once or twice a day and look at em thru “reader.”
Since I followed a bunch of new people, if I see it clog my emails all up at once, I may just deactivate emails altogether since I rely on the app to read and follow people anyway. I guess we will see 🙂 I’m so happy I found the app. It makes things so easy.
Hi there! I just came across this post of yours and your blog in general and I couldn’t help but comment and tell you how much I adore your blog and love this post! Keep up the great work, I am going to follow you so I can keep up with all your new posts!
Hi. I just found this in my spam comments… no idea how it got there! But thank you very much. I look forward to chatting more.
No problem at all! That happens to me a lot too and it is so frustrating! I am just glad you have come across my comment now, you have a great blog (: Do you have Twitter or Instagram? I just made accounts and would love to follow you!
yes, can get to the links on my main web page on the right under social media. “jamescudney4” on most sites… instagram, pinterest, FB, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+ and Tumblr. I’ll follow back once you find me.
I followed you! You’re pages are really great (:
I love looking forward to future reads. I think that would be cool to do a post on May reads. Maybe I’ll try it too! 🙂
Might be fun to compare what we thought we’d read plus what we read… or maybe we should get a group together where we select a different book each person should read the upcoming month and see how it goes.
I love your gifs too 🙂
Too funny! Thanks. 🙂