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One reason why you should not let a bird, even as cute as this one:
Near your book:
 As always, another month gone, another post wondering where all the time has gone! We’ve now finished a quarter of the year and it has been an overwhelming one for me. I’ve been promoted at work and have finally laid to rest all of the side jobs I’ve been doing, which has left me feeling happy and invigorated for the first time in months. I have new trips to look forward to – visiting my parents on Friday and possibly going to visit Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic this summer – plenty of books to read, and new-found time in which to remember who I am outside of work.
April is going to be a bit crazy, though; I’m headed down to Southampton for two days this week for work, then I’m off home, then the week I return, I’m headed to Brussels for a day also for work and possibly to another part of the UK the week after. The best part about all that travelling is the reading I’ll be able to do, at least.
But it’s Bloggiesta this weekend, and so even though I haven’t signed up, I’ve been trying to write posts and get back into the groove of blogging. There are many things I could improve on in this neck of the woods; writing something that isn’t a book review is one of them, and now that my head is clear of cobwebs, I hope I can work out what that something should be here.
March was not the most spectacular reading month; I had a small life crisis towards the start, which put me off reading for a while, but I’ve picked up the pace towards the end of this month and am really pleased with some of the gems I’ve read. I finished 12 books in total this month:
Fiction
- Spider’s Bite, Jennifer Estep
- The Kingdom of Gods, N.K. Jemisin
- A Week to be Wicked, Tessa Dare
- Blame it on Bath, Caroline Linden
- Throne of the Crescent Moon, Saladin Ahmed
- The Queen’s Secret, Victoria Lamb
- Darker Still, Leanna Renee Hieber
- A Fierce Radiance, Lauren Belfer
- Feed, Mira Grant
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, J.K. Rowling
Non-fiction
Favorite of the Month
I couldn’t choose just one, so please have two.
We are now a quarter of the way into the year, which means for me that it’s time to take a look at some stats! So far, I’ve read:
- 35 books, which puts me behind my goal of 200 for the year by a massive 60 books
- 9 fantasy novels
- 9 historical fiction novels
- 23 books from my own stacks
- 12 books for review
- 21 books by women, and 14 books by men
Ahead for April
Besides watching the trees spring to life and enjoy the sunshine in the evenings, I’m hoping to review some of the gaps up there, and catch up on some of the books I’ve been longing to read. A few of the many books on my agenda that I’m hoping to finish and review this month:
- The King’s Agent, Donna Russo Morin
- Blackout, Connie Willis
- The Girl King, Meg Clothier
- I, Iago, Nicole Galland
- Discount Armageddon, Seanan McGuire
What’s ahead for you in April?
Good morning Saloners! Despite the fact that we’ve lost an hour this morning, the recent spring weather and my renewed time for reading, blogging, and other favourite tasks has me feeling surprisingly cheerful. We went for a walk around town yesterday and being greeted with daffodils in every area of greenery is welcome, even if we did have a lack of sun up north. Yellow is my favourite colour, so it’s inevitable that I am happier every spring. Summer is coming – at last! In many ways, this winter has felt like an eternity.
 Daffodils always seem to be around York’s most historic places – surrounding the walls, on the motte of Clifford’s Tower, and around the gravestones of Holy Trinity Church, tucked away from the bustle of a small city on a nice day.
 This is the way that York’s history surrounds you, but sneaks up on you at the same time – little hidden alcoves, monumental historic discoveries just left for the curious passerby to find on her own. There is so much here, and I am even now still exploring.
In reading news, things are picking up nicely; I finished 3 books this week, and I’m on track to finish a fourth today, a lovely chunkster about a mystery surrounding the mass production of penicillin during World War II, A Fierce Radiance by Lauren Belfer. I actually managed to write a review directly after I finished a book yesterday, which reminded me how much I like writing about books in the first place. With all of the old obligations on writing gone, I can remember that yes, I do like writing, and yes, I like blogging. I started for a reason.
In fact, this Sunday holds more reading – I have a book to finish, after all – and I’d like to get started on completing my outstanding reviews. After my mini-reviews this week, there aren’t that many left, and I’m looking forward to having a clean slate for once. I’d definitely like to achieve that before Easter, when I’m heading home to visit my parents for the first time in many months.
Have a wonderful Sunday, everyone!
Hello everyone! I’ve just taken what is almost definitely the longest blogging break since I started blogging. My life over the last two weeks has been absolutely ridiculous, and to be honest, not in the best possible way, as it has mostly consisted of work and work-related activities. Fortunately, in some respects at least, things are finally calming down, and I’m actually hoping to post some reviews this week and start putting thought back into my blog. This is definitely good news for me, and I hope it’s good news for all of you, too; I’ve missed blogging, and it’s strange to think how much I’ve organised my reading life around this little corner of the internet over the past nearly five years.
Another massive time suck I’ve encountered this past week has been Mass Effect 3. I’m a gamer as well as a reader, and I’ve been looking forward to this game since I finished the first two – obsessively in succession – back in December. So far, it’s fantastic. I’ve heard very uncertain things about the ending, but I’m going to reserve judgement until I actually get there, which will probably happen at some point this week. Then I will really be back to reading and blogging, at least until another gaming obsession decides to take over my life. In the meantime, this one is certainly satisfying my need for science fiction and incredible, engulfing narratives and characters. That may not be what you expect from a video game, but this has been an epic three-part experience and I am seeing it through to the end.
Since the craziness ended roughly this past Thursday, I’ve been reading, too. I’ve read several very good romance novels, which I needed as stress relief, and I’ve even managed some non-fiction with Lucy Worsley’s If Walls Could Talk. I’d already watched the TV show, which aired on British television several months back, but the book filled in some gaps and was very entertaining reading. You’ll be hearing more about it soon. I also, a bit further back, read The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal, which I’m still organising my thoughts around in preparation for writing a review.
Anyway, I do hope to be back in full force this week – I even managed to leave some comments over the past couple of days, which I’d sorely missed doing. I’m at some point going to hit the dreaded “mark all as read” button, though – so if you’ve posted something and you’d love me to have a look, please do say so in the comments, and I’ll pop over to visit.
Thanks for sticking around and I hope you all have fantastic Sundays!
February wasn’t a great month here at Medieval Bookworm. My reading slowed way down, and my blogging slowed down even more, neither of which spelled great things for you, faithful readers. The various distractions in my life are probably set to continue for the next month, too; but I’m hoping to squeeze out more time for reading and blogging somewhere in there, because I miss it a lot.
Overall, it was a good month for me, though; in particular there was a long weekend trip to London, in which I geeked out:
I visited the Royal Manuscripts exhibition at the British Library while I was there, and it was about as amazing as I’d expected. No pictures allowed inside, but the accompanying book above is gorgeous and full of photos of them. No trip to London is complete without visiting Forbidden Planet, and Ezio, from one of my most recent favourite game series, Assassin’s Creed, elected to come home to York with me. We also visited Fifteen London in advance for my husband’s birthday, which is actually today.
I’ve spent the time since we returned being ill, though still going to work; I’m improving now, though, and hopefully will continue to do so.
On to what I actually read this month!
- The Turning of Anne Merrick, Christine Blevins
- Where She Went, Gayle Forman
- A History of the World in 100 Objects, Dr Neil MacGregor
- Leviathan Wakes, James S.A. Corey
- And Then He Kissed Her, Laura Lee Guhrke
- The Glovemaker, Stacia M. Brown
- Dead Beat, Jim Butcher
There may only be a few books on that list, but I can safely say I enjoyed each and every one. I also read a bunch of short stories as I started digitally subscribing to Asimov’s, to satisfy the science fiction craving, though I reviewed just one. I find them actually easier to read on my iPhone, as I can absorb a short story while waiting somewhere very easily. And I’ve simply adored almost all of the stories, novellas, and novelettes, so I’ve been very happy with my subscription.
Ahead for March; as I said, time is short this month, but I’ve finished two books so far and I believe I am about to embark upon a third. I have a number of books I’m really excited about reading, and I have a lot of review copies for this month. So whatever I end up doing, I’m sure the books I read will be fantastic.
How was your February?
One of my first iPhone pictures – a crochet spider I made for my husband. He lives on the piano!
It’s a bit late on a Sunday after another busy week, so I’m going to keep this quick with something I found particularly exciting about blogging this week – my authorship snippet has started to show up in Google!
Whether you like Google or not, I still think it’s great to see my name and face next to my review. It adds an extra level of accountability for bloggers, too, I think.
I noticed that particular review was referring me a ton of visits this month, so lo and behold I am the first review ranking and have that great little snippet there! It ties into my Google+ profile, which admittedly I barely use, but it’s nice to see my name next to my review and makes the result stand out. I suspect it’s resulting in the extra traffic, which is also nice. I hope I’ve inspired more than one purchase, as I love Bernard Cornwell.
If you’d like to do the same, there are instructions here and in many other places online.
I felt like January was an exceptional reading month. It was good in other respects, too; I received my Indefinite Leave to Remain visa for the UK and celebrated my birthday on the 12th. I’ve made peace with the fact that I’m never going to resume a review every weekday, I don’t read enough or have time to write 5 reviews, and have aimed for 3 instead, which I’ve been managing pretty well. I haven’t decided if I’m going to fill the other two days with something or not, we’ll see where the mood takes me!
In terms of actual reading, I finished sixteen books and most of them were excellent. I typically haven’t found the time to review them all yet, not even close, but if you stick around, I’ll be sharing some absolute gems with you later on this month!
Here’s what I read:
Fiction
- Arthur & George, Julian Barnes
- Castle in the Air, Diana Wynne Jones
- Death Masks, Jim Butcher
- The Art of Fielding, Chad Harbach
- If Jack’s in Love, Stephen Wetta
- A Lady’s Lesson in Scandal, Meredith Duran
- Miles, Mutants, and Microbes, Lois McMaster Bujold
- Full Dark, No Stars, Stephen King
- A Rogue by Any Other Name, Sarah Maclean
- Spartacus, Ben Kane
- Affinity, Sarah Waters
- The Winter Palace, Eva Stachniak
- Blood Rites, Jim Butcher
- Agent to the Stars, John Scalzi
Non-fiction
- The Etymologicon, Mark Forsyth
Though I didn’t do so well with the non-fiction, it’s partly because I’ve been reading an absolutely massive history in the background with all of these books. The fiction I read was incredible. In many ways it was typical of the latter half of last year, but better – there’s a ton of variety in there, and I feel as though I’ve read some meaningful stories that are going to stick with me. Isn’t that what all readers are looking for?
Favorite of the Month
 
I can’t pick just one, so have both! I loved both of these and recommend them whole-heartedly. It’s early now, but I’m confident they will end up on my best of 2012 list.
Ahead for February
There are so many books I wish I could be reading now that it’s difficult to choose! I’ve just started World War Z and I’ve been reading The History of the World in 100 Objects, which covers the history of the whole world through various objects at the British Museum. It’s a fascinating book – I love how much the author can pull from just one object, and I’m looking forward to seeing some of the objects in person (most for the 2nd or 3rd time) when I head to London towards the end of February.
Other books I’d just love to get to:
- Leviathan Wakes, James S.A. Corey
- A Discovery of Witches, Deborah Harkness
- The Hare with Amber Eyes, Edmund de Waal
- The Kingdom of the Gods, N.K. Jemisin
How was your January reading month?
This Sunday finds me relaxing after a long, difficult week at work. I’ve been so wiped out that I’ve had a hard time focusing on anything, let alone blogging – fortunately, I had a decent stock of blog posts available for the week, so I’ve kept things nice and lively here.
Friday brought me good news at last, however; my application for Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK was successful, and now I don’t have any further visa worries! This is such a relief, as it took 2 1/2 months to process and my old visa expired in early December. My passport is back, so I can leave the country again to visit home, too, as it’s been over six months. I’m not sure when that will be, but I’m happy to have options once again.
I also decided to celebrate my new status with the purchase of an iPhone. I had a very old Android which was nearing the end of its 2 year contract and really was on its last legs. The hardware had never been able to keep up with the Android software and it only got a single update, keeping me stuck on an old version for over a year. It randomly dropped signal, leaving me unable to call or text at random times without a restart, which would then kill the battery. I watched others go on to play games together and download new apps I simply couldn’t use. I know it wasn’t Android’s fault, but I had really had enough, and decided to go for a phone I could guarantee would be supported for upgrades over its lifetime.
So, iPhone! I haven’t been able to put it down for the whole day I’ve had it, and let me just tell you I’m in love. I can actually type emails on it without an error in every other word! I’ve been playing games, including the massively popular Words with Friends! (Add me, I’m mbookworm there, I’d love to play with you!) It syncs my personal Kindle documents, so I can read Netgalley books on the go! I’m overwhelmed by all of the apps available, so I’d love your recommendations as I try to sort the wheat from the chaff.
I’ve also been taking some pictures and playing with Instagram – here’s my immediate TBR pile:
 In the meantime I’ve been reading The Turning of Anne Merrick by Christine Blevins for an upcoming blog tour this week, and dipping my way through A History of the World in 100 Objects by Dr Neil MacGregor. I’m hoping to finish the first in what’s left of today as well as writing some more reviews.
What are you up to this Sunday? Wishing you all amazing weeks!
Isn’t it fantastic when an author sends you little goodies to promote their products? I’ll be reviewing Christine Blevins’s newest book, The Turning of Anne Merrick, in a couple of weeks for the blog tour put together by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, and Christine sent along a lovely little collection of items designed to get readers in the mood for the seventeenth century while enjoying her historical novels.
 That’s two little bags of tea, one from before the Revolution, and one from during, small scented lavender soap, two bayberry candles, and a letter. This was such a fun package to open and I was particularly impressed that it came across the pond to me. Last time I reviewed The Tory Widow, Christine also sent along a couple of surprises, but I hadn’t expected it this time. I’m looking forward to the book even more now!
Secondly, I’ve developed a surprisingly intense desire to read more science fiction, but my own shelves seem a bit empty when it comes to this – I’ve got one book left by John Scalzi after reading all of his, and another book left in the Miles Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold. I also have Leviathan Wakes sitting on my shelf. I’m only not participating in Carl’s Science Fiction Experience because I always fail when challenges are made official, but I’d love to know what you’d recommend to me to add to the shelves, as I know I’ve read nowhere near enough.
Have a wonderful Sunday and a fantastic week, everyone!
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