March Wrap-Up {2020}

March has been anything but normal this year. I never would have guessed, 30 days ago, that my library would be closed today and not planning to re-open for at least a few more weeks. I couldn’t have guessed that COVID-19 would have such an impact on the entire country.  As a silver lining, I also could not have imagined how many books I would be able to read this month! It’s certainly been a mixed bag. Here’s how it breaks down.

Books Completed in March:

📚 Castle of Concrete by Katia Raina; YA Recent Historical Fiction (1990s) and Romance; ⭐⭐⭐ RTC

📚 Disruptive Witness by Alan Noble; Nonfiction: Christianity; ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Possible RTC

📚 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows; Historical Fiction, audiobook ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ My Review Here

📚 Calling from the Sky by Michael Copple; Contemporary(ish) Fiction; ⭐⭐⭐ My Review Here

📚 Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw; Historical Fiction – early 1900s, Drama ⭐⭐⭐⭐

📚 Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; Poetry, Historical Fiction – early(ish) 1700s ⭐⭐⭐⭐

📚 The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom; Nonfiction – History, Autobiography; ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

📚 Society Girl by Cecily Wolfe; Historical Fiction Short Story; ⭐⭐⭐⭐

📚 Elsie Dinsmore by Martha Finley; Historical Fiction – mid-1800s?/Classic; ⭐⭐⭐

Total Number of Books Completed: 9

Average Rating: 4 ⭐

 

Other Books Read but Not Completed in March:

📚 Writing with Style: Conversations on the Art of Writing by John R. Trimble

📚 The Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern (DNF about 1/4 of the way in)

📚 Everyone’s a Theologian by R.C. Sproul

 

Goals Recap (originally posted here)

• Finish my current reads: Castle of Concrete, Writing with Style, Disruptive Witness, and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
  • Except for Writing with Style, yes! ✔
• The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom ✔
• Participate in The Irish Readathon
  • The only book I ended up finishing which counts towards this is Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. It isn’t set in Ireland, but the playwright is Irish. I also started The Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern, but I was so put off by the protagonist early on that I decided to mark it DNF at about 25%. The library closing halfway through the month really put a roadblock in anything else, as I had two (I think) books on hold which would have counted, but they hadn’t come in yet. So, this one was partially accomplished.
• Start one of the books from my 2020 Read or Donate shelf
  • I finished three! Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,  The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom, and Elsie Dinsmore by Martha Finley. ✔
• A Christmas-themed book ❌
• Becoming Dr. Seuss: Theodor Geisel and the Making of an American Imagination by Brian Jay Jones ❌
• Post 3-5 book reviews ✔
  • Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett (⭐⭐), The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schafer (⭐⭐⭐⭐), and Calling From the Sky by Michael Copple (⭐⭐⭐)
•  Attend a “Type-In” ❌
  • Unfortunately, this was cancelled.
• Research crocheting for charity and consider picking a project ✔
  • I did some research, and I think I have a pattern picked out. I haven’t started working on it yet, though.
• Decide what vegetables I want to grow this year, watch the weather and plant when it is time ✔
  • I have so many plans! I’m really looking forward to my gardening projects this year. The last frost was projected for early April though, so I have held off on actually planting anything. I don’t think I’ll wait much longer, though!
• Make major progress on my current knitting WIP ✔
  • Yes! It’s done; I’ll share pictures in my next Yarn Along post.
• Begin preparing for Easter ✔
  • It’s definitely been a bit unconventional, but yes.
• Keep working on editing project ✔
  • It’s finished!

 

Other Highlights/Favorite Things From March:

🍀 This Sampling of Irish YA by Teen Services Underground

🍀 “Plagues intensify the natural course of life. They intensify our own sense of mortality and frailty. They also intensify opportunities to display countercultural, counterconditional love” -Glen Scrivener

🍀 Interestingly, I learned during a press conference with the local city-county health department that the term “quarantine” by definition refers to someone who is not known to be infected, but who might be, while the term “isolation” necessitates that they certainly are.

🍀 A post I really love by Amie Anne: Shadows and Stars

🍀 Officially enrolled for my first semester of grad school!

🍀 Another post I love from As Kat Knits: Friday With More Perspective

🍀 When work closed, I dove deep into the land of podcasts. Top ones include: Stuff You Should Know, Stuff You Missed in History Class, Deck the Hallmark (of course), Coronavirus Daily, and Speaking with Joy.

🍀 I made a playlist on Spotify filled with songs of encouragement and worship to help me stay focused and grounded.

🍀 Deep cleaned my car! When I bought it a little over a year ago, the seats were terribly stained, and it took a lot of elbow grease, but I finally got them (mostly) out of the back seats. Next week I intend to make the outside match the inside.

🍀 So many crafts completed this month! More on this in Wednesday’s Yarn Along post.

 

What were the highlights of March for you? What’s your biggest concern for April, and one thing that you’re looking forward to?

Hang in there, Readers. Stay safe.

Until the next chapter,

Jana