Friday, 26 February 2021

Month in Review: February



Thank god it's March. I am so over winter and I am so happy that we are one month closer to spring. I'm tired of being cold! Anyways, here's what happened in February, along with some very good news! 

What I Read: 

Sanctuary by: Paola Mendoza and Abby Sheer: 4/5 stars 

Concrete Rose by: Angie Thomas: 5/5 stars 

One of the Good Ones by: Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite: 5/5 stars 

Juliet Takes a Breath by: Gabby Rivera: 4/5 stars 

Love and Olives by: Jenna Evans Welch: 3/5 stars 

He Said, She Said by: Gigi Gorgeous: 4/5 stars 

Stay Gold by: Tobly McSmith: 4/5 stars 

How it All Blew Up by: Arvin Ahmadi: 4/5 stars 

10 Things I Hate About Pinky by: Sandhya Menon: 4/5 stars 

A Tail of Camelot by: Julie Leung: 5/5 stars 

Favourite book: I have to give it to A Tail of Camelot. This book surprised me so much because it is a middle-grade novel retelling Arthurian legend but with mice instead of humans. You heard that right. I had to read it for my King Arthur in Young People's Literature course, but I LOVED it. It was adorable, such a feel-good novel. 

What I Blogged: 

My blogging life has been... meh recently. By this I mean that I am running out of ideas, people! I mostly just blogged book reviews in February, because there wasn't anything I mainly wanted to discuss. I'm in a bit of a writer's block right now. Do you have any tips? 

Favourite Blog Posts of the Month: 

Despite my February writer's block, a lot of bloggers wrote fabulous posts this month! Here are some of my favourites: 

Cee explains what Depression Is 

Roberta shares a 2021 Update (Go give her some love, she has had it rough this year so far) 

Nicole asks: Unbiased Reviews: Is There Such a Thing? 

Sabrina recommends Books Based on Aesthetics 

Life Stuff: 

Now here is that good news I mentioned at the beginning: I GOT INTO MY MASTERS PROGRAM!! I am over the moon right now. I will be doing my MA in literature, focusing specifically on YA literature written by Indigenous authors. I just knew I had to focus on YA in my degree. I am really excited for this project and I am so happy that the biggest hurdle has been jumped. 

So, I had a good February. I had a week off of school, I got some great news, and I feel like even though this pandemic has taken a lot of opportunities away from me, my future is in a good spot. This pandemic has been tough on the people of my generation, so I hope that the future looks bright for all my fellow gen z'ers. We deserve a break! 

So that was my February. How was yours? Do you have any good news to share? 

Emily @ Paperback Princess

12 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for the link Em! <3

    Glad you had a good February and a big CONGRATS!!! for getting on your programme! :) Well done! :) <3

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  2. "I'm in a bit of a writer's block right now. Do you have any tips?"
    There's still the Tell Me Something Tuesday meme, if you feel up to it sometimes. Anyhow, I know you tend to write more unique discussion posts than the one we usually provide 😉. I'm living off TMST and reviews myself...

    "Roberta shares a 2021 Update (Go give her some love, she has had it rough this year so far)"
    😭 💙

    "I GOT INTO MY MASTERS PROGRAM!! I am over the moon right now. I will be doing my MA in literature, focusing specifically on YA literature written by Indigenous authors."
    EEEEEEEEEE! Do you have a bibliography set up yet?

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    1. I might take you up on the TMST offer, Roberta! Thank you for the compliment, but your discussion posts are totally unique as well! They always generate a great discussion :D

      I will be focusing on The Marrow Thieves by: Cherie Dimaline, Son of a Trickster by: Eden Robinson, and Shadows Cast by Stars by: Catherine Knutsson. All of them are apart of the science fiction/fantasy genre and I am very much looking forward to it :)

      Have a great March, Roberta!

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  3. Omg Emily, that's AMAZING news about grad school!!!!!!!! I agree, the pandemic has taken away so many once-in-a-lifetime moments for our generation (RIP commencement ceremony) so I'm so glad you're able to still live this dream. (side note, I also got into a grad program for my MFA!! I'm still waiting to hear back from 5 schools so I'm hoping I get into one more so I have some options)

    I'm sorry about your writer's block! My advice is all bad because I've also been blocked for the past five months ever since I reappeared. Not super ideal. I've been trying to look at my past blog posts to try and spark something like seeing if my opinions have changed or if there's a spin-off topic from a previously published discussion post. Also, issues that come up in books I've read. For example I recently read I Hunt Killers and it struck me how often we sensationalize serial killers which completely obscures the victims. So possibly a discussion post/review coming for that? Anyway, best of luck breaking yourself out :)

    Laura @BlueEyeBooks

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    1. Thank you Laura! And congratulations to you as well! Fingers crossed that you hear back from those other schools with positive news <3 Yeah, we definitely didn't get the proper graduating students treatment, but at least we both have good news to look forward to.

      Omg, you are not gonna believe this, but I was literally just commenting on Cee @ Dora Reads https://www.dorareads.co.uk/ about the same thing regarding the sensationalism of serial killers in tv shows. Sensationalism shows a major lack of respect for the victims. I was saying to Cee that my sister is majoring in criminology and she hates it when true crime shows romanticise these killers. I hope you write a discussion post about this topic because it is definitely an important one. And such a coincidence that this topic has come up again!

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  4. CONGRATS on getting into your MA program!! That's so exciting, and I wish you all the best!

    And I don't think I would have picked up A TAIL OF CAMELOT on my own, but you have convinced me to add it to my TBR. :-)

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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    1. Yay! I hope you love it. It's such an awesome book. And thank you very much, Nicole :)

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  5. Congrats on your masters program!! Yay!!!!

    I need to read Love & Olives. And same here about spring.

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    1. Thanks Greg! And I really enjoyed Love and Olives. Definitely proved that I really want to visit Greece.

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  6. Congratulations!!! That's so exciting!
    I'm definitely having a lot of writer's block too. I'm still writing when I can, but it's very slow. I promise I'm not gone though!
    Oh my goodness, A Tail of Camelot sounds adorable!

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    1. Thank you Shayna! Writers block is the worst, isn't it? I'm glad to see you back nonetheless :)

      A Tail of Camelot was just the thing I needed. It was so cute and also quite funny.

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