Just call March ‘Vorkosigan Month’, because while I did read a few other books, most of what I read was Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan Saga. In case you couldn’t tell from the past few weeks’ worth of gushing posts about it, I was completely hooked and was reading or listening to them obsessively. I’m nearly finished with the series. Just two more books to go!

Of course, I face the problem of getting caught back up with my Read the World challenge. Of the 75 books I set as my goal, I’ve read 13 titles from around the world. This leaves 62 left to read before the end of the year. Given the pace I’ve set for the first few months of 2018, that won’t be a problem, but I have a feeling I’m not going to be quite as enraptured with many of the titles I’ve already selected, so I probably won’t read them as quickly. So finishing it up will be a trick, but I’m going to give myself some more time before I declare a loss.

Looking back at the reading log in my bullet journal, I see that I read eighteen books in March. Eighteen! Holy buckets!

1. Poetry Will Save Your Life by Jill Bialosky
2. A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybould
3. The One Hundred Year-Old-Man Who Climbed Out a Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
4. Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea
5. Now I Rise by Kiersten White
6. Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold
7. The Warrior’s Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold
8. The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold
9. The Borders of Infinity by Lois McMaster Bujold
10. Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold
11. Brothers in Arms by Lois McMaster Bujold
12. Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold
13. Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold
14. Komarr by Lois McMaster Bujold
15. A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold
16. Winterfair Gifts by Lois McMaster Bujold
17. Diplomatic Immunity by Lois McMaster Bujold
18. Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold

I bought a lot of books this month, thanks to my birthday shopping and gifts, and the Vorkosigan Saga:

1. A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybould
2. A Perilous Undertaking Deanna Raybould
3. The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman
4. The Epic of Gilgamesh
5. Fluent Forever by Gabriel Wyner
6. Borders of Infinity by Lois McMaster Bujold (ebook)
7. A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold
8. Komarr by Lois McMaster Bujold
9. Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold
10. Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold
11. Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold
12. Winterfair Gifts by Lois McMaster Bujold (ebook)

 

Because April is National Poetry Month, I’m planning to read some of the poetry that’s languishing on my shelves. That should help with my Read the World challenge, since several of those titles are from different countries, such as Farad u-Din Attar’s The Conference of the Birds or The Ramayana from India. I may also try to get through Njal’s Saga, which was the book I bought in Iceland. I also want to try to get through Laurence Cosse’s A Novel Bookstore and Orhan Pamuk’s My Name is Red, which I picked up at the used bookshop a couple of weeks ago.

But really, I don’t have major plans for my April reads time time around. I haven’t given it much thought, aside from the idea of reading a lot of poetry. I suppose I’ll just be a mood reader this month, finish off the Vorkosigan Saga and the other two books I’m currently reading, and then pick and choose at the other titles on my ‘To Read’ shelves. I should probably try to finish off some of the shows and movies on my Netflix queue, but if April ends up warming up, then I’ll be heading out more often than I did in March. There are some fantastic restaurants I want to try, and my book club has a couple of get-togethers planned in the next couple of weeks, so I’ll definitely be getting out and getting some fresh air in April!