But if you try sometimes, you get what you need: February/March in review

1. March was all about the Slice of Life challenge. I posted every single day in March, and, if you missed any, you can find them all here.

If I were still doing the challenge, I might have posted yesterday about going to the NCAA regional semifinals for gymnastics which was pretty cool. I would have complained about the lack of distinctive leotards and how bars seemed to be every single team’s nemesis and also the awful, awful music used for some of the floor routines. Also the price of stadium food. I would have gloated about spending time with a super cool lady friend and that our team made it to the finals. But then I would have possibly made a sadface as I described how me and my friend figured out there’s no way we can make it to the finals.

2. In February, I read five books:

• Ballet Cat: The Totally Secret Secret by Bob Shea (picture book)
• Wires and Nerve by Marissa Meyer (YA, graphic novel)
• Ms. Bixby’s Last Day by John David Anderson (middle grade)
• The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemison (adult)
• Thug Notes by Sparky Sweets, Ph.D. (adult)

3. In March, I read five more books:

 

• You’re Welcome Universe by Whitney Gardner (YA)
• Miracle Man: The Story of Jesus by John Hendrix (picture book)
• Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (adult)
• Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly (adult, audiobook)
• Short by Holly Goldberg Sloan (middle grade)

4. I also spent the past six weeks watching Big Little Lies which was a pretty good adaptation and a great show. I will probably (maybe?) write an entire blog post about it because I have feelings.

Nicole Kidman, amirite? Also, Robin Weigert, the woman who played the therapist, was also phenomenal. All the awards for these women please.

5. And, of course, for April I’m doing the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, and my topic is gratitude. The first post was yesterday: A is for Acceptance.

6. Right now, I’m reading two books.

I was having some trouble finding stuff to read so I decided to go ahead and reread Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. (I am not listening to the audiobook, but I already had this version of the cover uploaded so it stays.)

Cornelius Fudge and Sirius’s mother are most of our Republican Congress right now, I’m pretty sure. To wit:

“No, no, but believe me, [Sirius’s family and other purebloods who weren’t Death Eaters] thought Voldemort had the right idea, they were all for the purification of the Wizarding race, getting rid of Muggle-borns and having purebloods in charge. They weren’t alone either, there were quite a few people, before Voldemort showed his true colors, who thought he had the right idea about things…They got cold feet when they saw what he was prepared to do to get power, though.”

AND

“But it seems [Fudge has] become fond of power now, and much more confident. He loves being Minister of Magic, and he’s managed to convince himself that he’s the clever one and Dumbledore’s stirring up trouble for the sake of it.”

AND

“Because accepting that Voldemort’s back would mean trouble like the Ministry hasn’t had to cope with for nearly fourteen years,” said Sirius bitterly. “Fudge just can’t bring himself to face it. It’s so much more comfortable to convince himself Dumbledore’s lying to destabilize him.”

And I haven’t even gotten into the Daily Prophet discrediting Harry.

Anyway, the kids have just shown up at Hogwarts, and Harry has just seen the thestrals. I had forgotten about all the prefect business. And, of course, I still have VERY STRONG FEELINGS about Percy. I think he’s wrong, but I get why he’s upset and I don’t actually blame him for being pissed at his parents. So.

Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s title game remains on point with The Inexplicable Logic of My Life. I’m not very far into this one, but I’m enjoying it so far. The father/son relationship is great, and I like Salvadore’s two very different relationships with his two very different friends.

7. Oh, and last week, I finished one of the books listed above, so here’s the Goodreads review of that:

You’re Welcome, Universe by Whitney Gardner
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I appreciate what this book was trying to do, and I think the characters and premise are interesting. Also, I believed that Julia felt upset, happy, etc. about all of the relationship stuff that happened in the book–I just didn’t care.

This book suffers from a lack of character and relationship development. Everything was outlined but the shading wasn’t done. It was, basically, all tell and no show.

View all my reviews
 

Can you believe it’s April? Holy crap. Have a great week, everyone!