Farewell February, Onward March

It's time to say goodbye to February and hello to March (already, holy crap!). I've decided to start a new little thing on Beauty and the Bookshelf--monthly recaps! I'll share some things about the last month, and I'll also share what I'm looking forward to in the next one. So, without further adieu, farewell, February! And onward to March!

Books

I read and finished a total of eight books this month!

Please ignore the dirty floor; I'm still unpacking and our vacuum is broken.

-Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi
-Second Star by Alyssa B. Sheinmel
-Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
-Vicious by V.E. Schwab
-Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen
-The Sound of Letting Go by Stasia Ward Kehoe
-Lady Thief by A.C. Gaughen
-Threatened by Eliot Schrefer

Reviews

I'm pleasantly surprised to see that I posted SEVEN reviews during this short month. (Click titles for reviews.)

-Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs: Where's everything listed in the titled?
-Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi: A swoony end to a wonderful trilogy.
-Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen: Ooh, a book that lives up to the hype!
-The Sound of Letting Go by Stasia Ward Kehoe: A lovely verse novel.
-Lady Thief by A.C. Gaughen: Did I read the same book as everyone else?
-Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas: CHAOL WESTFALL.
-Threatened by Eliot Schrefer: Fantastic story about a boy living in the jungle with chimpanzees and a monkey.

Best Book of the Month

Weekly Posts

I shared ten books that will make you cry (here, have some tissue) and ten that will make you swoon. I also discussed why I love being a blogger and reader, which boils down to YOU and BOOKS. And last but not least, I told you ten books with hilarious titles...in your pants.

Also, I waited on a spin-off series, a book with whaling, witchery, and a harpoon boy, and a book with a pretty cover.

Other Posts

I'm trying to have a variety of posts, so this month I also shared some music that I'm currently listening to and posted a discussion about reviews and what you like to see in them.

Events

Because of moving and my malfunctioning car, I had to miss the Victoria Schwab signing that happened mid-February. Fortunately, someone from book club (our January pick was Vicious--February's Miss Peregrine) who lives in my area was going to the event, so she took my books and got them signed for me!

Who Picked This Book? Club

I did, however, get to go to a super fun blogger dinner in Seattle with a rep from Harper! A bunch of my friends were there, as well as Kevin Emerson (author of The Atlanteans series and the upcoming YA novel Exile)! By the way, he's SUPER COOL. I had a salad and some fancy tater tots, plus a HUGE slice of Texas Funeral Fudge Cake, which lasted for like ever. Due to the weather around the country we didn't get any books at the dinner, but I'll be getting them at my house! (Keep a lookout on my Twitter. I'll post a picture there when they arrive.)

Oh, and I went to the launch part for Cress by Marissa Meyer! (Have you read it? It's EXCELLENT.) The event was super fun and set up a giant party. I sort of dressed up as a mash-up of all the main characters (Cinder, Kai, Scarlet, Wolf, Cress, and Thorne), but it's hard to see in this picture. All in all, it was a great event!

Blogging Issues

If you are a computer genius, I need your help. My blog is having major s-word issues. ($P@M.) If I comment on a self-hosted blog it seems to go straight to the s-word box, which is very frustrating. And my blog's pageviews have more than quintupled because of referrer s-word, which SUCKS. I am thisclose to switching to WordPress. So if you have any ideas, please let me know!

Life

I moved, so that put a bit of a hit in my blogging and reading schedule. Blogging-wise I didn't have internet for just over a week, which totally sucked. (Thankfully I could still tweet and email and all that from my phone. But putting together blog posts that way? No, thank you.) On the reading front I fell into a bit of a slump, but I think I'm pulling out of that, so that's good! And with everything else...a bunch of my electronics are going kaputz, my room still isn't unpacked (except for most of my books, of course), and my car's been having issues. So YAY!

This isn't even my whole room and I think this looks worse than it is, but...yeah.

Also, for a bit of fun: Odair the hedgehog turned TWO on the 11th!

Note: This is not a current picture and Bella (dog) now wants to eat him.

And THE SEAHAWKS WON THE SUPERBOWL!

Books

March is, hopefully, my catch up month for reading. I am BEHIND. (Shocker.) But I'm hoping I can use this minimal-review-book month to catch up on several books. I do know, however, that I'll be starting The Night Circus for book club!

News

DIVERGENT IS COMING, DIVERGENT IS COMING! It is almost here, and I am SUPER EXCITED! (Can you tell? I don't think you can.) The movie's tour is stopping in Seattle with a pre-screening and Miles Teller (Peter) and Jai Courtney (Eric) and I'm hoping I get tickets! *prepares to cover self in fake tattoos*

New Releases

Some March releases I'm looking forward to reading most!

(March 4, 2014)

(March 4, 2014)

(March 4, 2014)

And now, helloooooo, March! Please bring lots of sunshine and minimal rain (and cold!). What are you looking forward to this month?