reviewing – Valerie's Musings

Wow! Where has 2017 gone?! I cannot believe it’s April already. Time to review the month of March and all the things that happened on this blog!

During the month of March, I read 14 books and participated in 5 blog tours. I wrote 12 reviews (including one for a book I finished in February), 1 author interview, 1 book spotlight post, and 1 general book post. Of the 14 books I read, I read 10 cozy mysteries, 2 romance, and 2 children’s books (1 picture book and 1 middle grade fiction). I did not review either romance book (tho’ I’m still considering adding a review for one of them) and I did not review 1 of the cozy mysteries. The other 9 cozy mysteries and 2 children’s books have reviews up on my blog.

I’ve made some progress on some of my reading challenges as well:

Goodreads Challenge – I’m up to 50 books actually because I finished one yesterday (April 1, 2017). At the end of March I was up to 49 books out of my 175 goal.
Pages Read Challenge – I read a total of 3434 pages during the month of March bringing my total to 13,590 pages out of my goal of 60,000!
Blogger Shame Challenge – I completed 1 more book out of the Netgalley books I’m behind on, bringing my total to 3 out of my goal of 12.
Read It Again, Sam Challenge – I read 1 more during the month of March, bringing my total to 7 out of my goal of 16+ re-reads.
E-books Challenge – I read 7 ebooks this month bringing my total to 23 out of my goal of 50 (which I may raise to 75).
Beat the Backlist Challenge – I read 7 books off of my “to read” list in March bringing my total to 12 out of my goal of 50.
Library Love Challenge – I read 6 books from the library this month, bringing my total to 23 out of my 50+ goal.
Craving for Cozies Challenge – I read 10 cozy mystery books this month, bringing my total to 32 out of my goal of 80.

Looking Ahead to April

Here are the books/reviews I know I’ll be completing during the month of April:

Book Cover: Of Books and Bagpipes - A Scottish Bookshop Mystery by Paige Shelton: Teal plaid with white lettering, a drawing of a castle on a hill with a messenger bag, stack of books, and small brown/black dog in foreground.

Of Books and Bagpipes by Paige Shelton – I just finished this book yesterday (April 1) so I will be writing up a review for it in the next few days. It will be released this Tuesday, April 4, 2017.

Dying on the Vine book cover - Bride dressed in a white sleeveless bridal gown, holding a wine glass - book cover is edged with grape vines, grapes, bees and wine glasses

Dying on the Vine by Marla Cooper – I recently did a spotlight on this book for a blog tour. I’m in the middle of reading it now and hope to have it done shortly so I can also get a review up!

Book Cover: The Moonlight Serenade by Ava Miles - The Dare Valley series - Background has a field under the moonlight so it's all in dark blues and teals. The lettering is on top in white.

The Moonlight Serenade by Ava Miles – This is the newest book in the Dare Valley series and it will be released on Wednesday, April 5, 2017!

Book Cover: Cat Got Your Cash by Julie Chase - Shop decorated for fall in background - counter with money, scissors, cash register and 2 siamese kittens sitting on it in foreground

Cat Got Your Cash by Julie Chase – This is my only blog tour for the month of April and it will include an interview with the author!

Book Cover: No Charm Intended - A Cora Crafts Mystery by Mollie Cox Bryan - Front of a house with pots of flowers sitting on the steps. A tabby cat is sitting in the foreground.

No Charm Intended by Mollie Cox Bryan – This is a book that I’m reading for review from the Cozy Mystery Review Crew group I’m a part of on Facebook.

Outside of these 5 books, I’m hoping to tackle more books on my “to-read” list and more of my backed up titles from Netgalley. I’m also hoping to maybe get a title or two read out of my goal of 7-12 books that have been banned/challenged in libraries and schools. Stay tuned to see what actually gets done!