#SBS March Monthly Wrap-Up

Crushed on by kelly, on April 2, 2023, in Blogging, Feature, It's Personal, New Releases / 0 Comments

#SBS March Monthly Wrap-Up

Welcome to our monthly feature where we talk about what we read, adopted into our libraries, and what’s on our minds. After hosting #SignedBookSundays on instagram for 4+ years, we are transitioning to this format as a way to share signed books and talk about bookish (and personal) highlights. Join us the last Sunday or last day of every month (or whatever day today is…we are busy!)!

What We Read

Kelly: I read 6 books in March. I really wish I read more, but I did watch A LOT of TV & movies instead. LOL. Some of my favorites of the month were:

The Wicked Bargain by Gabe Cole Novoa – 4.5 stars – A pirate adventure with a latine trans MC, in the Caribbean, and making deals with el Diablo, yes please and thanks! This was a fun book, a little long for my personal taste, but really enjoyed it! Perfect for fans of OFMD, and the fan favorite character, Jim, played by Vico Ortiz, who also narrated the audiobook, and it is just chef’s kiss *swoon* perfection.
Always the Almost by Edward Underhill – 4.75 stars – yes, I know that I add lots of quarter stars now that I can in Storygraph! But this story of a trans teen piano player, dealing with transitioning in HS and figuring out their passion was sweet & joyous.

Christy: How proud am I that I read 10 whole books this month!

We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds – Kelly recommended this to me months ago and why did I wait so long to read it!?
Reader, I Murdered Him by Betsy Cornwell – This was a total cover/title read and I am SO THRILLED that I picked it up. A queer historical thriller coupled with (relatively steamy for a YA) romance? What a niche for me!
Count Your Lucky Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur – I asked for adult sapphic romance recs and yall delivered! I had read the first two series and somehow fell off before reading 3. MISTAKES. But fixed now.

What We Hauled

You too can be obsessed with signed books, look here for where to buy a copy from your favorite author’s local indie or preorder incentives that include bookplates.

Kelly’s Highlights

Made of Stars by Jenna Voris – Released March 28th – Thank you Penguin Teen for the finished copy!
Alice in Wonderland: The Official Cookbook by S.T. Bende, Elena Craig – Released March 28th – Thank you Insight Editions & author for the finished copy!
The Memory Eater by Rebecca Mahoney – Released March 14th – Thank you Penguin Teen for the finished copy!
Who Could Love You, Astor Price? by Amy Jane Lehan – Releases Aug 8th – Thank you to the author & Cloudy Day publishing for the advance copy!
Ander & Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa – Releases May 3rd – Thank you to Wednesday Books for the advance copy!
Signed Books I added to my collection this month: Stars & Smoke by Marie Lu

Christy’s Highlights

Your Plantation Prom is Not Okay by Kelly McWilliams – TY to Kelly. I have loved everything Kelly has written and this will be no exception. EXCITED to see her at YallWest!
The Memory Eater by Rebecca Mahoney – TY to Penguin. This one looks incredible!
Reader, I Murdered Him by Betsy Cornwell – I am never going to stop talking about this book. READ IT.
The Quiet and the Loud by Helena Fox – TY to Penguin! I loved Helena’s debut and can’t wait to be broken by this one.

What We Hope to Read

Kelly’s TBR

It is hard to believe that I read 4 of the books I said I wanted to read this past month! I only read two more than listed below, and one was a graphic novel I already owned and finally prioritized it for the #TransRightsReadAThon, and the other was a library hold that finally came in from October! Added a few more to my list, just to see if I end up keeping up with the prospects!

You can follow my reading on goodreads and/or storygraph where I share what I just read, and some immediate reading reactions – full reviews are almost exclusively on here on the blog or instagram.

The Stolen Heir by Holly Black
Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert
The Wicked Bargain by Gabe Cole Novoa
I’ll Take Everything You Have by James Klise
Always the Almost by Edward Underhill
Made of Stars by Jenna Voris
Reader, I Murdered Him by Betsy Cornwell
She is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran

Christy’s TBR

I read none of the books I was supposed to last month so here they are again 🤣.

Three Drops of Blood by Gretchen McNeil
Teen Titans: Robin by Kami Garcia, with art by Gabriel Picolo
Missing Clarissa by Ripley Jones

On the Top of Our Minds

Kelly:

I was extremely busy launching a new program at my day job, as well as attending a lot of health things for myself, which left my brain a tad bit empty this month and I filled it with a lot of TV & movies and only 6 books. I devoured season 2 of Shadow & Bone, and I had no issues with any of the choices the show writers made. I was a tad shocked, but honestly it made sense. Really fun, and so so looking forward to a possible S3 as well as my baby birds getting their own spinoff!! Let’s see hear it for the CROWS! My spouse and I watched a few of the Oscar nominated films before the red carpet was upon us, and we both really enjoyed Everything Everywhere All at Once, and we were happy for their awards sweep! Shocking but thrilled for the cast, crew, and all that!

Now my focus shifts to vacation, which includes YallWest, and Disneyland with Christy! Counting down the days!!!

Christy:

Somehow the first three months of the year tend to be my busiest (somehow, she says lol). It’s con season, Disney season, spring race season, planting season….I have too many hobbies, yall. I’ve been traveling a minimum of every two weeks, sometimes more often.

March was Disney, more Disney (a cool light experience), seeing Legally Blonde “on broadway”, some awful personal stuff that at least provided me with closure, some interesting personal updates in general (we are in a season of growth and coming into ourselves), some beauty updates (I had lip blushing and microblading done!), WonderCon, and more Disney.

It is TWENTY FIVE DAYS (as of writing) to YallWest and therefore when I see Kelly. SO EXCITED, especially since we are doing Disneyland at the beginning of Star Wars Month (A WHOLE MONTH).