Instead of participating in the Monthly Rewind meme, every three months I’ll update the world on my life from the previous season. Enjoy the Seasonal Rewind!

Through the Lens

Most of my winter months were spent catching up on manuscripts and submissions, reading from my TBR pile, and reading ARCs. Many of my afternoons looked like the far left picture, in a nutshell. In March, my best friend and I went to San Francisco and one of the mornings we met Karl the Fog and walked across the Golden Gate Bridge! But the biggest event in my life happened at the beginning of March. My grandfather passed away from lung cancer. I won’t go into the details about his journey, but I’m glad I was able to say goodbye in person on one of his last few good days. He was a rock for this family, and we miss his presence deeply. It’s hard.

Life Highlights

In work news: January was huge for my clients Tara and Jared! Tara announced the title for the second book in the Timekeeper trilogy as well as the release date for Timekeeper on audio (add Book 2 and the Timekeeper audio book to your TBR!). Jared’s A Short History of the Girl Next Door had a cover and publication date reveal, and early ARCs are already making the rounds. In February I negotiated a deal that was announced in March for my client Clarissa Harwood! She’s an adult historical fiction novelist, and I can’t wait for the world to read Impossible Saints!

My birthday was in March, and my friends and family treated me well (especially considering my grandfather’s death a couple days prior). The Beau took me to a lovely Italian restaurant the evening before. On the day of, we had brunch at a new-to-us place in town (mouthwateringly delicious!), went to Barnes & Noble to buy some books, finished The Secrets of Great British Castles on Netflix, ate dinner with my parents, and then went out for drinks and dessert with my friends. The following day we had another big brunch, went for a long walk in the woods, attended an afternoon organ concert (“Job” by Petr Eben), and finished off the weekend with another dinner with my parents. So yeah. It was a great birthday!

Tunes on Repeat

Y’all, I wish I could share a playlist for you, or songs I listened to, but I have to be honest: all the music I listened to was in preparation for the choir concert (Durufle’s Requiem) OR it was an audiobook for the library bookclub.

I know! How awful! How in the world does a musical person not really listen to music?! Especially when Ed Sheeran and John Mayer came out with new music?!

*hangs head in shame*

Bookmarked in the Community

1. My Week of Attempted Reading Deprivation @ Clarissa Harwood — Clarissa spent a week not reading a single thing to see if it would boost her creative writing or help her observe more around her. Fascinating read.
2. The Year of Recommended Reads: All the Light We Cannot See @ Alexa Loves Books — This monthly feature between Alexa and Lindsey @ Bring My Books is so neat, and the very first one was a great start to the year. I’m definitely interested in reading this book now.
3. The Queens of Contemporary @ The Book Addict’s Guide — Brittany curated a great list of contemporary authors and their books for anyone who is a fan of or interested in reading more contemporary YA. The one thing I would’ve loved to see more of (not just this list, but in general) is more diversity. Who are the queens (or kings) of diverse contemporary reads?
4. Friendship Breakups @ The Pretty Books — Stacey’s touching and heartfelt post about real life and literary friendship breakups was a refreshing read. What are some of your favorite friendship stories?
5. 30 Things I Learned By 30 @ Belle of the Literati — If you haven’t noticed already, I adore Kelly’s travel posts and general life posts. This one tops the list.

Popular Posts on Scribbles

1. Book Review: My Not So Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella — WOOHOO I loved this book too! I read it in December but was finally able to post about it in January. Have you read it?
2. Book Review: The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir by Jennifer Ryan — Another book I adored. If you love historical fiction, this book focuses on one town across one summer at the start of WWII in England.
3. Deal Announcement: Clarissa Harwood, Historical Fiction — YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY CLARISSA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4. Top Ten Tuesday: Spring TBR — My TBR this spring is kind of insane and out of control. Here’s my post about it in March, and if you hop over to IG you’ll see what I’m talking about…

Cherished Reads

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden ★★★★

You and Me, Always by Jill Mansell ★★★.5

The Silver Gate by Kristin Bailey ★★★★

Hunted by Meagan Spooner ★★★★.5 (review to come!)

Cherished Quotes

She rubbed a hand over her bare neck. The fringes of her chopped hair tickled her palm.
This wasn’t a game anymore.
It was hard for Wynn to remember things if she didn’t think about them
over and over. Things that happened didn’t stay in her mind well.
Now she couldn’t brush her hair and remember when Mother did it.
She would forget. She always forgot.
–The Silver Gate by Kristin Bailey

Progress Update on Reading Challenges

Required Library Books: 4 / 22

The Light Between Oceans || The Husband’s Secret || W is for Wasted
The Miniaturist

Fun Library Books: 5 / 5 // Complete!

Heart’s Blood || The Bear and the Nightingale || The Silver Gate
Little Black Dresses, Little White Lies || A Window Opens

Flights of Fantasy / Marillier & Gabaldon Challenge: 2 / 9

Heart’s Blood || Son of the Shadows

Classics & ReRead: 0 / 2

Rock My TBR: 5 / 12

Caraval || You and Me, Always || The Miniaturist
Son of the Shadows || The Sun is Also a Star

Impulse Buys: 4 / 5

You and Me, Always || Flight of Dreams || Wait for Me
The Hate U Give

Overall Challenge: 15 / 50

Random Obsessions

On TV: Though it made me cringe (a lot), I watched Masterpiece’s Victoria. It was compulsive. I had to. I had to witness the train wreck. The costumes were great, everything’s pretty, and it’s staying (so very) loosely true to Victoria’s life, but man oh man. What a soap opera. ON THE OTHER HAND…I finished the second season of The Secrets of Great British Castles on Netflix and LOVED IT (of course). Plus, the last castle of the season was one I visited on the same day they finished filming the episode: Arundel! I saw Dan Jones at the pub in town, but didn’t believe it was actually him so I didn’t say hello. Curses. Anyway, watch that show if you love castles and history!

On Film: I saw Hidden Figures and it is everything and more. If you haven’t seen it yet, go immediately. Or just plain buy the DVD/Blu-ray. It is worth every penny. The Beau also took me to see Beauty and the Beast and OH MY HEART I JUST OH GOSH YES YES YES OH MY WORD YES BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.

In the Shopping Bag: There honestly wasn’t a whole lot of shopping-related items this winter. I booked all the travel places for April through June. So it was more like massive spending for work instead of play. Wah wah.

Miscellaneous: The disaster that is the Cheeto in Chief has made going onto social media mentally and emotionally exhausting. It’s hard to take in all that news within the echo chamber, and I grew tired of trying to figure out what news report people were referring to (and where they got that information). So I signed up for Skimm, a great newsletter that recaps the previous day’s news for you with links to the original/credible source, a nutshell overview, and ways you can take action if interested. It also includes pop culture items as well, like great book reviews, movies to see, the latest award shows, etc. But it’s mostly political news for the weary. Try it out!

Looking Towards the Future

April will be something of a breathing month for me, because once May and June hit, I’ll be traveling like crazy. Book Expo and ALA, here I come! I’m also looking forward to the little things, like sitting outside to read (though not looking forward to humidity), driving with the windows down, walking around barefoot… You gotta take the little things in life, right? Hello, spring!

What have you been up to this season / this month? Any new obsessions or good reads or great music? Share some of your favorites here, and let me know if I should check out any great blog posts!