Quarterly Rewind (December ’17-March ’18 edition)

Hey everyone! We’re into Spring already, not that you’d be able to believe it, given how the weather has been recently, but hopefully now that it’s the Spring Equinox, Spring might finally make an appearance? Please?? Anyway, if you’ve been following for a while, you know the drill by now, but if you’re a new follower, then this is the feature I do every three months, at the start of each new season to wrap up the one that has gone before, an idea originated by Jamie over at The Perpetual Page Turner. Today is the Spring Equinox, the official beginning of Spring, so it’s time to wrap up my Winter, and look forward to Spring. This post will cover 21st December-19th March:

Image From This Winter:

This was the view from my window when The Beast From The East hit a few weeks ago!

Favourite Quote From A Book You Read This Winter:

“As a feminist I feel immediately guilty because everyone is trying to encourage girls into STEM subjects now, but to be honest I’m not dedicated enough to the Vagenda to force myself to become a computer programmer.” -The Exact Opposite of Okay, Laura Steven

This just made me laugh so hard, and I can relate, I am totally for girls getting into STEM subjects, I’m just not interested in pursuing it myself!

This Winter In One Word:

FREEZING!

Most Popular Review This Winter:

I’ve read 7 books in the period this rewind covers and have reviewed all of them (though I hadn’t posted my review of Orphan Monster Spy at the time of writing this, by the time its published, I will have). The most popular reviews of the ones I have posted was my review of Shadow of Bone, should have guessed since it is by far the most popular book of the ones I’ve read so far this year. Here is my review of it, if you want to check it out:

https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2018/01/14/shadow-and-bone-shadow-and-bone-1-review/

Top Two Books This Winter:

I haven’t had the greatest start to the reading year, most of what I’ve read so far has been pretty mediocre, but these are the two that stood out above the rest:

1. The Exact Opposite of Okay-Laura Steven-This uproariously funny YA debut is definitely my standout of the year so far. It tackles difficult topics like slut shaming, the Friend Zone, revenge porn, Nice Guys etc. in a really accessible and funny way and the main character is basically me, but with more sex.
2. By A Charm and A Curse-Jaime Questell-I loved this weird little YA fantasy, it’s kind of like a cross between Pinocchio & Sleeping Beauty, and you wouldn’t think it would work, but it so does!

Two Things I’m Looking Forward To This Spring:

1. Easter-My family is getting together for the first time since Christmas over the Easter weekend and it will be nice to all be together again, even our dog Otis!
2. Sports Ball-My university’s Sports Ball is in April and it’s one of my favourite events of the year, everyone gets all dressed up and we have a fancy meal and dance and eat and drink and it’s all very fun!

Three New Obsessions This Winter:

1. Podcasts-I’ve started listening to podcasts since the beginning of the year, I didn’t think I was really a podcast person, but I’ve discovered some great ones via recommendations from friends and I now listen to them every night whilst I read. My favourites are The Guilty Feminist, a podcast created and hosted by Deborah Frances-White that talks about feminist issues in a really funny and accessible way and Stuff You Missed In History Class, a podcast that talks about historical events and people. Both were recommended by my friend Nicola, so thanks Nicola!
2. Scandal-I’ve been watching this basically non-stop for weeks and even though some of the storylines are totally ridiculous and Olivia and Fitz’s relationship is completely toxic, I can’t help it, I am addicted!
3. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend-I blew through all three seasons in four days whilst I was stuck inside because of The Beast From The East, the songs are so catchy, and it’s rare that a show talks about mental health issues so candidly.

Five Most Popular Blog Posts This Winter:

As always, my five most popular blog posts this Winter were all Top Ten Tuesday posts:

1. Top Ten Tuesday #141-My most popular post this Winter was the final Top Ten Tuesday post from the now sadly defunct The Broke and The Bookish, so it’s nice that my last TTT prompt from them went out with a bang! This post talked about the 2017 releases that I missed out on that I’m hoping to read this year. So far I’ve only read one, but I have another in progress right now.

https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2018/01/09/top-ten-tuesday-141/

2. Top Ten Tuesday #146-This was my Anti-Valentine’s TTT, where I talked about non-romantic books you could spend your Valentine’s reading. I’m happy that my romantic cynicism was so well received!

https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2018/02/13/top-ten-tuesday-146/

3. Top Ten Tuesday #149-This is my TTT from last week, where I got to share my favourite book quotes, I’m happy that this one got so much love, because I love sharing book quotes!

https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2018/03/06/top-ten-tuesday-149/

4. Top Ten Tuesday #142-This was my first TTT prompt from Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl, where I talked about my Bookish Resolutions for 2018. Since so many of you read it, I’d better make sure I stick to them!
https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2018/01/16/top-ten-tuesday-142/

5. Top Ten Tuesday #144-This was a TTT I did back in January, where I talked about Books I Can’t Believe I Read.

https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2018/01/30/top-ten-tuesday-144/

Four Posts I’ve Enjoyed On Other Blogs This Winter:

I feel like I’ve once again kind of lapsed on bookmarking these over the Winter, but I will try and see if I can come up with four:

1. Elise @TheBookishActress did this great post about the #BuryYourGays trope and why it needs to end.

https://thebookishactress.wordpress.com/2018/02/04/please-stop-killing-me-lets-talk-about-buryyourgays/

2. Zan Romanoff did this great article for The Paris Review about female YA authors.

https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/02/07/women-writers-youve-overlooking/

3. Annie @ Annie Likes Words did an awesome piece debunking common advice given to young writers, which I really appreciated as I’m currently in the middle of revising my first novel.

Annie Debunks Common Writing Advice

4. Lucy Powrie @ Queen of Contemporary did this great post celebrating one year of writing, which really inspired me to get working on my own projects this year.

http://queenofcontemporary.com/2018/01/one-year-actual-writing.html

Five Things That Happened This Winter:

1. I went to Headline Publishing’s New Voices Event in Glasgow in January, it was a really fun, relaxed event and I hope it becomes an annual thing!
2. I went to Neal Shusterman, Samantha Shannon and Victoria Schwab’s event in London on Monday, it was so fun getting to see three of my favourite authors in the same room and seeing my friend Hannah again after so long, even if it was only a brief visit!
3. I got my first ever byline in a real newspaper when I went to The Evening Telegraph for work experience in February.
4. I took part in my second ever competition with my trampolining club, and finished in the top 30, and got the second highest score of the girls from my club.
5. I got trapped inside for four days by the Beast From The East.

Six Songs I Listened To Way Too Often This Winter:

1. This Is Me-The Greatest Showman-I’ve been addicted to this soundtrack since I downloaded it at the beginning of the year, and this is probably my favourite song from it.
2. A Part of That-The Last Five Years-This song is so darn catchy and for some reason, it seems to be a favourite of my shuffle!
3. I Can Do Better Than That-The Last Five Years-Again very catchy!
4. From Now On-The Greatest Showman-I swear, I just want to dance every time I hear this song.
5. Shiksa Goddess-The Last Five Years-Another cracking tune from this soundtrack. Honestly I’m really not sure why this musical/movie is not more popular, the tunes are awesome!
6. Moving Too Fast-The Last Five Years-Yup, another wonderful tune from this movie soundtrack.

So that’s my Quarterly Rewind for the Winter, what do you guys think? What have you enjoyed most on my blog this Winter? What have you been up to? Let me know in the comments!