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MADNESS! Mad. Ness. Mad. mad…mad… no, no, I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed… disappointed down to the core of my shriveled, grinchy heart. The first part of our blog plans for you this month, darling, readerly friends, has been stomped upon. Body slammed to the ground and made to yield by several well-placed kicks to the kidneys. I am broken. My heart is in pieces. The honest to goodness HIGHLIGHT of this readerly month has been canceled. By which I mean that Sarah J. Maas’s entire book tour has been canceled/put on hold for the foreseeable future. We have been planning this HWB outing since January, preparing to read the entire 816 pre-ordered kindle pages of House of Earth and Blood in the 5 days between Tuesday’s book release and Saturday’s (now canceled) event in order to avoid spoilers. I was thrilled to be receiving my first S.J.M. signed book at Nashville’s War Memorial Auditorium. But, still, I’m not mad, just disappointed. I still plan on spending the entirety of that evening with Nikki, and maybe that’s just what we need to bring you all the maddening March content you’ve come to expect.

This unexpected twist to our March plan for you, has brought to my attention the fact that this month has beaucoup new releases from my TBR list. Tomorrow ALONE has 3, THREE!, books that I have either pre-ordered or intend to purchase. In addition to the new Maas series starter, there’s a new trilogy from Cassandra Clare’s Shadowhunters universe, Chain of Gold, The Last Hours book #1. Our favorite readerly podcaster and bookish matchmaker, Anne Bogel of the Modern Mrs. Darcy blog and What Should I Read Next podcast, releases her third book, Don’t Overthink It. March 3rd is a busy, busy day for us!  I wanted to double check all the other books that are being released this month and with help from this list from Goodreads I am reminded that Victoria Lee’s sophomore novel and second in the Feverwake duology The Electric Heir will be sent straight to my kindle on St. Patrick’s Day! This was a book I immediately pre-ordered last year, March 3rd, 2019 as soon as I had finished reading the first book, which was a Prime First Reads Young Adult novel that did not disappoint. (You can also read them both with a Kindle Unlimited Membership.)

I will be busy for weeks (ok, maybe just a week in total, let’s be real, I’m going to devour every single one of these books…) reading March’s new releases. What is it about March – the time change, the arrival of Spring, a deluge of new reading material – that makes it so very…maddening?!

~Ashley

March is madness.  I’m not just talking about basketball.  I keep thinking if I just get past this next hurtle, life will slow down.  That’s literally the definition of insanity, so, instead of thinking it will change, I’m working to embrace it.  I say that, however this portion was actually Ashley’s idea. We’ve had two theme-heavy months, and we’ve really enjoyed them, and hope you did too, but for March, it’s going to be madness.  By that we mean, whatever we feel like sharing. We’ll have specific titles on Thursdays and bookish-related things on Mondays. That’s our ongoing commitment to you, darling readers. Specifically for March, each week we’ll bring you something that inspires us.  I can tell you now, Sarah J. Maas inspires us, so we’ll be talking about her March 3 release, House of Earth and Blood.  (If you’re planning to read it and don’t like spoilers, we’re here for you.  We won’t be publishing about it until at least March 12, and you’ll have to click for spoilers.  Sorry, but we probably won’t leave them out entirely.) Masterpiece inspires me, so I’ll be discussing this season’s screen versions Howard’s End and Sanditon and comparing the text to the screen versions.  The rest, it’s all madness. We’ve been reading a lot and one of us has been writing a lot (to minimize the quantity of plot/ character corrections the other has to do if she delays writing more than a few days post finishing a title), so there are lots of inspiring titles and bookish things to choose from.  We’re also open to suggestions. Hint, Hint.  

~Nikki