Monthly Wrap-Up

Monthly Wrap-Up: March 2025

Dini @ dinipandareads25 Comments

I can’t believe that March has already come and gone! I can’t even remember what happened in the first two-thirds of the month because my trip to Japan felt like it lasted the whole month of March, and I’m not mad about it, though I’m sad it isn’t true lol. I’ve shared pictures and updates from the Japan trip in my last two weekly wrap-ups (here and here), but I think my favourite parts of the trip were definitely Disney and visiting the town of Kusatsu outside of Tokyo. It’s so hard to choose though because the whole trip was fantastic—except for the moments of family drama and tension but that’s to expected when you put all of us in close quarters for so long, haha—and I’m so bummed that it’s over. On that note, I’m just going to share some of my favourite moments from the month:

March was by far my worst reading month and I only managed to read 9 books. It wasn’t unexpected considering I didn’t pick up a single book while I was in Japan, and work stress prevented me from reading more at the start of the month. Still, I found another two 5-star reads this month, one of which I’m sure will be one of my top reads of the year. 🥳 And with that, my favourite read of the month goes to 🥇 The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang! 🥇 I buddy read this with Becky, and although I ended up loving it more than her, it was such a great book to read together cos there was so much to discuss and gush and wail over! This was an awesome debut and I can’t wait to read Wang’s latest release which has also gained much popularity over the past few months.

I’m loving co-hosting LTB and I’m chuffed that I managed to keep up with it despite being on holiday! I know I’ve still got some blog hopping to catch up on for the last two weeks, but at least (I think) I managed to capture all the bloggers who posted! If you’re curious to learn more about the discussion meme, you can do so HERE.

*COVERS are linked to Goodreads and the TEXT is linked to my review, if available*
*books are arranged by READING ORDER from first to latest*

5 pandas

The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang, The Knight and the Butcherbird by Alix E. Harrow

(ARC) The Knight and the Butcherbird

4.5 pandas

The Scorpion and the Night Blossom by Amélie Wen Zhao, Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson

(ARC) The Scorpion and the Night Blossom

4 pandas

A Song for You and I by K. O’Neill

(ARC) A Song for You and I

3.5 pandas

Quicksilver by Callie Hart

3 pandas

A Whisper of Death by Darcy Burke

less than 3 pandas (*or no rating for erotic romances)

Breaking it All by Kati Wilde, Craving it All by Kati Wilde

The only challenge in March that I didn’t succeed in completing the prompt for was the Buzzword Challenge. I would say I don’t know how this slipped my radar, but no, I do know. My brain went on vacation mode and I completely forgot! 🤭

✔ Goodreads Reading Challenge: 34/150 books
✔ Beat the Backlist: 📚 2 backlist books // 📱 0 backlist ARCs ⇢ 2 Bingo Spaces
✔ 2025 Buzzword Reading Challenge: March (“thing”) ⇢ X
✔ 2025 Year in Aeldia: March: Priority TBR ⇢ Vespertine
✔ 2025 Popsugar Reading Challenge: 2 books ⇢ Prompts 36, 37

This one’s a bit too wide to see properly… You can click the image to see the wider frame (and all the books)

And that’s it for March! How was your month and what was your favourite read? There is still so much tumultuous energy in the world right now, so I hope everyone is taking good care. 💜

25 thoughts on “Monthly Wrap-Up: March 2025”

  1. I already mentioned this in a past post but your pictures are just everything! It looks like you had a fantastic month, even if you didn’t get as much reading 🙂 I hope April treats you well

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    • Aww, thanks so much, Leyre! 💜 It’s been years since I’ve actively taken pics even while I’m on holiday and I’m glad I’m finding that joy again this year and that meant I captured some of the great moments I had in Japan 🙂 I hope April treats you well, too!

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  2. A trip to Japan sounds like a perfectly reasonable excuse for not reading much and your visit sounds fantastic.
    I’m so glad that you enjoyed Vespertine.
    Hope you have more great reads this month

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    • Coming back to reality after that Japan trip has been so hard! 😂 At least I have my return to books to help me soften the blow of returning to work and reality, haha. Vespertine was great and I hope we get another book by Rogerson in the near future. I hope you have a great reading month in April as well 🙂

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  3. wow Dini, I love your Japan pictures they’re all so stunning and I’m so happy to hear you had a wonderful time. I can totally relate with big family tension, it tends to happen when we all get together too, it’s always so much fun but also with a dash of drama from the close quarters lol. 😅 Wait what, I didn’t know Alix E. Harrow had another short story, I loved the Six Deaths of the Saint so much now I have to read The Knight and the Butcherbird! How nice that you found some new favs 💗

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    • Thanks, Veros! Ah, just looking at these pictures makes me wish I was still in Japan (or living there, lol). What a dream that would be 🤭 And yes, family drama is always going to be a thing for my family… We’re all just too… Passionate about our opinions! 😂 At least, it doesn’t overshadow the fun of the trip though. And YES! Harrow released a new Amazon short story last month and ugh, I loved it. I didn’t love it as much as Six Death of the Saint—though to be fair, I don’t know any short story that will ever top my love for that book—but Harrow still worked her magic. I would highly recommend it and I hope you enjoy it if you check it out!

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    • It was such an amazing time! Even though I just got back, I already can’t wait to visit again. I miss it so much already 🥹 I hope you get to go back sometime soon! I love Rogerson’s books as well and I hope she releases a new book soon—it’s been a while and the world needs more of her books, hehe 💜

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  7. It looks like you had a great time in Japan. I didn’t realise they had a Disney there. I’m sure that must have been incredible. I just looked up the town you mentioned too and realised the steamy picture must be from there. It looks stunning 😍😍

    I’m thrilled that you found two five star books as well. I majorly need to check out M.L. Wangs books given all the praise that I’ve seen for it. Their debut must be incredible to be a likely yearly favourite. Yay. I somehow missed hearing about the Alix E Harrow novella until you and Leslie read it. It looks like you got to some fantastic books in general actually. So many wonderful sounding options (and you know I loved the Scorpion one too).

    It looks like you’re doing wonderfully with your challenges too. Can you get to the buzzfeed one in the future or did it have to be during March?

    I had a good March too. The highlight was seeing Hamilton which you saw on Instagram anyway. It did seem to be a month that flew by though.

    I hope you have a wonderful April 🥰

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    • Yes, they have two Disney parks that are based next to each other but they are separate entrances/tickets. Well worth it—it’s so much fun although ridiculously crowded and the lines feel like they take 50 years but I still had the best time!!! 🤣

      After reading Wang’s debut I definitely get the hype but I’m also keen to read her sophomore novel because there were some things about the debut that I wish had been better and I’d be curious to see how her writing has grown since then. If you do end up checking out one of her books, I hope you enjoy them! 😃 Also, YES! I wouldn’t have known about Harrow’s short story if another blogger hadn’t mention it to me but I went and immediately clicked that “Read Now” on Netgalley and no regrets at all. I would highly recommend it if you’re looking for a quick read. I hope you enjoy it if you do pick it up!

      The Buzzword Challenge is thankfully very chill and it’s basically go as you like. There were several months last year that I missed the books but I managed to catch up by the end of the year, lol. Hopefully it doesn’t take me all year to catch up this time, lol.

      I’m glad to hear that you had a good March! If I saw Hamilton it would probably end up being a highlight of the year for me, haha. I’m obsessed with it! The months really are flying by… I hope April treats you amazingly, Charlotte 🙂

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      • That’s frustrating that they have separate tickets. You’d think they’d at least offer some kind of combined one. And yes I can imagine the queues can be a nightmare. I’m glad you had such a fantastic time though.

        I really hope you enjoy that one whenever you get to it too then. They sound very different to each other but I’ve seen plenty of rave reviews of both. Thank you. Ooh I didn’t realise it had that option for it at the time. So frustrating that I missed it. I’m glad you loved it though. And I’ll have to watch out for it.

        Aww well im glad you still have the opportunity to catch back up with it then. I’m sure that you can do it 🥰

        It’ll probably be one of mine too. It was incredible 😍😍 I really hope you get to see it one day. They truly are. Thank you, you too ❤️

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  8. I totally get what you mean about family holidays. They can be super fun, but also super stressful lol. I’m so glad we read Sword of Kaigen, even if you did end up loving it a bit more than me, and the new Harrow was one of my top reads for the month as well 🙂

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    • Haha, yep! Thankfully, this time the family drama didn’t overshadow the fun of the trip but sometimes it can be a real pain, haha. 🤣 I’m glad we read Sword of Kaigen as well! I can’t wait for our next buddy read (I can’t remember what we said we’d read and when but I always enjoy them)! I hope Harrow will treat us to another book soon because her work is so fantastic. I hope you have an amazing April, Becky!

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