“When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest. The only thing that could spoil a day was people, and if you keep from making engagements, each day had no limits. People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself.”

– Ernest Hemmingway

I found myself thinking about this quote from A Moveable Feast (one of the few classics I could read on repeat) as March rolled in this year. Living in eastern Canada means that for five months of the year, you’re trapped inside your house or indoors because the air hurts your face. It’s dark when you wake up, and it’s dark before you leave work. Every year, by the time March arrives, I’m at my absolute wits end thinking I might never recover from the endless cold and dark and just when I feel like I can no longer stand it, Spring arrives and I quite literally feel myself come back to life again. 

I wasn’t prepared for how much more challenging the winter would be with a tiny baby. The added stress and pressure of ensuring that we only went out if we needed to, and only if the baby was bundled as completely as possible, was trying to say the least, but in March, we had some days that well and truly felt like Spring had arrived. We went on family forest walks in just our sweaters, we went to playgrounds for the first time, and we even went to our local farmers market just to take in all the different vendors and foods. We did still get some snow (false spring is very real here), but it melted quickly and for the most part, the temperatures stayed above zero degrees. If that was all that happened in March, I would have called the month a win just for the sheer joy and hope that I felt came with the changing of the seasons. This probably all sounds very dramatic, but my goodness, nothing drains you like a Canadian winter, and I’m so grateful it’s once again passed. 

Beyond the weather, I also had an exceptionally good reading month. I’ve been leveraging my library a lot lately and because of it, I’ve been able to dive into some books that have been on my TBR for ages. Here’s what I was able to get through in the past month:

Books Read in March 2025

1. The Dark Mirror by Samantha Shannon: this is the fifth and latest release in The Bone Season series and I am not exaggerating when I say that it blew my mind. Shannon is a master of dystopian fantasy and this book was an impeccable addition to the series. This was the easiest 5-stars I’ve ever given and I can’t wait for the release of book six. Full review to come. 
2. Godkiller by Hannah Kaner: admittedly, I originally added this book to my TBR when it released because I thought it had a gorgeous cover. Turns out, it’s also a phenomenal story. It was broody, but also inventive, funny, and very heartfelt. I loved the God-based premise and the dilemma they represent, and I’m really looking forward to seeing where the story goes from here. Another easy 5-stars, full review to come. 
3. The Maid by Nita Prose: I almost never read mysteries, but I picked this one up because I’ve seen so much of it around bookstagram and I’m so glad that I did! This book was such a wonderful surprise, and the main character Molly in all her social awkwardness was so utterly charming that I was hooked the entire way through. I already have book two reserved from my library as this was another 5-star read for me with a full review to come. 
4. Ordinary Monsters by JM Miro: this book, a fantasy set in the Victorian era about “talents” with exceptional magical abilities, has been intimidating to me since it was released because of its sheer size. At 672 pages, it was a beast, but it was also a really strong start to an original-feeling fantasy series. I rated this one 4-stars with a full review to come.
5. Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins: I loved the original Hunger Games series, but I might have loved the prequel, A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, even more, so when Collins announced she’d be releasing another prequel, this one telling Haymitch’s story, I knew I was going to love it. This story was so gut-wrenching and crushing and, at times, unnerving in the intentional parallels that Collins draws to the present day. I loved every single second of it. Five stars for me, with a full review to come.
6. The Good Part by Sophie Cousens: this was the only book I read this month that I didn’t love. The premise, that a woman uses a wishing machine to skip to the good part of her life, was intriguing to me, but I couldn’t stand the main character. I flip-flopped back and forth a few times in the reading experience but ultimately my dislike for the character ended up tainting my enjoyment of the book itself. I rated this one 3 stars and won’t be writing a full review, but you can catch my thoughts over on my Goodreads profile if you’d like more details.

TBR Lists

I’ve been devouring so many good books lately that I’m keen to beef up my never-ending to-be-read list with more promising stories. I tried to pay more attention than usual this month to recommendations and these are the books that ultimately made my list:

• Fable for the End of the World by Ava Reid: I loved Reid’s A Study in Drowning, and with this one billed as a sapphic hunger games, I immediately added it to my TBR.
• Ten Incarnations of Rebellion by Vaishnavi Patel: a novel that imagines an alternate version of India that was never liberated from the British. I saw this one endorsed by RF Kuang and then loved the sound of the premise so much that I can’t wait for it to be released in June.
• Evergreen Academy by Heather Schneider: a story about a secret college for magical botanists, this one sounds like the perfect cozy fantasy to snuggle up with. 
• A Dawn of Onyx by Kate Golden: this one includes dark magic, back-stabbing royals, and dangerous beasts. I’ve seen some really good things about this fantasy romance series. 
• Immaculate Conception by Ling Ling Huang: a novel about an obsessive friendship “upended by a cutting-edge technology purported to enhance empathy and connection.” Based on the reviews that are already trickling out, this book is going to be excellent. 
• When The Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi: literally a book that asks what would really happen if the moon were replaced by a giant wheel of cheese. I absolutely loved Scalzi’s Starter Villain and this sounds very entertaining/funny.
• The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami: a novel about a woman’s fight for freedom in a world where even dreams are under surveillance. This sounds just the right level of creepy for me. 

What I’m Loving Right Now

I’m down to my last few months of maternity leave, which depending on the day either feels like forever or like no time at all. Regardless, in addition to devouring as many good books as possible, I’m also trying to sprinkle in some other bits of joy while I still have more free time than usual. Baby girl gets busier by the day, so much of what I’m enjoying involves her and making our time together fun, but some of it is also centred around other areas of life that are benefitting from some extra TLC. 

Things I’ve been enjoying most lately include:

More Baking!

Last month I talked about how I’d gotten really into baking pies. Well, friends, we’ve expanded beyond pies now! I’ve been working on baking one new thing a week and it’s resulted in 100% more deliciousness in our lives. So far, I’ve accomplished zucchini muffins, a coconut loaf, and an outrageously good lemon yogurt cake. The lemon cake was this Ina Garten recipe and it’s going into our family recipe book because I loved it that much. 

Park Walks

Now that the weather is getting nicer, we’ve been venturing out on walks whenever we can. We’ve found a few nice parks around us locally, which makes getting out feel like more of an occasion than just walking around our neighbourhood. 

An extra bonus? We got to break out the baby sunglasses, and they’re the cutest things to have ever existed.

More Home Updates

I’ve shared before that we’ve been updating our home ever since we purchased it, and now we’ve got some really big and exciting projects in the works. One of these projects that we’re just now starting to move forward is the reclaiming of our backyard, which is actually a multi-year project, but kicks off this summer! Our yard is huge but right now, it’s mostly taken up by incredibly massive decks. We’re reconfiguring everything to bring the deck back to a rational size while creating a large space that baby girl will be able to play in when she’s running around next year. I couldn’t be more excited for this one, our warmer months are so precious and I’m extremely excited that we’ll have more space to spend outdoors together.

So there you have it, lots going on both in terms of reading and otherwise! I’m excited about all that April will bring.