Like a lion

In like a lion, out like a lamb.

It’s coming up to that time of year when the door to one season starts shutting while another slowly swings ajar.

Following my New Year commitment not to commit to specifics concerning my 2020 reading I’m not therefore going to detail what exactly I intend to read for March — mainly because I have no idea at the moment!

Nevertheless, vague possibilities are coalescing around upcoming events in the reading calendar.

1st March is St David’s Day in Wales and that means it’ll be time for the Wales Readathon or Dewithon, when Paula (alias the Book Jotter) invites us to consider a month of literature by and about writers from the principality.

I already have a couple of titles in mind as potential candidates — no names, no pack drill — so wish me pob lwc! I really enjoyed last year’s inaugural event (I may even have gone overboard with books related to Wales read and reviewed) but being resident in Wales I can’t not join in again. 🙂

The first official month of spring for North Hemisphericans has been the cue for March Magics for a few years now, initiated as DWJ Month by Kristen of We Be Reading. This was a celebration of the lives of Diana Wynne Jones and Terry Pratchett, and an opportunity “to get our revenge on the cruel month that took them from us and … to escape into the beautiful, funny, and unique worlds they both created.”

Ideally I’d like to read at least one title by each author during March and, as it happens, this year Kristen has decreed it will be a DIY event — we get free rein on what we choose and how we present it. The hashtags #MarchMagics and #DWJMarch will allow us to broadcast our thoughts more widely on social media.

Simply pick up your absolute favorites, dive into them, and lose yourself for a few hours. Afterwards, share that love with others. If you want to host a readalong or a giveaway, DO IT! If you want to write a blog post, share on social media, or even read with your kids — PERFECT! If you want to pick up that last book you have been saving with a heavy heart, this is the time.

Finally there’s Reading Ireland Month or, as it’s dubbed by Cathy of 746 Books who began it, The Begorrathon (you’ll remember St Patrick’s Day is 17th March). She has posted a calendar for this year’s event:

• 2nd – 8th March: Contemporary Irish Novels
• 9th – 15th March: Classic Irish Novels
• 16th – 22nd March: Irish Short Story Collections
• 23rd – 29th March: Irish Non-Fiction

Even if I don’t follow this calendar I shall try to include a book or two on Irish themes. As it happens 2020 is the centenary of Rosemary Sutcliff‘s birth and I may squeeze in a read of her retelling of the Ulster saga the Cattle Raid of Cooley, Táin Bó Cúailnge. I may even go on later to a translation of the original medieval saga…

So, that’s four slots to fill in my reading for March — I wonder what I’ll choose? Or will I slink away at the end of the month with my tail between my legs?

Are you thinking of joining in with any of these events?