Happy Sunday, bibliophiles! I hope this week has treated you well.
It’s been a bit of a long week for me—very cold, filled with studying, and topped off with a reading slump. But, miracle of miracles, our school district called a snow day on Wednesday AND a 2-hour delay the next day! Freezing as it was (and it got well below freezing in the middle of the week), it was so nice to sleep in.
As far as my reading, I’ve been in a bit of a slump. I ended up having three 2-star reads in a row, so most of the week was a bit of slog. Fortunately, The Grief Keeper seems to have temporarily broken me out, and I’m excited for the books I got at the library yesterday.
Writing-wise, I’ve been getting deep into the weeds of editing, with…varying degrees of success. I’m in the process of both cutting out and resurrecting scenes, which involves trawling through my almost 600-page first draft (OOPS), so that’s been a bit of a struggle. All in the name of making things more coherent.
Other than that, I’ve just been drawing a bit, practicing guitar, watching the new season of Raised By Wolves (interesting start??), listening to the new Lucy Dacus single (SO GOOD) and the new Mitski album (hit or miss…expect a review soon), and hovering around the fireplace to warm up.
2022. It’s gonna be a momentous year for me—I’m graduating high school and starting college, after all! January’s been both fun and stressful, but I’d say it’s been a good start to this year so far.
GENERAL THOUGHTS:
Better than last January, certainly, but that’s a pretty low standard. I blame precalc.
After a barely snowy December, it’s finally felt like winter here. A little…too much so. I like snow, generally, but after the first few I start to get sick of the ice on the roads and waking up at 6 AM in the freezing cold. But that’s Colorado. At least the snow looks beautiful on the mountains.
My last semester of high school…I still haven’t managed to grasp it. But either way, it started out smoothly, and it’s gradually begun to feel more like…well, School. Lots of tests and quizzes to study for, which I’m not thrilled about, but I’m finally in a creative writing class, and I’m really enjoying it! I’ve gotten to write a lot of interesting poetry, and I feel a lot less nervous about reading it out loud now. I ended up stressing out about college a lot this month, but now that there’s more certainty in the future, I feel a lot better. And I think I’ll be very happy with where I’m going.
Editing the WIP has been on and off, but I’ve gone through the first initial read-through! Now that I’ve identified what needs to be done, I just need to tweak things here and there. I’ve been trying for years to be more open about sharing parts of my story with friends and family, and I’m getting closer, but I’m hoping sharing the story itself will be the next step. Kind of needs to be, anyway, if I want to get it published someday…
Other than that, I spent some time with family, got comics, went skiing for the first time since early 2020 (or was it 2019?), I got to see Danny Elfman live (which was AMAZING!!), watched the first two episodes of The Book of Boba Fett then timed out, re-watched Edward Scissorhands and Felt A Great Many Things, watched The House, and got around to drawing a little more.
I’ve also been getting more into X-Men lately—well, more than usual, at any rate. They’ve been special to me for years, but I haven’t been this much into them since…probably this time three years ago, freshman year. I think reading the newer comics has spurred it on again. There’s something oddly sacred about reconnecting with that part of my past self, of knowing that what gave her joy still gives me joy now. To know that I’ve grown so much since then.
I realized that I’ve never really explained where my blog name comes from—the “Mutant” part of “The Bookish Mutant” is a reference to the X-Men.
well said, Kurt. well said.
READING AND BLOGGING:
I read 21 books this month! I put my Goodreads challenge at 200 books because I’m anticipating a hectic year, what with moving into college and all that. Either way, I’m surprised—and glad—to have gotten around to reading this much, however hit-or-miss this batch was.
this is the only audio of this song that I could find on YouTube for some reason?? anyways I love it & my creative writing teacher put the album cover as the header for his google classroom and it’s awesome
new spoon woo woo woo!!
new Mitski will be in our hands so soon!!! can’t wait!!
one of those songs I heard as a kid but only remembered a tiny bit of
at this point, the score for Edward Scissorhands is easily one of my favorite film scores of all time
a hit-or-miss album overall for me, but the highlights of it were incredible
DID I FOLLOW THROUGH ON MY JANUARY GOALS?
Colorado January hours
Set a reasonable Goodreads goal: yep, 200. Now that I’ve gotten through challenges where I’ve read 250-300 books (I still don’t know how I managed the 300 that one time…), I set it lower knowing that this year will be hectic, what with graduating high school and going off to college in the fall. (!!!!)
Start 2022 on a good note! I saw Danny Elfman live, for god’s sakes. If that’s not starting 2022 on a good note, then I don’t know what is.
FEBRUARY GOALS:
shamelessly whipping out this gif every year
Make another Black History month list—I’ve read so many amazing books by Black authors since last February!
Review some of the albums that are coming out next month!! (So many!!)
Actually post some art here, if I get the time…it’s about time
Today’s song:
That’s it for this month in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!
Happy Sunday, bibliophiles! I hope this week has treated you well.
It’s been an alright week, I suppose. Lots of snow and ice, but no two-hour delay like last week (??). I’ve had lots of quizzes lately and I have lots of quizzes in the foreseeable future, which I’m not thrilled about, but that’s school.
I had another mixed bag of books this week, but I found a few that I had a lot of fun with! I got Beyond the End of the World in the mail too, and it was so much fun to reconnect with that world. I’ve been gathering some books by Black authors for Black History Month starting on Tuesday, so I’m excited to get into those as well!! I also got to make a Black History Month display in the teen section of my local library, which was a lot of fun.
I haven’t been writing a whole lot this week, but I’ve been having a lot of fun writing some weird poetry in my creative writing class at school. We’ll see where next week takes me.
Other than that, I’ve just been drawing when I can, bundling up for the snow, watching The House on Netflix (THE ANIMATION), and playing guitar. Alright start to 2022, I think.
Happy Sunday, bibliophiles! I hope this week has treated you well.
How is it that this week still felt so tiring even when I had a day off and a two-hour delay?
It’s been an alright week, though. Very cold. We got two snows in the span of two days, and it feels very much like January right now. Of course, my art teacher made us go on a walk to collect reference pictures…in 20 degree weather on a slippery path. I suppose I did get a good picture of the lake with a thin ice sign.
It’s been a slightly slower reading week, but I got through all of my library books and liked a good portion of them! Anthem was a rough ride, but most of the other books managed to lift me up a little. I haven’t been able to edit my WIP as much this week, but I finished my initial read through! Now I just need to run through and fix all the continuity errors (that I can catch) and flesh out some things that need to be fleshed out.
Other than that, I’ve just been drawing some X-Men characters (I should really post some of my art here at some point…I’ve been saying that for at least two years and haven’t done anything oof), studying, learning “Trimm Trabb” on guitar, and trying to stay warm. I also re-watched Edward Scissorhands last night, and needless to say, Felt Things
Happy Sunday, bibliophiles! I hope this week has treated you well.
This week was my first week back to school, and it hasn’t been all that bad in that respect. Homework is still light at the moment, so I’m enjoying my last vestiges of time where I come home without anything I need to do.
Reading-wise, it’s been a mixed bag. I’ve been going through a combination of my preorders, my library haul, and my comics from last Friday. I had a lot of time to read this week, but my ratings have been all across the board, so…yep. It’s all over the place.
I’ve been getting back into editing my WIP, and I managed to knock out a few of the most important scenes last night! I’m nearly done with the initial run-through, but I need to go through it again (probably several times) for consistency issues and things I want to add in or subtract, so we’ll see how it goes from here.
Other than that, I’ve just been playing Minecraft, drawing when I can, listening to a whole bunch of new singles (Spoon! Mitski! Guerilla Toss! SPIRITUALIZED!!) and playing guitar. I also went to see Danny Elfman perform with the Colorado Symphony on Friday night!! Absolutely magical. I count myself pretty lucky to have seen Danny Elfman live twice in one year.
Happy Sunday, bibliophiles! I hope this first full week of 2022 has treated you well.
I thought my school was off for winter break for another full week, but as it turns out, school started this Wednesday…oof
We had a 2-hour delay because of the snow though, so at least I got to sleep in on Thursday. And it’s been an easy week—I have a creative writing class now too!
Reading-wise, I’ve just been trawling books from the Kindle library, with varying degrees of success. Two of them I loved, and two of them were books that I had highly anticipated but ended up being disappointed by. (Oh, Persephone Station and Sisters of the Snake…how you’ve let me down…)The latter resulted in, sadly, my first DNF of the year…[heavy sigh]
Slowly, I’ve been getting through the editing stage of draft 2 of my WIP. I got through my favorite scene, though, so that was fun to revisit. I got to write some fun blog posts this week too, so that’s been good.
Other than that, I’ve just been watching The Tragedy of Macbeth (so so SO good) andThe Book of Boba Fett (ehh?? I have mixed feelings but I’ll stick around), waiting for my preorders to arrive in the mail (1 down, 1 to go…even though they came out on the same day?), getting comics, volunteering at the library, and skiing for the first time since…probably 2019?
Oh, and happy (belated) birthday, Bowie. Miss you always. ⚡️
The last week of 2021 was a peaceful one for me; mostly just staying inside and doing nothing, which is nice for a change. We saw Spiderman: No Way Home on Sunday night, and it was AMAZING. New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day were quiet, and I watched Wes Anderson movies (The French Dispatch, Isle of Dogs, and Fantastic Mr. Fox) with my family until midnight.
I’ve had a lot more time to read over break, which I’ve been so grateful for! Unfortunately, all of my usual volunteer days at the library have fallen on days when the library’s closed for the holidays, so I’ve finished the last of my library holds. For now, I’m scouring the Kindle library until I can go back to the library, but I have two books that I preordered that both come out in two days, so… 😳
I kind of hit a wall with editing my WIP—I just felt unsatisfied with a lot of it and just went and played Minecraft for several days instead of looking at it. I looked back over some of it yesterday and tried to come up with solutions, but it’s gonna be a long editing period…
Other than that, I’ve just been drawing, petting my cats, watching Get Back (how is it that the MINUTE George leaves, EVERYTHING devolves into chaos?), and doing my best to stay warm.
(uncertain—since I’m reading off the Kindle library, I don’t know exactly what I’m reading next, so I’ll slip in the two books I preordered that come out on the 4th)
Sorcery of Thorns – Margaret Rogerson
The Kindred – Alechia Dow
Anthem – Noah Hawley
Today’s song:
I feel like I’ve posted this song at least twice on here before but it came on shuffle today and DANG
That’s it for this week in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!
I figured this year that monthly wrap-ups would be a fun way to track my reading progress. This is my first stab at it, so we’ll see how it goes…
GENERAL THOUGHTS:
January was…an interesting month? Definitely had its ups and downs, I’d say. The school year started out super stressful and overwhelming, and I had to take a week and a half off blogging. But after getting over that initial hump, the workload started to get more manageable, and it’s stayed that way, for the most part, knock on wood.
As far as writing goes, I finished the initial edits on my first draft of the sci-fi WIP I’ve been steadily chipping away at since November 2019 (or thereabouts). I’ve now started outlining it before moving onto draft two; the filler chapters…why did I write so many filler chapters…
I found a lot of good music though! I’ve been listening to loads of Julien Baker lately (I can’t wait for the new album in February!), and I thoroughly enjoyed getting into the scores for Fargo and Legion. I just got into Lucy Dacus too, and No Burden was a good album, for the most part.
And it’s generally just a relief to have Joe Biden in office. Hey, he’s not perfect, but it’s quite a nice change to not have to worry about my basic human rights being taken away on the daily. 🙂
READINGAND BLOGGING
My Goodreads challenge is for 250 books at present (I lowered it in anticipation of schoolwork), and I read 20 books in January! (Not counting a few single-issue comics.) This is the first year where I’ve been paying attention to how many books I’ve actually read in a month, so it’ll be interesting to see how my progress waxes and/or wanes.
FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH: Zero Repeat Forever – 4.75 stars, rounded up to 5
I’m too lazy to list every single post that I’ve made this month (and I think that it’d be rather tedious to go through, anyway), so here are some of my highlights.
Happy Sunday, bibliophiles! I hope this week has treated you all well.
The pseudo-almost-reading slump that I had last week started to continue into this week, but some of my library holds picked up significantly after that, as well as some of the holds that came in on my Kindle. Now I have my haul from my Christmas gift card to look forward to, and I’m so excited for that!
Outlining for the second draft of my sci-fi WIP has been pretty slow going, but I’d say that I’m making steady process. (The fact that I’ve had another light school week has certainly helped.) I left a whole bunch of comments during the initial edits I did on the first draft, and occasionally I’ll just find one that cracks me up.
Other than that, I drew a bit, caught up on WandaVision (OKAY EPISODE FOUR DEFINITELY PICKED UP), and watched The Hunt for the Wilderpeople with my family. The latter made me cry like a baby, but it was 100% worth it. Also, I’m learning “Quicksand” by David Bowie on the guitar 🥺 what a beautiful song
Happy Sunday, bibliophiles! I hope this week has treated you all well.
After how overwhelming last week was academic-wise, I had a blessedly light homework week. So I felt a whole lot better overall. I spent the day off on Monday not doing a whole lot other than reading, which was a good break.
As far as my reading week…is there a word for a book slump that’s momentarily interrupted by one (1) 5-star read, and then goes back to being a string of meh reads? Because that’s what happened this week…I didn’t enjoy The Novice (for my book club), then had a 5 star read, then the last two books I read this week were a 2 star and a disappointing sequel. Sigh…
But hey, things might be looking up! I got another great library haul on Friday afternoon, and my digital hold on I’m Thinking of Ending Things (I’ve wanted to read it ever since I watched the movie), and I was finally able to pick up the three books I bought with the gift card I got for Christmas! So hopefully my reading will pick up from there…
Other than that, I’ve steadily been outlining the second draft of my sci-fi WIP, listening to a lot of 6ths, and eating pizza and fried rice. It’s been a peaceful week, I’d say. And Joe Biden’s in office now! Good news! (Also, I CAN’T NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THE BERNIE MEMES…they never seem to get old…)
The Bookish Mutant 