Posted in Weekly Updates

Weekly Update: November 29-December 5, 2021

Happy Sunday, bibliophiles! I hope this week has treated you well.

This week has been…tiring, to say the least. The week after Thanksgiving Break is always a slog, but I got through to the weekend, at least. On the upside, we got our Christmas tree on Friday and I went to the Nutcracker ballet with my mom on Saturday!

Tired Of Studying GIFs | Tenor

As far as reading, my Thanksgiving break reading slump stretched out a little into this week, but reading some good old Star Wars books made things better. I wasn’t able to go to the library this week, but I picked up all my books early, and they look promising too!

AND I FINISHED NANOWRIMO!! I beat my 45,000 word count goal with 45,176!! After Tuesday night, I took a break from writing, and I’ll probably keep it that way until I have finals over with. But I want to edit draft 2 of my main sci-fi WIP that’s been gathering a little dust since…August? September? I don’t remember, but I need to dig it out and polish it up.

Other than that, I’ve just been getting through my homework, watching the new episode of Hawkeye (still just decent for me, but THE HANZEE CAMEO??? that was fun), listening to Abbey Road, and putting up Christmas decorations.

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:

Sweet & Bitter Magic – Adrienne Tooley (⭐️⭐️)

Amazon.com: Sweet & Bitter Magic: 9781534453852: Tooley, Adrienne: Books

Rise to the Sun – Leah Johnson (⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Rise to the Sun: 9781338662238: Johnson, Leah: Books - Amazon.com

Lost Stars (Star Wars) – Claudia Gray (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Amazon.com: Star Wars Lost Stars: 9781368013789: Gray, Claudia: Books

Slay – Brittney Morris (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

Amazon.com: SLAY: 9781534445420: Morris, Brittney: Books

POSTS AND SUCH:

SONGS:

CURRENTLY READING/TO READ NEXT WEEK:

This Isn’t Happening: Radiohead’s “Kid A” and the Beginning of the 21st Century – Stephen Hyden

This Isn't Happening: Radiohead's "Kid A" and the Beginning of the 21st  Century - Kindle edition by Hyden, Steven. Arts & Photography Kindle eBooks  @ Amazon.com.

Ace of Spaces – Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

Ace of Spades : Àbíké-Íyímídé, Faridah: Amazon.ca: Books

The Outside (The Outside, #1) – Ada Hoffmann

Amazon.com: The Outside eBook : Hoffmann, Ada: Kindle Store

The Dead and the Dark – Courtney Gould

Amazon.com: The Dead and the Dark: 9781250762016: Gould, Courtney: Books

Today’s song:

That’s it for this week in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

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Posted in Monthly Wrap-Ups

November 2021 Wrap-Up 🥧

Hey again, bibliophiles!

Jeez, it’s still so hard to believe that 2021 is almost over. It doesn’t feel like it should be over, but really…good riddance. As of now, there were good parts, but the burnout from online school, precalc, taking the SAT, and everything else in this mess deserves to go in the trash with 2020.

Okay, maybe I went too negative there. But this year did sort of suck. The first half, at least.

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

Lenny Busker from Legion | Aubrey plaza, Aubrey plaza legion, Legion

As a whole, I’d say November’s been alright. The pinkish-purple part of my hair has faded to this cool silvery color, and I’m liking it a lot.

NaNoWriMo has been a major part of this month, and it was a wild ride! There were times that I felt, in the words of Colin Robinson, “like I [had] the power of a thousand cowboys running through my veins,” but there were major slogs as well. But through it all, I managed to reach my word count and finish up the draft of that particular WIP! Looking at it now, it’s fairly short (only around 150 pages), but I’m more comfortable with it at a novella length like that. I feel like anything else that I could put in there would be filler.

And this is the last year of NaNoWriMo that I’ll be doing in the Young Writer’s Program…by the time next year comes around, I’ll be doing the full 50,000…

Other than NaNo, November has felt…strangely slow. I guess it’s the calm before the storm, since I have a big project coming up for my AP Gov class very soon [screams into the void], but it’s been an alright month; I finished up season 3 of What We Do in the Shadows (I’m sorry WHAT WERE THOSE LAST TWO EPISODES), saw Soccer Mommy live, drew more frequently, and listened to the abundance of new music that came out! Snail Mail, Spiritualized, Radiohead…life is good, folks. Life is good. Plus, Aurora’s End finally arriving brought so much joy into my life, and I’ve been gushing about it ever since.

this gifset doesn't do that scene justice | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs  | Tumgir

It’s been strange, though…we’ve had almost no snow this fall here in Colorado; by now, we’re usually having a little bit of snow almost every week, but since October, we’ve seen…maybe only three or four snows? And out of all of them, only one of them accumulated, and even then, it melted the next day, and it was barely an inch. It better snow come Christmastime. It better. I’m not much of a cold weather person, but you just can’t have Christmas without snow.

READING AND BLOGGING:

Counting my re-read of Aurora’s End, I read 21 books this month! Pretty good, all things considering. Also, I’m counting the fact that I’ve only re-read Aurora’s End once as a step in the right direction.

2 – 2.75 stars:

Amazon.com: Gods & Monsters (Serpent & Dove, 3): 9780063038936: Mahurin,  Shelby: Books
Gods & Monsters

3 – 3.75 stars:

Amazon.com: The Soul Keepers (The Soul Keepers, 1): 9781250309136: Taylor,  Devon: Books
The Soul Keepers

4 – 4.75 stars:

Amazon.com: The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle: 0760789273384: Turton,  Stuart: Books
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

5 stars:

Aurora's End eBook by Amie Kaufman - 9781524720902 | Rakuten Kobo Canada
Aurora’s End

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH: Aurora’s End5 stars

Aurora's End eBook by Amie Kaufman - 9781524720902 | Rakuten Kobo Canada
Aurora’s End

SOME POSTS I’M PROUD OF:

POSTS I ENJOYED FROM OTHER WONDERFUL PEOPLE:

SONGS/ALBUMS THAT I’VE ENJOYED:

great album! this is one of my favorite songs from it, but also a song that I can’t listen to frequently…tugs at the heartstrings
NEW SPIRITUALIZED NEXT FEBRUARY THIS IS NOT A DRILL
we are blessed by a truly FANTASTIC Snail Mail album!!
KID A MNESIA gave me an excuse to finally listen to Amnesiac…great stuff!
I’ve listened to this an alarming number of times since August but I haven’t fit it into any of my wrap-ups, so
historian was a pretty fantastic album!
this came on my shuffle the other day and I forgot how AMAZING it was

DID I FOLLOW THROUGH ON MY NOVEMBER GOALS?

Snail Mail - Thinning [4K 60FPS] (live @ Brooklyn Bazaar 1/26/18) GIF |  Gfycat
  • Read at least 20 books: 21, counting the Aurora’s End re-read!
  • Enjoy Thanksgiving Break: good, AP Gov homework notwithstanding.
  • Keep the progress on my current WIP: the draft is finished!!

DECEMBER GOALS:

Funny Gifs : rudolph the red nosed reindeer GIF - VSGIF.com
  • Read 20 books
  • Survive that AP Gov project [heavy breathing]
  • End 2021 on a good note!

Today’s song:

I know I’ve already posted once today and put in a different song, but since I didn’t have time to post yesterday, I figured I’d put in an extra song. love this one

That’s it for this month in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Posted in Weekly Updates

Weekly Update: November 22-28, 2021

Happy Sunday, bibliophiles! I hope this week has treated you all well. And Happy Thanksgiving for those of you in the States, since I didn’t get to say it on Thursday! I’m thankful for all of you here, and I’m so thankful for the bookish community we have here.

This week was my Thanksgiving Break; I didn’t do a whole lot, but it was so nice to be able to sleep in. I spent most of the week relaxing—I had a bit of AP Gov homework to do, but I was able to get in a lot of quiet time. Thanksgiving was also really nice—I loved helping cook and eating everything, and it all turned out delicious.

As far as reading goes…I’m sort of in a slump, but the weird thing is that this is the second Thanksgiving Break in a row where I’ve had a reading slump. Huh. Anyway, I have read a few good books, but the highest rating I gave any of them after Evelyn Hardcastle was 3.5/5, so…eh, well, I got some new ones at the library yesterday, so hopefully things will turn out better.

We’re in the final days of NaNoWriMo now, and I’m getting close to my goal! I had two days where I went on a huge streak, so that’s bumped up my word count goal nicely. (Had a few “I have the power of a thousand cowboys running through my veins right now” moments and somehow chugged out 1,700 and 1,800 instead of my normal 1,500.) But I should be on track to finish in a few days, so I’m excited!

Other than that, I’ve just been relishing the last few days of sleeping in, volunteering at the library, watching the first two episodes of Hawkeye (decent?), and scavenging for Thanksgiving leftovers.

Charlie Brown Thanksgiving GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle – Stuart Turton (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Amazon.com: The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle: 0760789268267: Turton,  Stuart: Books

You Know I’m No Good – Jessie Ann Foley (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

You Know I'm No Good by Jessie Ann Foley

Gods & Monsters (Serpent & Dove, #3) – Shelby Mahurin (⭐️⭐️.5)

Gods & Monsters by Shelby Mahurin - online free at Epub

Six Wakes – Mur Lafferty (⭐️⭐️)

Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty

Death Prefers Blondes – Caleb Roehrig (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

Amazon.com: Death Prefers Blondes: 9781250155825: Roehrig, Caleb: Books

POSTS AND SUCH:

LITERALLY JUST LUCY DACUS SONGS:

CURRENTLY READING/TO READ NEXT WEEK:

Sweet & Bitter Magic – Adrienne Tooley

Amazon.com: Sweet & Bitter Magic: 9781534453852: Tooley, Adrienne: Books

Slay – Brittney Morris

Slay by Brittney Morris

Rise to the Sun – Leah Johnson

Rise to the Sun: 9781338662238: Johnson, Leah: Books - Amazon.com

Star Wars: Lost Stars – Claudia Gray

Amazon.com: Star Wars Lost Stars: 9781368013789: Gray, Claudia: Books

Today’s song:

I had this stuck in my head the entire time I was watching Hawkeye, for some reason

That’s it for this week in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Posted in Weekly Updates

Weekly Update: November 15-21, 2021

Happy Sunday, bibliophiles! I hope this week has treated you well.

Most of this week has just been “getting through to Friday because break starts after that,” but it hasn’t been a bad week. In fact, I’d say it’s been a good one—chiefly because I got to finally read Aurora’s End! Even though some of the books I read this week weren’t as good, Aurora’s End brightened everything, and my heart is so, so full for Squad 312. As always. But more than usual.

I’ve been chugging along through NaNoWriMo as well; it’s felt a little more like a slog this week, but I’ve still been able to reach my daily word count every day. [knocks on wood]

Other than that, I’ve just been volunteering at the library, drawing some aliens, and notifying everybody I know who’s into the Aurora Cycle that my school library stocked two copies of book 3. I am nothing if not extremely predictable. And now it’s Thanksgiving Break! It’s nice to have a week off here.

Finding Nemo Todays The Day GIF - Finding Nemo Todays The Day The Sun Is  Shining - Discover & Share GIFs

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:

City of Shattered Light – Claire Winn (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

City of Shattered Light by Claire Winn, Paperback | Barnes & Noble®

Aurora’s End (Aurora Cycle, #3) – Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (read twice) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Aurora's End eBook by Amie Kaufman - 9781524720902 | Rakuten Kobo Canada

The Ghost Seekers (The Soul Keepers, #2) – Devon Taylor (⭐️⭐️.5)

Amazon.com: The Ghost Seekers (The Soul Keepers, 2): 9781250168337: Taylor,  Devon: Books

Gender Queer – Maia Kobabe (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Gender Queer: A Memoir : Kobabe, Maia: Amazon.in: Books

POSTS AND SUCH:

SONGS:

CURRENTLY READING/TO READ NEXT WEEK:

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle – Stuart Turton (for book club)

The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

Six Wakes – Mur Lafferty

Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty

Gods & Monsters (Serpent & Dove, #3) – Shelby Mahurin

Gods & Monsters by Shelby Mahurin | Hardcover | Epic Reads

Death Prefers Blondes – Caleb Roehrig

Amazon.com: Death Prefers Blondes: 9781250155825: Roehrig, Caleb: Books

Today’s song:

That’s it for this week in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Posted in Weekly Updates

Weekly Update: November 1-7, 2021

Happy Sunday, bibliophiles! I hope this week has treated you all well.

It’s been a good start to November, I’d say. My reading week was a little slow, but I got some promising books from the library, so I’m confident that it’ll pick up soon.

The most important thing about this week, though, is the start of NaNoWriMo! I’m still in the Young Writer’s program right now, but this’ll be my last year…[sniffles] I’m shooting for 45,000 words this year, and somehow, I’ve managed to get in my 1,500+ words in every day this week! Knock on wood that I’ll be able to keep up the pace for the whole month…[aggressively knocks on the table]

Kermit Typing GIF - Kermit Typing Frog - Discover & Share GIFs

It’s also been a fantastic week for music, if I do say so myself! First off, we got a new Spiritualized single, and he confirmed that a new album is on the way!! For me, it’s the best music he’s released in years, and I’m so excited to hear everything else!! We got new Snail Mail and some reissued Radiohead BOTH on Friday, and both of them are fantastic! I’m especially happy about Snail Mail—expect an album review soonish! (If Nano lets me…)

Other than that, I’ve just been drawing, watching a few more episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender (very slow progress, oops…), finishing and puzzling over season 3 of What We Do in the Shadows (I’m sorry WHAT were those last two episodes??), seeing Soccer Mommy live (she was amazing! The crowd…wasn’t.), and eating leftover Halloween candy. Also, I’m seeing Last Night in SoHo this afternoon, and I’m excited for it! My brother said it was even better than Baby Driver, which is really saying something…

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:

The Girls Are Never Gone – Sarah Glenn Marsh (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

The Girls Are Never Gone by Sarah Glenn Marsh: 9781984836151 |  PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

Dream Country – Ashaye Brown (⭐️⭐️)

Amazon.com: Dream Country: 9781916042988: Brown, Ashaye: Books

Ms. Marvel: Stretched Thin – Nadia Shammas and Nabi H. Ali (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

Ms. Marvel: Stretched Thin (Original Graphic Novel) by Nadia Shammas, Nabi  H. Ali, Paperback | Barnes & Noble®

The Turn of the Screw – Henry James (for school) (⭐️⭐️⭐️)

5 Great Horror Books for Teens and Why to Read Them

POSTS AND SUCH:

SONGS:

CURRENTLY READING/TO READ NEXT WEEK:

The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry – C.M. Waggoner

The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry: Waggoner, C. M.: 9781984805867:  Amazon.com: Books

The Soul Keepers – Devon Taylor

The Soul Keepers (The Soul Keepers, #1) by Devon Taylor

The Way You Make Me Feel – Maurene Goo

The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo

Trouble the Saints – Alaya Dawn Johnson

Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson

Today’s song:

finally got the chance to listen to all of Amnesiac with the reissue yesterday, great stuff!

That’s it for this week in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!