Happy Sunday!
It’s been almost a month since I’ve last posted and my oh my, it sure has been a busy past few weeks. I’ve got to say, I really missed these wrap ups. Since I have the memory of a fish, I actually had to go back to my past wrap ups to see how much I need to catch you all up on and it was fun seeing all the content I’ve consumed and have forgotten about as well as where I was mentally back during that week.
I didn’t mean to take a mini-hiatus but I had family visit for a while and after they left, I ended up taking a week off to relax and start to re-calibrate. I’ve drafted a mental health/productivity post that kind of gives you a taste of what I mean by “starting to re-calibrate”. While I had a lot of fun the past few weeks, there were also a lot of moments of self-reflection.
I wasn’t exactly in the best mental state when my apartment and life suddenly got bombarded by people and new projects that require all of my attention. I think externally, I was riding a lot of highs, but internally, I was reeling from boundaries and limits being pushed. There were moments where I felt like I was losing my sense of self. All that and the fact that we’re now halfway through the year led me into a mid-year/midlife crisis.
I talk more about this in an upcoming post but I thought that I’d share where I am mentally today in case it resonates with any of you. It’s okay to be a bit mushy mentally and it’s okay to realize that it’s time to un-mushy it and re-calibrate your life for the second half of the year.
On a brighter note, the past six days have been great. They haven’t been as productive as I wanted them to be, but I’ve been making progress and progress has been rare in my life the past few months. I took time out of my week to write about how burnt out I’m feeling and wrote out questions that I want to explore and answer. I’ve given myself a ton of grace as I implemented new habits and routines into my life. As someone who is somewhat of a perfectionist with a “do it all good or do nothing at all” mentality, giving myself grace and recognizing that I’m progressing is a big win.
Here are some highs from the past few days:
Small Space by Katherine Arden
This was such a fun read. It’s perfect for Halloween and it’s very cozy. I liked the set of characters the author was working with, especially the main character. This book follows our main character who’s mother recently passed away. We watch her struggle with this new loss and how she copes with her grief by losing herself in a good book. One day, she comes across a book that ends up changing her life forever by befriending a group of classmates she never thought she’d hang out with and a scary situation that makes her wish she never picked up the book in the first place.
The Dead Romantics by Ashely Poston
I really loved the beginning of this book and felt okay about it after the second half. I loved the ending but I went into this book with way too high expectations. All in all, it was a cute, fun read. It’s got a plot that’s so crazy and spectacular that you probably have never read about it. Sadly though, I didn’t feel like the book had a ton of tension to grip me. I have a full review on this coming out soon. I am excited to see what the author will publish next because with a plot like this, I expect some very entertaining novels from Ashely Poston in the future.
Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel
Wow, this book is w i l d. This is a book following a group of people who are sucked into researching and exploring this giant, glowing, metal hand that appeared one day in the middle of the woods. It’s very reminiscent of the movies/books “Arrival” and “The Martian”. It’s told in an interview format and has a wide set of characters who are all somewhat unpredictable yet really attached to this giant metallic hand. I loved it and I drove out to the bookstore today looking like a potato just to snag the rest of the trilogy.
I watched a lot of good shows and movies the past few weeks.
First and foremost, I watched The Witcher non-stop.
My days honestly went like: wake up, go to work, come home and try to be productive, and then transition to the inevitable let’s watch half of an episode, and somehow end up watching three episodes in a night.
The first season may have been a bit confusing for people because of the meshed in timelines but reaching the end of season 1 and seeing how everything ties up was so satisfying. The second season was even better because we learn more about Geralt’s past and the people he calls “family” as well as how he deals with the new additions in his life.
Vagabond – Korean Drama
When my family came over, they were on episode 8 of this show and I ended up watching the entire second half of the show with them in more or less two days. It’s so addictive. It’s a tv show featuring this young man trying to get justice for the death of his nephew who died in a plane crash that seems more and more like a business deal gone wrong. It explores corruption and politics and the justice department and special agents trying to get to the bottom of the case. This show did end season 1 with the set up of a season 2 but unfortunately, I don’t think that’s going to happen but I still recommend this show. It’s impossible to stop with just one episode. The last episode was a bit disappointing though because it was a bit unrealistic and rushed.
Start Up – Korean Drama
To this day, this is my favorite Korean Drama. It follows this young woman who’s determined to prove herself to be more successful than her estranged sister. As the title suggests, they end up entering this competition to develop a Start Up and out do each other. The show’s so wholesome and inspiring. It explores all kinds of love ranging from familial, friendship, to professional. I love how you might hate certain characters in the beginning of the show but grow to love them at the end. It’s equally as heart breaking as it is heart warming.
Major – Indian Movie
This movie was so inspiring, bone-chilling, and heart breaking. It’s a biopic movie about Major Sandeep Unnikrishan, an army officer who saved countless lives while giving his own in the 2008 Mumbai Terrorist attacks. I heard that a lot of this movie is as true to the real happenings of the terrorist attack as well as to the upbringing of Major Sandeep.
These are not books that I’ve hauled but books that I’ve heard about and have added to my TBR list:
How has your week been? What did you love and what did you not love?