I can’t believe it’s been 2 whole months since I’ve last posted. I knew I hadn’t posted for a while but I did not realize it’s been a little over 2 months.
Life has definitely gotten busier the past two months and I honestly didn’t have it in me to add content creation to my never ending to do list. I don’t know what planets were in retrograde or acting up in whatever astrological way they did, but I’ve been feeling like a bug that’s hanging on for dear life on the window of a very fast moving truck. I feel like a shriveled up raisin and if you’re going to argue that raisins are already shriveled up, then I feel even more shriveled up.
The idea that it’s 2023 in less than thirty days makes me want to throw up. 2020 was a dumpster fire. 2021 felt like a 365 day hangover. And 2022 felt like I woke up from a very long hibernation period and am just learning how to walk, talk, and be a human again. My capacity and strengthen to continue performing at a respectable productive level dipped real fast halfway through the year. The first half of 2022 came with excitement and the will to succeed in life. Currently, I can’t seem to find that will anywhere. As soon as May or June hit, things started going downhill and I’ve been riding that low ever since the summer.
October and November were busy for work reasons and also because I was dedicating most of my time to NaNoWriMo. In October, when I wasn’t reading, working, or studying, I was trying to prep as much as I can for November. And in November, I spent every waking minute writing. Then of course came the slew of things that started breaking around me, starting with my car AC and ending with my apartment’s AC. It’s been an exhausting few weeks lol but I think I’ve pulled through the rut of it.
Today, I thought I’d sit down and share some of the past few month’s highlights with you all. So grab yourself a nice cup of tea and let’s dive back in time.
In October, I still managed to read some books. I was pretty tired at this point but I kick started my reading month by rereading a comfort favorite, “The Viscount Who Loved Me” by Julia Quinn. I absolutely love this book and I reread it for the first time in April, before the second Bridgerton season came out. As soon as the second week of October rolled around and I knew that weeks of chaos were awaiting me, I knew I had to reread this book. This marked the third reread for this book but the second of the year. It’s honestly such a comfort read and it physically warmed me up so it was definitely worth it. I also hauled two special editions of this book in October… I’m telling you, I leaned real hard into the comfort side of things in October lol.
“The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches” by Sangu Mandana was another October read that was wholesome and cozy. This is basically the female/witch version of “The House in the Cerulean Sea” by T.J Klune. We follow a witch who gets assigned to be a mentor for a couple of young witches who are just as wholesome, loving, and misunderstood as the kids in T.J Klune’s novel. There’s also a grumpy sunshine romance that I liked as well.
Since it was October, I tried to read a couple of spooky books that are thematic to the month of Halloween. “The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches” does have witches, making it inherently Halloween themed, but it didn’t meet the spooky metric I had in mind.
I picked up “The Shadows” by Alex North because I wanted to read at least one thriller this year and this one seemed particularly spooky from both the cover and synopsis. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that amazing. I’m going to have a full length review out on this soon but my main complaint with this book was the writing. I did enjoy the ending and the way the story wrapped up but the way we got to the end felt a bit anticlimactic.
I also read “Practical Magic” by Alice Hoffman. I’ve never seen the movie or read the book before so I thought as a reader, I’d start with the book. I thought the book was okay but it’s sadly not a new favorite of mine. I’d give it a high 3, maybe a 4 out of 5 stars. I thought the writing was really great but it’s a slow moving book and I was hoping for something fast when I picked this one up. The writing was the focal point for me when it came to this book. It didn’t feel like the author had written this book but rather painted it very slowly in a mesmerizing way that hooked the audience for a slow yet beautiful journey. There was something about the writing in this book that reminded me of “Howl’s Moving Castle” by Diana Wynne Jones.
“The Marriage Portrait” by Maggie O’Farrell was one of the newer Autumn releases I was looking forward to reading. I’m a huge history nerd and I love myself a good historical fiction and this did not disappoint. It’s also my first Maggie O’Farrell book and I can’t wait to dive into her earlier books. I watched an interview behind the concept of the story and the reason why Maggie pursued writing the journey of this historical woman from 1500’s Italy and found her answer just as mesmerizing as the book. Watching interviews like that after reading a book makes you look at the book a lot differently and for the better. Be prepared to hate everyone while you read this book and fall in love fiercely with the main character. I did some research after I read this book to see how much of it was factual and I believe that some liberties were taken in the end but other than that, it was a great fiction work that detailed the life of a young girl forced into a marriage that might just kill her.
The main highlight of November for me has to be participating and yes, WINNING, NaNoWriMo. I used to write a lot when I was younger but as I grew older, that youthful innocence and lack of inhibitions quickly disappeared. Creating art when we’re younger is so much easier than creating art when we’re older. The older we get, the more aware we are of what people think of us and the more we start to think about the mechanics of the making of art rather than the journey of it. We lose that sense of wonder and that ability to go on an adventure.
I always had problems relinquishing control and just letting go and trusting the process but it definitely got worse as I got older. I wanted to do NaNoWriMo this year because I wanted to challenge myself to let go and see where the story takes me.
I’m going to have a full length post on my NaNoWriMo experience out soon but my oh my, was it a process lol. It’s definitely hard, mentally and physically.
Because I dedicated so much time to writing this month, I didn’t do much reading.
I only read and finished one book in November. The “White Cat” by Holly Black was an okay read for me. The concept is very interesting and it’s got a magic system that I’ve never read about before. It was a really unique book so I feel bad giving it such an average rating but this book is part of a YA Fantasy series that came out around 2010. There’s just something about high schoolers that I just can’t stand lol. The whole high school/younger mind set is something I just don’t enjoy anymore and I wish the characters in this book were aged up to adults so I could enjoy it a bit better and not have to deal with nonsensical drama.
I also started two books that I didn’t end up finishing. I started “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” by Michelle McNamara and got halfway through it and my gosh, it’s amazing. And by amazing, I mean absolutely terrifying. The way the author captures the fear of California during that time and the way the killer evolved over the decades is chilling. And most importantly, she does a great job honoring and emphasizing the victims who have been affected by this serial killer.
I also started “Bad Vibes Only (And Other Things I Bring To The Table)” by Nora McInerny because the title made me laugh as it was so relatable to the way I’ve been feeling. I only got about twenty pages in so I don’t have much to say other than it’s an easy read and the author has a great writing style that’s casual but serious enough to grab the reader’s attention.
I wanted to watch a lot of old classic romance movie’s from the 90’s and early 2000’s in November but that didn’t end up happening either. I did watch Notting Hill and absolutely loved it. It’s such a cozy autumn/winter movie with a nice friend group, lovely dry British humor, and a young Hugh Grant. What more does anyone want?
Also, hear me out: young Hugh Grant is the only fan casting for Charlie Lastra that I deem acceptable. Just a bit of gray hair and we’ve got our Charlie.
The month rounded off with the holidays and as someone who gets stressed around the holidays and the general lack of boundaries, there were only a few bumps in the roads (so far at least). If you’re someone who finds the holiday season stressful or difficult, make sure to really take advantage of the time in between to maximize your self care! I ended up taking too much advantage of the holiday/Black Friday sales and got some new bags and a Kindle Paperwhite. I’m thinking of getting Kindle Unlimited so if you have any good book recommendations, let me know in the comments!
Besides winning NaNoWrimo in November, the second biggest highlight of the month was getting my car AC fixed. Driving in the sun in what feels like 90 degree weather is so hard, especially the long distance drives that always end in stand still traffic. It has been a long two months without AC and I’m glad I’ve put that phase of my life behind me lol.
What about you all? What’s been a recent highlight in your life? Read anything good watch? Watch anything good?