Tag: january wrap-up

I’m still on my video game kick and have designated very little time for reading. I’m also back in school! Hoping to keep some reading time for myself, though. 🙂

Books Read:

• The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov. 3 stars, review.
• Devolution by Max Brooks. 4.5 stars, review.

Books read: 2 books
Average rating: 3.75 stars

Other Media:

• Movies:
  • Train to Busan [2016]. 3 stars, rewatch.
  • Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse [2018]. 5 stars.
• TV Shows:
  • Criminal Minds, Season 1 Ep 2, Season 2 Eps 1-2
  • Umbrella Academy, Season 1 Eps 2-8
  • The Bachelor, Season 25 Eps 1-4
  • I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, Eps 1-4
  • WandaVision, Season 1 Ep 1
  • The Boys, Season 2 Eps 5-7
• Video Games:
  • Stardew Valley
  • Animal Crossing (all day every day)
  • Among Us
  • Fallout: New Vegas (come watch on my twitch channel!)

Short Reads/Watches:

• —

My Month in Photos:

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I mentioned this last month, BUT I started my master’s last week! I’m still finding myself with some time for reading, but not nearly as much. I’ll definitely be posting somewhat sporadically here and am going to make an effort to keep an eye on everyone else so I don’t feel too isolated from y’all! I’m studying public health and am already positive this was a fantastic decision. I’m really excited to keep learning and to move forward in my career. 🙂

Books Read:

• Trickster’s Queen by Tamora Pierce. 4.5 stars, reread.
• Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell. 3 stars, RTC.
• Murder on the Rockport Limited! (The Adventure Zone #2) by Clint McElroy, Griffin McElroy, Justin McElroy, Travis McElroy, and Carey Pietsch. 4 stars.
• A Crime in the Neighborhood by Suzanne Berne. 2 stars, review.
• You Are Not Alone by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen. 2.5 stars, review.
• The Body Lies by Jo Baker. 5 stars, review.
• Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King. 2 stars, review.
• In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado. 5 stars, RTC.
• Enduring Love by Ian McEwan. 2 stars, review.
• The Marsh King’s Daughter by Karen Dionne. 4.5 stars, review.

Books read: 10 books
Average rating: 3.45 stars

Other Media:

• Movies:
  • Rattlesnake [2019]. 2 stars.
  • Coherence [2013]. 4 stars, rewatch.
  • Parasite [2019]. 3.5 stars.
  • Knives Out [2019]. 4.5 stars.
• TV Shows:
  • The Bachelor, Season 24 Eps 1-4.
  • Rick & Morty, Season 4 Eps 4-5.
  • Who The (Bleep) Did I Marry?, Season 4 Ep 1.
  • The Circle, Season 1.
  • Love Island UK, Season 3 Eps 12-18 (thanks Rachel).
  • Interior Design Masters, Season 1 Ep 1.
• Video Games:
  • A little bit of The Last of Us.

Notable Posts by Others:

• A great review of And Then There Were None @ watercolorstain
• Some fun blog post ideas @ Naty’s Bookshelf
• An extremely comprehensive summary of the issues surrounding American Dirt @ Hannah and Her Books

My Month in Photos:

Twitter | Goodreads | Instagram | Facebook

Books Read:

• Wool by Hugh Howey. 5 stars.
• Sex at Dawn by Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethá. 5 stars, review.
• An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen. 4 stars, review.
• The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater. 5 stars.
• If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo. 4 stars, review.
• First Test by Tamora Pierce. 4 stars, review.
• The Mystery of Hollow Places by Rebecca Podos. 4 stars, review.
• Draw Your Day by Samantha Dion Baker. 5 stars.

Books read: 8
Average rating: 4.5 stars

Notable Posts by Others:

• English with Style and Humor: Random House’s Chief Copy Editor on Lesson’s Learned @ What’s Nonfiction – A great review of what looks like a really fun book!
• No Lights, Camera, Action @ Strikeouts + Sprinkles – A fun review of Ozark done in a collaborative format by Becky and Paul.
• Why YOU isn’t Romantic: My Stalking Experience @ Spine Cracker – An important commentary on the Netflix show that premiered recently.
• Is It All In My Head? @ Strikeouts + Sprinkles – A reminder that it’s normal to feel a little extra self-conscious sometimes.
• The Marie Kondo Books Debate Has Classist & Racist Undertones That Can’t Be Ignored – This discourse has made me sooo angry, and this article really explains why. I’ve been obsessively sharing it with anyone who shares that dumb meme.

Other Media:

• Happy Death Day [Film; 2017]: God I just love this movie so much.
• Wrong Turn 2: Dead End [Film; 2007]: Typical Bad horror movie, not for those with sensitive stomachs.
• Fyre Fraud [Film; 2019]: Pretty interesting, but needlessly condescending toward and about millennials, as if no other generation has ever been fooled in any way. Can’t say I don’t luv that #drama tho. 
• FYRE [Film; 2019]: This paints a much more stark view of the situation than Fyre Fraud does. It seems Fyre Fraud aimed more for shock and comedy and focused more on Billy himself. FYRE focuses more closely on the festival itself as well as its financial ramifications. Much more informative.
• Sorry to Bother You [Film; 2018]: Really intriguing. Not sure what I was expecting, but this definitely wasn’t it. I’ll be interested to see if this gets any Oscar noms (they come out after I write this but before this post will be published).
• Thoroughbreds [Film; 2017]: Wasn’t quite in the right mindset for this, but still appreciated it a lot. Slow build to an incredible climax. Will definitely be re-watching it in the future.
• Isle of Dogs [Film; 2018]: I enjoyed this overall, but the White Savior trope wasn’t great.
• Eighth Grade [Film; 2018]: This unfortunately didn’t do much for me. I can appreciate Elsie Fisher’s acting, but I really just didn’t Get anything out of it.

My Month in Photos:

Twitter | Goodreads | Instagram | Facebook

Books:

• Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. 3/5 stars.
• Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi. DNF.
• Seven-Sided Spy by Hannah Carmack. DNF.
• Stardust by Neil Gaiman. 2/5 stars, review.
• Spinsters and Lesbians by Trisha Franzen. DNF.
• Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. 4/5 stars, review.
• You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day. DNF.
• Text Me When You Get Home by Kayleen Schaefer. 3/5 stars, review to come.
• Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce. 5/5 stars, review to come.
• The Immortalists by Chloe Bejamin. 4/5 stars, review to come.
• Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer. 5/5 stars, review.
• The Chalk Man by CJ Tudor. DNF.
• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. 3/5 stars, review to come.
• The Merry Spinster by Mallory Ortberg. 4/5 stars, review to come.

Books read: 9
Books DNF’d: 5
Average Rating: 3.67 stars

Movies:

• It [2017] directed by Andy Muschietti. 4/5 stars.
• The Open House [2018] directed by Matt Angel. 5/5 stars.
• An American Crime [2007] directed by Tommy O’Haver. 4/5 stars.

Other Posts:

• Everless [review]
• The Dream Thieves [review]
• Goldeline [review]
• Oliver Loving [review]
• The Ultimate Book Tag
• Down the TBR Hole #11
• 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime [tag]
• February 2018 Releases

Reading Goal Progress:

In 2017, I managed to read 70 books so I decided to aim for 75 books in 2018! I don’t have any other solid goals yet, I’ve thought about doing some book challenges, but I really just prefer to mood read! In January, I read 9 books, which puts me 3 books ahead of schedule and at 12% of my reading goal for the year. 🙂

Personal Highlights (aka a photo dump of things I did this month):

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