Monthly Rewind: June 2024

Monthly Rewind: June 2024

L I F E

Aside from settling into my new job (still new two months in?), I haven’t been doing much aside from trying to find a nice schedule to keep streaming while also working full-time. I began streaming on Twitch in 2022, just as I left my previous job – so my schedule was pretty much open to stream whenever I wanted. Now I stream usually in the evening and I’m still live most evenings as it’s a fun de-stressor for me since I like to yap about anything while playing anything on stream. Funny enough, the audience between this blog and Twitch is as different as day and night. Sometimes, people find it a surprise that most of my internet history has been well documented here before I showed up on Twitch. But I still love being able to talk about my recent reads on stream, so feel free to drop by! Shameless twitch plug here.

B O O K S

Continue reading “Monthly Rewind: June 2024”

Monthly Rewind: May 2024 (long time no see…)

Monthly Rewind: May 2024 (long time no see…)

Uh, hi? Long time no see. It has been almost 7 months since my last blog post, and it feels so weird to be writing again. But I’m SO excited to return to blogging now that I feel like I’m in a better headspace to do so. So where have I been? If you remember from my previous posts, I was unemployed from September 2022 onwards. Since then, I have been actively job searching for roles both in publishing and in my hometown, where the roles I was applying for were mainly admin-based. To have such a long span of unemployment and face constant rejection from SO many jobs was extremely demotivating. Blogging has always been a hobby, and while job-searching, I found it extremely difficult to even finish a book because that looming fear of the job-searching process was always in the back of my mind, which led to me abandoning this site.

But that didn’t mean I disappeared off the internet. Musk might have basically made Twitter close to unusable for me, but most days you’ll find me on Twitch. I started streaming when I left my previous job as a way to improve my public speaking and it has become such a great creative output for me. I’ve improved a lot in terms of art because of Twitch and I even designed two V-tube models as a result of it. If you’re a fan of games like Genshin Impact, Phasmophobia and Elden Ring. Come hang out on Twitch while I play games badly and talk about my current reads.

May was the first MCM Comic Con for the year here in the UK and I had an absolute BLAST. Sadly, no cosplay this time but I do want to cosplay Stelle from Honkai: Star Rail for October. I had the chance to meet Sean Chiplock who voices some of my favourite characters including Revali from BOTW and Diluc from Genshin Impact. And there was a great talk with some of the voice actors from Baldur’s Gate 3, mainly the Tavs and other characters. (Sorry not sorry to everyone who watched me on Twitch go through the bear scene live – you all enjoyed it really.)

Before I go on a tangent about Baldur’s Gate3, I can now announce after a long, long job searching period, I now have a job! (in publishing!) I am currently working in an assistant role for bibliographic metadata! Metadata has always been one of those things that I thought I knew what it was but it wasn’t until I came across this job listing that there was a whole lot more than I ever imagined. I’m really enjoying my time so far in the role. I knew this was an industry I wanted to work in since I was 16 years old, so it’s safe to say it’s been a long time coming. You would think with a full-time job, it would be difficult to get back into reading but I found it so easy to return to my TBR. (I am utilising those 2-hour commute times to the fullest.) And with that, we can finally get to the monthly wrap-up, as I managed to read nine books this month. Reviews are to come for most of these titles.

B O O K S

Continue reading “Monthly Rewind: May 2024 (long time no see…)”

Monthly Rewind: April 2021

Monthly Rewind: April 2021

B O O K S

I managed to read 7 books this month! I’m slowly getting out of my reading slump and finally pushing through my TBR and ARC list! This month was so-so but looking at my upcoming TBR has me so excited!

I was not a fan of Jaigirdar’s debut, The Henna Wars, so I wasn’t expecting too much when I went into Hani and Ishu. But I was thoroughly surprised. Adiba Jaigirdar has improved a lot in her writing and story-telling! It was so sweet and fun! I even drew some fanart of Hani and Ishu!

June Hur’s newest book was released in April! I’ve been following her on twitter for quite some time now so I decided to finally get down and read her debut book! Korean period dramas have always been fascinating to me because the history is really interesting, and Bones was really thrilling! It reminded me of a K-drama I watched a few years back because of Cha Eunwoo. (Rookie Historian Goo Haeryung) The drama was rooted more in fantasy, but the plot elements were similar which I really enjoyed.

Continue reading “Monthly Rewind: April 2021”

Monthly Rewind: March 2021

Monthly Rewind: March 2021

B O O K S

I managed to read 5 books this month! But this might be my most disappointing reading month yet. March is always a weird month for me. Celebrating another birthday in lockdown doesn’t help either, but my sister and brother-in-law bought me an iPad so I’ve started drawing again! I’m really excited to practise and improve so I can draw all the head canons my heart desires. My current loves right now are Jujutsu Kaisen and SK8 the infinity so they were my obvious first drawings. (Sorry, Miwa but I want a selfie with gojo too…) I’ll be posting more art stuff on twitter to show progress!

Continue reading “Monthly Rewind: March 2021”

Monthly Rewind: February 2021

Monthly Rewind: February 2021

B O O K S

During February, I managed to read 5 books! This month has basically been revolved around looking for a new job, which has damped my reading mood. My current TBR is mainly fantasy books which has sort of pushed me into a reading slump right now because I feel like I’m not in the mindset to properly appreciate the details in them. Plus, I’ve slowly fallen into the JJK (jujutsu kaisen) fandom so that’s my current brain rot right now. And SK8 the Infinity.

  • Jujutsu Kaisen (volume 0 -> current chapter) by Gege Akutami – I started watching the anime earlier this year because of a Tik Tok, and when I tell you, I’ve never been so obsessed with something so quickly. Even my cousin was shocked to see that I had read all the chapter so quickly. I absolutely adored this manga, from the art to the fight scenes, and the story is just so well-done!
  • Counting Down with You by Tashie Bhuiyan – Look out for this one when it’s released! I’m trying to get myself back into reading contemporary novels and CDWY was a great one. So, so sweet!
  • Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé – From my upcoming review: “Gossip Girl meets Get Out in this dangerous debut that highlights everyday and institutional racism. It is intriguing and well written. It takes you on one hell of a ride as it challenges white supremacy embedded in academia.”
  • She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan – A standout debut! Quite possibly the best book I will read this year! A fantastic reimagining of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
  • Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo – As I mentioned, my onslaught of fantasy books I’m reading right now ended up causing me to feel really overwhelmed. So I randomly went through my contemporary TBR and picked this one out at random! I absolutely loved The Poet X, so it was no surprised that I enjoyed Clap When You Land as well!

M U S I C

Love Story | Flying on Faith | Remember that night? | Good days | Heat waves

P O S T S

A feature section to highlight my favourite posts from my fellow bloggers that were posted this month. 

  • Let’s Discuss; Does Re-Reading Books Destroy The Magic?
    • Check out Saniya’s first discussion post about re-reading books! Personally, I would love to re-read some of my favourite books but time is never on my side. Plus, like Saniya, part of me fears that the magic from the first read just isn’t there anymore.

That’s it for this month! Tell me what went on in YOUR life this month! What sort of things was important for you this month? New obsessions? New TV shows? Or book? Any new song recs (I’m always open to new music!)? Best books you read this month?

Recent posts

Monthly Rewind: January 2021

Monthly Rewind: January 2021

B O O K S

I actually surprised myself by reading 15 books this month. I have never read this much in a month, but I chalk it up to the UK being on its third lockdown. And now that I’ve graduated, all I can do it look for graduate jobs and read. It feel weird having this much time to read, but I quite enjoyed most of the books I read this month!

  • Six of Crows – I have finally read Six of Crows! I had bought a copy back when it was released but I hadn’t finished the Grisha Trilogy yet. So this book slowly fell down my TBR list because I had taken so long to read the first series. I didn’t like the trilogy that much, but I can definitely see the improvement in SOC. Pray I don’t take four years to read its sequel.
  • Loveboat, Taipei – I have really surprised myself this year with reading more contemporary novels and actually enjoying them for once! Loveboat was so good!
  • The Chosen – Eh, a little disappointing considering I have enjoyed reading Matharu’s previous series with my cousin.
  • Remnants of the Atonement – First DNF of the year 😦 I requested an arc because of a reddit post, but now I feel like I’ve been bamboozled.
  • Get a Life, Chloe Brown – “Yours, Red.” Two damn words and I was a MESS. Damn, who is this person I’ve become that suddenly enjoys contemporary.
  • The Song of Achilles (RE-READ) – I have been playing too much of Supergiant’s Hades. I’ve been desperately trying to reunite Patroclus and Achilles in-game, but it’s hard because I can never seem to find the room where Patroclus can be found.
  • A Place for Us – A book that hit a bit too deep for me. Man, I was sobbing at 3 am.
Continue reading “Monthly Rewind: January 2021”