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
as told by zaheerah 