Reading for the Sake of Content // some honest thoughts from blogging over the years

Happy new year, again! Cue the yearly reading challenges, resolutions, and pledges to read more!

NY resolutions from january 1-30 🥳

Maybe not, though.

This year, we all seem to want the universe to please cut us a break. It appears that many people have taken the initiative to carve out some guilt-free, time for rest in the upcoming months, and for some avid readers, this means cutting down on how many books we’re aiming to read by 2022. 

Although I personally don’t plan on scaling back my reading this year—there’s only so much reading my “slow-reader” butt can cut down on before I’m not reading anything 😅—the idea of slowing down how much literature I’m consuming brings to mind a question I ask myself often: how much do I read for the sake of content for my blog and YouTube channel? 

My 2021 New Year’s Resolutions // reflecting on last year and starting a digital reading journal

Happy new year!

I haven’t done one of these posts since 2018 (three years ago!?!), so I thought I would finally do one in the spirit of 2021 being a better year than 2020 🤞.

The overarching theme that I’ve set for myself this year is: I can do difficult things. It’s pretty much the same as my 2018 theme to “push myself outside of my comfort zone”, and as it silly as it sounds, it’s actually effective having something like a saying that I can remind myself of all year. (It’s better than not having anything to guide me like last year 😅.) Although my resolutions are very general and don’t appear to fall under “I can do difficult things“, it’s all cohesive in my head 😂:

Book Review: Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones // yes, you should still read the book even if you’ve seen the movie

Title: Howl’s Moving Castle

Author: Diana Wynne Jones

Published: April 1986

Pages: 329

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance

Book Depository / Goodreads

I finally read Howl’s Moving Castle. 

—six months ago, but who’s keeping track?

This acclaimed novel was originally published in 1986, but I discovered it the way I think a good number of people did: through the 2004 animated film adaptation produced by Studio Ghibli and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Usually, I wouldn’t bother reading a book if I’ve seen its movie already, but I had always had an exception for Howl’s Moving Castle. The movie was just so magical and beautifully-crafted, and the soundtrack (the soundtrack!) was so good that I knew I had to see where it was born from. After finally reading the book, I can say that it was completely worth my time. 

Books Based On My Favorite Karaoke Songs // a self-indulgent recommendation post

I can’t sing to save my life.

But, sing-screaming to a karaoke song?

Normally, I try to stay away from doing recommendation posts because I end up recommending the same five books I always mention. So, I really don’t know what to say about this post, except that I wanted to talk about music, but with a bookish spin .

Do You Follow The Hype Train? // my opinion on reading hyped books

Are you a passenger on the hype train?

Train metaphors ✌️😅.

i watched this gif too many times than i’d like to admit.

Every month, Rukky from Eternity Books shares weekly bookish discussion topics for her awesome Let’s Talk Bookish feature. I always look forward to the discussions and am finally participating in today’s: The Hype Train! Rukky provided some great guide questions, so I’ll keep this intro short 💃:

Check out Rukky’s blog and the discussion topics! Her posts are always so fun and thoughtful!

My Post-Midyear Freak Out Read-a-thon

I am five books behind my Goodreads Reading Challenge.

It’s a little concerning considering that we’re three-fourths into the year and I’m a self-proclaimed slow reader.

This mess all boils down to how unexpectedly busy this first semester of school has been for me. Thankfully, I have few to no academic-related responsibilities this upcoming week, so I can play catch up on my reading goal for this year—again. I’m *trying* to be extra ambitious (but realistic) this read-a-thon since I don’t know when I’ll get another chance to read for recreation this semester 😢.

---

THE TBR

1. A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir – I’ve been *reading* (I use the term very loosely) this book since the end of July. I can feel myself losing interest in it, but I want to finally see it through because I was really enjoying the series so far. This book is the second book in the fantasy series, An Ember in the Ashes. I don’t want to spoil anything about the book just in case any of you are interested in or are reading the first book. As usual, I linked all the titles of books mentioned in the post to their Goodreads page for those who want to learn more about them 💫.
2. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho – This is actually a re-read, and that’s not something I usually do. This book follows an Andalusion shepard, Santiago, as he journeys to the pyramids of Giza in search of a treasure that he feels is calling for him.
3. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel – This book has been on my TBR for forever, and I was finally able to pick it up at a book sale last month. From what I understand, this is a science fiction book following five characters and how their lives interconnect through time.
4. Minority Report by Philip K. Dick – This book is set in a world where the police have a technology that identifies people who will commit a crime before the crime is committed. When the  Precrime System pinpoints its creator and police officer, John Anderton, as the next criminal, the whole system is put into question. I picked this book up on a whim at the same book sale as Station Eleven, so I have no expectations.

And with that, let’s begin! 

My 24 Hour Read-a-thon

aaAAAAHhhhH!

For the first time this year, I’ve fallen behind on my Goodreads Reading Challenge—and not just by one book, but by two whole books *faints*.

All drama aside though, I need to get back to where I was two months ago when I was three books ahead of my goal. I don’t like playing catch up, especially because I’m already such a slow reader. It’s been a while since I posted, so I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone by //live// blogging my attempt to make some type of progress in my life reading goal. I’m aiming to finally finish The Boy on the Bridge by M.R. Carey and knock out some other book I’ll choose later (spoiler alert: it’s Warcross by Marie Lu) in 24 hours.

(//it technically won’t be live by the time I publish this post, but who’s paying attention?)

---

THE TBR

1. The Boy on the Bridge by M.R. Carey – This book is a prequel to The Girl With All the Gifts. It follows a team of scientists and soldiers who travel across a post-apocalyptic Britain in the search for any breakthroughs that can save the crumbling human civilization from the hungry (aka zombie) pandemic. 
2. Warcross by Marie Lu –This book is about teenage hacker, Emika Chen, who is hired by famed video game creator and businessman, Hideo Tanaka, to track down a criminal who poses a threat to his world-renowned virtual reality game, Warcross.

And with that, Let’s begin! 

My Bookish Quirks

Everyone has their quirks.

I personally have a number silly habits when it comes to reading and blog-hopping that I thought would be fun to share: