Monthly Rewind: August 2017

This is it! The last day of August, and the first monthly recap for this blog! To start things off, here's what I read this month:

1. Paper Towns by John Green

2. Stef Soto, Taco Queen - Jennifer Torres

3. The Beast is an Animal - Peternelle von Arnsdale

4. Girls Made of Snow and Glass - Melissa Bashardoust

5. The Universe of Us - Lang Leav

6. Wicked Like a Wildfire - Lana Popovic

7. Salt - Nayyirah Waheed

Of these, my favorite was definitely Nayyirah Waheed's poetry collection. I've been starting to write more poetry lately and I just found her work so inspiring. I love writing and reading short poetry, and she writes exactly the kind of poetry that's always floating around in my head. The biggest bookish surprise for me was Paper Towns because I hate John Green but actually enjoyed this one. I didn't like the ending and thought it was too predictable, but other than that I found it entertaining. My least favorite novel was Wicked Like a Wildfire, which started out okay because I thought the writing was pretty, but I eventually found the story too confusing and the writing overly flowery.

I also started Robin Talley's As I Descended, which I'm planning to finish today on the plane to visit my boyfriend. It's so dark and creepy and gay and wondrous so far and I hope it stays that way for the last 30% I have of it. 

What else happened this month?

Well, I continued applying to a lot of jobs. So. Many. Job applications. So far only one has looked promising, and I'm going to hear back from them hopefully tomorrow, so I'm crossing all things that can possibly be crossed. I also joined ALA and my library school's student organization and became its web administrator, so that's exciting. Yesterday, I had the first day of my library internship, and everyone was super nice and welcoming and I think it's going to be a really great experience. 

I also started this blog a couple weeks ago, which I think is pretty important to mention (haha). I've been wanting to start blogging again but want the freedom to write about things that aren't just books, so I'm going to try to make it a more queer, bookish lifestyle-y type blog. So we'll see how that goes. My favorite post is probably the one I wrote on my self-care routine, so go check that out!

The Universe of False Rhymes and Cheese // The Universe of Us

Title: The Universe of Us

Author: Lang Leav

Publication date: October 4, 2016

Pages: 240

Genre: Poetry

I wasn't sure what to expect from my first Lang Leav experience, since I discovered her through an article about "instagram poets" like her and the better-known Rupi Kaur. The article brought up the question of whether what its author dubbed "instagram poets" were actually good, and after both following and reading Lang Leav's poetry, I can honestly kind of see why. 

I'm by no means a poetry expert though I've both studied and enjoyed it in the past, but I did find that many of the pieces of prose and poetry had very weak structures that were hard to follow. A lot of the prose pieces felt like being dunked into the middle of a prose piece, and I often found myself feeling a bit lost as I was reading them. A lot of the prose was also very cheesy and overly romantic, and it seemed like Lang Leav was trying a bit too hard to be romantic and poetic.

I also hated the majority of the rhyming poetry. Those also didn't seem to have much structure that could be followed, and she used far too many false rhymes that didn't really work for my tastes. Again, a lot of the rhyming poems, like the prose, didn't feel like complete pieces to me, but instead like the middle of something. The poems and prose also had no connectivity that I could see other than the themes of romance and love. I ended up feeling like I was reading the same thing over and over again, and to be honest, none of her poems or prose pieces particularly stuck out to me. There were no pieces I wanted to mark so I could come back to, because it all just blended together into a puddle of romantic goo.

The last 50 pages or so were somewhat better, and made me wonder if she had other poetry and prose more like that than the first 150 pages. Overall though, her words didn't make much of an impression on me. Still, I would be curious to see how she would incorporate her writing style into a novel, and might actually give her first novel, Sad Girls, a try.

What's my next poetry adventure? salt. by Nayyirah Waheed.

Bout of Books Final Update

I've done it! I've participated in Bout of Books yet again and actually met my goals! To recap, Bout of Books is a weeklong readathon hosted by Amanda Shofner and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal with the goal of reading as much as possible. My main goal was to finish two books I started before the readathon and read at least one more book, which I did! Here's what I read:

I started out finishing The Beast is an Animal, which was creepy and atmospheric but ultimately disappointing. Next, I finished Lang Leav's book of poetry from last year, The Universe of Us. I didn't like the first 3/4 of the collection that much, but the last 50 pages or so were pretty good. I then read Wicked Like a Wildfire, which confused the bejeezus out of me and had overly flowery writing that couldn't make up for lack of characterization or the confusion.

Though I ended up not really liking anything I read for Bout of Books, I still had fun, and it helped me get back into my usual speedy reading pace. I'll definitely be participating in the next BoB, but hopefully I'll enjoy more of the books next time.

Popular Books I Haven't Read Yet

Book lovers all have skeletons in our closets--namely, those popular books that everyone loves and gushes about that we still haven't read yet (even if they've been sitting on our shelves for years). Today, I'm going to pull out some of the bookish skeletons in my closet and share popular books I have yet to experience.

Any book by Stephanie Perkins

This admission is particularly embarrassing because I actually love the type of books that Stephanie Perkins writes--fun but meaningful contemporary romances. I actually owned Lola and the Boy Next Door a few years ago but ended up giving it to a friend because I lost interest. But now, since the whole trilogy of Stephanie Perkins books is out, I really feel like I need to give her a shot, especially since I do like the genre, as previously noted. I recently bought Anna and the French Kiss from the Strand, so I'm hoping to dig into it soon and banish this particular shame from my life.

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

Okay, so I know exactly why I avoided reading these books for so long: I HATED Shiver. I read it twice because people love her and I thought maybe I was missing something, but I still hated it the second time around. Still, people LOVE these books, and they do sound more like Shayna books than the Wolves of Mercy Falls series did. Even though I know about the romance (though not how it ends, so no Raven King spoilers, please and thanks), I still really want to read it and have books one and three sitting eagerly on my shelves.

Any book by Victoria/V. E. Schwab

This is also a little embarrassing because A) she has so many books out and B) I have an eARC of This Savage Song on my Kindle from before it came out, because I am terrible at Edelweiss. I've been vaguely interested in A Darker Shade of Magic as well since it's apparently borderline adult, but for some reason I haven't gotten around to it yet. Fantasy isn't my go-to genre per se, but I do always enjoy fantasy books when I do read them, so I think it's about time I read one of her books.

The Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor

Alright, so I have read the first book in the series, but it used my least favorite trope as the cliffhanger ending, so I didn't know if I'd want to continue it. I did love the rest of the book though, so maybe I'll just binge read these eventually when the mood strikes me.

The Illuminae books by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

To be fair, I have tried to read Illuminae twice, and got farther the second time than I did the first. I thought it would be a total Shayna book because of the quirky formatting, but sci-fi books, especially ones set in space, are a thing I have never liked, and I didn't understand what was happening half the time, so I gave it up. Still, I haven't managed to sell or otherwise get rid of my HC of Illuminae yet, so maybe I'll give it another shot at some point and actually finish it. Or, I'll just wait until all the books are out.

Anything by Leigh Bardugo

I've been meaning to read Shadow and Bone FOREVER because I bought it for Kindle ages ago, but I have a dreadful habit of buying books on my Kindle and forgetting about them completely, which is even worse than my usual habit of buying print books and not reading them because I think they'll always be there for me to read but then I never read them. I really, REALLY need to read these books because everybody loves them and raves about them. Plus, as previously mentioned, I do tend to like fantasy when I do get around to reading it. 

How I Practice Self-Care

"Self-care" has definitely become a kind of buzz word (or words, I guess) for (admittedly probably privileged) millenials, but as a person with anxiety and depression, it's something I take very seriously. I started bullet journaling last year and was super inspired by people's habit trackers, and decided to make a self-care tracker for myself both as a way to motivate myself to do some easy self-care tasks and to see how well I take care of myself on a regular basis.

Self-care doesn't have to be big things or things that cost money like a massage or a face mask or anything like that. I have a variety of levels of self-care on my self-care charts, from easy things like making my bed, accomplishing my daily tasks, and doing my makeup to things I do less often like treating myself to something nice, though on some days I even count things like watching Netflix as treating myself. I think it is really important for people to practice self-care in our society that's encourages constant busy-ness and stress, but I definitely understand that when you're struggling to get by day to day or living paycheck to paycheck that self-care can fall to the wayside.

I sometimes alternate what goes on my self-care chart depending on things I start doing more or less often. For example, I used to have "drank tea" on my self-care charts in the winter, but in the summer months I've added an "other" row for things that include drinking tea, but also other little things like going to therapy, taking a nap when I need one, or other miscellaneous self-care tasks. 

I even think filling in my self-care chart itself is a self-care activity, because it's gratifying to see that I've done nice things for myself throughout the day. Plus, using pretty colors to fill in the squares on my chart make it look pretty, too, which makes it very visually satisfying. 

I also recently discovered a habit tracker on Pinterest called "year in pixels" that tracks your daily moods. The one I saw was just a mood tracker, but I decided to add it to my self-care chart to make things more compact and easier to keep track of. When I first started the mood tracker, I was still in the throws of anxiety and depression, so I only had good days, pretty good days, okay days, bad days, anxiety, and depression listed in my color key, but as I've recovered, I've added more nuanced emotions as well:

I think tracking one's mood is also a really good way to watch out for warning signs of mental health issues. If there are a lot of days in a two week or month-long span that are anxious or depressed days, that might mean there's something to be concerned about. Tracking my mood like this has also been extremely useful in showing me how I've been recovering, as I rarely fill in my Year in Pixels boxes with "anxiety" or "depression" colors anymore. 

Keeping track of my self-care habits has shown me that there are lots of ways for a person to practice self-care, and some don't even require that much effort or money, which is especially good for me since I'm still on the job hunt. Self-care can be fun or it can be boring, but even the boring things like making your bed can make you feel like you've done something useful, and keeping track of that is a good way to acknowledge little successes every day.

Bout of Books Update: Day 1

It's day two of Bout of Books and time for my first update! So far, I've finished The Beast is an Animal, continued a poetry book by Lang Leav, and started Wicked Like a Wildfire. I liked The Beast is an Animal alright since it was creepy and atmospheric, but the romance was entirely unnecessary and it got pretty slow at the end.

Wicked Like a Wildfire is pretty good so far. I really like the writing since it's very magical, but I don't understand the actual magic that's going on and have been a bit confused throughout. Hopefully I'll start catching on soon and I'll be encouraged to stick with it.

Books read:

Currently reading:

at 9%

Bout of Books Sign Up Post

I'm a little late to the game with signing up for this round of Bout of Books since I literally just started blogging again, but I'm still super excited to do so! I've participated in almost every Bout of Books I could for the past four years or so, and since I've just started getting my usual reading pace back up to its normal speed, I want to try out Bout of Books again because it's one of my favorite challenges.

Here's the official blurb from the Bout of Books website:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 21st and runs through Sunday, August 27th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 20 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team.

Usually I have a long TBR list for BoB time, but this year I'm just going to read whatever I feel like reading. I'm almost done with two books, so I'm definitely going to finish those, and I might also read a couple MG books I've been meaning to get to as well as a book my boyfriend let me borrow called That's Not a Feeling. I hope to read at least three books for this Bout of Books cycle.

Happy reading!

Musicians I Used to Dislike that I Now Like

I've noticed an odd trend in my music preferences lately: a sudden interest in artists whose music I have previously either disliked or been indifferent to. Namely, these artists are Lady Gaga, Lana del Rey, and Kesha(/Ke$ha).
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When Lady Gaga's music first came out, I wasn't really interested because at the time I both just disliked the overly pop/dance-y style music she put out and because I was trying really hard to curate a collection of music that could only be described as "hipster." I've never been super into mainstream pop, and to me, that seemed to be everything Lady Gaga's music was about. I also thought she was super bizarre for no reason (see: meat dress) and I just didn't get the cultural obsession.


Then, last year, came Joanne. I don't remember what exactly made me listen to one of the first singles or which song it was, but I do remember being super surprised that she could actually be musical. I'd liked ArtPop pretty well, but Joanne was a complete departure from her earlier work that really appealed to me. It seemed like each song was so different from each other and each one brought some new dimension to her musicality that I really liked. I especially liked the title song, which really helped me after one of my best friends from high school died of a rare heart condition last summer.

I'm still not into her earlier work, but if her future music is anything like what she put out on Joanne, I'll probably be as excited as everyone else is about it.

Lana del Rey is the second singer I've gotten into lately who I honestly used to hate. I did actually try to get into her music when it first came out because I saw her as a little cooler and more unique than most mainstream pop artists, but her voice made me uncomfortable and I thought all of her songs sounded the same. I still kind of think that, but now I'm more into her voice, which, in my opinion, often sounds like she's having a musical orgasm for the length of whatever song she's singing. The song "Carmen" drives me totally nuts for some unknown reason, but other than that I really like her first album. I haven't listened to the second two as much, and I have yet to have the funds to buy Lust for Life, but I've liked the clips and songs I have been able to listen to from it. 

I still hate that she said that feminism doesn't "interest" her, and if I'm honest, that was also one of my main reasons for hating her. I feel a little guilty for liking her now because she hasn't changed her stance on that as far as I know, unlike, say, Taylor Swift, who I used to dislike for the same reason (though, let's be honest, T. Swift is a total white feminist). However, this has not stopped me from putting her music on playlists for long car rides or singing her music in the shower, even though my voice is not quite low enough to reach the full stretches of her range (the pains of being probably a mezzo soprano). Lana del Rey is definitely more of a guilty pleasure artist for me because of her views on feminism, but even I have to admit now that her music can be pretty enjoyable, despite it often sounding very similar.

The singer I recently got into who inspired this whole post is Kesha. I never listened to her early music for the same reasons I didn't listen to Lady Gaga (too much pop and trying to be a hipster). I don't think I could ever get into her albums before Rainbow, but damn, Rainbow. I feel like Rainbow is such a good contemporary album and so many of the songs spoke to me, which I was totally shocked by. One of the reasons I tend to prefer music that's more on the indie side of things is because it typically goes into deeper emotions than pop music, but when I first listened to Kesha's new album, I was definitely hanging off every lyric, even "Hymn" and "Praying," despite not being a religious person. Plus, her voice is perfection and she has so many fun songs.

I feel kind of weird about liking Kesha for the same reasons I feel weird about liking the other musicians on this list (mainly because they're so popular and that's normally something I try to avoid), but I'd like to think I'm getting more comfortable with the idea of liking musicians and other artists just because I like them and not because I'm trying to be a certain way or prove something to myself or other people. Maybe these aren't the most intellectual or creative artists out there, but I like them, and I'm starting to realize that maybe that's enough.

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