[WEEKEND READS] where I had a productive art week

Hi,

I've been quite off in the past couple of weeks. Just work, mood, drama over my art... stuff 😩

I wanted to make a habit of a lot of things I've been neglecting so I plan to start a bullet journal / habit tracker thing. idk. I just checked stuff on instagram and I got a bit of an idea of what I wanted to do. But generally just something that will push me and remind me to do things as well as a way to mark them for the sense of accomplishment and productivity. Hopefully that helps.

This past week,  (1) I finished The Weight of Zero and started Wink Poppy Midnight. LOVED The Weight on Zero and I'm so glad to have finally read it! and (2) I made art again. I did a lettering of  a quote from Crazy Stupid Bromance because that hit me well. lmao. I also made a drawing for my younger cousin because it's her birthday today. AND I finally finished one more fanart. I'm happy about how my art productivity is going (despite the lowkey drama I mentioned).

2021 Reading Goals

Hi,

My 2020 goals turned out well generally because it's mostly centered on my purchasing habits. I still hope to continue it this year though but I won't be adding those goals to this year's list because why even. I won't even be going out much this year, I think.

For my 2021 goals though, they are fairly general and somehow I want to just do better in reading than what I did last year. They're fairly easy and I think that I can accomplish all of them (except maybe the Popsugar one because we'll see how much I can go out and look for books for specific prompts there). 

BOOKS FROM THE BACKLOG #19

Hi,

Books from the Backlog is a weekly feature hosted by Carole @ Carole's Random Life in Books.

[REVIEW] Pretty Little Wife

title: Pretty Little Wife

author: Darby Kane
genre: adult fiction, mystery
published: December 29th 2020 by William Morrow Paperbacks
my copy: eGalley, 416 pages
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
rating: 3 / 5 stars
goodreads

Debut author Darby Kane thrills with this twisty domestic suspense novel that asks one central question: shouldn’t a dead husband stay dead? 

Lila Ridgefield lives in an idyllic college town, but not everything is what it seems. Lila isn’t what she seems. A student vanished months ago. Now, Lila’s husband, Aaron, is also missing. At first these cases are treated as horrible coincidences until it’s discovered the student is really the third of three unexplained disappearances over the last few years. The police are desperate to find the connection, if there even is one. Little do they know they might be stumbling over only part of the truth…. 

With the small town in an uproar, everyone is worried about the whereabouts of their beloved high school teacher. Everyone except Lila, his wife. She’s definitely confused about her missing husband but only because she was the last person to see his body, and now it’s gone.

started strong but didn't hold up for me.

It's a suspense. The usual thing: a wife, a husband, they look perfect on the outside. Yes to that trope? Then there's that tagline: there's more than one way to end a marriage. Yes to that? It's all so good, to be honest.

[WEEKEND READS] where I'm getting out of my holiday mood

I know my copy of Red Rising is so ruined now but I love it.

Hi,

Everyone's talking about how the first work week is such a struggle. and well, it is. I barely got things done generally because my head is still in holiday mood. lol. BUT I am setting myself up for the coming week. And mentally prepared myself for things I need to accomplish for work.

This weekend, I went out for my monthly visit to the grocery and paying my bills. Brought my sister with me and we bought a bunch of snacks! It's gonna be a fun couple of weeks ahead, I guess.

Reading-wise, I finally finished rereading Red Rising and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! STILL LOVE IT! LOVED IT EVEN MORE!! I'll probably reread Gold Son next month because I have a tbr list to get through. But this year, I'm generally planning to reread several series this year (to continue and finish some). I'm thinking of going through the entire Red Rising series (hopefully the 6th/final book comes out and I get to read it as well), reread Unwind Dystology, reread the first two of Throne of Glass then ultimately finish the series. I don't know what else but for now, that's what I'm thinking.

10 Books I Got for Free (when I worked in my local bookstore)

Hi,

I'm doing my monthly tbr/themed reading challenges!! For this month, I decided to pick up books I got in January of 2018!! which are generally books I got from my local bookstore for free when I was still working there. I miss those days, to be honest, but it is what it is.

I have more free books but I just picked these particular books up just because these were the books I got in January of 2018 (just because January and it's the year I left the bookseller life).

Most of these, if not all, I'm not exactly familiar with. I actually checked this book haul and wow, I barely read these books but I'm not surprised with that. lmao.

BOOKS FROM THE BACKLOG #18

Hi,

Books from the Backlog is a weekly feature hosted by Carole @ Carole's Random Life in Books.

DECEMBER WRAP UP (aka the month of calming down)

Hi,

December somewhat helped me calmed down from all the mess.

I'm happy to finally get a drawing tablet which I mentioned the weekend I got it. I did a few drawings but I haven't been in a really good mood to just sit down and draw. I have too much idea in my head though. So there's that. I hope I get into them soon.

Over the Holidays, I sister also stayed with us for 2 weeks. It was all fun although a bit worrisome since she goes out quite a lot and we try to not do that around here. She isn't that scared with the virus as much as we are here but aside from that, we had a fun time. We watched a few decade old movies aka those old High School Music movie trilogy and those Resident Evil films. Rewatching old films was just fun even though we're just out here lashing out on all the wrong things we noticed and never cared about before.

Christmas-wise, as usual, I didn't get books for gifts. Every year, I just cry out I want books but never get them. But my sister got me printed out sticker copies of artworks which is really nice. I didn't expect that to be honest. 

books read

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson | Pretty Little Wife by Darby Kane | The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman | Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld

My Year in Books in 2020

Hi,

I did this post for my 2019 Year in Books and I thought why not do this again 😊

2020 was a wild year. However, read-wise, I think I did better than 2019 which is such a good thing. Although I really give credit to the fact that I barely left home and work had to be done at home thus cutting a significant amount of time wasted on tiring commute.

This year, I set my Goodreads Reading Challenge goal to 51 and I surpassed that goal with 59 books read unlike the 30+ books I got through in 2019. This is also the first time I somewhat seriously took up the Popsugar Reading Challenge that while I failed to complete it, it still pushed me to get through books I probably wouldn't have picked up. So it's still a win for me.

Aside from this post, I'll be having more end of the year and early 2021 posts in the next few days!! 

I read 19,978 pages across 59 books

AVERAGE LENGTH: 338 pages