12 books behind schedule … oops.
Q1 and Q2 have come and gone. I was once on track to read 60 books this year. Now I am not.
Look, we can only go up from here!
In all seriousness, I got super busy. I was highly stressed because life threw curveballs. It saw me start the year off on a trip to Disneyland, and I decided that was enough fun and joy for the year. I got back, having to swerve here and there from the plans I had set for myself. Granted, I was given some horrible people I was supposed to seek help from. (I’ll never forgive that therapist. And once again, people cannot be trusted by the words they say and don’t keep their promises.)
Long story short: I graduated! WOOOO! I also applied for the MBA program and am between jobs. BOOO! (The between jobs. I decided that the MBA program was the path for me after much deliberation. My only second guess comes from the tuition… I don’t want to talk about it.) All that adds up to the fact that I have only read 18 out of 60 books.
According to Goodreads, I am 11 books behind. That is doable. I have no job at the moment; I have free time. With that much free time, I should up my reading goal. Right?
WRONG!
Cue in my stress reliever for my final semester of my bachelor’s: crocheting.
I have fallen back in love with crochet. Actually, I’ve learned new skills. Now, I am trying new amigurumi designs daily. But unless I am listening to an audiobook, it does not help me get back on track. But I am having fun. I’ll post some pictures of what I’ve made throughout. I will also be introducing my cats with some of the pictures. Almost two years ago my brother and I adopted two bonded kittens. They were named Miso and Mochi. We kept their names because we thought they fit. On July 9th, they celebrated their 2nd birthday. They are honestly the best decision we ever made.
Miso with one of the first amigurumi I made, a little octopus. Isn’t Miso precious? He’s an orange boy, and he’s a lot calmer than the internet would have you believe. We do think he’s an exception, though.
Pattern by: @mova.diy
I do want to get on track, so this serves as a check-in. I am currently reading four books. Project Hail Mary and Bloodmarked. Project Hail Mary is one of the books high on my TBR this year. Last year, I started the book. I got busy, and then buddy-read the book that I never finished. This year, my top goal is to finish all those books I never finished for one reason or another. The movie came out a while back. I wanted to have read the book before seeing the movie. Alas, my sister loved this movie so much that she begged me to see it.
It was a great movie. I am planning to write a blog about both the book and the movie. For how long the book has been taking me to read, you’d think I don’t like it. I am liking it. Though I do hate how I compare it to the movie. Curses to my sister! Considering I know how the story ends, it is also making it harder for me to finish the book.
The Stats
Looking at the stats tells you two things. 1: The majority of the books I’ve read are audiobooks. 2: I am really behind on my page goals. Okay, not that behind but I am I should be closer to almost halfway there like my audiobooks.
I’ve upped my hours for listening to audiobooks. I know that I will not stop crocheting anytime soon, so my books will be consumed in audio format. Also, since I got into the MBA program, I will be busy come fall. I feel audiobooks will save me for the year. I do personally prefer print or digital more because I can highlight quotes or tab the books.
(We will not talk about how my average time to finish a book is 20 days … sheesh!)
23 Down
Looking at this chart, I personally wish it were more 50/50. I’m working on that … ish. I’ll be honest, I can see audio being larger than the other two. It was that way last year too.
Since I have the physical copies of Project Hail Mary and a digital copy of Bloodmarked, my current reads should help me add more pages. It will add about 1,049, putting me at … wait a minute. The pages read on my format graph differ from the pages read in my goal. I am confused.
Regardless, 1,049 more pages will be added.
A Year of Mystery
My top genre is mystery. Of the 23 books I have read, 12 of them fall under the mystery genre. The second is the thriller genre with 8 books. Contemporary and fantasy are both at 5. Rounding up the top five with romance and fantasy tied, having read 5 books. Some of these books fall under multiple genres, so the mystery and thriller being the top 2 is not surprising.
I’ve been on a mystery binge lately. (Obviously, it shows.) However, I’ve been wanting to read books that make me feel. Feel what? I don’t know yet. I’m torn between wanting to cry and swoon. Maybe a mix of both. I’m not the biggest fan of stand-alone romances. I think I have not found the author for me. I’m still looking. I think I want some yearning! Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated because my sister loves romance, but there are some books she reads that do not pique my interest.
My princess Mochi with a tiny dragon. She is emulating Princess Fiona. (haha) Mochi is a tortoise shell kitty, who doesn’t have much attitude … as long as you don’t try to hold her in your arms. She loves pets.
Pattern by: @my_universe64
As for the ratings of my book, I sadly have had a kind of mid-year. Six of the books I’ve read have landed at 3.5 stars. I didn’t hate them, but they also were either mid or had a lot of things that bothered me about the story. Two books I’ve given 4.75 stars. Close to 5 stars but not exactly there. I have gotten two 5-star books. Those were The Color Purple and How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy’s Guide to Silencing Women. Sadly, those were at the start of the year. I hit a slump the moment after I read The Silent Patient. I could rant about my dislike, but I have my review on my Goodreads, Story Graph, and Fable.
I know that I am in the minority of those who overall enjoyed the book, but reading is subjective in that way. It just did not work for me in the way it worked for others.
It all went downhill from there. I got into the slump I am still trying to dig myself out of. I’ve been approved for two ARCs from Netgalley. I finished one, which I will be posting about very soon. I will be starting my next one soon, once I finish either Project Hail Mary or Bloodmarked. I wish I knew why I am struggling to finish Project Hail Mary but I am.
Instagram of pattern designers
Cat: @marin.crochet
Duck: @duckycrochetcorner, hat: @sambrosis.crochet
Dragon: @crochetbygenna
I think that’s it for this post. I’ll leave you with more pictures of the amigurumi I have made. They’re not all I’ve made. I think I have made over 100 amigurumi’s as I started up this hobby. I actually made a duck pattern to look like Erling Haaland for my sister; the pattern was not mine. I also do not have a photo of that just yet. I’m also thinking that I will start updating this blog with movies I’ve seen, that way I can build a habit of updating while also allowing myself to read my books at the pace I am comfortable with.
The Scarlett Synopsis 
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