It's going to be a quick one today as I may have a confirmed moving date (finally) so my days are very much focused on packing. I am going to try and blog as often as I can but don't be surprised at a drop in posts for the next few weeks. It's a little upsetting as I had blog posts planned and half drafted for the next 2 weeks! I'll just have to spread them out a little more so I can get one post up a week for a while as I get things sorted. But it's exciting! I will say, after a day of packing Saturday it's boring as and you will never have enough boxes to move with. Hopefully, I can get everything sorted, though.

 

Anyway, I said I wouldn't update you on house things until I moved so that's all the update you're getting until I'm actually in the new house. I don't think I'll believe I've moved until then.

 

My week continued with my stepdad still testing positive on his lateral flow tests (are they called lateral flow tests everywhere? I saw someone call them rapid antigen tests so now I'm thinking they have different names) but anyway he's not managed to test negative yet. He's feeling much better, but it did mean he did the full 10 days of self isolation. It would have been far more convenient if I'd had my moving date confirmed then because I was at home all the time I might as well have packed! Too late now, but it's nice to be able to see my family properly again and order a takeaway! I treated us to pizza when he was allowed out which is a smart move as that's food for 2 days sorted. I had originally planned to meet up with a friend this week as it's been a while since I've seen her but when I'd said my step dad had it she thought it best to wait a while. She's been very strict on covid and managed to avoid it so I can't blame her, just sucks as I was excited for an evening out of the house.

 

It's been another busy working week for me. I shouldn't complain, it's keeping my mind focused which I need but I miss the chilled working days from my old company sometimes. But then my current company pays better and they're far more positive and supportive so I know it was the right move. They're having another office team meeting next week so I have to go into the office to look forward to. It'll remind me I don't love the commute but I will like seeing people face to face and hopefully, I can get some book reading in too. There isn't anything social planned for that day at work so it shouldn't be such a long day out at least. The last time I went to the office I was out of the house for 15 hours and I was exhausted.

 

What I've Been Reading

A slower reading week this week as I had house stuff to focus on, but I still read some good books. Kimberly Lemming became a must read author for me after I read That Time I Go Drunk and Saved a Demon after seeing in the Swoon Awards nominations. It was hilarious and the light hearted type of romance you normally see in contemporary in a fantasy setting. It definitely made reading Dragon Unleashed a little jarring as it was the exact opposite, so I had to go back read Mistlefoe afterwards for some more light hearted fun.

 

New To Me

 

I had 2 KU borrows but no new purchases again. I obviously should have started using my Kindle Unlimited more in the first place.

 

What have you been doing this week? Have you voted in the Swoon Awards yet? I can't be the only one using it to create a reading list of the books I missed.

I think we can all agree Goodreads is lacklustre in what it offers to us as readers. There are numerous flaws with it, from the terrible search engine to the lack of half-star ratings (which I know is not in demand from everyone). It offers us little in terms of analysing our reading and the only reading challenge you can do is purely numbers based on how many books you read each year. And my biggest complaint is that things which are accessible on the desktop site are completely absent on the app. Considering Goodreads is owned by Amazon I don't think it's unreasonable for us to expect more and for there to be better investment into it. Amazon began as an online bookstore so they should be able to invest in an online book community site, or at least have a similar search engine employed on the site because I sometimes can't find the book I want using the exact title, make it make sense!

As we're all aware of the flaws when it comes to Goodreads it should be no surprise that I want an alternative to it. In fact, my alternative used to be keeping a spreadsheet of the books I read. A blogger I followed used to release a spreadsheet each year you could track your reading and your purchases, and it had a whole sheet for stats to analyse everything. It was great, I've googled to find out who created it because I know they were a blogger who disappeared for a while, and it was Crini who has released a spreadsheet for 2022! I wish I'd known this before I went about creating my own. To be fair, it was fun messing about with spreadsheets and formulas (something I never thought I would say, is this adulthood or am I just a little tragic in my old age?) so it wasn't time wasted. If nothing else, I had to learn how to use a few more formulas (with the help of google) it was an education. Anyway, I used to keep the spreadsheet, but it involved me finding out the number of pages, genre, release date, etc. It was a lot of my own time having to be invested to update, which was fine but I always liked being able to use it in conjunction with a book tracking site so I could use that to give me the info I needed. And so, I decided to make 2022 the year I used another book site to see if it was better. I've found 2 so far that seem good so this is only my thoughts on Storygraph and Literal but I'm happy to hear if you have or know of other sites for me to try.

Storygraph

Storygraph I'd heard about on Twitter over the past year or so. I'd already signed up and had an account, so this was the first site I turned to in my quest to replace Goodreads and still provide me with the functionality I wanted and needed. 

Pros

• I love that Storygraph has half star and quarter star ratings. I can get way more specific with my ratings which is really a godsend. I used to always round up and then give my half star rating in the actual review on Goodreads which was never ideal.
• The review section gives you more prompts to be able to really analyse pace/mood/character development etc which I know will appeal to many. That data also then gets used in the stats tab to analyse your reading which is so smart, and anyone really interested in their stats will love that aspect of the site.
• You can join other reading challenges that have been added to the site beyond just the number of books you read each year. It's great for those reading challenges with prompts as you can easily add a book you've read to that prompt and see what progress you're making with your challenge. This is obviously limited to people adding challenges to the site, but I've really enjoyed it and am more likely to participate in a challenge that is included there for me. It's one of my favourite parts of Storygraph as it feels like I'm keeping everything in one place like I did with my reading spreadsheet.
• You get better recommendations, it's more detailed and you can filter based on mood or pacing. It just gives you way more control rather than the ridiculous recommendations Goodreads likes to offer you. Obviously, that kind of filter is subjective based on other people's reviews of the book (please, correct me if I'm wrong on that one) but it's still more personalised than Goodreads.
• You can import your Goodreads shelves, but you are limited to them being on your read, currently reading, finished, want to read, and DNF shelves. I have quite a few exclusive shelves on Goodreads, so it made it a little awkward getting everything where I wanted but there are tags so all is not lost.
• The buying links aren't Amazon! I loved the total separation from that as a choice for buying. It would be nice if they had a few more options on there as there is just Bookshop and Blackwell's for the UK but I appreciate Amazon isn't even an option to push you to look elsewhere and I know I can easily navigate to the book site I might want to buy from instead.
• You can select editions for the books just like with Goodreads, and I think users can add editions too. I like knowing I'm looking at the right book when I add it to my read list. I have a thing about trying to get the correct cover on my shelves too. It's a whole thing.

Cons

• I say I like that there are more prompts and detail in the review section but it's also a big-time investment every time you review a book. You also aren't immediately prompted to review once marking something as read. It's not major because you don't always have time, but I often need that prompt otherwise I put it off or forget. But then if you don't complete then your stats won't be the same. 
• Navigation isn't intuitive on either the website or the app. When I first began using the site again, I struggled to find where things were, like my DNF shelf and things like that. I know this is something that may ease with time as I get used to the site and app, but I would have liked it to be easier to navigate from the start. There is a reading challenge you can join which does help a little in learning the site and that is smart. It's like a tutorial that also gets you to read.
• Less community focused. I know there's a community tab and I like that there's a dedicated search for other people but it's difficult to find them because it's either name or email. It's not directly on your feed either, so you have to go look at that tab for info. I guess I would like the book tracking and community side to be more integrated in a similar way to Goodreads. I usually find myself using Storygraph with just the focus on what I've been reading and that doesn't make it stand out over using a spreadsheet to track this info.

Final thoughts

As you can see, my feelings are mixed about Storygraph. It has interesting features; I love the challenges tab and I know plenty of readers who will love the stats tab. I like that it's an independent, black-owned site so I want to support it, but there are things I would like to see improved. I know they're open to suggestions for improvements and it's still fairly new. I won't be abandoning it but it's also not currently offering me enough to leave Goodreads altogether and that is really what I am hoping to find.

 

Literal

On my quest to find a good alternative to Goodreads I stumbled across Literal. There weren't really any mentions on blogs for this one. I found it via Reddit so I wasn't sure what to expect going in but it looked like it offered what I was looking for so decided to try it. It had shelves and looked to have a community feel to it.

Pros

• Extremely easy to navigate. I had none of the hesitancy and confusion that I had with Storygraoh, everything was very intuitive, and I navigated through so quickly. I know learning to navigate a website is easy enough, but I think to entice users away from Goodreads it's got to be easy to pick up otherwise people won't make the effort.
• Quick and easy to import your Goodreads shelves and it will keep the shelves which you have created, which surprised me. I needed to go through and tidy them all up a little, but it was completely low effort. You're prompted right at the start to be able to do the import and you can import any time you're sitting at a computer. 
• The community side is much more prominent. You can easily go through and follow people and you can join book clubs! It's more focused on the community side of things which is something I didn't realise I wanted until I saw the absence on my Storygraph feed. It's always fun to see what people are reading and reviewing but that side of things is obviously only good if you know plenty of people using the site too.
• Highlights are added in an interesting way. I know on Goodreads when you highlight on kindle you can add those highlights to the site along with your notes, but it was always frustrating that you couldn't do that reading a physical book. On the Literal app you can take a picture of the page you're reading, and it will change that into text for you so it's easy to share highlights from books you're reading no matter what device or book you're reading. It's a very cool feature and I love it because I used to just take photos of stuff I wanted to highlight in physical books and frequently forgot which book it was from looking back through my photos. 
• It looks nice. I know that's quite a subjective thing as tastes differ, but the UI is clean and when you go to your shelves, they load so much nicer than on Goodreads. It's not just the covers but the title and author loading in a list form. I used to always struggle to figure out what the book was just looking at the cover so it's nice to easily be able to browse through what you've got on your shelves and find the book you're looking for straight away.
• Again, the buying links are very good on the site. Amazon is included in the list (it's at the top and takes you to the US site) but it does offer you an extensive list of book sites which is nice. I appreciated having the options, even though I'm going to navigate to the site I want to shop on myself.
• Half star ratings are here and as soon as you mark a book as read a little pop up appears asking if you wish to review so you have that prompt to review. On the review page, you also have some words to describe your thoughts on the book which is great to help direct your thoughts when discussing a book.

 

Cons

• You can't choose which edition you're reading of a book, or I've not been able to figure it out anyway. It's not major, it's probably me being so particular with my Goodreads books but I like having the correct edition for what I've read. I guess maybe if you search ISBN or something instead? I'm not sure, but there is a tick box for if you listened to the audiobook, but I've listened to no audiobooks since signing up, so I need to explore more.
• You do have to go on a waitlist to join or find a friend to send one of their invites. It's not a major hassle, I think it took under a week for my invite to arrive once I joined the waitlist, but I know waiting for things is never fun and might put people off from joining.
• No reading challenges, not even yearly reading. I notice that absence as I like to join challenges, but I suppose I could track those separately? But it's a major weakness in comparison to Storygraph there. I can create a shelf for the books I've read each year but it's nice having a little tracker, isn't it?
• No stat tracking or anything. I do like seeing the stats tab on Storygraph to break down my reading, it's fun and I know plenty of people will hate not having that. 

 

My thoughts

I like Literal a lot more than Storygraph from my first use. It isn't perfect but it feels like there are a lot of unique things offered there and it seems to focus more on the community side of things. I think it would be cool to join a book club and be able to share your highlights and stuff there. But I love the reading challenges and stat tracking offered on Storygraph and actually think I'd use Storygraph as a simple book tracker even without reviewing for some of the features offered. It's difficult to compare those two sites to each other as Storygraph seems much more focused on the stats side of things while Literal has taken the community route. It's interesting how both sites have picked up on some things lacking in Goodreads or improved upon features Goodreads already offered. I think the creators for both sites knew there were plenty of things to be improved upon and upped the competition. Have I found a site to completely replace Goodreads? No, but I've found two sites that offer so much more than Goodreads. I think if I could combine the two I would have my ideal website. Both sites have shown me things I didn't even know I wanted from Goodreads until I used the features they offered and realised they weren't there.

Have you used any book websites which are alternatives to Goodreads and which are your favourite? Have you used Storygraph or Literal, what did you think? Can we ever fully replace Goodreads or is it too ingrained in the book community?

 

I expected to have a nice standalone book or something to review today, but instead I started my year by finishing two series which have been on my TBR for a while and starting a third totally new series. It's a new one for me as I usually avoid series like the plague because I have commitment issues. One thing I hate about reading series, though, is how do you review? It's a stressful situation because you want to talk about them like any other book but if I've just binge read the series surely it makes sense to look at the series as a whole. But then how do you do that without spoilers? But I did want to review something today because it's been a whole so let's talk books!

 

So here we are and I'm going to figure out how we'll talk about the All Souls series. I admit I am only talking about the original trilogy here. I have not read Time's Convert and currently, I have no plans to read it. I loved the series and it did feel like there could be more, but it also felt like an ending.

 

I’ll link and give the summaries for the three books below so you have the details of the trilogy if you’ve not read it already. I know each book summary might have spoilers but the important things you need to know are Matthew De Clermont is a vampire from an important vampire family. Diana Bishop is a witch who doesn’t truly practise magic and instead pursued a career as a historian. The series focuses on their romance them navigating the world of vampires, witches and daemons. I think that’s all you really need to know but I guess we’ll find out.

A Discovery of Witches (All Souls #1) – Deborah Harkness

Published: 29th September 2011

Source: Purchased

Genre: Fantasy, Romance

My Rating:

Fall under the spell of Diana and Matthew in the stunning first volume of the No.1 internationally bestsellling ALL SOULS trilogy.

A world of witches, daemons and vampires. A manuscript which holds the secrets of their past and the key to their future. Diana and Matthew - the forbidden love at the heart of it.
When historian Diana Bishop opens an alchemical manuscript in the Bodleian Library, it's an unwelcome intrusion of magic into her carefully ordered life. Though Diana is a witch of impeccable lineage, the violent death of her parents while she was still a child convinced her that human fear is more potent than any witchcraft. Now Diana has unwittingly exposed herself to a world she's kept at bay for years; one of powerful witches, creative, destructive daemons and long-lived vampires. Sensing the significance of Diana's discovery, the creatures gather in Oxford, among them the enigmatic Matthew Clairmont, a vampire genticist. Diana is inexplicably drawn to Matthew and, in a shadowy world of half-truths and old enmities, ties herself to him without fully understanding the ancient line they are crossing. As they begin to unlock the secrets of the manuscript and their feelings for each other deepen, so the fragile balance of peace unravels...

Shadow of Night (All Souls #2) – Deborah Harkness

Published: 10th July 2012

Source: Purchased

Genre: Fantasy, Romance

My Rating:

It began with A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES. Historian Diana Bishop, descended from a line of powerful witches, and long-lived vampire Matthew Clairmont have broken the laws dividing creatures. When Diana discovered a significant alchemical manuscript in the Bodleian Library, she sparked a struggle in which she became bound to Matthew. Now the fragile coexistence of witches, daemons, vampires and humans is dangerously threatened.Seeking safety, Diana and Matthew travel back in time to London, 1590. But they soon realise that the past may not provide a haven. Reclaiming his former identity as poet and spy for Queen Elizabeth, the vampire falls back in with a group of radicals known as the School of Night. Many are unruly daemons, the creative minds of the age, including playwright Christopher Marlowe and mathematician Thomas Harriot. Together Matthew and Diana scour Tudor London for the elusive manuscript Ashmole 782, and search for the witch who will teach Diana how to control her remarkable powers... Fall under the spell of Diana and Matthew once more in this stunning, richly imagined, epic tale.

The Book of Life (All Souls #3) – Deborah Harkness

Published: 14th July 2014

Source: Purchased

Genre: Fantasy, Romance

My Rating:

After traveling through time in Shadow of Night, the second book in Deborah Harkness's enchanting series, historian and witch Diana Bishop and vampire scientist Matthew Clairmont return to the present to face new crises and old enemies. At Matthew's ancestral home at Sept-Tours, they reunite with the cast of characters from A Discovery of Witches - with one significant exception. But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on even more urgency. In ancestral homes and university laboratories, using ancient knowledge and modern science, from the hills of the Auvergne to the palaces of Venice and beyond, the couple at last learn what the witches discovered so many centuries ago.

 

What I Liked

 

It wasn’t just vampires and they weren’t these weird recluses!

It was nice to have these various creatures all living within our world and whilst did have their own rules on how to live, none of them felt outside of our world and society. I know that sounds weird, but normally you read a vampire book and find yourself seeing this vampire that is almost totally separate from normal society. They seem to be otherworldly or whatever, and they are, but it's nice to see them just living a normal life and humans are aware there's something different about the creatures, be they vampire, witch or daemon, but they don't know what it is that's caught their attention. It was an intriguing concept even if it did have me rolling my eyes at how everyone seemed interested in Diana. It felt different, even though I know you guys can probably tell me a dozen other books doing this.

 

Vampire feeding wasn’t this whole killer situation.

The whole blood thing with vampires was dealt with very differently. I'm not saying vampires didn't drink blood, don't be ridiculous. But it was common for vampires to just drink animal blood. We didn’t have a whole Twilight thing with the Cullens valiantly resisting their killing urges. Instead, the issue with vampires was there was a blood rage lurking in certain vampires which meant that vampires had closely monitored their bloodlines. I won't say too much as it becomes a focus later on but it was nice to see vampires not presented as these bloodthirsty monsters (not to say they didn't have destructive tendencies). Vampires were viewed as deadly because they were strong and fast but it was almost more sinister as they all presented themselves to be so civilised so when they did become the killer they could be it was surprising.

 

The romance.

Look, I may be struggling to read contemporary romance right now but I did find the romance between Matthew and Diana addictive to read. I remember that was what really hooked me when I originally read the first two books (way back when the third book hadn't even been released). I think I liked the whole star-crossed lover thing they had going on. Sure, them having their whole special snowflake moments together was a little ridiculous but we are allowed to enjoy cheesy things sometimes. I loved them and was ready to fight anyone who got in their way. They were obviously meant to be and I enjoyed seeing them fall for one another.

 

The secondary characters

Every single one of these books was a tome. Like nearly 600 pages of drama (although they did drag at times) but they weren't painful to read because even when Matthew and Diana were being drips there were some amazing secondary characters to love. Ysabeau was spectacular as Matthew's mother, and I loved how she was just a total badass deceiving everyone as this pleasant cultured woman but she could just as soon rip your face off. And Philippe! I would die for Philippe, he deserved his own book to be honest and he was one character who could kill you without blinking but still made me cry. Don't even get me started on the rest of Matthew's extended family (where is Gallowglass's book I ask you?). I would happily have read a book about any of his family as they had so much history to explore (which is why I might eventually read Time's Convert). And let's not ignore Diana's family and friends either because they were just as brilliant. I appreciated seeing Chris later on in the series, he did make me smile with his ridiculous nicknames and his slight flirtation with Miriam. There was a strong cast of characters, which is probably why I can see this so easily translating well to TV because each character feels fully fleshed.

 

The history!

I know I’ve probably mentioned this a few times but I studied history at university. I chose the subject because I like learning and history seemed the place to be to just learn random stuff, sadly they expected me to write essays and a dissertation but that’s a whole other issue. One of the modules I did was the history of science so a lot of this book I was like I know these names! It was so much fun to read a book with historical info I actually knew about, not in detail because I was nearly 10 years ago I graduated, but still exciting. There was history galore here, especially within the second book, so if that appeals go and check them out.

 

And My Grumbles

 

They’re a little long.

I mentioned they were tomes, right? Because they were long, and I don't think they necessarily needed to be. The first book dragged for a good long while, and I get there was world-building to be done but good god I couldn't wait to be out of Oxford. And I swear there's one point in the first book I thought it was close to the end but then they're at Diana's family home and a whole bunch of nothing happens and it was boring. She was learning and exploring her magic, brilliant, but where was the nice quick montage to get through that I ask you? And the second book kept stopping and starting, it was a pain. I remember DNFing through one attempted reread of Shadow of Night, which is why it took so long for me to finish this series. I think the third book was the only one I didn't struggle with, but I also didn't do much else other than read to finish it because it was time-consuming. It also helped it was my first read of the third book so it was all new to me, a reread might reveal moments that dragged as well.

 

Matthew and Diana could be a little annoying (but I still loved them)

It was a little annoying how Matthew and Diana could become drips that were a little too invested in themselves and their love. I know I said I liked the romance, and I really did, but they were so very focused on themselves! It got a little frustrating because it was obviously meant to be some Romeo and Juliet type situation with everyone trying to keep them apart but they really didn’t think about how it affected others until after the fact. I get it, no one should be in the relationship but the couple but come on! They knew it would cause problems, but then if they didn’t get together there would be no series to enjoy so there’s that. But then after they’d dragged everyone into their relationship they forgot that might also mean others getting hurt! I enjoyed it but I could see that whole thing annoying me if I was in a different reading mood.

 

To be honest, there was more to love than hate with the books. I know they’re long and might not be for everyone but I really did enjoy reading. I will definitely revisit their world… but I might just binge-watch the show instead because finally I can without risking spoilers!

 

Have you read this series at all or have you seen the show? What are some of your favourite vampire romances because who doesn’t need more to add to their TBR?

 

My positivity about 2022 was premature. The second week was much less successful. My stepdad got covid (he's ok, says it just feels like a bad cold) so he's in isolation at my mom's (she managed to avoid catching it thus far) and it means I can't spend my evening hanging at theirs which I usually do after work. I've managed to get out Thursday with a friend and I've been stealing Milo for daily walks but it almost feels like I've caught covid being stuck at home alone for the week waiting for his negative tests. Hopefully, next week I'll be able to go round again and hang out. I've missed properly chilling with Milo and just catching up with them. I've tried to stay positive, though. It was nowhere near as bad as 3 months of being stuck at home during the lockdowns, I can go out and see people and I've been able to go on walks and that really is the important part.

The interruption to my routine impacted my blogging motivation. I even had a second post drafted for this week but I just couldn't motivate myself to format and create a header and so I decided to leave it. I think because I was feeling a little down it meant I felt like my blog writing was a little off. It's cool, I've had Wordle as a distraction and I've been reading so it's cool. The second season of Cheer also dropped mid-week so I've been watching that on my evenings and it's been such a great escape for me. I did not expect how often the show would make me tear up, I really didn't. I just miss hanging out with my family, though. I've had to feed myself every night this week and had no takeaways! It's a travesty, I may be 30 years old but that doesn't mean I want to be a responsible adult every night. It's bad enough having to work full time and chase my solicitors on the daily to try and move, now I have to feed myself and do household chores? Ugh, it's just not fair. do my evening hangout at theirs on the daily. I've had to spend the whole week at home!

It's cool, the second week has been boring, lots of work and reading and sleep but I've got stuff booked for later in the year and it's not like I can afford to do much anyway, I'm holding out for payday when I can treat myself to stuff again. I've done a lot of fantasy shopping where you add everything you want to your shopping basket and then sweat and the basket total and save everything until later.

 

What I've Been Reading

 

One good thing from being stuck at home is my reading time has been insane. I've very much used reading as an escape and a break from the things bothering me and I love that for me. I started The Beginner's Guide to Necromancy series at the very end of last week and I am hooked! I would have read more but I did have a couple of early nights this week so didn't get in my usual hour of reading before crashing. At first, I was like, what is this awful series that you're reading, but by the third book, I was totally hooked. I mean, the first two books weren't bad but I think I could just tell a couple of characters were blergh and needed them to skedaddle before I could truly enjoy the series. I'm on book 6 now and I know the last 3 books are extended epilogues so I cannot wait to have the main story wrapped up and just have three novella-length books of fluff to look forward to. And then I can say I've finished 3 series this year! But this one I hadn't started so I don't know if I should count a series I started and finished this year? I kind of want to finish series I'd started and abandoned partway through instead.

 

New To Me

I've bought nothing this week. I did borrow most of The Beginner's Guide to Necromancy from KU so they're my only new books. I do have 4 audible credits to use before I cancel my subscription so please give me audio recs below but I'm proud there have been no purchases, just a couple of preorders but preorders don't count until they actually arrive, right?

And that is my week. Pretty dull really but I left the house and I've been reading so I won't complain too much. How was your week? And what audiobooks do I need to get ASAP?

 I know the post title probably gives it away but I still don’t know how to say this. I’m not loving romance right now.

 

I know! I have been reading romance pretty much exclusively for the past few years. Pre-pandemic I would be able to read 5 romance novels in a week and still be eager for more the next week. They might not all have been the same romance sub-genre but they could very easily be placed in the romance section at the book shop… if UK book shops had a romance section (that’s a grumble for another day). I needed the strong romantic plot within my books to give me the HEA/HFN I craved and any book I read needed to have that subplot even if it wasn't a romance book. I would read fantasy and get bored if it was obvious I wouldn't be seeing a decent romance playing out. It was a rarity for me to comment about a romance in a book being a negative thing. But now I'm really struggling.

That's isn't to say I'm not reading any romance. I have been reading some. I've even included them in my favourites post. But I have noticed that one of my go-to romance genres is becoming a real struggle to read and I thought it was just fatigue from reading so many books in that one genre but I'm beginning to question if it's not something more.

I'm really struggling with reading contemporary romance. I know mentioned it a little in other posts when I popped back into blogging for a second there last year, but I really have been leaning into reading more fantasy type books rather than contemporary stuff. In fact, I am very actively avoiding picking up contemporary romance unless I force myself to read them and that approach really gives mixed results.

 

At the start of the pandemic I know why I struggled with contemporary romances, I just couldn’t read books set in a world I wasn’t seeing right then. We couldn’t go out and see friends, meet random people and just date. It was all about staying home, wearing face masks and keeping the soap and hand sanitiser companies making an insane profit. As such, a romance where a couple was going out to work and seeing people just wasn't an escape for me. I know for some people it was great to see that normal world they couldn’t experience but, for me, it just felt like another reminder of what I was missing out on when I was stuck at home alone and could only see my family either on video calls or at a safe distance when exercising outdoors. To be fair, I went through many a reading slump during that time as well so I wasn’t really reading anything, but I really started to actively avoid contemporary romance. I didn't want to read them and whilst I kept buying them I knew they were for a later date when I was in a better frame of mind.

 

But we’re almost two years into this pandemic now. Things have changed. So many of us are vaccinated and governments are doing more to help keep people safe (or some of them are). So why do I still struggle to read contemporary romance? I’ve always been a mood reader but I’m finding myself being so critical of every book I pick up to read in that genre. The cute things which I used to think were swoony I now roll my eyes at. I know I'm putting down books I would have loved two years ago. And I want to say I've just put them to one side but I'm not, I'm marking them as DNF and putting them on my 'never going to read' shelf. It's a little upsetting when these are books by authors I love or they're books you guys have raved about and I want to join in the fun but it's like my mood reading is stronger than ever and it has it out for contemporary romance.

My reading lately has definitely been more fantasy, urban fantasy and paranormal leaning. It is very obvious the books aren't set in the real world and I seem to be better at reading those. The stupid thing is, I know bookish worlds aren't real but there is something that is stopping me from reading contemporary romance right now. I very much hope it's something that will pass but how long can you not be in the mood for contemporary romance? I may have read a few recently but I've definitely been forcing myself to read them with mixed results. 

 

Maybe I still need that sense of escape to other worlds? I know the world is not the one we knew at the start of 2020 and who knows how long it might take to feel normal again. I don’t know why my reading has changed so much but I miss contemporary romance, even if I still can’t seem to read it. I'll still keep trying, my mood reading has definitely gotten worse and that might be because of the reading slumps I've been through but I'll figure it out.

 

How has the pandemic changed your reading? Has it led you to different genres or has it just changed how much you read? And what were your favourite contemporary romances of the last year so I can try them out and get back into reading them?

It’s going to take me a while to get used to writing 2022 but Happy New Year! It’s weird to be back blogging but I feel really excited about it. I think I’ve missed having something to do in my spare time other than watching TV. In fact, I’ve had a week of only having the TV on for background noise. Or having it on a lot more for background noise because there are still a few shows I like to watch weekly (I’m looking at you First Dates). I think I’ve enjoyed the first week of 2022. It’s not been too awful (although a few friends have been struck down with covid this week) and I’ve been reading a lot which has been a nice change from the slumps I’ve suffered. It may not last but I won’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

 

I can’t say I’ve done much other than work this week. As with many other countries, the UK is in the middle of a wave of covid with the Omicron variant, so it’s been a low key week of seeing my mom, working, and just chilling reading. I know I’ve told you all about the struggles with my house, I’ve still not moved for various reasons and so I’ve been avoiding my house in the evenings. I know you’ll all be dying to know why I haven’t moved. There was a problem with my buyer’s finances, so the start of the chain collapsed (yay for the weird quirks of the English property system) and the house had to go back on the market. I had a week of viewings at the start of December which was fun for me. I managed to find another buyer, but it delayed everything considering I was ready to exchange. Frustrating all around so now I have daily phone calls to my solicitor to try and ensure no further delays. I’ll let you know when I move but until then I’m worried about jinxing it again. I’ve just had no luck when it comes to this house and don’t want to tempt any further bad luck.

 

I’m trying to think what else to update you on but it really has been a quiet week. I just haven’t done anything other than work. Some friends have been messaging to make plans for a couple of hen dos I’ve been invited to as well, but those plans are a bit up in the air so I don’t want to say too much until things are certain.

 

What I’ve Been Reading

 

I finished 5 books this week, one had been started before the start of the year but I didn’t properly start reading it until New Years Day. I just wasn’t invested in it at all. It also means I’ve finished two series this year and we’ve only just finished the first week! I don’t think my success with reading and finishing series will hold out much longer as I have been very uncertain on what to read every time I finish a book. I worry I slump will hit. But I’ve finally finished the All Souls trilogy after 7 years and I feel like I’ve had the Psy Changeling series on my shelf for years. I know my reread of the first few books started way back in 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic so it’s taken me this long to finally finish the main series. I think I’ll wait a little while before starting the next one since I only own the first book for that so far. Be a bit of an investment to continue it right now. I think Shield of Winter was my least favourite of my reads this week and I’m not sure on my favourite. I think I rated The Book of Life the highest but I actually think Shards of Hope was my favourite.

 

New To Me

 Whilst I’m excited about how many books I read I did overindulge in new purchases this week too. It’s only 4 books but still, it's more than I might like. I’d been dithering over buying These Hollow Vows and then saw someone post a positive review and couldn’t resist purchasing when it was discounted. Fates Blades and The Hidden Moon have been on my TBR a little while so also purchased when they were on offer. And, weirdly, I’d just added Heart & Seoul to my TBR when I got an alert the price had dropped and I figured that was a sign I was meant to get it. I did read a sample of it first, though so hopefully it’s not a totally impulsive buy.

 

What have you done with the first week of 2022? Any good books or shows you’ve been enjoying?

 

It’s that time of year where everyone is ready to set new resolutions and goals only to abandon them in a few weeks. Hopefully, that isn’t the case for those I choose to do this year but I know I might be a bit optimistic with those I have chosen.

 

Challenges

 

The past few years I’ve started the new year vowing not to join any challenges or have any crazy resolutions because I almost never follow through with either. This year I’ve been the exact opposite, I’ve wanted to join reading challenges in the hopes of clearing my shelves and to help motivate me to keep reading and try books from my shelves I might not get around to reading otherwise.  I do worry I might be regretting the decision to do some reading challenges in a few weeks but why not try something different when I’ve been in on/off reading slumps for two years?

  

 

The focus of 2022 is very much clearing the shelves and reading the books I already own. I know there will be plenty of book purchases in my future but let’s start by focusing on reading some more shit before then. As such, here are a few reading challenges I’m hoping will help me clear my damn my shelves and focus my reading.

 

Beat the Backlist 2022

First up, we have the Beat the Backlist challenge of 2022. I’ve actually tried to do this challenge before and honestly, didn’t hold myself accountable or really try. I like that this year there are also prompts to help guide my reading and give me something to work towards. The great part is this challenge is about reading books published in 2021 or earlier so that means every book I already own can be counted towards this challenge. I’m going to try and do regular check-ins and mark off books for prompts and see how it goes. 

Buzzword Reading Challenge 2022 

The Buzzword Reading Challenge is by Booksandlala, I actually discovered it adding the Beat the Booklist to my reading challenges on Storygraph and I thought it sounded fun. I figured a more low key reading challenge with just 12 prompts should help me pick up an additional book each month. My third challenge is very similar to this one, in fact, but I couldn’t choose which one I liked better and three sounds like a good number, right?

 

 

2022 Monthly Key Word Reading Challenge

The 2022 Monthly Key World Challenge by Kim and Tanya should also hopefully make me read a few more books. Another low key one with just 12 prompts, but a lot more words to help me choose what to read. On all of these challenges, I’m letting my mood reading guide me and hoping for the best. If I don’t succeed I might be a little sad but they’re all to help me achieve my reading and blogging goals so hopefully the fact they should combine together to help me read should work as motivation. That’s the theory anyway.

 

Goals

 

I feel like my reading and blogging goals are similar every year in the fact I hope to blog regularly and clear my shelves, as well as maybe requesting fewer arcs. The fact I never seem to achieve my goals should probably be a sign I should change things up but I’m a glutton for punishment. My goals are as below with my slight explanation for each:

 

• Clear my bookshelves – this is really self-explanatory. I have a book buying problem so I really want to work on reading more of what I own or trying to read them even if I DNF.
• Stop impulse purchasing without reading an extract first– impulse buying books because they’re cheap is my biggest flaw. I am easily drawn in by books on social media and when they’re on sale I one click so fast for my Kindle. I need to learn to be better about actually reading samples for books before buying and being smarter about what I buy. I now try to wait a little while before purchasing but it doesn’t do enough to reduce my spending so the book sample is my new test to reduce my buying.
• Don't request any ARCs - I feel like this may be a difficult one to commit to but I really want to focus on reading books I own. If I do get access to an ARC for a book I am really excited for I'll probably go for it but I haven't kept up to date with new releases so I'm hoping my blogging absence might actually work in my favour this year. I can only try, right?
• Finish at least 6 series I've started - I am terrible at finishing a book series, as I've previously discussed. So this year I want to work on finishing some more. I was going to say 10 series but I know my mood reading is strong. I figure 6 should be achievable. Hopefully, I'll finish more as I read through my shelves but let's not get too optimistic.
• Blog when I want to and not because I feel I have to – this is something that will be harder to monitor. I don’t always really I’m doing things because I feel I have to because it’s part of a habit or a routine but I did notice when I was blogging some posts felt like I was going through the motions to write them. I want to bring the joy back whilst still trying to keep blogging semi-regularly. I think this means no blog schedule and see what ideas or posts I get inspired or enjoy writing.
• Visit and comment on blogs even when I am not feeling inspired to blog – my biggest regret over the past 2 years is that I haven’t visited and commented on other peoples blogs even when I’m in a blogging slump. I feel like I could have stayed present in the comments even though my blog was a ghost town so I hope that this year even if I haven’t got anything posted for 2 weeks I’ll still be about seeing what you guys are doing.

  

Are you joining any reading challenges this year? And what are your goals for 2022 or are you avoiding making any goals and just seeing when the year takes you?

I feel like I’m always disappearing from blogging but I can’t help it. The pandemic has drained the life out of me and it turns out when I feel even the slightest hint of stress I wrap myself up in blankets and escape into TV. I’m totally fine with that by the way, but it does make blogging a bit of a struggle.

After writing a quick paragraph for Vera and Sabrina for their What Does Book Blogging and the Community Mean For Us? post I felt inspired to try and blog myself again. I figured the return to blogging should once more begin by looking back at my year since, honestly, you guys have missed most of it. A catch-up and wrap up of 2021 should be on the cards so we can then start afresh with 2022 and look forward to what's next. Also, I feel like closing off a year is always a great way to find new motivation. It’s either that or a blog redesign but one of those is a lot more effort than the other.

 

Favourite books

Row 1: The House in the Cerulean Sea, The Widow of Rose House, Act Your Age, Eve Brown, The Roommate

Row 2: The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic, How To Talk to a Goddess and Other Lessons in Real Magic, Empire of Sand, Kate Daniels series

Row 3: Iron and Magic, Spoiler Alert, All The Feels, Seducing the Sorcerer

Row 4: Murderbot series, Starfish

I managed to read over 100 books in 2021. I used to read that number of books with ease each year, but the pandemic years have made reading a struggle. I think the low level of stress I’ve been feeling for 2 years solid probably is the cause of that. I mean, who hasn’t been stressed and anxious through it? Babies maybe? But, it’s definitely meant parts of my brain usually focused on reading have been distracted. I mean, I’m basing the assumption I’m stressed on my inability to stop clenching my jaw and the fact I am definitely more tense than usual. The nurse even had to tell me to stop tensing my arm when I got my booster and I didn’t even realise I was tensing!  Anyway, the pandemic years haven't been great for reading so I feel such pride to realise that despite the reading and blogging slumps I have gone through this year I still managed to read a lot of books. Yes, this includes rereads but I don’t even care. And I managed to do this in addition to reading a lot of fanfiction too. AO3 must be one of my most visited websites at this point. I like to think I’ve read some amazing books this year and below are the ones I want to throw in people’s faces to read too.

 

A couple of these books were rereads, which I wouldn’t usually include, but I wanted to show all the books which have been highlights for me this year, which includes rereads and the whole of the Kate Daniels series.

 

Favourite albums

  

Willow - lately I feel EVERYTHING, Olivia Rodrigo - Sour

Halsey - If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power, Taylor Swift - Red (Taylor's version)

I normally create a playlist for every month but lately, I’ve really gotten into listening to albums. I think it’s because I’ve gotten a little focused on an album and played it on repeat throughout the year. I’m not mad about it either because I’ve really liked just singing along to songs I know and being a bit of an obsessive weirdo for once. It has meant I’ve listened to music on headphones a lot more simply because I didn’t want my neighbours to think I was strange… but then who cares what they think?

 

I noticed this year I’ve very much been about female singers and leaning more into some music which makes me think of the music of my teen years. I was shouting along to Willow’s lately I feel EVERYTHING and I felt like I went through a breakup listening to Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour. I mentioned my love for Halsey’s new album, I always enjoy her music and this latest album felt powerful and feminist even if I can’t always put my finger on why. And who didn’t listen to Taylor’s version of Red at least once? Taylor Swift was my most played artist of this year for a good reason and that album is still on repeat now. I needed the 10-minute version of All Too Well in my life.

 

Favourite podcasts

The Magnus Archives, Grounded with Louis Theroux

The Penumbra Podcast, My Favorite Murder

Toni & Ryan Podcast

When I think back on my podcast listening this year it truly amazes me how many podcasts I’ve listened to. But also, the podcasts I’ve listened to which have since finished. I started my year utterly obsessed with The Magnus Archives and it was really the main podcast I listened to. I’d listened to some factual ones too but I listened to that religiously each week and that chatted about it with Vera. I loved that podcast and it might be my favourite story based one I’ve listened to. I still lean towards more factual and comedic type podcasts otherwise. But then Vera finally convinced me to try Penumbra or basically any other podcast she listens to and I started to really enjoy it. It does have weak moments in the story and the episodes are way too long for my liking (and don’t even start my on the Second Citadel storyline) but I still listen to it a lot. I had some new podcasts on my listening repertoire this year too. Louis Theroux released a second series of his Lockdown podcast since we got locked down again in the UK at the start of 2021 and I always enjoy what he does. He has a way of showing the comedy in things but he’s not taking the piss out of people (even if some of the folks in his documentaries probably deserve it).  Louis Theroux is an institution in himself. But My Favourite Murder and Toni and Ryan are new to me this year. I haven’t listened to any My Favourite Murder in a while (there are a lot of episodes and they are long) but I realised I am a total true crime fan and totally didn’t realise. And Toni and Ryan is a TikTok inspired listen (or, actually a facebook inspired one since I became a fan of Ryan after he went viral with his adoption story) and I love it. They do 4 episodes a week and I always listen because they just brighten my day. If you enjoy a more crude humour and want to a couple of Aussies just chat shit and have a laugh that is the podcast for you. And short episodes, which I love for me and my short attention span.

 

Favourite films

Row 1: Bo Burnham Inside, tick, tick... BOOM!, Fear Street trilogy, Army of the Dead

Row 2: Red Notice, Palm Springs, Space Sweepers, The Unforgivable

This one was a struggle of a category for me. I didn’t really do the cinema this year (I might have seen one film at the cinema… but I can’t remember what it was. I want to say The Conjuring after an impulse trip with a friend but that is how much the film did not stay in my mind whatever it was. I remember the actual events leading up to the spontaneous trip better than the film itself). Honestly, films are a struggle for me to pay full attention to at the moment, give me a tv show to binge any day. I know, that really shows how weird my attention span is but I like to be different ok! I will say, 2021 is the year I realise I think I really like musicals and just didn’t know it. I wanted Hamilton several more times and I know that Bo Burnham is a musical comedy but I listened to his songs a lot. But it was a weird mix of films I enjoyed and actually remember watching.

 

I notice most of my list is from the second half of the year watching. The Fear Street trilogy I binged in a couple of days and loved, it fed my love for horror films which the new Conjuring film just didn’t deliver. Army of the Dead I thought would be terrible but actually was great (if a touch too long, I had to split into two to finish). Red Notice was always going to be a hit for me, Ryan Reynolds worst films are always enjoyable (or I find they are anyway). Palm Springs was a film I expected to hate, it began weird and I was about to switch off and then realised it was the time loop concept and it was getting interesting. It was a weird one but I can see myself watching again. The Unforgivable and Space Sweepers were both films I almost didn’t feature here because I really enjoyed both but then couldn’t explain why so should I mention them? But then I thought fuck it, it was either that or Labyrinth and The Dig, two very different films I also can’t explain why I like them but I do.

 

Favourite shows

Row 1: Midnight Mass, Squid Game, Ginny & Georgia, Run On

Row 2: The Bold Type, Superstore, Derry Girls, Taskmaster

I watched a lot of TV this year, maybe not as much as some years but still a lot. I don’t want to tell you about shows which just released a new season and I’ve mentioned before, so no Brassic here. But I do want to talk about the newly discovered shows I’ve watched. There’s no need to tell you about my 20th rewatch of Friends or my love for Buffy. I notice there is a strange mix of shows I’ve loved through 2021. There were the dark shows like Midnight Mass and Squid Game I think a lot people binge-watched (they’re both good, check them out) but the dark shows really weren’t my focus. I had more fun dramas like Ginny & Georgia, The Bold Type and Run On which took up more of my time. Those were the shows I loved and were telling people to check out. I think The Bold Type hit Netflix and me and all of my friends started to watch around the same time so it was so fun to be able to talk about a show together. But I notice it’s the comedies that were the true hits of the year for me. I binge-watched Derry Girls and now watched it to make me smile (where’s the next series channel 4, why are you making me wait) and Superstore I had been meaning to watch forever and saw it arrive on Netflix. I think I watched every episode in a few weeks but the final season was airing on ITV or something so I was having to watch the show weekly for the final season. I loved it so much though, it’s not often I say that about US comedies. And finally, there’s Taskmaster which I was very late to the game on. It’s a show which honestly should be terrible. A group of comedians are set weird challenges to complete for the chance of winning a trophy and pleasing Greg Davies with Alex Horne overseeing them. Even telling you about it the show sounds shit. But I am hooked, I watched the latest series and now I’m backtracking through the past 11 to catch up. It’s stupid and funny and I seriously need this show to brighten my evenings.

 

Life highlights

 

2021 didn’t start off the best. I planned to make my grand return to blogging but then the UK went into another lockdown so the blogging and reading slump continued. It was definitely a year with a lot of negatives. You couldn’t watch the news without feeling like we were continually watching another disaster happen. But it wasn’t a year filled with negatives, I still managed to enjoy myself and I can certainly say it felt like the year flew by, even if it did also feel like it would never end.

 

Once we could, I saw friends and had some fun. Especially when the vaccine rollout began. I’m essentially a pincushion now but I feel lucky that we have the NHS and access to the vaccines we do here. I still don’t have the promised 5G but at least I’m keeping folks safe around me. And with that knowledge, I did feel a bit more comfortable going out and about, even with face masks out there trying to ruin my makeup. I didn’t leave the UK, but I did get out to Bridgnorth and Ludlow. We had sunny weather that meant people had to see my pasty white legs reflecting the sun but I didn’t get sunburn! And I also did quite a bit of drinking, from going to the pub to drinking cocktails with friends. We went out as much as we could and just had a good time. Sure, we had to do lateral flow tests and at points, you weren’t allowed to be up and dancing but we made the most of it.

 

I even saw some live music this year! From the epic Fleetwood Mac tribute (even if I was told off for enjoying myself and disturbing other people… I still enjoyed myself). I also got to see Genesis with my mom. Considering I hardly knew their music before, or no more than what I’d heard my mom listen to, I have to say it was an amazing show and I feel lucky I got to see them considering it’s potentially their final tour.

 

It was a year of trying to make the best of a bad situation. It would have been easy to let myself wallow in what I couldn’t do but I did try to make the most of what I could do. I stayed home when we were told to, I spent time with my family. And I just tried not to have a breakdown. I’m pretty sure that’s what we all tried to do. And I tried to have fun when I could. I just hope 2022 will have a bit more good than bad but  

 

What were your highlights of the year? Was there a particular book you loved or a show that helped you escape? Or did you choose a song or album as your anthem for the year which you played on repeat and everyone you live with probably hates now? Let's talk about the good stuff since the news is really determined to bring us down daily.