I'm writing this on Saturday, which means it's my birthday! Happy birthday me. I've spent the day so far playing Pokémon Arceus which my brother got me for my birthday. I ate cookies for breakfast and I have a caterpillar cake at my mom's to look forward to. It’s going to be a quiet day of me doing whatever I want and then tomorrow I have to do all of the things I usually do on Saturday which I put off because I wanted only fun things for my birthday.
It's difficult to stay feeling too positive on my birthday when just a couple of days ago Russia invaded Ukraine, though. It's a horrible situation but please support where you can.
⚡️Important resource ⚡️
— Jane Lytvynenko (@JaneLytv) February 22, 2022
Ukrainians put together a list of resources on how foreigners can help. There are all reputable organizations doing good work. Spread far and wide:https://t.co/NeGElG48jZ
I don't want to focus too much on it as it's a difficult situation that is really beyond our control. I want to support where I can and try and help stop misinformation from spreading online. Be careful on social media and support where you can. And please distinguish between Putin and his government and the Russian people because I hate to think of Russians all being tarred with the same brush over something they don't necessarily agree with as well.
I began my week rushed off of my feet with work and generally a little worn out. I've been feeling a little off when it comes to reading as I'm very uncertain what exactly I want to read. I'm not in a slump, I'm finishing books, but I'm finding myself leaning a little more into audiobooks because I just don't have the same motivation to pick up a book, which is a little strange. But I've been managing to listen to audiobooks as I work to avoid a breakdown. I'd forgotten how much my reading speed gets upped with audiobooks as I adapt to the faster speed until I'm listening at 2x speed and they actually don't sound like chipmunks. I'm making full use of my library for audiobooks, Overdrive is such an excellent invention. It's actually helping me clear a few arcs from my Netgalley, I mean I do have books on there from like 4 years ago so it doesn't surprise me the audio is available for them. I'm even thinking of renewing my Scribd subscription for a little while.
Apart from a war breaking out this week has also felt weird as Covid restrictions have ended here in the UK. I know, I'm shocked too. Our cases have gone down but I feel like people are testing less. I now don't have to stay home if I get Covid so I'm very concerned people will get it and start spreading it around, but mass testing will soon end here so you won't even know you have it. But my philosophy right now is trying not to dwell on the things out of my control. I will continue wearing face masks when necessary and try and be sensible and that's all I can do.
I had Friday off of work and I've got Monday off. Since my birthday was Saturday I figured a long weekend from work was well deserved. I needed the break, I think. I spent Friday organising my bookshelves and removing a few books I'll either never read again or won't ever start to read. It was actually really satisfying but look at the chaos which preceded the organisation. Now they look all pretty and tidy and I even moved my unread books to their own dedicated shelf so I can see how many books I have to read.
What else did I do this week? I baked cookies! I wasn't certain I'd be getting a birthday cake this year and I'd seen a recipe online for Subway cookies (they do the most delicious cookies and no one can convince me otherwise) so once I found the recipe I knew I had to try them. It took two trips to the supermarket to remember all the ingredients (shopping lists are for losers and people who remember to write them, unlike me) but once I had everything in I was good to go. My house smelled amazing while I was baking and they were delicious. I've hyperlinked the recipe I've used in case anyone else is interested.
What I've Been Reading
I had to read Beach Read after my TikTok discovery of the different endings in the US and UK. Afterwards, I also discovered the audiobook also has the same ending as the US, I suppose recording 2 different audiobook endings would be a bit much. I read a couple more books that had been lingering on my Kindle for far too long and an ARC. It was a decent reading week. During my bout of baking, I also started Battle Royal (it seemed appropriate) but I'm not hooked yet. It's a mood thing rather than the book because I'm three chapters in and love the characters. I also have Legends and Lattes on the go. I couldn't resist it on KU with that cover but, again, mood is getting in the way.
New To Me
I borrowed Legends and Lattes but then treated myself to quite a few purchases this week. I finally bought The Brightest Star in Paris after reading Nick's fabulous valentine's post and remembering how much I loved The Widow of Rose House. I saw in Nalini Singh's newsletter Archangel's Sun and Quiet in Her Bones. And then, on my birthday, my Afterlight box from Illumicrate arrived and this quarter's book was Delilah Green Doesn't Care, which I have been really excited to read. It was obvious from the hint which book was included so I don't feel like it was a spoiler anyway.
What is keeping you busy this week? And have you any favourite books of the week for me to try and keep me busy?
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