I have descended into comfort reads and chocolate this week. The news and the world in general sucks right now and although I'm doing what I can to stay informed I also totally can't watch the news at weekends as I need the break. Someone I used to work with is going out to Poland to help those fleeing Ukraine and I am so proud of her. She is raising money for the charities she’ll be going out to support at the same time and is taking time off work to do it. I would share the link for her fundraising but as it's not mine I won't as I know she’s only really shared it with folks she knows as far as I’m aware.
I wish I could say I've been productive in real life to excuse the lack of blogging and blog hopping I've been doing but all I've done lately is watch TV and play Pokemon. I guess that is a sign of how things are isn't it? I’m not apologising, I’m doing what works for me. That and even though I only had a 3 day working week I’ve just wanted to sleep all the time after work. Work has been draining lately which isn’t great, but it’ll pass.
I did meet up with a friend for food in the week, though. It was so nice to do something normal and get out of the house. It did turn into a slight palaver with an accident shutting the road on one route we were gonna take and ended up having to change which restaurant we ate it in the end but we still had a great time and I am so glad we went out. I'd not seen my friend in forever so a chance to just catch up and chat shit was great.
I also did something I really didn't want to do which was go to the dentists. I haven’t been to see one in a long time. I hate to almost fit into the British stereotype of having bad teeth by not going but dentists are scary and expensive! I don’t have bad teeth, though, or I don’t think so. They might not be bright white and totally straight but they are straight enough and haven’t caused me any issues which is really the important thing isn’t it? After avoiding the dentists for many years I finally called them two years ago but with the pandemic I had to join a waitlist and guess who finally called me back? I was so nervous but I've only got to have one filling which I feel is pretty impressive when I think about it. Hopefully that's the extent of it, as it looks like my teeth cleaning and flossing routine has be doing me good. And I thought I was wasting money on these things but I'm not! I celebrated by eating chocolate. Don't think that was what my dentist hoped for.
What I've Been Reading
As I said, it's all about the comfort read this week. I honestly thought the pandemic was the peak when it came to stress and the past few years but what did I know? I started the week finishing Battle Royal and I was totally wrong, I was definitely in the mood for that book and shame on me sleeping for so long on a Lucy Parker book when i know she's my favourite. I seriously enjoyed it so much. When I went back to work I finish Song of Blood and Stone and I just wasn't in the mood for it. Usually audiobooks work better for books I'm not in the mood for so it sucks that wasn't the case. I think I tuned out a lot when listening but I refused to reduce book speed as i wanted to be done already. I then started reading Act like It as it's my ultimate comfort read and then continued on to Pretty Face. I've been reading Legends & Lattes on and off but the pacing is slow and, like I said, comfort is key right now for me.
New To Me
I'm impressed I didn't get more books. I am big on treating myself when it comes to my birthday but I've talked myself down. I did treat myself to new boots so I guess that might be why I didn't feel I needed more books? I even have a book voucher, what is wrong with me?
What have you done this week? Does anyone else choose Lucy Parker as their go to comfort read author or do you read new things?
February is always my favourite for my month since it's my birthday month. It's usually a month which most people are feeling a little down. It's still cold out and the days are short, but it at least gives me something to look forward to. I would say it was a good month but there have been a lot of terrible things in the news. A lot happened to me in such a short month. I started the month moving house and I ended it with my birthday, and in between, there was a lot of work and unpacking and plain old change. I even managed to squeeze in a trip into the office. It was all happening so I'm proud of everything I managed to get done last month, even if I ended the month feeling much more negative about the world
Music of the Month
I struggled to decided which song to pick this month but finally settled on The Joker and the Queen. The newest Ed Sheeran album hasn't been my favourite, but I did like his edition of this song with Taylor Swift (because how could I not).
What I Read
It was another decent reading month. Not quite as much read as January but I did still manage to get a lot more reading done then I expected. 15 whole books finished even though I did end the month in a little slump, or at least in a lost reading mood as I’ve not been able to settle back in to figure out exactly what I am in the mood for.
5 Stars
The Love Hypothesis // Battle Royal
4-4.75 Stars
Neverwhere // The One For You // The Sandman Act 1 // Stealing Mr Right // Saving Mr Perfect // Seeking Mr Wrong // One of Us Is Lying
3-3.75 Stars
The Wedding Bait // Method Acting // Feral Sins // Beach Read // Under Her Skin // By Her Touch
Books I Unhauled
I unhauled 25 more books. I was going to list them like I did last month but how boring would that be? Some I fully didn't attempt to read and just looked and the summary and knew it wasn't to my tastes anymore and some I tried the first couple of chapters and just couldn't get into the writing. And this is why you should read samples of books before impulse buying them people!
Reading Challenges
2022 Monthly Key Word Challenge
Midnight, Never, Into, Sun, Love, Good, Spell, Search
Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman
I did worry that this one was pushing it a little but Never is in the title so it counts! I just wish I'd enjoyed it a little more. Or at least the book version because the audiobook I listened to was great but I usually really enjoy reading Neil Gaiman books as well. I do blame mood reading for e not enjoying it to be fair.
Buzzword Reading Challenge
A book with a pronoun in the title
The One For You - Roni Loren
I needed the push to finally finish this series. For whatever reason I couldn't get into it when it first came out a couple of years ago. I regret that now because I really enjoyed it, stupid mood reading always getting in the way of me reading good books.
Beat the Backlist
I completed 7 more of the prompts. Still, 35 prompts remaining but I’m hoping I’ll manage to do it by the end of the year. I started strong in January and now I will slowly work through the prompts to the end of the year. I read 14 more pre-2022 books. I’ve only read one 2022 release so far, I do worry this means I’ll be playing catch up next year for 2022 reads but I am always behind on releases so it’ll be fine.
What I Blogged
I admit, my blogging month was far less spectacular than my reading. I’m not mad about it, I’ve been enjoying reading and I’ve just not been in the mood to sit at my computer for more hours after work but I do need to get into a good work/life/blog balance somehow.
So Many Reviews // Fantasy Books I’ve Read Lately
Sunday Summary // 20th February 2022
I was today year’s old when I learnt books might be changed based on publishing location
Sunday Summary // 27th February 2022
TV/Film Highlights
The highlights of February are easy to choose from. I couldn't stop watching One of Us Is Lying on Netflix. I hadn't read the book when I started watching it but that's ok. It made it tenser since I had no clue who did what and I was kept guessing, luckily for me, the book still held up after watching.
My other highlight? Only Murders in the Building. I started watching it originally when it first came out on Disney+ but, as with most things, I am terrible about watching weekly unless it's on actual TV. No idea why. It was recced on the Toni and Ryan podcast and I remembered how much I enjoyed it. I need the second series! I'm totally hooked, and it was laugh out loud funny at points which is a rarity for TV comedies for me right now.
What were your February highlights? Am I the only one who found February to be a bit of a meh month by the end?
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