Sorry for the disappearing act at the end of the month, it's been so busy at work! Let's review the month and I'll catch you up on anything you might have missed.

Can't Stop Listening

Let's begin with the song I've had on repeat lately. It came up on one of those Spotify created lists one day and it just caught something in my brain and I found myself going back to listen to it often last month. Not sure why, but it reminded me that I do really enjoy Rogue Wave's music. I used to lsiten to their song Eyes all the time, anyone else think of Heroes when they hear that song as well?

Life

My February has  been very work focused. Way back in January I offered to help out with a culture group which had been formed to try and focus on improving our team's culture as it's grown rapidly and managers are concerned good work culture has been lost in the rapid growth. I agree culture has been less than great so I agreed to assist from an employee perspective. It was proposed it would just be about discussing future changes and ideas for change from the team perspective rather than management. It turned into a presentation role all about presenting things to the managers and inspiring change and after speaking to a key communications person within our company she's changed the whole concept of the group to be team members pushing culture change and being a comms committee who will relay team communications and help keep everyone informed. It actually sounds like a really positive role and I am happy to do it with some of the people I work with… but if I had known the amount of work involved I would have planned things very differently and not let us plan the day so late because it was stressful having only a vague agenda and there was lots of miscommunication along the way which I really didn’t need. It was very full on and I was glad to have a couple of days off of work at the end of February just to relax. I also should mention that within that whole culture project there ended up being some push back from managers on what we were doing that created a whole heap of drama and basically meant we had to go over their heads to get action to happen. It was an uncomfortable month for me, I won't lie. But it's over now and there's still loads more work to come but I'll worry about that later.

Apart from work I’ve not done too much. It was my birthday at the end of February so it was all about me relaxing and doing as little as possible. I watched a lot of Netflix, ate a lot of cake. One of my friends made a red velvet cake for me and it was delicious but so much cake! Mostly because my mom also bought a cake so there was cake for everyone for a few days. Apart from my birthday, though, February was fairly low key. Just lots of time at home with Artemis (who is now fully vaccinated) and mostly trying to teach Artemis I am not a chew toy and she should definitely use the toys I’ve bought for her.

Reading

I entered a bit of a reading slump in February. It wasn’t a slump exactly, my mood reading was just been strong so I spent a lot of time uncertain what I felt like reading. This led to a lot of half hearted attempts to read things and spending longer reading books I would usually fly through. It all came to a head when I started House of Blood and Earth and it was bad! I struggled to get into the book because it was so info dumpy at the start and eventually I hit 50% and decided to abandon all hope of it getting better. I have seen other bloggers rating it 5 stars and I decided they were deluded because I didn’t care how much of a twist there was at the end, it simply wasn’t worth me entering a genuine reading slump to find out. I was annoyed as I actually own the second book but if a publisher won’t edit down an unnecessarily long book then I won’t waste my time reading it. Especially when the romance itself wasn’t good. I won’t complain anymore because, thankfully, I did manage to fit in a few decent reads in February. My reading numbers weren’t as high as January but I did find I read a few amazing books. My first 4 reads of the month, Only When It's Us, Book of Night, The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy, and Girl Gone Viral were all really good reads for me. And I did start Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry right at the end of February but I finished it in March so I'll talk about it next month instead. So I suppose I started the month strong with my reading so that's better than nothing.  

Challenges

Romanceopoly

It was a pretty strong month with Romanceopoly. I've kind of been letting the board guide my reading as I've not been sure what I've been in the mood to read. I finished 5 prompts, although I do feel like I didn't trule finish the gym prompt as I never finished that book but oh well.

Monthly Key Word

I absolutely loved the book I decided to read for February. I always enjoy Holly Black books but I didn'y expect to enjoy her first forray into adult books as much as I did.

Watching

This time I wanted to include what I've watched lately too. It's a weird mix of stuff, I've hopped back onto the k-drama bandwagon full steam ahead. I flew through the series Love To Hate You in just a couple of days and definitely recommend if you want a fast but brilliant romance watch. It was short enough it didn’t get bogged down in some of the unnecessary drama that occasionally creeps into K-dramas.

But I also indulged my F1 obsession and binge watched all of Season 5 of Drive to Survive when it came out. To say I'm pissed off the show missed out major events in the F1 season from last year is an understatement. There was genuienly a lot of drama  last season without Netflix needing to manufacture some and yet they glossed over it to try and create the narrative they wanted. They could have actually made a statement about some of the situations in F1 right now, like the bombing near the Saudi track or the safety issues following the tractor on track during the Japanese grand prix but instead they focused on pointless things and overdid the crash at Silverstone. I am angry about it but at least F1 is back with a new season with hopefully new drama. I can't wait, even If my favourite drivers aren't in it this year.

What were your highlights in February? Can you recommend any good shows? And what was your favourite book of the month?

What a month! Sorry I was a bit quiet there at the end of January but life really got in the way. But it’s cool I’ll catch you up on things and we can talk books! I think occasional 2 weeks absences on the blog are totally fair and part of my 2023 philosophy of enjoying myself with blogging.

On Repeat

Let's start off with a song to keep you entertained whilst reading. I discovered the artist Lizzy McAlpine this month and Doomsday has been on repeat for a good long while. I just cannot get enough of it.

Life

What can I say about life? I think I mentioned my neighbour started having their extension built so I've had that noise to contend with when I work from home. But they also fixed my front light and have been so nice the whole time they've had the work done so I'm not too bothered. Or not too bothered until you hear some loud banging in the middle of a Teams call and have to hastily mute yourself. But in all honestly, it's fine, the worst of the noise has passed and it's nice being nosy watching the progress. I mostly miss having the blinds open in the conservatory and being able to get down the side of the house.

I also got myself a kitten this month! Little Artemis has settled in beautifully, she is now almost 10 weeks old and such a cool cat. She is so curious about everything, she gets a bit jittery when she's uncertain but she is so unbothered by new people and places and I respect her for that, we should all be more like Artemis. She's had her first lot of vaccinations and everyone at the vets loved her, she is definitely my baby. My mom even called her her first grandchild and I think she acknowledges that there will not be any human grandchildren from me and she can look forward to lots of pets instead. Her first intriduction to Milo though and she was less chill and rather growly, but I suppose it might come with time and Milo isn't round every day.

The only other interesting thing in my life in January was the bottomless brunch I went to with friends at a bar with a ball pit in it. I very much felt like Sheldon swimming about in it and it's safe to say kids are athletic playing in these things as it was hard work. It was a fun afternoon/evening out and I was definitely feeling a little tender the next day. Bottomless brunches are lethal every time.

Books

18 Read
6 unhauled
5 purchased
Favourites: How to Fake it In Hollywood, Taste
Least Favourite: The Ex Hex

I cannot believe the number of books I read in January! I know so many were shorter reads, there were a lot of novellas and short stories in my life last month, but even taking those out of consideration I hit double figures and that is an achievement. It was a strong reading month with Romanceopoly helping to guide my reading

Challenges

Romanceopoly

I finished 10 prompts in the month of January so I would say I am totally smashing it so far. I did actually land on Coffee Shop today and now need to read a book recommendation so if anyone wants to offer me a rec that would be great. I have a potential one from my mom for a book which has been on my shelf for a while so all else fails I will check that out. But look at the board so far! I think this is really helping me read a little wider trying to fit a challenge and I am trying to reduce my spending so I think I'm doing ok. I might have to start doing more bookish bingo prompts in future, but they have to be romance specific to match my main genre of reading.

Monthly Key Word

I read my first book for January and it was a physical book. Funnily enough, the next prompt I've also picked upa  physical book, guess who is possibly going to try and do physical books only for this challenge.

I think that covers my month, I can't remember if there's anything I'm missing. It's been so long since I've done one of these posts! How was your January? What were your favourite reads or favourite moments of the month?

Where the hell did April go? It felt like it start two seconds ago and then it was May. 2022 is flying by and it's crazy. I don't think I like it. It's the first year in a while things have started to feel normal (to some degree anyway) and I think it's going to pass me by before I know it.

 

When I think back on it April seems to have been busy. I started the month on a hen do and with friends. I then got covid and spent a copious amount of time at home and working and blogging and generally just doing stuff so I didn't go crazy at home. And then it closed with me being social, seeing friends and family, and going to the office. It really was a month that was very much about seeing people and doing things. I suppose that means I shouldn't complain too much as I was doing things which made me happy… apart from getting covid. That sucked, but at least it aligned perfectly with when I didn't have a lot of plans so I didn't feel like I missed at on too much stuff. The highlights was definitely going to Liverpool and just having a laugh. We did our ridiculous Britney dance class and ate food and had drinks and just enjoyed ourselves. We went to a comedy club and did get picked on a little by some of the comedians, but it was just fun. I missed doing stuff like that and so, even though Liverpool is most definitely where I got sick, it was totally worth it.

 

Music of the Month

I actually discovered this song watching the season finale of Peaky Blinders and I listened to it on repeat for a while. I don’t know what it is that’s caught my attention with it but something did.

 

What I Read

4 stars

3-3.75 stars

I only read 13 books in April. my reading is obviously flagging. But it’s cool because I still read a lot of books I enjoyed. There weren’t any 5 star reads either. I obviously never managed to settle on exactly where my mood lay when it comes to reading.

 

Reading Challenges

2022 Monthly Key Word Challenge

 

April - Race, Now, Chose, While, Stop, Burn, Red, One

I really love challenges like this for making me look at the books I won and think which ones might fit the theme. For April it forced me to finally read One Last Stop and I am not mad about it. I think I'd have read it eventually but it's been on my shelf since last year and it was time to read a physical book.

Buzzword Reading Challenge

 

April - A book with LITTLE or BIG in the title

I once more turned to my physical books and my unread bookshelf to choose a book for this challenge as none of the books on my kindle inspired me and I saw The Little Shop of Happy Ever After by Jenny Colgan just waiting to be read. It's been on my shelf so long I couldn't even tell you when I bought it but I am so glad I did read it because it was such a charming story. Jenny Colgan delivers charming stories set throughout the UK which always have me ready to move to wherever they're set. I don't know why I haven't read more books from her as they really are charming. I probably would have never got around to reading this book if it wasn't for the reading challenge so I think I will take up more of these in the future where I force myself to read books I own.

Beat the Backlist

I'm flagging in conquering the prompts on this one. I am halfway through, I've now completed 26 prompts but I think the ones left are the difficult ones. I am proud the majority of my reads qualify for this challenge though. I've only read 5 books which were published in 2022 out of 69 I've finished at the end of April. That's pretty impressive, right?

What I Blogged

 

Sunday Summary // 10th April 2022

March 2022 Wrap Up

Sunday Summary // 17th April 2022

Why don’t I read what I buy?

What I loved about the Penelope Blue trilogy

Sunday Summary // 24th April 2022

Battle Royal // I Loved It But I Wanted More Romance

 

TV/Film Highlights

There are three shows which stand out as highlights for me in April. I watched a lot of TV because I had covid but two of the shows I actually finished at the very start of April and those were Peaky Blinders and Ted Lasso. My song of the month was actually in the Peaky Blinders finale. I have to say, I expected a little more from the final season of Peaky Blinders, those characters had so much more story left but I understand wanting to finish a series without dragging it out. I know I'll still see plenty of Peaky Blinders themed stuff around Birmingham anyway, the city has fully embraced having a show based there. I swear, some people have made the show their personality. The other show I finished right at the start of the month was Ted Lasso and I am obsessed. I am ready to rewatch the first two seasons all over again because that's how good it was. I can't wait for more and it might have convinced me to carry on my AppleTV+ subscription longer than originally planned. And the final show of April is obviously going to be Business Proposal. I watched it in the space of a week and loved it.

I have just one film for the month and that is CODA. It weirdly felt like a YA book when I was watching, which is probably a really weird thing to say but it had a strong family element, a romance, and a teenagers quest to achieve her dream. It has all the stuff you'd usually see in a YA book so there you go. It was really good, I watched while I had covid which may have been an error as it was at the stage where I was really congested and struggling to breath and it then made me cry which made everything worse, especially as I watched it just before going to bed. Definite error on my part.

 

How was your April? Anyone else feel like the time is flying by this year? maybe it’s just because we’re out doing things a bit more compared to the past couple of years?