Hi, it's me again. I took a far longer break than intended from blogging for many reasons but I’m back now.
I intended to be back a couple of weeks ago, it was going to be a small break from blogging as I was feeling a little overwhelmed with world news, because who wouldn't be? I knew my head wasn’t in the right place and I didn’t want to force myself to blog and risk burnout. I figured a couple of weeks off and I’d be back by the end of March at the latest. After those couple of weeks I still wasn’t ready but began drafting some posts thinking I’d be ready the week after but then real life got really busy instead. Instead of rushing I decided to wait until after my plans IRL were over and I’d be back… and then I caught covid.
For anyone worried, I am totally ok. I felt rubbish a few days ago but I think I am through the worst of it. I am triple jabbed and that vaccine has totally done it’s job and I’ve fought it off. It began with a sore throat and a cough, I got a temperature and now I am just horribly congested and have a lingering cough. I’ve managed to work from home the whole time as I haven’t felt too bad. I think I felt worse before I tested positive but since my positive test Friday I’ve started to feel better. Honestly, the hardest part for me has been when I became congested as I’ve needed to figure out how to sleep sitting up. I've created a lovely pillow nest to keep me upright. Does it look ridiculous? Yes. But it's managing to get some rest which is the most important part. I'm sure I'll be back to 100% by the end of next week.
There are some positives to being stuck at home. One of them is the fact I’ve not had to bother wearing a bra all week. And I can save a bit of money not going anywhere, but then there’s the temptation to spend lots of money online instead. It just sucks because I live alone. I've had to get my mom to drop round supplies to me and I've not been able to see Milo, which has been upsetting as he's apparently not been himself this week. I'm hoping it's nothing but we shall see. What I really hate living alone is when you're feeling run down you just want someone to go make you a cup of tea or grab you something while you lie about feeling sorry for yourself. Sadly, I've had to do it all for myself instead. It's fine, it just means I haven't done the housework or anything productive this week. I’ve only washed up because I was running out of plates and teaspoons so I’ve had no choice. I actually had planned to prolong my blog absence originally because doing anything felt like effort when I could lie under a blanket and watch TV when I wasn’t working but I got bored Saturday since I was feeling better but couldn’t go anywhere and I didn’t have work to focus on to keep me busy. Who knew I was a person that needed to be kept busy?
I was away on a hen do in Liverpool last weekend, which is why I delayed my grand return to blogging. It was a lot of fun. We did a Britney Spears dance class (I was shocking, let's not talk of it further) and we went for good food and drinks and it was just a weekend of fun. There was some drama but as a whole just us enjoying the weekend with good friends. It's also 100% where I caught covid as two of the people I with also ended up testing positive this week. I can't be too annoyed, it's just frustrating it was my first weekend doing stuff in a long while and it happened. I suppose, it was inevitable and it teaches me being social is a risky business. There is a reason I avoid it so much but I’m glad it felt worth it.
What else have I done? I was meant to be going into work for a party this week but had to cancel, even before I tested positive I didn't want to spread any germs to anyone. We've got a couple of things planned after Easter with work, though, so I can look forward to seeing people then. I've spent my weekend watching a lot of TV to keep myself busy. I can 100% recommend CODA, it was such a good film but it made me tear up a little which is never a good plan when you're already congested. I finished Ted Lasso last week before I was sick and that was brilliant! I wish I’d watched it sooner. I don't know if there' much else worth watching on Apple TV+ but I've got the time so if I find anything I’ll be sure to report back. Apart from that? I watched the Formula 1 highlights and I've returned to watching Drive to Survive on Netflix. I also started a show called Motherland which is a decent comedy on Netflix, I think it’s a BBC comedy which are always hit or miss for me. And I've been rewatching Derry Girls as it's back on TV Tuesday and I cannot wait.
What I've Been Reading
I wasn't going to recap everything I'd read since I last blogged but why not give you a sample of what will be appearing in my March wrap up. As you can see, there’s been a lot of rereading happening again. After finishing Bridgerton and hating so many things about the second season I needed a good historical romance to refresh myself with and a reread of some Lisa Kleypas seemed like a perfect plan. Sadly, i lost steam once I started the Hathaway’s series, I enjoyed the first book in the series a lot more second time around but once I started the second one I’d fallen out of the mood for it. I finished once I got back from Liverpool but then read The Un-Arranged Marriage as I fancied a contemporary read again and now I don’t know what I want to read.
New To Me
I admit I bought more books than necessary. In the past few weeks I've returned to leaving the house more and went to an actual supermarket to shop for once and ended up with more physical books. I’ve also been trying to stock up on books I’ve read and enjoyed but might not own either because I got an arc or because I want a physical copy on my shelf. I’ll be talking in another post about my book buying issues but I’ve plans to read more of what I buy.
How is everyone feelings? Any recommendations for shows or books to keep my busy while I'm home? And what have I missed during my absence?
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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