It’s one of those days where even Mac & Cheese with garlic bread hasn’t cheered me up so now I’m tucked up in bed with plans to go to sleep early just to make today end quicker. The worst thing is nothing bad has even happened today, I’m just over it.
While I do want an early night, 6pm is a bit too early so I thought I’d go back and revisit the last three months and everything I’ve been watching!
Movies
Knives Out: Glass Onion – I’ve watched Knives Out multiple times and it’s wormed it’s way onto my list of comfort films so I was highly anticipating this sequel. Gonna have to watch it a couple more times before I decide if this is as good as the first, but I really did love this. Benoit Blanc was an absolute legend in this and I want a million more movies in this franchise. Let’s give it the Fast & Furious treament.
With just one day of 2022 we have officially made it to the end of the year!! As I’ve felt the need to say since 2020: well done everybody. Give yourself a pat on the back.
Looking back at 2022, I have to say that I’ve had one of the best years of my life: finishing my first year of uni, Conan Grey concert, my best uni friend staying with me in Spain for 10 days, studying abroad in the United States and all the amazing things I got to do there.
It was also a really great reading year for me as I managed to read 116 books! That is crazy to me considering how busy I’ve been. I did start the year tracking my reading on Storygraph so I’d have so many stats come this end of the year but … I forgot all about that because I’m terrible.
As always though, today I’m going to be taking a look back at my reading year 🙂
I’m getting straight to the point with things today because the last time I took my time writing a blogpost my computer froze and, despite saving every now and then, I lost the entire thing. I was fuming and cannot handle a repeat of that.
There’s four more days left in the year but I’m drawing a line under things. If by some miracle I squeeze in another book I’m going to include it towards my 2023 reading goal. I’m doing this because in December I read exclusively Christmas books!!
With me being in the States for the majority of December, I really wanted to get myself in the mood for Christmas by reading festive books. Sadly that didn’t happen. I just did not manage to get in the holiday spirit. I’ll try harder next year. Despite that though, I did have a lot of fun with the hoilday books I read!
My True Love Gave to Me Anthology edited by Stephanie Perking
End of December/early January this anthology was on sale on Kindle so I was very prepared when it came to my Christmas TBR. I was actually looking forward to picking this one up for weeks before it was conventionally acceptable to do so.
I class an anthology as a win when I enjoy about half of the stories. Anthologies are usually composed of such a mixed bag that I like to give them this bit of lee way compared to other books. I’m happy to report that I enjoyed 3/4 of the stories in this book. It got off to a really great start with Rainbow Rowells opening stories, there was a cute one set at a Christmas tree nursery. Besides from one or two that I didn’t really connect with, I had a really great time with every single one of these.
I am officially down to the last week in the United States of America and I have a lot to do: 2 and a half more final projects to get done, a suitcase to buy and pack, an annoying amount of documents to fill out just to leave the campus and country.
I’ve actually been working on part of my final all afternoon and I need a break so I’m here today to talk about what I’ve been watching recently 🙂
Interview With the Vampire – Season 1
When I saw this trending online I jumped on the bandwagon. If memory serves, I started watching not long after episode 3 or 4, and then watched weekly from that point on which was fun. With short series like this I like watching weekly and getting to read everyone’s takes and theories on the episodes.
This was a really interesting series, so much more than just vampires – it’s got toxic relationships, lots of subtext. Louis and Letsat are deeply in need of psychological help but they made for some very entertaining TV. My favourite part was when Lestats bursts onto the train and is wearing the conductors hat and using the guys head like a puppet. A psychopath with a sense of humour. I would also like to make it known that I would lay down my life for Claudia.
Ghosts (every season except the last cause I don’t want it to end!)
Why have I not watched this series sooner? I absolutely loved Horrible Histories and Sorry I’ve Got No Head as a kid and if you didn’t get to experience the joy of watching those on CBBC after school then I’m so sorry to you.
I had a plan for this month. I was going to spend the month finally reading the books that I’ve been putting off all year before I switched into Christmas mode and only read festive reads in December. As you may be able to tell by the title of todays post … that didn’t quite go to plan.
Literally, the only books from that original TBR were my current reads that I’d already started. I am a disgrace to myself and we’re just going to role on into talking about what I did manage to read because I’m so ashamed.
Wolfsong by TJ Klune – It took me over a month to read this book. That was entirely my fault and I apologise to this book for taking so long. I actually managed to read the bulk of this book on the bus to New York and it made the 4+ hours pass very quickly.
As soon the action (and the traumatising moments) got going, and I actually had time to sit back and just read, I fell in love with this story. One of my goals this year was to read a TJ Klune book. This isn’t quite the one I had in mind but I failed so badly on my goals this year that I’m taking it as a win. I will definitely be continuing on with this series next year. This is the re-realeased UK version. Does anyone know if I have to wait for the UK release of the sequel, or can I just read what’s already published?? Please let me know!
Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker & Wendy Xu – While this would have been ideal to read back in October I am not mad about reading it a couple weeks too late because this was so cosy and sweet! This is a graphic novel with romance between a witch and a werewolf, it’s got sapphic grandma’s, magic and a little bit of mystery. The art style is just really cute aswell. I think this is definitely going to become an annual read for me from now on!
I have no interesting introduction today. I also had no idea that I had watched quite as much as I’ve got listed here so I’m just going to say “happy Wednesday” and move on into the wrap up :))
The Invitation
Gonna admit. I watched this trailer, saw that Thomas Doherty was playing a rich, probably evil vampire and I was on board. It helped that my uni had a promotion running with the local cinema where students got in for free on random Thursday so I dragged my friends to watch it.
This movie was ok. I really wish it had gone full force with the horror elements. Like this should have had an R rating or something to live up to its potential. It was fun and all, but ended up feeling like something I’d seen before.
So September came and went in a blink of an eye. I’ve officially been in the US for over a month now. It’s so crazy. On one hand it feels like I’ve only just got here, on the other it feels like it’s been a lifetime but that might just be because I’m in dire need of a homecooked roast dinner.
I had little to no expectations for my reading this month. With classes starting I didn’t know how much free time I’d have to read or even what I’d be in the mood to read. I had two new books on my September TBR and I read neither of them.
There were a lot of unexpected re-reads this month but I’m not mad about it. Re-reading can take the pressure off sometimes which was what I probably needed this month.
Finally finished:
I think I was in a bit of a reading slump at the start of the month because I started both of these books on my flight to the US but it took me ages to finish them after that.
I ended up finishing the audiobook of Mox by Jon Moxley while playing bubble-shooter late into the night. I really enjoyed this audiobook. It’s narrated by Moxley himself so it felt like he was just chit-chatting about his life and career as a professional wrestler, or like I was just listening to a podcast which I really enjoyed.
With As Good as Dead by Holly Jackson, I had to actually set aside time and kind of force myself to finish it to free myself from the book slump. I loved the previous two books which I binged in August, but this third book was definitely my least favourite of the three. I appreciated the attention to Pip’s spiralling mental state and how there were consequences of the past books, but I just didn’t enjoy some of the plot points.
I should be in uni right now but instead I’m still in my pyjamas, drinking a cup of tea and doing a colouring book. I just really couldn’t sit through my morning lecture and personal development session today. Jury’s still out on if I go to my 4pm lecture.
I am getting cramp from colouring though so it’s time to take a break and instead talk about what I’ve been watching recently 🙂
The Batman
Once upon a time I said I’d never watch any new batman movies unless it was more Lego-Batman … then they cast Robert Pattinson and I caved so quickly.
This movie was so freaking. First of all, I saw it for free! My friends boyfriend works at a cinema and got us in for free. So it was already a good day but then I watched this movie and it got even better.
The cinematography! The humour! The action!! My favourite scene of the whole movie was when Battinson just yeeted out the window, had a parachute, and then flew straight into a bridge, and hobbled away. I love the aesthetic of this Batman: greasy emo. I finished watching it and immediately wanted to watch it again.
I have no life. Partly because there’s still a pandemic going on, partly because I’m a socially anxious introvert. Because of these two things I read a lot and I also watch a lot of TV shows and movies … or at least I try to. It usually takes me a while to finish things but I’ve done quite well recently of finishing what I’ve started and I’m here to talk about those shows/movies today :))
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina – Season 3
There’s every possibility that I never actually finished Season 2 but that didn’t stop me from watching the third part of this series. I just made sure to watch a couple of recap videos beforehand and I was good to go.
I really liked this third season and demolished it in two days, it was probably my favourite of the entire series. I liked Sabrina juggling being a teenager, a witch and then trying to become the freaking queen of Hell ontop of all that. Prudence was a badass, Ambrose was the only one with a brain cell, the whole thing with the Pagans was pretty cool.
After all of this I thought season 4 was going to be amazing. It was not …
There’s a bunch of stuff I should be doing right now: reading, sleeping, writing my personal statement for university. Instead I’m watching old episodes of Graham Norton and I’m going to talk about all the books I read last month.
December was a great reading month for me, unexpectedly. For me December means two things: Christmas (yay) and also end of term exams (boo) so for both of those reasons I definitely was not expecting to read 10 books, and decent books too!
In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren ⭐⭐⭐.75 – This book was a book of firsts: first book I read in December, first book by Christina Lauren and the first Christmas book I ever read and I had a great time. Previous to the week I picked this up I had heard next to nothing about this book until suddenly it was everywhere and I decided to give it a try.
I read this entire thing in just a couple of hours which is even more impressive when I point out I spent most of the night studying for a big history exam I had the next day. This book ended up being just what I needed to de-stress and chill out. It was cute, funny and sexy and the time travel/groundhog day elements were a lot of fun to read about. I will 100% read more from this author duo.
Turtle Under Ice by Juleah del Rosario ⭐⭐⭐ – I really love this over but that’s besides the point. This book is novel in verse all about grief and the different way two sisters deal with their grief over the loss of their mother. I enjoyed this and read it one day but it’s not something that’s going to stick with me although I gotta give it props because the more novels in verse I read, the less intimidated I am by them.
Together, Apart by Various Authors ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 – This made the honourable mentions of my 2020 favourites and for a good reason. It’s insane and hilarious to me that this is a thing that exists but it was actually the best anthology collection I’ve ever read. Yes I’ve only read 3, including this one, but it’s still top of the list. This is essentially a bunch of impossibly cute romances and meet cutes set during the pandemic. I read this whole thing while feeling very anxious one night and it really cheered me up.
10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Another Christmas book! One I’ve wanted to read since it’s release. This book is all about a girl who is dumped over Christmas so her very large extended family take it upon themselves to set her up on various blind dates. I loved the family dynamics in this book and how crazy but entertaining each of the blind dates were. I think this will end up being one I try and read every Christmas season.
AceReader 