inresponseto

what am i doing here?

my phone is evil but i love lists and organizing so the blog is to encourage engagement with longer form media and to reconnect with hobbies i used to regularly enjoy! i know myself well enough to know i can't cut out all screen time so i want to at least make it feel productive/enjoyable :)

what i read/watch?

most read: horror, literary fiction, fantasy, manga

least read: romance, historical, non-fiction

film/tv: french extremism, horror (non supernatural), anime

audio: casual audio drama enjoyer, taking baby steps into audiobooks

ok so very ambitious goals coming this month, especially from someone who is making negative progress on their reading goal for the year…nevertheless i think having lots of options will help me actually get through some stuff! i’m also hoping to get through some books on my physical backlog and picked some of those randomly to help with indecision, which means my list is made up of 1 series continuation, 3 physical backlogs, and 3 library books! realistically i’ll be pleased if i finish 3 books in june and honestly the physical backlogs are likely to end in a dnf, which is totally fine (i need them off my shelves but can’t bring myself to without giving them a chance).

what i want to read this month:

Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron

Turtles All The Way Down by John Green

Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman

Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart

simultaneously an incredibly boring week and a very exciting one! went to my cities book festival, rediscovered my local public library, and had a pet sitting job that was easy + fun. very proud of myself for reading every day of may though! (a bit nervous about next month because things are going to get BUSY but i will try my best) i also watched the backrooms film with a friend this week! it was a fun theatre expereince but not sure how i feel overall, it was definitely confusing lol. oh and i made like 40 dollars reselling some book so a second hand book store so that was nice too (images: sunset post ice cream in my local park, slightly ominous photo of the library, tents at the artist section of the book festival)

Monday

Pet Sematary by Stephen King - 1 page

Tuesday

Pet Sematary - 88 pages

Are You Listening? by Tillie Walden - 306 pages (finished!)

Wednesday

The Family Fortuna by Lindsey Eager - 1 page

Thursday

Pet Sematary - 120 pages

Friday

Pet Sematary - 107 pages

Saturday

Pet Sematary - 40 pages (finished!)

Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie - 14 pages

Sunday

Before They Are Hanged - 70 pages

big things happening this week! i flew 9 hours to move back home for the summer which i have lots of bittersweet feelings about. otherwise, proud of myself for sticking to journaling and reading more regularly! I only have a few pages left until my first journal is filled and at the end of the month i will have ready every day of may (trying to read at least one page every day is a goal i want to continue for the summer). Also started my first stephen king fiction novel. (images: view from my stunning hike in a scottish national park, journaling at my favorite glasgow cafe, sights from my flight)

Monday

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman - 1hr 29mins

Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh - 31 pages

Tuesday

Dungeon Crawler Carl - 3hrs 10mins (finished!)

Trainspotting - 21 pages

Wednesday

Trainspotting - 38 pages

Thursday

Trainspotting - 50 pages

Friday

Trainspotting - 2 pages

Saturday

Trainspotting - 30 pages (finished!)

Pet Sematary by Stephen King - 42 pages

Sunday

Pet Sematary - 20 pages

this was definitely a week of all time thats for sure. i was not only devastatingly ill but also had two final papers to submit this week, which took it out me. also had a very bittersweet goodbye to one of my flatmates today as she goes home tomorrow (i will miss my flatmates a lot they are truly wonderful people). on a more positive note proud i finished a few books this week! also proud that i'm keeping up with my daily reading streak, even if its just one page a day. (images: sights from my hikes around wales)

Monday

3 Winters by Tena Štivičić - 95 pages

Tuesday

3 Winters - 17 pages (finished!)

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie - 81 pages

Wednesday

The Blade Itself - 41 pages (finished!)

His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet - 6 pages

Thursday

Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh - 77 pages

Friday

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman - 10mins 2secs

Saturday

The Family Fortuna by Lindsay Eager - 1 page

Sunday

Write for Life by Sheppard B. Kominars - 32 pages

i finally finished A Doll's House! this makes it my fourth book of the year (which is very behind where i wanted to be but have been enjoying lots of other life experiences so trying not to be too hard on myself about it).

i'm not very well versed in plays so i was excited to see this on my reading list for a comparative literature course i took this semester! i definitely never would have picked it up on my own. a fun surprise was discovering that this was the play Lu Xun responded to which i discussed in a course last sem on modern chinese literature (i was lowkey proud of myself for recognizing this connection lol)!

** potential spoilers below!! **

busy week w/ lots of train travel! i love trains (even though i got delayed 5 hours on one of my trips). i have been pleasantly enjoying my audiobook experiences so far (its a pretty immersive one so it reminds me of audio dramas) although i am listening to it mostly as research/preparation for an interview i have coming up with a publisher's audiobook department! **no listening stats for this week because i forgot to record the specific timestamps :( ** (images: rare/used bookstore in london, reading room in the british museum)

Monday

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

Tuesday

Dungeon Crawler Carl

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie - 53 pages

Wednesday

The Family Fortuna by Lindsay Eager - 23 pages

Thursday

A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen - 32 pages

The Blade Itself - 29 pages

Friday

A Doll's House - 18 pages (finished!)

The Blade Itself - 24 pages

Saturday

The Family Fortuna - 4 pages

Sunday

The Blade Itself - 141 pages

while it is clearly no longer april, i have been recording my reading and want to put it out there to help start the habit! life + an unexpected illness simply got the better of me the past two weeks... (images: the park behind my flat, trying to take advantage of the sunny days in scotland!)

Monday

0 pages

Tuesday

A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen - 24 pages

The First Law by Joe Abercrombie - 6 pages

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman - 2hrs 43mins

Wednesday

A Doll's House - 6 pages

Dungeon Crawler Carl - 1hr 5mins

Thursday

Dungeon Crawler Carl - 56mins 13secs

Friday

Write for Life by Sheppard B. Kominars - 32 pages

A Doll's House - 7 pages

Dungeon Crawler Carl - 49mins 18secs

Saturday

Write for Life - 12 pages

A Doll's House - 29 pages

Dungeon Crawler Carl - 15mins 46secs

Sunday

Write for Life - 1 page