It is almost August, and I will say I am thrilled with how much has been going on! I keep thinking I don’t have enough time for more hobbies, but I end up picking up more and more (and I can’t stop).
I’m still reading in my free time, and I’m still loving it! Since my last post, I finished Japanese Gothic, Hungerstone, The Broken Girls, Mistborn: The Final Empire, The Little Bookshop by the Sea, and The Knight and the Moth! I think the only book out of the bunch that I didn’t enjoy was The Little Bookshop by the Sea, which I kind of had an inkling I wouldn’t like it from the cover, but since it was a book club book I read and finished it!
Japanese Gothic was just as great as I expected. It didn’t have the Silent Hill: f vibe that I was looking for when I started the book, but I still really enjoyed the overlapping stories of both characters. I really, really enjoyed the twist towards the end of the book with Lee (although I don’t want to spoil anything), although I did have to read a summary to understand what entirely happened with Lee and Sen.
Hungerstone was exactly what I needed for a continuation of Carmilla. I feel like sometimes I look at the Goodreads average rating and reviews and take them too seriously, because I was a bit worried about the story even if it was a 3.90, almost 4.00 star review, but I loved it! I loved Lenore’s character, and although her relationship with her husband, Henry, made me sad that she was unhappy and it was more transactional, I adored her love/hate relationship with Carmilla. I love that Carmilla pushed Lenore out of her comfort zone, and to do and speak the things that she herself wanted. I thought this book did the story of Carmilla justice, especially with how short the original story is, and I am thrilled that I picked it up!
When reading The Broken Girls, I had only picked it up because the original book for the Goodreads Achievement that I picked up, These Silent Woods, had some reviews I didn’t think I’d enjoy. Out of the entire achievement list of books, The Broken Girls seemed the most interesting. This book also had a bit of a time jump and overlapping characters who eventually come together towards the end of the book, as well as a little bit of a ghost story sprinkled in. I didn’t mind any of the characters in this book, and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it!
Mistborn: The Final Empire was a lot to read. I also tried immersive reading with this book due to it being available on Spotify. Finishing the final parts of the book, I will say even though the story followed Vin, I really enjoyed Kelsier’s character. I like that he tried to be steps ahead of everyone else, all the way up to the end of the book. I am interested in how Sanderson will continue the story, and answer questions on why the Lord Ruler was doing the things he was in the next part of the series. I am also excited to see how they end up turning this into an Apple TV+ movie!
I feel terrible saying it, but The Little Bookshop by the Sea was terrible. Like I said before, I knew from the cover I wasn’t going to enjoy it, and it was just a general chick lit for me. This sort of genre isn’t what I enjoy to read, and I struggled to finish it because it was just so bland.
For my final book that I’ve completed, The Knight and the Moth was fantastic! I loved all of the characters, I adored the gargole, I loved the fantasy creatures and setting. When it comes to a book like this, I picture it a bit like Elden Ring, which probably helps me enjoy it even more. The relationship between Six, the knights, and their king was fantastically written, and I just wanted more. I kind of had an idea of the betrayal towards the end of the book by one of the previous chapters and how said character was talking about others, but when it happened I was so upset! I had also thought the second book in the series was already out, but it looks like I need to wait until September to continue this story!
I’m actually trying to keep up with my book reviews in order of me finishing them on my new-ish book-insta: candiclownreads! I still will do reviews here just to rant and ramble, but I just wanted to create an account where I could follow book accounts to keep a book only feed, and honestly it’s been my favorite account lately. I’m a little bit behind, because I need to post about The Knight and the Moth, but I will catch up! I should copy and paste my reviews to my Goodreads account, but honestly I can barely keep up with the things I have now!
In addition to all this reading I’m doing, Matt had also gotten me my dream Steam Deck! So I’ve been doing a lot of couch vegging while playing my PC games, which I feel like I need to actively work against and force myself to be productive (Stardew Valley has me in a choke hold). I also got myself a Cyberpunk skin for it, along with changing my startup screen to Johnny Silverhand, so I’m super happy with it!
I’ve also been working out at home since maybe the beginning of the month, give or take three days off (damn you, Stardew). I had bought an at home, all-in-one workout machine, and both Matt and myself have been loving it. It’s nice to not have to leave the house and just have the ability to work out at home, and we can both see the positive effects of it! Working out has been helping my mental health, and I can feel myself getting a little bit stronger from when I started four weeks ago. Eventually we are going to look at expanding our at home gym, but for now, we are happy with what we have!
Lastly, I also picked up horseback riding! It’s a random hobby that I’ve been looking at, and although I got no response at neighborhood locations offering lessons for adults, I saw a recent post and ended up outreaching. I’ve been going pretty regularly, and I feel like I am learning a lot just within the few weeks of lessons that I’ve had. Eventually I would really like to volunteer once I get comfortable enough, because both the people and animals there are wonderful! I think this has also had a positive effect on me as well, with how nice the circle has been to surround myself with.
I also have a backlog of video that I need to edit from my niece’s birthday from two week, of which I completely forgot about. I have so much to do and not enough time!