Bookwyrm Breakdown: October + November 2024

December is always a weird month for me. It’s the last month of the year, so it feels like the end of a journey — even if that “journey” is merely the course of a year.

Part of me feels like lately I’m going back into the same energy as last year, albeit with some changes (it’s like with the new year these days I feel like it’s giving “new year, same cycle” vibes). Like this time last year when I posted my wrap-up (funny enough also for October and November, though it included September, too), I feel like the only thing I’ve done this year really is to survive, and I guess that’s okay.

But anyway, let’s break down what happened lately — grab your favorite snack/drink and let’s dive in!

October Musings

If you’re feeling whiplash here because it just says October, me too. But I only made a post in October.

• [1 Oct] Bookwyrm Breakdown: I Almost Read a Book a Day + Other Things that Happened Lately

I miss blogging, honestly. But these days my energy has been low, and every time I think about blogging, I just have no motivation. (ಥ﹏ಥ)

Books Hoarded

October and November entered a few new books into my library, though two of them were dollar store finds and one was a treat for myself.

• Under the Oak Tree Volume 1 (Novel) by Suji Kim – I love the webtoon for Under the Oak Tree so much and need to catch up to the most recent episode. It also makes me super happy to see more translated novels out in the wild; I think we can all do with a little more reading widely.
• The Last One by Rachel Howzell Hall (eARC)
• Blade Breaker by Victoria Aveyard
• The Last Legacy by Adrienne Young

Books Devoured

October and November continued my manga and graphic novel binge. Recently I found cat manga is a whole thing, so I’ve been hunting for some new ones lately because they’re so wholesome and cute. And I could use some more wholesomeness in my life.

October continues my streak for reading a lot.

• The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel Graphic Novel by Michael Scott
• Project Nought by Chelsey Furedi
• The Games Gods Play by Abigail Owen
• The Curie Society by Heather Einhorn, Adam Staffaroni, Janet Harvey
• Pixels of You by Ananth Hirsh, Yuka Ota
• Dungeons & Dragons: Dungeon Club: Time to Party by Molly Knox Ostertag
• Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Luen Yang
• Passion on Park Avenue by Lauren Layne
• Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation by Anne Frank, Ari Folman
• The Mark of Athena: The Graphic Novel by Rick Riordan
• Lunar Boy by Jes and Cin Wibowo
• Cat + Gamer Volume 1-2 by Wataru Nadatani

November died down quite a bit reading wise, but some personal things happened during that time so I didn’t have the mental capacity to do any reading. Feels like in recent years, November seems to be the month that’s the most draining for me, which I suppose is something I should keep in mind for next year (but I’ll probably forget).

• Cat + Gamer Volume 3-5 by Wataru Nadatani
• Zodiac by Ai Weiwei
• The Fox Maidens by Robin Ha
• Zodiac Rising by Katie Zhao (DNF)
• Icon and Inferno by Marie Lu
• Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents by Lindsay C. Gibson

October and November introduced some new to me artists I came across while doomscrolling in existential crisis browsing social media: Brooke Alexx, Nina Nesbitt, and Canaan Cox. But I also caught up with some recent releases as well from artists I regularly listen to/occasionally see if there’re new releases because I haven’t listened to them in ages:

• VII by Chrissy Costanza
• SYNK: Parallel Line by aespa – personal favorite: Up! which is sung by Karina
• APT. by Rosé and Bruno Mars – this song sounds so fun and so is the music video; excited about her album releasing tomorrow!
• number one girl by Rosé – lately the lyrics of this song have been speaking to me a lot, although I feel like the actual situation of the song differs from mine. But that’s the beauty of music, isn’t it?
• Letter to Myself by Taeyeon
• Headway by Purple Kiss – hard to say if Light the Way is my favorite or Sweet Nightmare but I just loved the EP as a whole
• Enough by ATEEZ

The Breakdown

What catastrophes have the universe handed us throughout the month? Let’s find out. 🧐

October and November have been… a lot, to put it lightly, especially November.

On jobs and life

I started going for full-time positions at the library (because why not shoot my shot even though I’m still technically new and learning? The worst that will happen is “no”) and have been going through various interviews — although so far I have landed nothing just yet. I’m fully aware positions are super competitive, especially since I’m currently going for ones that aren’t my home branch, so I try not to let that get me down. It’s not me, necessarily, it’s the multiple factors at play.

But I also feel like I’m heading down the same path I was heading sometime last year: burning out, but not fully burning out* since I live in a household where mental health doesn’t exist and therefore the only answer is to push through (I’ve learned to operate in survival mode I guess). I just don’t think it’s my job this time.

*burning out, but not fully burning out is such a terrible position to be in and I hate it, but it’s also something I have to push through

October ended with finally meeting up with a childhood friend who reached out back in early September out of the blue; although after meeting up in November for a second time, that got put to a stop from my mom*, so plans for a third meetup had to get cancelled. It’s been a catalyst for some introspection, and I think it’ll be time for me to seek therapy once more (the last time was back in college)/look for options and resources starting next year. Shout out to Izzy, Clo, and Ruby for holding me accountable, just being there for me, and keeping me grounded.

*I don’t enjoy talking about my relationship with my mom on my blog given this is my space, but in a nutshell: it is so much more complicated, and for safety/privacy, I don’t intend on sharing currently outside of my direct circle/those affected. Perhaps one day I’ll be a little more open, because I do think it’ll give a lot more context regarding why my wrap-ups just don’t seem that interesting, but hey, IYKYK. You probably guessed correctly.

On material things I find cool

November introduced some new enamel pins to my collection — Sailor Moon ones! I never thought I would become a pin collector, but here I am collecting cute ones so I can rotate them out occasionally for my library lanyard. I’ve also got some new cute cases for my phone, and while I don’t switch cases often (never had the option to), I love having the option now to do so.

November was also the month that got me into tarot reading, so I spent some time looking for a deck and testing around a few apps to see what works for me near the end of the month and earlier this week. The Anime Tarot Deck and Guidebook by Natasha Yglesias (affiliate link) was one I heavily considered given my relationship with anime, though Yoshi Yoshitani’s Tarot of the Divine (affiliate link) was the one that initially drew me in (and it also connects to me in a sense since I’ve always had an interest in the folklore and myths from around the world).

I love both equally, but I had trouble locating the Anime Tarot deck nearby and ended up going with Tarot of the Divine. (For tarot, I prefer browsing around and seeing if there’s something else that catches my eye as you never know when there might be a surprise deck that calls to me.) It’s such a beautifully crafted deck with vibrant colors — personally, I feel the vibrancy isn’t too loud — and I think it’ll be my regular deck (at least for now).

Look how pretty they are — you might recognize which story is being featured in some of these. My favorites have to be the first set of three featured, but it was The Moon that initially drew me in since that’s the one featured on the box. The library I work at has the companion book that goes into each of the tales (Beneath the Moon – affiliate link), so I picked that up to read, too. The guidebook it comes with doesn’t get into the nitty-gritty details I feel like, but I think the symbolism and imagery captures the meanings of the cards well.

(I did a little write up on what I think the cards that speak to me and why they speak to me before looking into the meaning from the guidebook; somehow I nailed it. I’m not sure if I just have good instincts. Maybe I do?)

There’s also a Sailor Moon themed tarot deck on Kickstarter I saw that looks absolutely beautiful and I’m considering backing as a future present to myself depending on my budget. This begins my demise into collecting tarot decks, isn’t it?

On goals and how I’m doing with those

I think now is a good time to check back in and see how I’m doing on the list I made in May! And I’m not exactly ashamed to admit that I didn’t make too much progress since the last check in back in my June wrap-up.

I did read one review copy, but it’s a recent release and not an old one. I don’t think I’ll get around to those as much as I would like to try. And I definitely dropped from posting once a month, but I think it was a good run while it lasted — at least I kept up with it while I was unemployed. The goal was mostly made to keep some stability in my life at least.

Blog hopping exited my brain around October sadly, so I didn’t find any new ones since the last check-in. I haven’t even been visiting the ones I regularly visit, if I want to be honest with myself.

Finally, I haven’t been posting on the blog lately, so I don’t think anyone’s surprised I haven’t made a single peep on The Arts STL. I’ve read a huge chunk of manga this year, though, so I’m hoping to do a year end wrap up featuring some of my favorite manga and graphic novels I’ve read. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll talk about K-Pop and do a little round-up. It’ll depend on my energy levels.

Let’s talk!

How have you been recently? What are you reading, watching, listening to? Tell me who your favorite sailor scout is if you’re a Sailor Moon fan (I’ve always had a soft spot for Sailor Pluto and Saturn along with Mercury), or what your favorite fairytale/myth/folk tale is!