Bookwyrm Breakdown: April + May 2025

April has been quiet and uneventful (unless we count getting regularly trauma dumped), which has been quite welcoming considering how things have been — I could use some more quiet in my life. In fact, I’d welcome quiet. I’d like to say May was the same thing, but, well… nature had other plans.

Let’s talk about what’s been happening lately!

April Musings

• [8 Apr] Bookwyrm Breakdown: March 2025
• [18 Apr] Your Life Has Been Delayed by Michelle I. Mason ★★★½
• [29 Apr] Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry ★★★★½

Books Hoarded

Shield of Sparrows (ARC from Publisher) by Devney Perry – I started it when I got it and maybe made it to the first 2-3 chapters before I wandered off and read other books; this is feeling like how I usually feel with romantasy books so far, but it’s early, so we’ll see. Maybe it’ll pick up later… or I never pick it up again in favor of other books.

Books Devoured

Both April and May were relatively decent reading months, with a lot of them being manga (to no one’s surprise) and a few novels sprinkled in between.

April Reads

• Wistoria: Wand and Sword Vol. 4-8 by Toshi Aoi
• My Happy Marriage Vol. 5 (manga) by Akumi Agitogi
• Your Life Has Been Delayed by Michelle I. Mason
• A Song For You and I by K. O’Neill – I love O’Neill’s works and art and this one was no exception!
• 10 Things I Hate About Pinky by Sandhya Menon
• The Apothecary Diaries Vol. 13 (manga) by Natsu Hyuuga
• Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 4-5 by Ryoko Kui
• From Twinkle with Love by Sandhya Menon (DNF) – Frankly, this was a me issue and nothing against the novel itself because I’m a bit picky about stream of consciousness writing and this one just didn’t work too well (but I do adore Menon’s other books!).
• Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao (DNF) – I felt like Iron Widow was quite info-dumpy at times, but the more I read it, the more I appreciated it (while still feeling the novel was periodically info-dumpy). The sequel felt like it lost the plot completely, though. And no, it’s not because the book makes political comments that feel glaringly real to what’s going on in the world — reading is political.
• Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry – This is probably my second favorite Emily Henry book after Funny Story. It’s quite different from her usual, but it hit all the right notes for me.
• Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan (reread)

May Reads

• Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins – I still can’t decide if I want to do a review and where I want to review it, but that’s a future Soph problem. I did enjoy this a lot, though, but I do feel it was very fan service. However, the entire purpose of this book is about media propaganda and rewriting history, and I think Collins delivered the point across.
• Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 6-10 by Ryoko Kui
• Girls of Storm and Shadow and Girls of Fate and Fury by Natasha Ngan – I did it and finally finished a trilogy I started but never got around to finishing for the past decade.
• First Test Graphic Novel by Tamora Pierce, adapted by Devin Grayson
• If We Ever Meet Again, If the Sun Never Sets and If Love Had a Price by Ana Huang – I’m back to reading romance because I need happy vibes in my life.
• Snow White and the Red Hair Vol. 1-5 by Sorata Akuduki
• The Hunt is On by Nie Jun, translated by Edward Guavin

April

• Know About Me by NMIXX
• Stunner by Ten
• exile (ft. Bon Iver) – Taylor Swift
• Air, 258, and Invasion by Yeji
• Mess by Kang Daniel
• Aladdin (live action)
• Captain Marvel
• Fendi by Yuqi
• Eternals
• Moana 2

May

• Spy X Family Code: White
• Messy by Rosé – whoever said the lyrics are very Fifty Shades-esque is not wrong. It really would be an OST for one of the movies. And I’d still be obsessed with listening to it.
• Went on a little listening binge of Jeff Satur’s discography
• Hands Up and Drop Top by MEOVV
• You Ain’t Right by Jane Zhang
• Savage Daughters by Alexia Evellyn
• Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
• Girlfriend by i-dle
• Barbie – this has been on my watch list since the iconic monologue from America Ferrera made the rounds on social media, and it’s one of the best monologues I’ve heard in a long while.
  • I absolutely had to add it to my quotes journal.

The Breakdown

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

April

April kicked off with the intention of starting as a full-timer at the library, but the universe decided it would not play a prank on me and my car needed a major fix. It feels weird to not have the afternoon to myself and even weirder to have my off day shifted, but it feels awfully nice to not have to come up with a somewhat believable story that my mom still insists is something else entirely* that she concocts in her brain when I’m actually in therapy because she is, unfortunately, part of the problem. But so am I.

*Dating an ex-friend. LOL. And sure, I could tell her I’m in therapy but she’s always been dead set against it. Something something home issues should stay at home think about the money wasted. But look, sometimes you do need a professional. We’ve got a ways to go in the Asian community and mental health still.

Being a full-timer, and one being in public service, also means that I have the absolute displeasure of getting some of the wildest racist comments or overhearing a racist conversation — but I suppose I did sign up for it when I took on the job?* Not that it makes any of it okay, because it happens at least once a week (two weeks if I’m lucky) — it’s 2025, pals. Surely there are better things to do than telling someone they’re not from America unless they’re black or white**. Go doom scroll if you have to. Touch mud if the grass isn’t there. Or at least be iconic in a non-malicious way***.

The fact some of this is happening during API month when I’m Asian is A Choice™.

*I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: if it means a little Asian kid just like me won’t feel like they can’t be a librarian because they don’t see themselves in the system, it makes dealing with the comments a little worth it. Like, “I’m so sorry for existing. I will exist again.” It doesn’t make it okay, though.
**Took everything in me not to go on a soapbox about colonialism at them (hello? indigenous folks exist?), but Sophia.exe was too busy trying to process if what she was experiencing and hearing was really happening.
***The other day someone said, “This is not a sexy environment,” and the only thing I had in response was “Sorry for the inconvenience, thanks for the feedback..?” Anyway, I absolutely lost it for at least a good 15 minutes after (and then throughout the day).

April was also when I started world building for fun and living my best Wattpad Life. Who’s to stop me if I want to throw in an Elsa-like character or somehow make a few Twilight references?

Disassociating? probably. Exercising creative muscles? Also possible.

I have not touched that world since like mid-April, though. But I’ve been busy running around the St. Louis area a little.

May

May started out quiet, and I genuinely thought it would be another quiet month, but I guess I’m back to (unwillingly) getting a front-row seat to life drama. I won’t get into it (unless you’re my therapist or in my direct circle) outside of one thing: I’m Tired™, and I just don’t want to get dragged into things unwillingly.

St. Louis unfortunately got hit with an EF3 tornado on May 16, and it was much too close for comfort if I want to be honest. It wasn’t in the area I live, at least, unlike last year when one was right on my street (thankfully got out of that unscathed and it wasn’t an EF3 like this one). And thankfully, I was at work, so I wasn’t stuck on a highway when it all happened. I would not want to be inconveniently under an overpass.

Unfortunately, it’s also the first entry in the 5 Year Memory Book I got to supplement my digital journaling. I haven’t been journaling as much as I have in the past few months as I have last year and earlier this year, mostly because being full-time doesn’t give me as much opportunity but also because things have been relatively the same and I just don’t feel like talking about the same things over and over unless they’re really bothering me. And as much as I like the convenience of digital journaling, I also miss the tangibleness of having a physical journal.

I also just like the concept of having just a few lines a day? I love having all the space in the world to freely reflect and vent or whatever, but I feel like I sometimes lose small moments as well or I just want a concise summary to my actual entry. Maybe it’s also a form of protection for myself… because it’s a journal I just leave instead of bringing with me, and if it’s opened and read, well… it’s not going to say anything about anyone that I wouldn’t want them reading (at least not by name!).

Here’s to hoping I fill it in daily for the next 5 years without abandoning it like some of my other projects. I think it’ll be interesting to see how things change as I go from my late-20s to early-30s, but especially in the next couple of years since there’s going to be some life transitions.

I started thinking about rebranding the blog again, putting together a list of words that fit the vibe of the blog and myself and trying to come up with a new name. I still have the Google Doc I started last year which has a few name contenders, though the one I really wanted (and felt fit the best) was taken, so I ended up scrapping the idea until I felt like picking it up again.

Recently, though, I did come up with another name, and it is freely available for the taking across socials. I’ve been playing around with creating test images and sitting on the name bugging a few friends and rambling my thoughts of blog identity crisis to see if it’s the one I want actually go through with, or if there’s another name that I come up with that fits better. We’ll see how I feel about the name in a month.

(I might also just start a Substack using that name and see how I feel since I’m also still unsure if I even want a Substack still; I can always delete it or bring the content over to the blog if I want to. So for now, I won’t be linking my Substack anywhere on the blog or my socials if I go through with it. And if you know who I am on there or found me, I’d love it if you keep it hush-hush for now.)

Daiso opened at a location closer to me at the end of May (one opened earlier this year in the STL area but it’s a drive and I didn’t want to make that drive), and I got to take a trip to check it out after Lupe dropped by for a program I was tagging along with my coworker to learn about programming (clearly it’s been way too long). I got a mini whiteboard easel I later decorated with some Kuromi and Cinnamoroll stickers and a book holder that adjusts to size that I’m using for work, some snacks (also to leave at work), a cherry blossomed themed file folder with tabs (to organize some papers in my room), and some Sanrio themed washi tape.

I got another Rocketbook Pro when it was on sale — I got one in January to write my notes for therapy in between sessions, but got a second one for planning and other notes so I didn’t have to carry my therapy notes around and risk someone reading it. My Rocketbook Core that I’ve had since the end of college is getting left at home since I find the cover I have is great for carrying stuff, but it’s bulky and I have to pull out the notebook when I write in it.

I’d happily remove the bulky folio but I’ve found the cover for the Mini curls over time, and I have to occasionally flatten it under some heavy books. Surprisingly, it lasted longer before it began curling in, but I also didn’t bring it out of the house as much before I started my library job or it was constantly getting flattened by my bulky laptop while lugging it across campus during college. (It’s been my trusty companion for a long time.)

Let’s talk!

How’s life treating you lately? What have you been listening, reading, watching, gaming lately?