Bookwyrm Breakdown: It’s 2021, What?

Happy New Year, bookwyrms and friends! (Look, every day feels the same and the days blur together. The other day, I thought I was off on Saturday, but I was off on Tuesday and Saturday. And then another day, I kept circling back to “have a great day” even after I said, “you too” for a good three hours. So my year is starting off fantastic.)

I hope everyone is drinking water and taking care of themselves.

This Month’s Posts

• [3 Jan] Bookwyrm Breakdown: Adios 2020
• [6 Jan] The Road to Procrastination: 2020 Highlights + 2021 Goals
• [13 Jan] The Year That Just Kept on Giving: 2020 Highlights + 2021 Goals
• [27 Jan] How to Save an Undead Life by Hailey Edwards ★★★½

Books Hoarded

Sophia

I’ve been making good use of Hoopla and listening to a lot of short audiobooks. (There would be more books because all my library holds decided now was a good time to break free but I’ve pushed them off.)

• Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
• Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
• Influence by Sara Shepard and Lilia Buckingham
• The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa (renew because no one else is wanting it)
  • Okay, technically I got the rest of the series too other than The Lost Prince, which I had to resort to Scribd.
• The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by F.C. Yee
• Shadow’s Legacy by Julie Kagawa
• Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

I’m pretty sure I forgot a few others, too…

Lupe

Personally, it was a rough first month into the year. How did I cope? By buying way too many books.

• From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Been wanting to get this for a while.)
• The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary
• The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez
• This Vicious Cure By Emily Suvada (Finally got the paperback to complete my paperback collection)
• How to Fail at Flirting by Denise Williams
• These Violent Delights By Chloe Gong (I caved and just bought it)

Books Devoured

Sophia

According to Goodreads I somehow read 22* books in January, which I think is partially due to the fact at least half of those were rereads (which is generally quick for me) and a half of the remaining half being graphic novels or quick reads. (But I’d say it’s a vast improvement from the past few months, though.) Just to keep it short though, I won’t list all the books I read.

*Technically, it was 21. But book 22 was finished within an hour of February 1 so…

• The Ship Beyond Time by Heidi Heilig – I finally finished this audiobook! Do I remember what went on? I mean… kind of? I think I’ll probably come back to this in a year or two and reread because I remember maybe two things happening.
• Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
• Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo – So uh… remember what I said about not needing to reread in the December Bookwyrm Breakdown? Yeah, no, I definitely don’t remember the little details from Six of Crows, oops.
• The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by F.C. Yee – reread in audiobook form so I can prepare myself to read book two (also I had an ARC and I’m trying to clear that out).
• Shadow’s Legacy by Julie Kagawa
• Influence by Sara Shepard and Lilia Buckingham – I just… was not a fan and DNFed this at 25%
• The rest of The Iron Fey series

Lupe

Unlike Sophia, I have not read at all this month. I am halfway through The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa. Still can’t seem to pick up a book right now. Definitely failed my goal of reading at least one book a month this year.

Fandom Assemble

Media we’ve consumed and enjoyed, or what we’re looking forward to that’s been announced lately.

Sophia

I know I said in my 2020 highlights and 2021 goals post I would try to watch a movie a week as a form of self-care, but LOL guess who already failed at that? But here’s a bit of what I’ve been listening to lately (outside of audiobooks):

• GOT7’s Breath of Love: Last Piece album – I wasn’t a fan of Breath when it first came out, but I think the song’s growing on me. Meanwhile… I have a soft spot for Last Piece
• Taylor Swift’s evermore album – I started this, and then I stopped, because I honestly don’t think I’m in the right mindset. But I really liked Willow which was all I listened to before stopping…
• (G)I-DLE’s I burn Mini Album
• TWICE’s Cry for Me
• Pentagon’s Eternal Flame
• U-KNOW’s NOIR Mini Album
• VICTON’s VOICE: The Future is Now Album
• Dreamcatcher’s [Dystopia: Road to Utopia] Mini Album

One thing I’m excited about: SHINEE IS MAKING A COMEBACK IN FEBRUARY!!! I think it’s safe to say my wrap up for next month is going to be bouncing off the walls about SHINee because that’s all I’m going to talk about. (Lupe’s going to kill me when she reads this section.)

Lupe

There is only one thing I’ve been looking forward to every week since mid January. Have you been watching WandaVision on Disney+? If not, please do so! It’s so good! I highly recommend it to every Marvel fan out there. The Easter eggs in each episode are just phenomenal. I could go on and on about this show. It’s THAT GOOD.

The Breakdown

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

Sophia

I DID THE THING! After deleting the remaining posts (except for a select few), I went through and cleaned up tags, categories, media – friends, after three years, I think I’m officially done. I’m sure there’s like a random post I probably broke, but I’ll get to it when I find it. I think I’m going to take a nap from all this blog cleanup.

I also got the Fairyloot special edition of The Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa! This is probably my only expense book-wise for a while, but I’m honestly super happy I’m going to be getting the signed editions. 😭 (Logically speaking, I’m saying this is my gift to myself as a very late graduation and birthday gift.)

Lupe

As I’ve mentioned, January was a rough start to the year for me. Currently, I don’t work from home and must come into work every day. My coworker decided to travel out of the country (don’t ask me why, very irresponsible) for three weeks over the holidays and came back to work. Assuming you know what’s going on in the world, they tested positive. Guess who had to go and get a COVID test? This chick. I was EXTREMELY furious. Everyone in the workplace were ENRAGED. Long story short, I tested negative. In case you were wondering, the test wasn’t as bad as people made it out to be.

After that shit show, I was too mad to do anything else and decided to pick up embroidery. I had to quarantine myself for a few days until I got my results back. Taking up a new hobby seemed like a logical choice while I was cooped up in my room. I totally respect those who can do this. Embroidery is harder than it looks.

On a personal note, my family and I were notified of my grandfather’s health. He has cancer and his health has been declining. Let’s just say, I have been focused on spending time with my family and being there for my father. This might be the first I lose a close family member soon. I am unprepared as to how my father and I will handle it once we lose him.

Greatly sorry for ending this post on a sad note. How ‘bout those Chiefs?