A month and a half has come and gone since I posted a blog post and at this point in my life I should stop making schedules that I can’t keep. Maybe my schedule should be one post a month? *headdesk*
Since Thanksgiving has past the rush to the holidays has begun. One of the jobs I have is working in a Garden Center. We sell all the Christmas merchandise which means that as soon as August hits we’re getting in shipments of Christmas merchandise and October 1st is when the race to get it all set up before the middle of the month hits. The holidays began back in August for me. I’m honestly a little sick of it all at the moment. 😭
~ Writing ~
This month’s writing can be described more as a lack thereof. Back in October, I originally planned on plotting and doing research for one of my WIPs so I could start writing a draft in November. This book has been in my head for the past seven years and I haven’t been able to get past the seventh chapter. I was determined to get one draft written before the end of this year. It is now December 5 (when I am writing this) and my resolve has died. Due to work and life, I wasn’t able to get that much prep done and so I went into November without an outline and no background for the plot. I did manage to write over 5,000 words which I’m honestly alright with. As my one of my friends said – it’s more than I started with.
I wrote a few chapters and a bunch of random scenes. Looking back on it now I’m relatively happy with what I wrote. Every word helps! Here’s an excerpt:
“My knuckles whiten as I grip the pen and write my name in red across the page. It’s not the first time I have purposely written my name in red but this time there’s no going back. I set the pen down quickly to hide the tremor in my hand. As I look over the document once more I realize the irony of it all. This is the first time I have written my Chinese name and not hated the way it looked.”
~ Reading ~
I read three books this month and one of them was my first five star of the year!
• Lobizona by Romina Garber – 3/5🌟
I really enjoyed the first 1/3 of the book but my feelings are mixed on the rest of it. I love that we’re getting more diverse books and I think the idea of the story is unique however there were a lot of cliches and common tropes in the fantasy aspects of it. I’m also not a fan of insta-love. Lobizona covered a lot of important topics such as immigration, prejudice and mysogyny and I enjoyed learning about Argentinian folklore.
• If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang – 5/5🌟
First Thoughts: all the stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 I LOVE this book so much! The plot, friendships, romance and family were very well done and I could relate to Alice SO MUCH on what it’s like to rely on scholarships when everyone else doesn’t and to feel as if you always have to measure up. I had a few issues with the plot near the end of the book but they’re easily overshadowed by the rest of it.
I’ll probably write a longer, more coherent view in the future.
• The Sleeper & the Spindle by Neil Gaiman – 3/5🌟
This is the third book by Neil Gaiman I’ve read and I think it’s my least favourite. While Gaiman’s writing is eery and enthralling as always, the story as a whole fell rather flat for me. Maybe because it was a short story and so there wasn’t much time to develop the world and characters or maybe because I’ve read so many Sleeping Beauty and Snow White retellings.
~ Blogging ~
I think everyone can guess how this part went. I’m hoping to blog more in December but no promises on that. I’m a lot more active on my bookstagram though!
If you want to talk you can find me here.
My friend Destiny is currently doing Blogmas on their blog though! Here’s the link: myhoneyreads. *shoos you to click on the link*
~ Life ~
November was basically working, waitressing and getting ready for a craft fair in December. Overall it was better month than October and I can’t believe it’s December already. I’m excited for what it brings though!
Wishing you a great rest of your day. ❤️
~ Ming
books for second breakfast 
Leave a comment