A Year of Surprise Books and a Life Update

 

Hello, readers! I swear that I'm still alive. It's been a hectic year, and to keep my sanity, I had to let some of my hobbies hang out in the dark corner of my mind for a while. Sorry. There's probably some spider webs in there, a closet full of skeletons, and a really annoying jukebox that meshes two songs together in ways that shouldn't happen. 

I think my last post was in May, and a lot's happened since then. I'll provide a brief life update after the book-related content, so you can skip it if you're not interested. This post should have actually happened in July or August at the latest, but you'll understand why it didn't with the life update. Anyway, July 2024 was my first birthday back in Indiana. I can't remember if I wrote about it or not, but all I wanted was a game night with my girls. My friend Ashley came, and despite my saying no gifts (no one listened, which is very on-brand for these lovely ladies), she came with this massive box. It was filled with books that were individually wrapped and numbered. I don't have a picture of the entire box, but here is essentially what it looked like when I was trying to track it after I opened it. 

It turns out that Ashley went through her own collection of books and picked out ones she personally thought I would love. There was one rule to this gift, and that was I could only open one book per month. This is honestly one of the sweetest and coolest things someone has done for me. I have no idea how long it took Ashley to put this together, but the amount of thought that went into it was insane. Honestly, there were a lot of crappy days in 2024 and early 2025. However, this gift gave me something to look forward to on those hard days. I found myself looking at a calendar on those hard days and checking to see how long I had to wait until I could open my next book. This gift was and still is appreciated on many levels. I really hope to pass this kind of gift on to someone else someday. 

I haven't gotten a chance to read the books she provided yet, which I feel bad about. I read Lore on Kindle before receiving this one, but it's one I'll reread sometime. The Midnight Library and The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, I think I had on Kindle at the time, but I hadn't read them. I'm hoping this upcoming year I'll be able to dive into at least some of the books Ashley gave me. I also have a stack of books that Tress loaned me from one of the JordanCons. I'm a little behind on reading. 

For those wondering, a 2026 Reading Challenge will be available around Christmas as usual. Tress and I have been collecting ideas throughout the year and plan to compile them as normal. I've actually read/listened to 30 books this year, but I just haven't had the time or energy to post about them. However, the Reading Challenge will continue as normal. I'll also do my yearly update around New Year's. If you follow me on StoryGraph, you can see what I've been reading lately.

Life Update:

As I mentioned earlier, I'd like to provide an update on my life since May. I promise, I'm okay, I just got busy. I believe this has been my reason for the decline in my posts over the years. In June, I started dating an amazing man named Josh, and since we both work a lot, I've been trying to spend as much time with him as possible. During the summer, we've been riding on his motorcycle and exploring Indiana.

Additionally, I've been making a concerted effort to reconnect with nature. So there's been a lot of visiting parks and taking photos. I was driving an hour to work each day (one-way), and so in August, I moved closer to work, and Josh and I moved in together. There's been a lot of just trying to sort out life, but honestly, that's a good thing. I've been more at peace than I have felt in so many years. Oh, plus I'm still in school and hopefully will be done with my fourth degree in a couple of months. (I know Tress. I keep doing this to myself.) And, recently, a couple of weeks ago, we adopted a kitten named Cosmo. Nebula's still getting used to that change. Pictures of the life stuff can be found below. 

Cosmo is a sleepy boy.

Halloween, Josh and I went as Freddie and Ghostface.

We're weird and like to go riding around dressed as Santa and the Easter Bunny.

Nebula was judging me for something. 

Brown County, IN

Loveland, Colorado (work trip)

August Reading and Life Updates

 

Hello, Readers! It's been a while, and I decided to do an update post. This is going to be a Reading Challenge update as well as a life update. The latter will be longer, so I'll do the reading updates first. 

Reading Challenge Update

I've read 18 books so far this year. I had lofty reading goals, but those definitely aren't going to be met. I lowered my challenge numbers from 60 to 40. I'll probably drop it again to 25 to 30. A lot of the Wandering Inn books haven't fit on the challenge yet. I'm waiting to see if I end up reading anything else for other categories and will slot things into my Free Space when I do my final update for the year. I'm currently listening to Pirateaba's The Witch of Webs and reading Pestilence by Laura Thalassa. I'm enjoying both and hope to have time to make posts for both.

Level 1: Book of the Month Club

1 Read a book you got for free

2 Read a book by an author you've previously read- The Last Light by Pirateaba

3 Read a book that is under 400 pages - Fairy GodMurder by Sarah J. Solver 

4 Read a book published in 2014 (10 years ago)

5 Reread a book you have recommended to someone else- The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

6 Read a retelling of a fairy tale or a classic novel

7 Read a book that is a comedy or satire

8 Read a book that's been on your "shelf" for over a year - A Killer's Mind by Mike Omer

9 Read a book with a color in the title - The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik

10 Read a book from the Los Angeles Public Library's staff recommendations // https://www.lapl.org/books-emedia/lapl-reads/staff-recommendations

11 Read a caper story (heist, thievery, etc.)

12 Free Space! Pick any book

Level 2: Casual Reader Club

13 Read book 1 of a Duology

14 Read book 2 of a Duology

15 Read a book about faeries - A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

16 Read a book you meant to read for last year's challenge

17 Read a book with three or more colors on the cover

18 Read a book by an author who shares a first or last name with a family member - Deadbeat Druid by David R. Slayton

19 Read a book published by Simon & Schuster or one of its imprints

20 Read a book with the word "Dark" in the title

21 Read a book published in 2004 (20 years ago)

22 Read a book with a Gothic theme

23 Read a book on a banned book list

24 Free Space! Pick any book

Level 3: Dedicated Reader Club

25 Read an Enemies to Lovers story

26 Read a Lovers to Enemies (or Friends to Enemies) story

27 Read a book that starts with the letter "S."

28 Read a book from Refinery29's "The Ultimate Book Bucket List: The 75 Best Books Of All Time"// https://www.refinery29.com/en-au/best-books-of-all-time

29 Read a book with a grey cover

30 Read a book by an author you think has an interesting name - Winter Solstice by Pirateaba

31 Read a Historical Fiction novel

32 Read a book with the name of a place in the title - The General of Izril by Pirateaba

33 Read a book about a veterinarian (or someone who works with animals)

34 Read the first book in a series you've wanted to start

35 Read a book that was published before you were born

36 Free Space! Pick any book

Level 4: Speed Reader Club

37 A book by Eleanor Hibbert under any of her pseudonyms // https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_Alice_Burford

38 Read a Memoir

39 Read a book that is referenced in a film or TV show

40 Read a book with a skull on the cover

41 Read a book with the word "Truth" in the title

42 Read a book that involves gamer/fandom/geek culture- Flowers of Esthelm by Pirateaba

43 Read a book with a Scientist as the main character

44 Read a book that takes place in a cold climate- The Tsarina's Daughter by Carolly Erickson

45 Read a book that has double letters in the title - The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

46 Read a book by two or more authors 

47 Read a book involving or inspired by Egyptian mythology

48 Free Space! Pick any book

Level 5: Overachiever Club

49 Read a book with a Unicorn in it- Fae and Fare by Pirateaba

50 Read a book that takes place during the 18th century (1701-1800)

51 Read a book by Jonathan Coe

52 Read a book with over 700 pages

53 A book with a title that has 5 words

54 Read a non-fiction book

55 Read a book with a picture of food or drink on the cover

56 Read a book by an author with Fred in their name

57 Read a book that takes place in South America

58 Read a book you previously started but left unfinished

59 Rickrolled! Read a book with one (or more) of the following words in the title: Never Going To Give You Up

60 Free Space! Pick any book

Life Updates

2024 has been a hectic year for me. I haven't put the time into reading that I've wanted to. I've been working a lot of hours, and for some reason, I decided to go back to school for a second master's degree. The only thing I can determine from this is I'm insane. Aside from school and work, the animals keep me on my toes. The puppy will be eight months tomorrow, and I don't know where the time has gone. Earlier this month, my divorce was finalized, and now I get to do with all the fun paperwork that comes with changing my name. That's really about where I'm at with life. Nothing too exciting or crazy, just busy.

I got my photos back from dressing as an Evil Queen at JordanCon! Check them out below. I highly recommend Kathy from A Life Condensed Photography.