September wrap up | a hectic month from start to finish

Hello friends! I started September telling myself that this is the month where I rejuvenate my blog and get its stats up, but then life started kicking my ass. So here you get my September wrap up after one month of radio silence. I did read more books than I thought I would, so let’s dive into it!

What I read

Clear and Muddy Loss of Love by 请君莫笑

I’ve been reading this for many months and this time I finally managed to finish all 3000-something pages of it. It’s an epic story, but a bit of a slow burn, and I might’ve rushed in the last few hundred pages just to finish it off. But it was worth it. The story is about a women who has cross dressed since her birth. After her entire tribe is killed off by an enemy kingdom she infiltrates them to get revenge, ends up married to the enemy princess and then…falls in love with her. If you’re reading, take your time for it.

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

Some parts of the book were almost word-to-word for the show, so much that I could imagine Frances McDormand narrating it. It’s satirical, funny and engaging and filled with lovable characters. And I was just so happy to see Aziraphale and Crowley and read about their supernatural shenanigans again. I don’t know if it’s just me, but the way the whole book was written felt very 1990’s British (which it is). My rating: ★★★★✩ (3.5 stars)

Paper Girls

This is a diverse, creative and very colourful comic filled with exciting and dangerous adventures. It also involves time travel, and the story revolves around four girls who are thrown out of their time and get caught in a war. The Paper Girls show was one of the best series I watched this year, and Amazon Prime cancelled it after one season (I was so looking forward to see what happens next in the story)

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

I’m pretty sure I’d read this a long time ago but I couldn’t remember what happened. It’s another one of those cliche dystopian YA books of the 2010’s with a ‘not-like-other-girls’ white girl protagonist and a love triangle (quadrangle??) and dubious world building. But it’s simple and fun, and I’m not gonna lie, I had a lot of fun reading it. My rating: ★★★✩✩ (3 stars)

Daughter of the Deep by Rick Riordan

I officially have read all of Rick Riordan’s YA/middle grade books! Daughter of the Deep is in a way both like and unlike the rest of his books. I would say it’s better. The fact that it’s set in a totally different universe gives the story a lot more breathing space. And it is based on one of my favourite classics now, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. It has the same adventure-y vibes but with higher stakes and a MUCH more engaging and delightful narrator in this sci fi fantasy story. My rating: ★★★★★ (5 stars)

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

I knew reading this book would be a bad idea but I went ahead and did it anyway. Curiosity, I guess. Sometimes,love triangles can be fun. This was not one of those triangles. Belly was objectively the worst main character I’ve ever come across, everything about her character felt atrocious. Every time she thinks something I feel like stuffing my head in a pillow (Conrad noticed me. Conrad did this, and it means this, because I know Conrad better than anyone.) Stop. We get it, you’re in love with him, even though you’re dating a much more decent guy. I couldn’t continue with the show adaptation either, but it’s better than the book. My rating: ★✩✩✩✩ (one star)

What I watched

Derry Girls: I binged through all three seasons of it, and I love it! It’s a comedy but it’s also extremely bittersweet and nostalgic and youthful, and so lively. Some of the running gags made me laugh till my stomach hurt. What I liked the best about this show was that is didn’t force you to like the characters. They were just there, unfiltered, brash and sometimes problematic, and I loved them regardless.

The Legend of Korra: I might like this more than ATLA. I know, shocking. But while the first two seasons were a bit uneven, I enjoyed season 3 and 4 a LOT. Plus, Korra and her gang were somewhat more interesting characters than the Gaang, and the romantic relationships were done better (excuse me while I freak out over korrasami)

Nope: I usually stay away from watching horror because I am the biggest wimp but I tried this because it looked awesome and it wasn’t anything paranormal. And it’s such a great movie, honestly, apart from few scary scenes that made my blood run cold (I looked away whenever I saw that damn chimpanzee, it was scarier than the actual alien itself)

Moulin Rouge! : THE GREATEST THING YOU’LL EVER LEARN IS JUST TO LOVE AND BE LOVED IN RETURN

She-hulk: it’s funny but that’s all it has going for it.

Do Revenge: this is the newest chick flick on Netflix and it is a riot. You know, the kind of colourful film where twenty five year olds play high schoolers and there’s not an adult in sight. It’s a movie that looks like it’s going to be very bad but it is actually really good.

Little Women: This is an ongoing kdrama which is very, very loosely adapted from the book. Apparently it’s written by the same person who wrote The Handmaiden and the story does not disappoint. It gets pretty crazy at times but I’m really loving how all of the sisters are slowly becoming more and more unhinged. It’s delicious. I want everyone to watch it.

Star Wars Rebels: I’m nearing the end of the first season and I like it but it is very much a kids’ show and some things the characters do make me scream in frustration. I adore the Ghost Crew a lot though.

Andor: this is a total 180° from Rebels because this is a show geared at teens/adults. I’ve only watched the four episodes that are out and I love it. Initially when I watched it I didn’t feel encouraged because it didn’t feel like anything in the Star Wars universe at all. And then I rewatched the episodes and found so much subtext in the dialogues that I had missed – clever writing, honestly – and the show in general looks so beautiful.

On the blogosphere

I successfully posted a total of zero(!!) posts this month, so I’m just going to share posts that I enjoyed reading.

• Lais discusses the best and the worst of book adaptations!
• Tasya shares why she’s still blogging after 7+ years
• Abby @ Beyond the Read recommends books by Latine authors
• Thea reviews If You Could See The Sun by Ann Liang, a book I’m pretty excited to read!
• Saima recommends sapphic thriller & horror novels!
• Read Kaya’s post on the best diverse debuts of the year so far!
• Sophie shares her favourite YA fantasy books, and she has impeccable taste.

I drew two pieces of art this month. The first one was the usual landscape:

dropping this here pic.twitter.com/ZcnENFoJkN

— jan (@ink_spun) September 11, 2022

Then I drew this Sandman fanart that blew up, to my surprise:

a hope in hell pic.twitter.com/inJGkKZIGi

— jan (@ink_spun) September 12, 2022

Life update

Remember when I was groaning about how nothing happened in the past months? Well, they all came at me collectively in September.

I submitted my university applications by mail and by email (after several technical issues and my carelessness combined gave me heart attacks) and while I’ll definitely get accepted to something, fingers crossed that can get into an engineering or IT course.

My home was broken into and my parents freaked out and decided to buy a dog. And, since they’re my parents, they went all-out and bought a German Shepard. I was opposing this because a. I am absolutely terrified of dogs, and b. it’ll scare off the cats. We know nothing about raising dogs, who are much more high maintenance creatures than cats. The dog’s name is Lexie but I call him Boyo (yup I got that out of Derry Girls) and I’m starting to like him when he isn’t in the whole ‘jumping at you’ mood. Also, at three months old, he is as big as a regular dog. I’m dreading the day it becomes four times as large.

The cats vanished for two weeks before they cautiously turned up again, and they’ve started to come to the house by mewing piteously under the windows until someone opens them and lets them in. Although the prettiest cat, Alina, is still missing.

Also, I quit my job. I’m not sure whether it was a good decision on my part, but I was getting sick of doing the same thing all over for insanely long work hours and being exhausted while feeling underpaid.

I passed a sort of IQ test and got a temporary drivers license, one I would be using till December until I pass the final trial driving test and get the license. And while I’m pumped for that, I’ve been through several driving mishaps on the main roads and still can’t master how to reverse the vehicle.

I finally deep-cleaned my room. It took two whole days because wow, I had been living in a trash can.

I don’t have anything specific that I have to do in the coming month, now that I am jobless (for now) and have a lot of time on my hands. I plan on starting to blog more frequently and try to do improve my blog aesthetic, possibly commit to one colour palette and stick to a theme. And of course, train the dog.

That’s everything on September, folks! Hope you have a great month ahead!

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