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A Few Words on 2016

I was pretty absent from this space in 2016. It was another nutso year, with a lot of things taking me away from both reading and blogging. I started 2016 excited about the new year. I had come so far in the last few months; I had two jobs, a new apartment, a great boyfriend. I was far from where I wanted to be, but I was making it! I would keep growing and moving forward, and I would finally…

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Rambling Thoughts on Reading and Anxiety

I haven’t picked up a book in over a month, but it’s been more than a year since I really felt driven and motivated by reading. I open a book, I read a few pages or sentences, I set it aside. I can’t focus on words or find joy in stories. I scroll through Instagram, I watch Netflix. I pass the time in meaningless ways. Last week, I bought a copy of Glaciers by Alexis M. Smith, a book that’s been…

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July Reads

I’m insanely late with this post, but time sure flies when you barely have time to breathe. I worked pretty much non-stop in July and spent the last few days of the month rushing to pack up my things and move to a new apartment in between shifts. Before I even had time to unpack, bae and I were off to the Finger Lakes for three days of kayaking, swimming, reading, and wine and beer tasting with…

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#Monthly Reads

Missing the Hype Around Two Buzzy Books

Sometimes, the blogosphere goes crazy over a book, and you read it and fall in love. But sometimes a book that garners tons of praise leaves you feeling underwhelmed. The second thing happened to me with two books in recent months. Tender by Belinda McKeon (Goodreads) Set in 1990s Dublin, Tender is told from the point of view of Catherine, a sheltered girl leaving home for the first time to…

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#Anthony Weir #Belinda McKeon #Fiction #Sci-Fi

It Turns Out I Don't Want to Read My Own Damn Books

It Turns Out I Don’t Want to Read My Own Damn Books

A year ago, I was blogging up a storm and blazing my way through the latest buzz books. And I felt a bit burned out, craving the space to amble through the mountains of backlist books on my shelves, savor tattered paperback copies of classics, and re-read old favorites without guilt. A few months later, when I decided to take a break from blogging, I thought the time had finally come for me to do…

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So Sad Today by Melissa Broder

For four years, Melissa Broder has been tweeting funny but achingly sincere tidbits like, “I don’t feel at peace unless I’m torturing myself,” and, “the road to hell is you not texting me enough,” from the @sosadtoday Twitter account. Each tweet is an effort to connect, to entertain, and to score a tiny dopamine hit as the faves and retweets come rolling in — because her tweets are an effect of…

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#Essays #Mental Illness

May Reads

How is it June already? May positively flew by, and I’m not quite sure how to account for it. First off, I’d like to thank everyone for the warm welcome back! I’m excited to return to blogging, even though I haven’t yet been as active as I would like to be. I’m still working on finding that balance and making more time for reading, writing, and being involved in the community. We’ll get there!…

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#Monthly Reads

Giant Love for Giant Days by John Allison and Whitney Cogar

[book-info] I’m still a newbie to the comics game, but when I came across Giant Days, Vol. 1 at my job at the library, I couldn’t help reading the first few pages. And I was IMMEDIATELY hooked. I requested the first two volumes from the library and basically devoured them. Giant Days follows three students who recently started university and quickly became best friends: Goth, statuesque Esther,…

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#Graphic Novel

Stepping Outside My Comfort Zone With The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin

[book-info] When I was a teenager, fantasy novels were my jam. I couldn’t re-read the Harry Potter series enough times, I was always anticipating the next Artemis Fowl book, and the Abhorsen series was a regular part of my rotation. And yet, as I transitioned to adult fiction, my interest in fantasy fell by the wayside. However, a few months ago, in the depths of the worst reading slump I’ve ever…

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#Fantasy

Book Review: The First Book of Calamity Leek by Paula Lichtarowicz

Safely secluded from the Outside world by a massive stone wall, Calamity Leek and her 12 sisters spend their days tending roses in the Garden, embroidering petal-stuffed cushions, and learning the skills they will use when they are old enough to go to war against the demonmales. In the place of textbooks, their dedicated, deformed caregiver Aunty instructs them from her multi-volume Appendix, a…

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#Fiction

Screen and Page Pairings: Girls and Treasure Island!!!

Nearly two years may have passed since I lamented the seeming lack of literary fiction centered around characters in their twenties, but I still feel that same frustration. My thirst for stories about people in my stage of life is slightly slaked by HBO’s Girls, which, despite its failings in representing only a very narrow, white, privileged version of Brooklyn millennial life, is one of the…

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#Literary Ficiton

What'd I Miss?

What’d I Miss?

Alright lovelies, I’ve been away from the blogosphere for six months, and I’m pretty out of the loop. I feel like Jefferson coming back from Paris, minus the glorious hair and bravado. I have a lot of catching up to do. So, if you have a few minutes, help me get back into the swing of things by leaving a comment letting me know any or all of the following: Your favorite post you wrote Your…

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What'd I Miss?

What’d I Miss?

Alright lovelies, I’ve been away from the blogosphere for six months, and I’m pretty out of the loop. I feel like Jefferson coming back from Paris, minus the glorious hair and bravado. I have a lot of catching up to do. So, if you have a few minutes, help me get back into the swing of things by leaving a comment letting me know any or all of the following: Your favorite post you wrote Your…

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What'd I Miss?

What’d I Miss?

Alright lovelies, I’ve been away from the blogosphere for six months, and I’m pretty out of the loop. I feel like Jefferson coming back from Paris, minus the glorious hair and bravado. I have a lot of catching up to do. So, if you have a few minutes, help me get back into the swing of things by leaving a comment letting me know any or all of the following: Your favorite post you wrote Your…

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Guess Who's Back, Back Again?*

Guess Who’s Back, Back Again?*

Hello booklings! Can I first just say how much I’ve missed you all? I had no idea how disconnected my blogging hiatus would make me feel, and I’ve missed the excitement, nerdery, and smart conversations. (I have also really appreciated the ways many people have stayed in touch!) Although I’m still working on finding a healthy balance in my life between, work, the boyfriend (we’ll call him bae),…

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katuend

Alexander, no

(Officially) Taking a Blogging Break

A belated happy new year, booklings! And while we’re on the topic of things “belated,” I must apologize that this post is coming rather later than it should have. As many of you know, the last six months of my life have been filled with earth-shifting changes, and although I held the blog together pretty well at first, I haven’t had the time or brain-space to write, or even to read very much. It…

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