Friday 29 January 2021

Month in Review: January



The first month of 2021 is in the books! And honestly... it was ok. I am enjoying my online courses right now and it's nice that I'm being kept busy. I'm also all done with my master's applications, so now it's just a matter of waiting to see if I get in or not. It's an exciting time for sure. A lot of changes are happening. But I think change is good especially in our current time period. Here's what went down in January!

What I Read: 

The Answer Is by: Alex Trebek: 5/5 stars 

A Song Below Water by: Bethany C. Morrow: 3/5 stars 

Even if We Break by: Marieke Nijkamp: 3/5 stars 

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea by: Maggie Tokuda-Hall: 4/5 stars 

Cherry Crush by: Cathy Cassidy: 5/5 stars 

One of Us is Next by: Karen M. McManus: 4/5 stars 

Hood Feminism by: Mikki Kendall: 4.5/5 stars 

The Ship of the Dead by: Rick Riordan: 5/5 stars 

These Violent Delights by: Chloe Gong: 5/5 stars 

Moonrise by: Sarah Crossan: 5/5 stars 

The Extraordinaries by: T.J. Klune: 4/5 stars 

It was a great month for reading!! My favourite book I read this month was Ship of the Dead by: Rick Riordan. It's the last book in the Magnus Chase trilogy and I am so sad to see this series go. I am slowly working through the last of Riordan's books that I have to read, and idk how I'm going to be able to handle it. But, this was a fabulous conclusion. 

What I Blogged: 

I am so behind on reviews. I read a lot more often than I review, so I tried to get out a bit more reviews this month, but I am still never going to catch up. Oh well! Anyways, my favourite blog post of the month was my discussion on What Makes A Good Non-Fiction Book. It was nice to hear everybody's thoughts on non-fiction, especially since I run a predominately fiction-based blog. 

Favourite Blog Posts: 

Cee asks What's Behind the COVID Arts and Crafts Boom? 

Veronika discusses Comfort Characters

Nyx shares why she Doesn't Do the Goodreads Challenge 

Roberta asks about what Your Dream Bookish Job Would Be 

Life Stuff: 

Like I said, January wasn't terrible! I didn't have too many panic attacks, and there are now vaccines circling around the world, woohoo! Let's hope that 2021 continues to look up. 

I am taking a bunch of courses that I am really interested in this semester. I was able to fit into my schedule two ancient history courses, one of which focuses mainly on Greek mythology, which of course I am loving so far! Even my writing courses have been really fun so far. I'm hoping that my last term of undergrad continues to look up. 

I'm also attending a virtual concert this Sunday! My favourite broadway actor, Jeremy Jordan, is hosting a virtual concert this weekend and I am super excited about it. It's definitely going to be different than being there in person, but supporting artists during this pandemic is important nonetheless. This will be my first concert of his I will be attending, and even though it'll be over a screen, I cannot wait. 

So, that was my January! How was yours? 

Emily @ Paperback Princess


8 comments:

  1. "I'm also all done with my master's applications, so now it's just a matter of waiting to see if I get in or not."
    Crossing my fingers!

    "A Song Below Water by: Bethany C. Morrow: 3/5 stars"
    I read it last year and rated it 3.5. The social commentary was spot on and very much needed, but the magical creature angle was confusing to me, and the family dynamics were off. Also, Naima was awful to Tavia, outing her...and now Morrow has a Naima book out (A Chorus Rises), which sounds like an odd choice to me.

    "Roberta asks about what Your Dream Bookish Job Would Be"
    Always a mention! You're spoiling me 😘.

    I'm happy to hear both school and life have been good to you lately, and you've been able to focus on the things you love most! I hope you'll enjoy your virtual concert, though of course it will be a very different experience than attending in person. I hope it's soon...also because small artists and crews are starving.

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    1. Thank you Roberta! I'm always happy to share your posts :D

      Yes, it's been so sad seeing smaller artists struggle with this pandemic, so it's nice that they can still do things like virtual concerts. Always happy to attend a concert in any way that I can!

      Definitely agree with you on A Song Below Water have an odd magical angle. I was super confused as to which magical creatures had which powers. I needed more explanation for sure. I was really looking forward to that book, but it just was a little too jumbled :(

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  2. Glad your January was alright! Your courses sound really interesting, I hope you'll keep enjoying them, and of course, fingers crossed you'll get into the Master's program you want! I haven't attended any virtual concerts yet, but I've watched quite a few plays and really loved them even on the screen! Have fun! :D

    I love the Magnus Chase novels so much, so I'm happy you enjoyed the last book so much! I've just been thinking about rereading the series because it's so fun and comforting. I'm really excited for These Violent Delights and I'm also looking forward to reading more by T.J. Klune. Hope your February will be fantastic!

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    1. Virtual plays sound fun as well! I'll have to look out for those.

      Yes, I totally can see myself rereading The Magnus Chase series for years to come. It was awesome.

      Thank you Veronika! Have a good February as well!

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  3. Thanks so much for the link Em! :)

    I'm glad you had a good month :) <3

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  4. Good luck with your master’s applications!! That does sound exciting!
    Wow, you had an amazing reading month! I’m glad you found so many great books!
    I’ve read only one of them and it was Cherry Crush - but I read it many, many years ago so I don’t remember anything about it :’)
    Ooh I hope the virtual concert is fun! What a cool concept!

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    1. I saw someone on booktube talk about The Chocolate Box Girls series, and it just seemed so lovely that I had to give it a go. I thought the first book was so adorable and I hope to continue. (Although the books are kinda hard to find here in Canada!).

      Thank you Sabrina!

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