a little over 2 months since my last update... but I've finished reading 2 books during that time! 💪
I picked these both up on a whim from a discount store shortly after my previous entry (so... 2 months ago lol), purely based on how pretty I found the coverart + the fact that they were both ~$5 each for a hardcover. I am very superficial in that way. 🙂↕️
I'd love to make progress on the unread books on my shelf (there's not that many of them, I swear), & I thought starting with these unecessary book purchases would be a good way to (hopefully) jumpstart that. It makes sense in my head 😅
Some brief thoughts on both, starting w/ A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang.
(I'm not even going to call these reviews lol. I will instead just be thinking in terms of 1] did I have fun reading it? & 2] will I be keeping the book or donating it after completion?)
I was literally in the checkout line when I saw this one discarded on top of a bunch of candy boxes. The way it was laying had the decorated page edges facing me & I thought don't mind if I do!!!
Honestly the dustjacket cover looks very YA to me (which makes sense, as Liang is typically a YA author & this was supposedly her 1st 'adult' novel), BUT when I got home & looked beneath the dustjacket I was very happily surprised to see that the actual front&back covers had embossed illustrations. A very, very pretty book.
Unfortunately, I just didn't like it that much 😅 The prose itself was nice & plot seemed like something that I would typically be interested in, but the way things played out ended up feeling frustrating less in a 'for the sake of the plot' way & more of a 'it feels nonsensical for these character to act this way' kind-of-way.
I won't spoil things, but I will say that after a pretty lackluster reading experience, the ending of this one left me gobsmacked. I don't know anything of the original story this was based on, but I genuinely respect the author for going the direction that she did lol.
Did I enjoy it? Well, I finished it! Despite the frustration I felt, it did compel me to keep reading until the end 😋
Will I keep it? Despite how pretty I find the book itself, nope! I'll be donating this to the used books store on my next visit.
The 2nd book, Delicate Condition by Danielle Valentine, I also chose for the cool cover. But not just the cover! Also the front cover blurb 🙂↕️
I've never read the original Rosemary's Baby book, but I did enjoy the Rosemary's Baby film w/ Mia Farrow. So I thought I'd also enjoy this! Which, overall, I did.
Delicate Condition & A Song to Drown Rivers are actually interesting for me to compare bc 1) according to their author's blurbs, both were written by primarily-YA authors as their 1st adult novel, & 2) both are Very Frustrating reads (I oversimplify, but hopefully you get what I mean). The big difference I think in my enjoyment was that the frustration in Delicate Condition felt more purposeful in terms of the plot, while AStDR felt like it was full of missed opportunities.
It's also very possible I enjoyed Delicate Condition more bc I was familiar w/ the source material it was referencing. idk!
(Also total aside, but after finishing this book I was looking up the Rosemary's Baby film for a rewatch & found out there is also a 2-part miniseries starring Zoe Saldaña??? Hello??????)
Did I enjoy it? I did! There were a few parts that I thought were a bit of a slog, but overall I did enjoy it.
Will I keep it? Unsure actually! Though the cover is pretty (my 1st consideration always lol) & I enjoyed reading it, idk if I'll plan to reread anytime soon. I'll have to make more of a dent in my unread pile & reconsider then I think 🤔
Happy Valentine's Day!! 💜🩷🩵
I finally got around to photographing (most) of my crochet tops in better lighting! many thanks to my IRL for being my photographer 🤗
(me attempting to model: 🧍♀️🧍♀️🐱🧍♀️)
overall, I am very pleased with how these all turned out! the granny stitch sweater & one-skein 'candy corn' cardigan in particular I've gotten some good wear out of so far👍
it's been several months since I completed these, but from what I remember: the candy corn cardi was freehanded, the spiral sweater was (loosely) made by following a tutorial by Butterfly Blues Crochet, the granny stitch sweater following a Hannah Drapinski tutorial (love her), and the bolero following Kamryn Cain's tutorial.
(I also made a faux-knit beanie! 🙌 I freehanded the graph for this + followed Stardust Gold Crochet's waistcoat-stitch beanie tutorial for the construction.)
not included here is the ugly granny-square cardigan I completed at the start of this month (which I am also very pleased with, but which, you may understand, has been very hard to photograph lol).
I've also crocheted quite a few funky scarves using up odd skeins in my stash, though those will have to be a batch to photograph another day 😅
in other news: I've updated any broken links on the media rec pages once more. when updating the Tokyo Godfather's link, I was very pleased to find a UK VHS version on archive dot org—it includes the pre-film rating announcement + advertisements from the time of its release, which I thought was really neat!
I know we're already a month & a half into the new year, but I hope anyone reading this is as healthy, happy & safe as they can be! 🫂
popping back in after (another) lengthy absence, to make some quick site updates! 🫡
the mediapages have been refreshed once more, with some new titles added!
I have continued to crochet... a lot! I made an Eraserhead Baby Labubu (what a mouthful... pictured below lol), as well as several crochet garments I still need to muster the motivation&energy to photograph properly. sharing those will be my goal for the next journal entry (whenever that ends up being!) 😅
(my beautifully ugly son 🥰 I am SO pleased with this little guy. friends & coworkers seemed to really like him as well!)
I've since promised 3 people that I'd make them their own custom crochet Labubus for the upcoming holidays... & I'm going to be real, I'm a little filled w/ regerts 😬 but I'm sure it'll all turn out!
hmmm what else recently... I just last night watched Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein! I generally enjoyed it, but to be entirely honest, I didn't enjoy it quite as much as some of his other films :') I'm not even entirely sure what exactly was 'missing', but it just didn't seem to work as well as it seems it could have.
I am also (slowly) making my way through a series called Key: The Metal Idol! the screencap at the top of this entry is actually from it (& I thought what a coincidence, lmao). I'm enjoying this one a lot so far, but my focus as always is extremely short 🙈 still making slow progress however!
& that's pretty much it for now! until next time! 👋😄
a short update about how I've been occupying myself recently: I've been slowly making my way through the Vampire Princess Miyu series while I work on... yet another sweater (will it even be THAT cold come autumn this year is the question 🤦♀️). I've been enjoying the series so far tho! the 90s artstyle & monster-of-the-week formula has been pretty fun.
I've also been spending a lot of time recently playing through different Yume Nikki fangames on the Yume Nikki Online Project site! my favorite that I've explored so far has been Yume Tsushin (pictured above!). the art & general atmosphere are so good, & wandering around in the dream world has felt like the perfect thing to do these past few evenings 😴
I was a little surprised over how many fangames are available on the site, including ones I hadn't ever even heard of before. I've got a lot more to explore! I wish I had known about this project earlier, because it's been so much fun (& easy!!) being able to play the different games in-browser.
I return after... 3 months (😱) with thrilling news: yesterday I visited my very first cat cafe!!! 🎉
(these were a few of the sleepy kitties I got to hang out with—but there were many more up & about playing w/ their toys & other guests! 🫶)
what a lovely experience!! I will definitely want to go back sometime (not only to see the kitties, but also help support the cafe's foster & adoption endeavors! 😊)
as far as other news: I finally am starting to get back into crochet after a long break! or rather... I was hit w/ very sudden inspiration, & rapidly made a sweater + tanktop back-to-back after acquiring some really cool ombre yarn 😅
(I used ~6 skeins of the Lion Brand Ferris Wheel yarn in the color 'Imaginary Garden' to make both of these! such a fun yarn—I definitely want to play around w/ more ombre yarns in the future!)
I've been filled w/ so many ideas of other garments that I'd like to make next! 💪 although, to be fair, that may need to wait until after summer is over (I adore the sweater I made, but I obviously won't be able to wear it out for several more months!! 🤦♀️)
