Jen > Recent Status Updates

This story feels worryingly familiar, as a former academic who lost her mind, I'm obsessed 😅

If this continues as I think it will, this is going to be my book of the year.
I'm so surprised, I only bought this book on a whim, but it's perfect for where I am in life right now, soothing a very specific hurt. Miwako & I are working through things, together.
I'm glad I'm finally getting help, & that I've survived.

Need a spooky tale for spooky season?
This should be it.

Just worked out (I think?) the significance of the name Addy Domarus and...oh...oh dear

Let's gooo!
Yo-yo'd between super-hyped, & apathetic when considering this one 😅 time to find out whether I'll love it or not.

I found Carlos Ruiz Zafón's Shadow of the Wind, much like Daniel finds Julian Carax's, although I am in a hotel that was once a library...rather than a book cemetery.
Books line shelves on the hotel's reading nook...obscure titles left over from the library that came before, or left by guests & I'm ensconced in an armchair reading this book about books in a place once dedicated entirely to them, & now still in part.

Honestly, nothing approximates the experience of being a mentally ill, neurodivergent teenage girl like Harrowhawk. This book will go down as one of my all time favorites.

Over 300 pages in, & I'm no closer to solving this mystery....I *love* this book

Lesbian Necromancers in Space II is enigmatic and wonderful and I can't wait to find out what happens in the rest of this book <3

I can rarely stand books set in Oxford, as I associate the place with my worst mental health difficulties, I really can't stand it - especially when writers make it out to be some utopia of learning.
In Lovegrove's tale, however, Holmes and Watson seem to find it as depressing & unsettling a place as I did, in this chapter we get a shout-out to my former college, Oriel, who're about to get interrogated by Holmes.

This is proving surprisingly good so far! A pleasant surprise in a month of unpleasant ones.

I love Adrian so much <3
People talk a lot about representation in books - but this is the first time I've seen a 'me'. Did Mackenzi Lee do this on purpose? Does she feel like this? Or know someone who does? Whatever the case...Adrian is wonderful & I'm thankful he was written :)

Am I 8 books behind on my challenge?
Yes
Have I made a lot of progress irl this year?
Also yes

So I can end this year happy, even if I don't catch up :)

Having recently broken up with my long term partner I've found myself in the mood for softer, more gentle reads - including re-reads of some old favourites.
'Dear Teacher' isn't one of my all-time loves, admittedly...but I remember it being cosy, like a literary hug or a warm jumper - so it seemed perfect for my slightly soppy, vulnerable state.