Category: Lifestyle

The Hardest Reading Challenge You’ve Ever Done is over!!… It ended two months ago, but oh well… I’m just now sitting down to write about it. My last update wasn’t very merry. Then I proceed to do a period of rereading for 3 months, give or take. Since rereads don’t count towards the HRCYED, I had nothing to update you on. So I stayed quiet. Knowing that the challenge would be over when the calendar changed to July, I focused on the challenge one last time. And, at the very least, try to finish the books that I bought specifically for this readathon. But did I accomplish that? Before doing my last update on HRCYED 2024-2025, the Hardest Reading Challenge is back for round 2. That’s right, HRCYED 2.0! I’m already two months behind on the announcement, although I couldn’t pass up doing a shout-out since more people are discovering …

It doesn’t even seem real that I decided to embark on this journey three years ago this month. While this is in no way a project or a challenge I’m actively pursuing, I still want to see what’s on the other side. And it will take whatever time it takes. I want to be more intentional with my purchases. To be on top of the books I really want to read. I don’t want to own a graveyard of books, I think I’ll like. I want to find that out instead of keeping guessing. Over time, my approach to this challenge has changed. From a more strict strategy to incorporating other challenges like The Hardest Reading Challenge You’ve Ever Done, HRCYED for short. I went from book-buying bans to adding too many books to my TBR, from great reading months to reading slumps. But all of this is with one …

How often do you reread books? How often do you read the books you love again? I asked these questions recently, and the answer was rarely. Last year, I only reread 1 book, and the year before, I reread 5 books. In 2022, I reread only 3 books. In 2021, I reread 2 books. And in 2020, none. In total, in these 4 years, I read 193 books, from audiobooks to ebooks and not forgetting comic books. From almost 200 books, I only reread 11. But this isn’t a problem. It’s not written anywhere you have to reread books. You don’t even need to reread a book in a series to continue it. Rereading is a choice based on the type of consumer you are. And I love revisiting stories I like, so why don’t I do it more often? I’ve already realised that I love to rewatch shows and …

This post will be a little different. Usually, I keep my updates of the project TBR Zero separate from the monthly update of HRCYED. However, since I’m changing my approach to the readathon and don’t have much of an update for January, I believe it’s best to join the two. Firstly, time to look back on my progress on the TBR Zero project. October 2024 With Becca and The Books announcing the last Spookoplathon (not set in stone), I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to join. I can’t resist a readathon. I’ve been over this. Readathon exists. I join. On my first roll, the dice were in my favour and gave me The Stranger by Harlan Coben to read. I didn’t waste much time with it and quickly finished the book. I was familiar with the story since I saw the mini-series on Netflix. And while I prefer the …

I’ve been promising a post exploring my thoughts on readathons for a while. I’m a serial readathon starter. If I find one, I’ll likely participate in it. If I finish it tough, that’s another story. But first, a brief explanation of what a readathon is for those who might not be familiar with this communal part of reading. A readathon (like the name suggests) is a reading marathon. The objective is to read as much as you can for a set time, for example, 24 or 48 hours, a week, a month, or a year. Usually, a readathon has a theme. It can be based on genre, diversity, age range, a book series or a single book. Readathons became quite popular online since they are a collective effort. You can do one on your own, although it can be very motivating to do it with others. Suddenly, what is a …

Ever since I read Deep Work by Carl Newport, I have embarked on a journey to try out the four philosophies. After going through the rhythmic, bimodal, and monastic philosophies, it was time to experiment with the last one: the journalistic philosophy. Newport says this is probably the hardest philosophy to reach deep focus because it requires some training. What’s particular about it is the lack of a schedule. In this philosophy, you work whenever you can and try to use every moment possible. Very much like a journalist who writes at any opportunity they can. To test this type of schedule, I needed a plan. I knew I had to set some rules to guide me, or else I would do nothing. But how do you schedule something that is supposed to have no schedule at all? Well, I tried. The journalistic philosophy I encountered difficulties since day one. …

Over the past few years, there has been a boom in the gaming industry. They come out like mushrooms popping from the ground. There hasn’t been a time with so many games as we have now. They are everywhere and are more diverse than ever. I’m sure there’s a game for everyone, even for those who don’t play video games. Although there always has to be a problem. Things can’t be nice. Apparently, the world would be too boring. With the 1.6 update of Stardew Valley this summer and now the release for consoles, the game is back on everyone’s mind. This pixel art-style farming game was a tremendous success and became a genre staple. While this game isn’t an original, it’s the biggest one. Coincidentally, we are living in the farming sim wave of new games. They are coming out left and right. Everywhere you look, there’s a farming …

It finally happened. I finished my first prompt! Light the fireworks. Cut the cake. Let’s celebrate! I’m beyond excited for this accomplishment. Thank you all for your support. I couldn’t do it without you. Thank you to my mom and dad… Too soon to make an acceptance speech? The challenge isn’t over yet? Ups. Sorry, I got carried away. Still, it was a good month, and I made much progress in the challenge. The books of October For the October new release, I read Blasfamous‘s complete edition of the three-issue comic book. This is by the Italian author Mirka Andolfo, who created the Unnatural, a comic book series published by Image Comics. I haven’t finished that series yet, but there’s something in her illustrations and storytelling that I enjoy a lot. Also, her characters tend to be gorgeous curvy females, and I’m here for it. As I mentioned in the …

June marks a new year. A new reading year. Another year of reading my TBR. But before I do anything else, I need to recount my books. I want to start with a clean sheet. I’m afraid I miscount some books. Here’s the thing, I never wrote down a list of all the books. So, I’m not sure which books I counted for the TBR and which I didn’t. Not every book I own is part of this challenge. Some books I sort of inherited, and others were given because the other person didn’t want them anymore, but that doesn’t mean I’m interested in reading those books. Now, with a list, there will be no more mistakes. June I was still feeling the downfall of a subscription to Everand. I like the idea of reading whatever you want at any moment, but it always takes a toll on my TBR. …

Every time I have to write an update for the Hardest Reading Challenge You’ve Ever Done, I get so excited. I would lie if I said it was so easy and that I’m not starting to question my life choices… BUT! I’m enjoying to see the progress. The books of September After the flop of A Study in Charlotte last month, I was missing a 4+ book series to read. The next one on the list was Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco. Now, this is the book I was looking for. I don’t care if any part of the book is historically accurate because it was what I wanted from a mystery set in the late 1800s. I loved the characters. I loved the banter. I loved the mystery, even though there isn’t much hands-on investigation. I wanted to read this book for a long time, and I’m …

I want to keep these updates monthly and neat… And I’m doing a terrible job! I swear I’m not taking this long to read the books. Once again, I bring you another late update for the Hardest Reading Challenge You’ve Ever Done. Please don’t be confused. I know we are at the end of September, but this post is about the books I read in August. I’m already writing the next update, so it will be on time. Before I get ahead of myself, let’s travel back to the 7th of August. The books of August I started the month reading The Bachelorette Party by Sandra Block. I received an ARC to review closer to its September release date. It’s a thriller quite fast and intense, verging on horror. I already have a review here on the blog if you are interested to know more about it. Sadly, I couldn’t …