Category: Lifestyle

If my TBR numbers don’t change, am I even moving towards shortening my TBR? This very laid-back challenge has concluded its fourth year. Like, I can’t believe that 4 years ago I read 9 or 10 books in June, felt so good about it that I decided I wanted to take that energy for the rest of the year and shrink down my TBR. To be honest, I really want to repeat a month like that again. I know it was really hard and I did nothing else with my free time apart from reading, but man, it felt good afterwards to reach a milestone I never thought possible. As the kind of reader that I am, I would never have imagined I could read close to 2-digit numbers in 30 days. I’m sad the Whateveraton doesn’t happen anymore. It was really a nice fit for me and one of …

Ever since I bought a Kindle, sooner or later, people will come to me asking if I recommend buying a Kindle. The short answer is always: no. The longer answer is: it depends. I’m not writing this post to influence you to buy a Kindle. Quite the opposite, actually. I don’t want you to buy one. While handy, there can be better options than buying a Kindle. So why did I buy a Kindle? I bought my Kindle back in 2017, and it wasn’t an impulsive decision. At that time, I was doing blog tours for upcoming books, which meant I was reading a lot of ebooks. I would read them on my phone, my computer or even on my iPad Mini (a fossil I received from my mother, but to read works just fine). However, it can get really tiring to read from a bright, glossy screen over time. …

For the longest time, the talk around perfectionism to me was always very… unhelpful. I think that’s the right word. I am a certified perfectionist. And have been trying to overcome it for a long time. So I’ve read and listened to a lot of talk about it. But time and time again, there was always something that didn’t click. The advice is always the same: recognise and then take action. Act despite the fear. Act despite the friction. Act and fail intentionally. And it’s not bad advice. But there was always something that was missing for me. I get an itch on my brain. It tells me that something is not quite right, but I can’t put my finger on it, just yet. I guess this is my gut feeling. He simply hasn’t learn all the words he needs to communicate better with me. When I was reading Refuse …

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 …