currently consuming: feb. 2021
It’s 2021!!!!!!!
And an orange globule is no longer in a certain house!
Moving on:
I’ve been gaming again! It’s been such a long time since I’ve gamed with any consistency.
But since I ended up spending my first Christmas away from my family (due to Covid on top of a giant blizzard), my husband and I opened presents and then played our respective video games. He’s playing Cyberpunk and Star Citizen (which I call Space Game) and I played Discs 3 and 4 of Final Fantasy IX on PS4. I’m right up at the final bosses and just don’t feel like finishing it yet, so I’ve been playing…. Genshin Impact.
Yup. I’m one of those people now. And loving it. Except when I didn’t get Xiao despite doing actual MATH to see how many primogems I could hoard, AND spending real money trying to get him (so much money). And now, winter and covid, etc. just makes me wish I’d spent more because he’s so preeeeeetty and powerful and broody and I wanted him ok!!!!?!?! First World Problem of the extreme while people in Texas are freezing to death, I know. It only makes me feel more pathetic.
But! I still have Diluc and Kaeya, so things could be worse.
Listening: Genshin Impact’s soundtrack, Sheryl Crow’s “Soak Up the Sun” and “22” by Taylor Swift. And more audiobooks narrated by Joel Leslie. I’m listening to Gideon by Lily Morton right now (finishing up the Finding Home trilogy) and loving it. He’s just the best.
Reading! I bought a Kindle Paperwhite as an experiment to see how long I could go without buying physical books on Amazon. I made it all of January and half of February before I cracked because I was listening to the audiobook of Winter’s Orbit (which is great) and also wanted the physical book and it was part of a 3 for 2 deal, so I also bought the Shadow and Bone trilogy (so I can read it before the Netflix show blesses us) and Georgette Heyer’s The Devil’s Cub because Arden reads her books when he and Caspian are split up at the end of Book 1. Lol.
But! Since buying my Kindle, I’ve tried reading a lot of new authors because I really am enjoying my Kindle. I wasn’t sure how it was going to be, and I half convinced myself to buy it because it’s a very good size for reading manga without having to buy bookshelves on which to store it afterwards. Because as much as I love manga… unless it’s a great, great series, I really don’t need the physical books. Though if anyone has a copy of Banana Fish vol. 16, I would like to buy it because it has inexplicably disappeared from the purchasable face of the earth and it’s the last volume I need to complete my set. (Also rewatched Banana Fish. Have now watched it and agonized over it 3 times in its entirety.)
So! Some notable Kindle reads:
The Lord of the Last Heartbeat by May Peterson
Kate Kane # 1 Iron and Velvet (still reading) by Alexis Hall
(Trust) Falling for You by Charish Reid
I’m looking forward to much more Kindle reading in the future. I’ve impulse bought so many books for it over the past months. E-reading used not to be my thing because of the screen, but the paperwhite really does read like a book. Plus I got a case for it that makes it stand up on its own and that is practically worth having one all on its own.
Physical Books I’m reading/loving:
Story Genius by Lisa Cron. It’s helping me outline/blueprint (one of) my next novel projects, codenamed Larcen & Light.
Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh. The hype is worth it. I was enthralled.
Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell (Gay princes in space!!!!)
Audiobooks!:
Winter’s Orbit—The audiobook was lovely! It opened a different dimension of the story up to me (as do the Swordspoint audiobooks) because the narrator inflects words differently than I would if I were reading it, and it very much impacts the story. Adds new layers. I highly recommend.
Magpie Lord books by KJ Charles: Are we surprised? No. Are these fantastic? Yes.
Finding Home series by Lily Morton, narrated by Joel Leslie (Milo might be my favorite?! I don’t know. I love him.)
Anime:
Demon Slayer
Yuri On Ice!!! (again)
Banana Fish (again)
And that’s that! Are you playing Genshin Impact? Did you get Xiao and therefore earn my eternal jealousy?
Happy Februaryyyyyy!
