Books & More – April edition
Hello everyone, and welcome to my first Books & More edition.
This series is dedicated to catching you up on what’s going on behind the scenes of The Browneyed Bookworm. All the things, big or small, that might not get their own blog post. Like regular book news, book hauls, TV & movies I’m currently watching, what I’m reading or listening to, and anything else I would like to chat about. It’s a way for me to catch you up on everything that happened – and anything goes.
So let’s get started…
Hello my fellow bookworm, just wanted to say hi. How are you?
Shelter in Place
Here in California, but especially in the Bay Area we’ve had a Shelter in Place directive since March 17th. That makes it almost 5 weeks next Tuesday. And I must admit at the beginning, during the first week, my brain didn’t really get what it all meant. The second week it actually hit home. Seeing the numbers that came in – I was a mess. And the last three weeks have been surreal at best. Every day feels like the next, I actually have to check the calendar to remind myself of the actual day. The only good thing, out of all of this, is that I have time to read. When I can concentrate on books, that is. I actually had a hard time reading books during the first two weeks, and mostly watched Netflix. It started getting better when I realized that there is not much I can do about any of it. Accepting the loss of control was what got me over the hump. And that eventually helped getting my reading mojo back.
A friend called Netflix
That brings me to Netflix. I’m one of those people who don’t own a TV, and hasn’t for the last 8 years, so I’m used to not watching and I don’t actually miss it. But during these trying times, I realized I needed something mindless to occupy my thoughts. I got a Netflix subscription and started watching the Great British Bake Off, I’m on season/collection 5. I also was in the mood for a Harry Potter movie marathon, and fell absolutely madly in love with Schitt’s Creek. If you haven’t watched it yet, you must!!! Eww David!!! I was also told to watch Money Heist next, and I MIGHT fall down the rabbit hole of Tiger King – I might!!!
Reading Mojo
I mentioned earlier that I my reading mojo came back, that’s mostly in regards to re-reads. I’m a mood reader, and also a big fan of re-reads. I have an entire keeper shelf, and a folder on my kindle with favorite re-reads. So last week I had the great idea of re-reading the entire Kate Daniels series, that’s TEN books. And yes, I started it, couldn’t put them down, and finished all 10 books in 7 days. There wasn’t much time for anytime else if I’m honest, I turned into a bonafide lazy bum. I didn’t even post on Instagram for most of the week. Couldn’t be bothered – I was busy watching Kate kick ass!
New skills
Has the lockdown made you start baking yet? Staying home all day long makes me do all kinds of things, turning into a lazy bum is one, and now baking is another thing I’ve taken up. Everyone on IG seems to brush up their baking skills, from baking bread, to pretzels, to brownies – the last one is all I managed to bake!!! Not at all surprising, my brownies never last long.
Goodbye Routine
Since all of this started, the not leaving the house situation, I lost all sense of routine. No bra. No jeans. Washing hair only when necessary. And sleeping in until I fell like it. IT’S BAD!!!!!! I’m going to be in SO MUCH trouble when this is all over. I know this can’t last much longer. But I also don’t want to think how life will look like, with Covid-19. Until then, I’ll keep Netflix and my books close and hope for the best.
And here are the ARCs I recently managed to read:
Books & More – April edition
I just finished What You Wish For by Katherine Center- so good!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Her books have become highly anticipated releases for me. Already awaiting the next one – lol.
I made some homemade brownies last weekend. It has definitely been a long time since I’ve done that! To occupy myself I started rearranging my whole house. Every time I finish a new area it’s making me happy and I’m getting in a lot of audiobook time while I work!
I love the idea of rearranging, I need to do some organizing, it’s a great time to do that, and any work that allows for audiobooks is a great one in my eyes.
How did you like Darling Rose Gold? I’ve seen it around and the case it’s inspired by is one of my favorites.. Kind of on the fence about giving it a shot. Anyway, beautiful blog! Thanks so much for the follow 🤍
I actually went into the book not knowing that there was a real case that the books was based on. I always thought the Munchausen by proxy syndrome was fascinating, but after listening to the book, all I can say is that I NEVER want to come across someone like the mother/daughter duo in the book. Their thought process was surreal for me. I gave it 3.75 star, the book was well written, but the characters were unlikeable (which is a problem for me) and I was really glad when the book was over because the topic and the duo were rather unsettling to me. I would suggest, grab a copy from the library if you can. Unless you are fascinated by the topic.
You can read my review here
During this whole thing, its so difficult to stay on routine. Trust me I know lol I sleep all the time and I know I shouldn’t. But other than that I am trying to keep as much balance as I can but its a daily struggle and I definitely understand the reading mojo ….mine has been affected. Some days are good days and some days aren’t so good. But at least I am getting my projects done.
Good luck with everything and I hope things with summer coming in soon wlll blow over and we can get back to “normal” whatever that may be lol
I hope we can get back to normal soon. And this weeks primary goal is to figure out a routine and like you said a balance. It’s so easy to let it all go…..and just live in pjs. I’ll keep you guys posted how it all goes – lol.
Love your blog, Corina. It’s bursting with wonderful work and incredible ideas which are heaving with creativity!
Do stop by my blog and check it out: https:penableme.wordpress.com
Thank you, keep up the AWESOMENESS and stay safe ❤️,
H.R Phoenix 💖
I relate on all of this! Especially the routine part haha. I’m going to hate wearing a bra all day after this lol.
I never thought there would be a time when I could slouch around in sports bra all day long, for weeks on end, that isn’t an outright vacation – and, I can’t even imagine having to put on make-up again, lol.
Wonderful article! I’m with you on the No Routine thing as well haha. I could’ve written that, except for the sleeping in which isn’t possible with a 7 years old running around the house and a husband that needs to work. The only constant in my day is the longer walk with our dog. For the rest its all just terrible. I find that this week things like blogging and writing reviews just isn’t working. My mind is such a chaotic mess right now, I hate it. My son’s going back to school on May 11th, so that means that I’ll get a couple of days back in which I can get some routine back and especially: some ME TIME. I miss it so much, lol.
I think we all realized how important it is to have something to do, work, the routine. And ME TIME is necessary for staying sane during these crazy times. I’m glad that you guys are seeing at least a sliver lining, going back to school is the beginning of normalcy. At least we can hope.