[Rewind] January 2017

08:00 Cilla 16 Comments


Hello there! Welcome to the first Rewind post of 2017. 😊 It's been a good month, personally. I've actually had a social life for once! (My thesis supervisor's response to this, "isn't there a rule that you can't do that while doing your Masters?") I've enjoyed my summer break so much, and I'm half dragging my feet to get fully re-immersed in uni. Before we move forward though, let's have a look back at January.


New to My Shelves

I got twelve books this month! I went a little snatch-happy at the library, as you can see in the picture above. I got And I Darken, The Green Mill Murder, Sofia Khan is Not Obliged, and Me Before You (which I'd already returned by the time this picture was taken). I also borrowed books from friends. I spent time at Cor's house while she was cleaning out her shelves, and she lent me The Outsider, Carry On, and Sea Hearts. Elise lent me A Monster Calls (which she borrowed from her library, so I'm veeeery careful about it). 

From NetGalley, I received Caraval and Ida. One of those reviews have been posted, but we'll get to that in a moment!

For some reason, I decided I could use with more books. There was a big sale in a bookshop, and I snapped up Carnevale and The True and Splendid History of the Harristown Sisters.

Reviews

↠ Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan was an entertaining (if rather shallow) read. 
↠ Royal Wedding by Meg Cabot -- a satisfying conclusion to the series, though I wish some of the plotlines had been given room to breathe.
↠ [ARC] Caraval by Stephanie Garber -- I was fascinated by its world-building, but unimpressed by the characters.

Other Things on the Blog

↠ I signed up to some reading and blogging challenges for 2017!
↠ Conversation is back! This month, we talked about what you like to read and why, and whether you read multiple books at once. Come join us this weekend for another installment!
↠ In the spirit of the new year, I participated in Beautiful Books to pledge some writerly goals.
↠ I participated in the DreamCrate project by LootCrate. What would be in your DreamCrate?
↠ I posted a recap of my experience of an advanced screening of A Monster Calls, and shared some tips on going to an outdoor cinema!

Challenges Progress

  • ↠ Goodreads challenge: 6/30 books
  • ↠ Discussion challenge: 1/24 discussion posts
  • ↠ Diverse Reads challenge: 2 books
  • ↠ #ReadDiverse2017 challenge: 1 books
  • ↠ The Backlist Reader challenge: 4 books

Around the Blogosphere

↠ A number of bloggers participated in the informative, thoughtful, and all-around brilliant #DisabilityDiaries2017. I still have to catch up with the posts, but the ones I've read are fantastic.
↠ Catherine shares her list of hopeful films to make you feel like fighting in the face of bleak global events.
↠ Rachel shared a post about her response to the current culture of book twitter. 
↠ Love-A-Thon will be back! Come and sign up.
↠ Clara shared her thoughts on required reading.

In Life

↠ I've been spending a lot of time with my friends. In fact, I spent 5 days in a row hanging out and catching up with different groups of people. I'm pretty sure that's more than what I had in the last six months! I've been enjoying all of it, but I'm always SO tired afterward that I needed to spend all of today on my own to recharge. #IntrovertProblems
↠ Happy belated Chinese New Year to those who celebrated! As I grow older, this day can be a strange one for me. At its surface, it's a fun holiday where I hang out with my family and eat excellent yumcha (I didn't really do either this year, though I did get pork buns and xiaolongbao at a hawkers' festival). If I'm in a more reflective mood though, I can't help but think about how I've avoided and then embraced this part of my identity. This year, it was a little bit of both.

In Store for Next Month

February is looking to be a busy month for me, but I'm working to be organised with posts ahead of time. For sure, there will be two more Conversation topics this month! Check out this page for the upcoming topics, and hopefully I'll see you there! I'm also hoping to post at least one discussion post, and two reviews! 

How are you? How was your January? 
Tell me something good that's happened for you!

16 comments:

  1. Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction8 February 2017 at 00:49

    I'm glad that you were able to make time for friends this month---keep that up! It's important!

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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    1. Cilla11 February 2017 at 07:42

      Thanks Nicole! I'll be doing my best to keep it up!

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  2. Catherine8 February 2017 at 05:27

    It's weird how tiring it can be sometimes spending time with friends - but a good kind of tiring :) Interested to hear what you think about Sofia Khan (which I've not read but sounds good) and Me Before You!

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    1. Cilla11 February 2017 at 07:44

      Right?! I think it definitely has to do with being an introvert; we're just not built to be energised by social interactions! And I will hopefully post reviews of those two books soon!

      Delete
  3. Unknown8 February 2017 at 21:32

    I'm definitely an introvert and it always seems that everyone wants to do things around the same time--especially around the holidays! So it can be exhausting trying to fit everyone in. But I'm glad you have that balance between school and a social life--it's what helped me survive my schooling.

    Looks like you have a successful reading month! I hope February is as well.

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    1. Cilla11 February 2017 at 07:47

      Yess, the holidays is both fun and tiring for that very reason. Thank you, I'm hoping I can maintain that balance once the semester kicks in! February is off to a good start, reading-wise, but as always I'm behind on all my library books!

      Delete
  4. Unknown10 February 2017 at 07:55

    12 books--SCORE! I had a pretty abysmal January haul-wise, but February is looking good. Reviewed for Caraval have been really mixed. I think I'm going to procrastinate a while longer.

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    1. Cilla11 February 2017 at 07:48

      I'm glad your February is looking good! I think people who love Caraval -really- love it, and those who don't (like me) are more meh about it. I hope you'll enjoy it when you pick it up though!

      Delete
  5. Keeana14 February 2017 at 00:05

    12 books looks like you had a great reading month. I read 5 books, and 11 graphic novels.

    happy reading

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    1. Cilla15 March 2017 at 15:34

      Sounds like you had a great reading month too! Thanks Keeana!

      Delete
  6. Unknown16 February 2017 at 20:34

    I have the same problem when meeting with friends. I've been also trying to catch up with everyone so I didn't have much time to read.

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    1. Cilla15 March 2017 at 15:45

      It's kind of a shame we have to choose between reading and hanging out with friends!

      Delete
  7. Jenna @ Falling Letters20 February 2017 at 01:17

    Sounds like you had a successful January! I have to check out your post about A Monster Calls. I really want to see it but I think it was only a limited release where I live and I might have missed it :/

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    1. Cilla15 March 2017 at 16:44

      Awwh noooo :( I hope you didn't miss it after all!

      Delete
  8. Danielle H.26 February 2017 at 22:21

    I only got to spend one lunch time with my best friend in January--she took a new job that keeps her so busy and traveling around the area. We see each other in exercise class a few times, but then she's off to the races again. I got to participate in the blog tour for Faith in Every Footstep (my first one!) and I was so relieved that I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

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    1. Cilla16 March 2017 at 12:09

      Awwh nooo, I hope your best friend's job will settle a bit so she can have more time to spend with you! I'm glad you enjoyed the book for the blog tour - it can be so awkward and disappointing when you don't.

      Delete

Thanks for reading! It makes my day to hear your thoughts and I will respond asap. :)

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