Jan-Feb Book Haul - Part 1

Hello, my lovelies!

I am so far behind the 8 ball this year, in regards to videos I want to make, that it's not even funny.  So far 2020 has not been a stellar start to a new decade. Although, during all this mayhem in my everyday life I have managed to read at a ridiculous rate, smashing my Goodreads reading challenge goal by February.

In this first of two parts, I have just gone over all the new books that I have added to my library, and the few that I have already read.  Sadly, after filming Part 2 (up soon) I have already accumulated a few more books.  It's a sickness, I tell you.  Then there is Kindle Unlimited... and I think you can guess how my reading month for February went.

Outside of my reading life, things have been chugging along as always. Chronic pain is never fun, but it has really kicked my butt this summer. The hot and humid weather we've experienced here (it's not humid here!) plus the bushfires, etc., just wrecked havoc with my system.  Thankfully with autumn temperatures kicking in, I'm feeling a lot better, but still not yet 100%... well, as good as I'm going to get at the moment anyway.

I'm hoping to do to a big unhaul, or weeding my shelves, in a couple of weeks so if you're interested in that, let me know and I'll see if I can get something up.

Thank you for watching, and until I see you next time, 

 

My 2020 Reading Goals

Well, hello there!

Welcome to my first video for 2020.  I still can't believe we're into the roaring 20's of the 21st century.  This decade there are so many books that I have read that were considered modern classics when I was reading them for high school, or for pleasure, that are turning 100.

For this video I'm just going over my fairly laid back goals for 2020.  I'm relaxing my restrictions for my #BigBook2020 and my #aclassicamonth challenges. For the Big Book challenge I will consider any book over 800 pages.  Yep, I've dropped it back from the 1000 I previously used as I'm running out of those big a$$ books, so... and on the Classic a Month side, my only rule is that I pick a classic a month. Not that hard. I have the choice of any book that is considered a classic. Western or Eastern canons, translated, modern, childrens, you name it, it's fair game.

My Goodreads goal is a do-able 150 books. I usually fly through January with at least 60-70+ books because a hot Australian Summer + AC = lots of reading inside. May up it to 200 if needed, but I'm not planning on repeating a monster of a result like last year (still can't believe I wracked up 443!).

Now, in regards to my channel, uh, nothing major. Just hoping to be a bit more consistent in filming and posting videos. Hoping to get the grey cells up and firing soon so I can decide on perhaps a few future set ideas (Halloween, seasonal recommendations, uh, series recommendations, etc.), that may take a bit more time. I'd be well and truly screwed if I scripted any of my videos.

So, that's it. My 2020 Reading Goals in a nutshell.  I'd just like to say thank you for watching, and until I see you next time,

Greetings 2020!

Hello, everyone!

I can’t believe that 2020 is here.  A new year, and a new decade to boot. Things have been motoring on while I try to finalise my 2020 Reading Goals for an upcoming video. 

I’ve already started on my Goodreads Challenge by submitting the goal I’d like to reach this year... well, at least my jumping off point if previous years are any guide. So 150 is my first target to reach, and then we’ll see what happens from there. And while I would love to surpass last years amazing tallies (443 books and 124k+ pages), I’m not going into this years challenge with that in mind.

So far I have completed 3 books, and before you say anything, they were small cozy mystery novels, two of which were average, and one that I adored. In fact I enjoyed it so much that I’m going to purchase a paperback edition for my shelves (I read it from OverDrive), and I can’t wait for the second book to come out in June.  Death in a Budapest Butterfly is the first book in Julia Buckley’s A Hungarian Tea House Mystery series, and I think I’ll give it a post of it’s own to highlight what a great cozy mystery I think it is. However that may have to wait a few days until my back/hip sorts itself out and I can sit at my desk to fire up the desktop and either film a review, or do some fancy-smancy stuff on PS to tizzy up the picture for y’all.

Oh, so you caught my little slip of the keyboard. Yes, after mentioning in my last video that I’m feeling a lot better I managed to pull a muscle or tendon while washing my hair in the shower - of all things! I feel like such a dink, but there I was, rinsing out my hair, sitting on the bench seat, when I felt a ‘pop’ in my rump and felt a hot and tingling sensation. I had to get out of there asap while I could still move! Spent the evening with a cold pack on my butt, and this morning it feels like someone has punched my hard in the hip. But I’ll take a deep muscle pain over a pinched nerve any day of the week.  At least I can move and get myself out of bed, etc.

So, this latest adventure in my chronic pain journey has me reassessing how I’m going to try and live my life, even my social media/online life, in a normal fashion when my body is rebelling. I think I’ll have to save up and invest in a laptop (my old one died about 5 years ago. RIP my HP laptop) so that I can at least edit and upload my videos while confined to the bed or couch. My trusty iPad was just not made for editing videos.

Anyway, I think I’ve jabbered on enough for the moment and had better get back to brainstorming those 2020 Reading Goals.

I hope to see you guys soon. So until next time