Update & Currently Reading

Hello! You may or may not have noticed that I’ve been decidedly absent these past few weeks. There are a number of reasons for this, some of them, admittedly, to do with how much time I’ve spent playing video games, some of them to do with stuff that’s happening in my life right now. So, I thought I’d just give you guys a quick update, mostly just to get myself back into the habit of blogging again!

So the first thing, and the biggest thing, is that I have a new job! This is the main reason for my absence, as the journey to me actually getting this job is uh, insane. Two weeks ago I found out that my hours in my current job were being massively reduced, and I had absolutely no say in the matter. On a whim, I put my CV on a job website the following evening, and literally the next morning I was contacted by an agency telling me about a job, and wondering if I’d be interested. I said yes, because I really couldn’t stay in my current job much longer. Last Monday I signed up with the agency, I interviewed for the position on Tuesday, and was offered the job on Wednesday. I started there today. So, y’know, it’s a lot.

For the next two weeks I’ll be working two days at my new job, and four days at my old job. Initially I was having to give four weeks notice, so they asked if I’d be willing to work part-time. Fortunately, I’ve managed to negotiate down to two weeks. My new job is just admin stuff at a local hospital, and since it’s with an agency it’s just temp work, but it’s full time! It’s office experience! I don’t have to work weekends!!

As you can imagine, my schedule’s been pretty crammed, especially since I’ve been having to put in overtime at my old job. It’s likely not going to calm down for the next couple of weeks, but I really miss blogging, and I’m actually hoping that the schedule of having a full-time job will actually help me, even though technically I’ll have less free time.

This, also, has cut into my reading. I finished The Wise Man’s Fear last month, completely loved it, and I think I’ve just had a very long book hangover since finishing it. I’ve been in such a mood for fantasy books lately, but they’re a huge time commitment since they’re usually well over 500 pages long, so I’ve been getting my fix through video games. Namely Dragon Age: Inquisition. I bought all three Dragon Age games in the Origin sale just before Christmas, and have spent most of my free time playing them. I’ve put many, many hours into Inquisition these last few weeks. Plus, since I’ve been feeling pretty low, I started a new character in Skyrim because I find Skyrim comforting? In a weird way? So, yes, my time is being spent very productively.

Speaking of being productive, a few weeks ago I decided to watch Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency on Netflix, watched the whole thing in basically a day, and then, when I was feeling ill later in the week, I watched it again in the hopes of cheering myself up. Then I binge-watched the entire second season of Jane the Virgin as soon as it became available, because I am an Adult Woman who makes Good Choices.

Still, I am actually attempting to read. In fact, I’m currently reading 3 books. One of these is Rogues, an anthology that I mentioned in my last wrap-up, and honestly I haven’t really picked this up lately. The trouble with anthologies is that some of the stories you’re going to love, and some of them won’t be to your taste in the slightest, and I hit kind of a bad streak where I wasn’t enjoying the ones I was reading, or they were companion stories to well-established series that I wasn’t familiar with, so I just wasn’t getting it. Because of this, I haven’t been inclined to pick it up, but I will soon, if only to read Patrick Rothfuss’ short story (especially since it’s about Bast!).

I’m also reading A Conjuring of Light, the last book in V.E. Schwab’s Shades of Magic series. Amazingly, I’ve completely managed to avoid spoilers so far! I’m really enjoying it, and the only reason I haven’t finished it yet is because it’s so intense!! I keep reading when I’m on public transport and then having to stop because it’s Too Much. I’m really hoping to finish this one soon, and it’s likely that it’ll be the next book that I finish because I can’t put it off forever.

Finally, I’m reading Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. After peer-pressuring my friend Hannah into buying the lovely Penguin Threads edition of it, after I bought the Puffin in Bloom edition, we decided we’d read it for the first time together. We do have a schedule for how many pages to read, but I’ve been terrible at keeping on top of my reading so I’ve fallen behind! I’m enjoying this, too, and it’s been such a long time since I read a classic that I’d kind of forgotten how much I enjoyed them.

Once I finish reading Little Women and A Conjuring of Light, I have very grand ambitions for what I’ll read next. I’m so desperate to continue on with Scott Lynch’s Gentleman Bastard series, but also I have Laini Taylor’s Strange the Dreamer sitting in my room, begging to be read. Though really I’m kind of tempted to read a couple of YA books just to kind of get my reading back on pace again. I’ve barely looked at Goodreads for weeks because I’m unwilling to feel the inevitable shame that comes with being behind on your reading challenge.

Finally, I recently hit 300 followers on my blog! Somehow I managed to completely miss this milestone, but regardless, thank you to everyone for following me! I promise I’ll be a better blogger soon.