women's history month reading wrap-up

After reading only black authors in February in honor of Black History Month, I decided to try a similar challenge and only read women for Women's History Month. I tend to read a majority women in general, so this wasn't hard for me at all. I used this challenge to just check off a lot of books on my to-read shelf on GoodReads, and wow did I read a lot! Definitely some new favorites in this list that will certain show up on my end of the year list!

In total, I finished 17 books!!! I was in a bit of slump during February because I was SO exhausted from relearning how to walk that I could barely focus on reading. However, I was suddenly a reading machine this month. I'm really happy with what I read. I read 3 different poetry collections (helping me towards one of my 25 goals!) I also had a bit of diversity in my reading. I read some YA, some classics, some romance, and one nonfiction book! I'm pretty bad at reading nonfiction in general, although I do love a good celebrity memoir. Also, over half of the authors I read were POC, which is great since I do tend to read a majority of white authors.

Anyway here's everything I read plus mini reviews!

I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo

I love a good YA contemporary romance, and boy did this book fit the bill! Desi is a top student and go-getter who excels at everything she puts her mind to - except romance. When Desi gets a crush on a new student at school, she decides to use her father's beloved K-dramas as a guide to getting this boy. This concept was so much fun, and I gobbled this book up in one sitting. It emphasizes a lot of the wild and crazy things we do when we're 17, and still keeps the story and romance absolutely charming. There was a really beautiful father/daughter relationship and a lot of great side characters (although I wanted to get more from them!) I'm definitely excited to read more of Goo's work!

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

When the trailer for A Wrinkle in Time dropped, it looked so fun and magical and I was instantly sold. I'm not a real stickler for reading the book first, but since this book is such a childhood classic (that I had never read), I really wanted to read it first. I got this as an audiobook, which was definitely the right choice for me! The narrator was fantastic and had amazing voices for Mrs. Who, Mrs. Which, and Mrs. Whatsit. My main impression of this was that I wish I had read this book when I was 12! Meg is such a great main character because of her self doubt and insecurities, but ultimately she (spoilers) saves the world! As an adult, I didn't love the story as much as I know I could have as a child. Also, I did see the movie and I really enjoyed it. It was absolutely gorgeous!

Destiny's Embrace by Beverly Jenkins

I've been reading a lot of historical romance in the past couple of years, but I've been reading about 99% women. So along with my reading more diversely, I decided to pick up a Beverly Jenkins, who is one of the most popular black women in historical romance. This was a western themed novel, which I'd never read before and I'm not quite sure is my style. This book was fine, but everything happened so quickly! The whole romance was a whirlwind with not much inhibiting it. There's also a lot of cheesy wholesome moments though, and I found myself giggling a lot. I'm also certainly willing to try more Beverly Jenkins!

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

WOW, this book is going to be one of my favorites of the year! My friend described this book as a "slow burn" and I think it's a perfect description. Ng weaves an amazing tale about two families of different socioeconomic backgrounds in the same idyllic suburb of Cleveland. These two families become more and more entwined with each other, while a case about custody of an adopted baby unfolds in the background. This book has such fascinating and dynamic characters whose layers are slowly and slowly revealed throughout the book until it all comes together deliciously in the end. Also this book is going to be adapted by Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington, and I am PUMPED.

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

This book was recommended to my by best friend. I had it sitting on my desk for months and finally decided to marathon it one weekend. It's a HUGE book, but it's certainly an addictive read. It reminded me a lot of Twilight, not just because there's an intense romance with a vampire but the vampire families and loyalties being tested. I also think this had a severe lack of editing, because the story just had a thousand ups and downs. I wish there had been a bit more in the mythology, and I think the rest of the series gets more into, but I'm not sure I want to continue. I am intrigued by the up coming TV show based on the book because Matthew Goode is a real stunner.

milk and honey by Rupi Kaur

I was definitely suspicious going into this because I've seen enough of Kaur's poetry to understand its parodies - which I think I like better than her actual work. Short poems can be great and effective, but so much of Kaur's work misses the mark for me. I recorded some of the poems I really enjoyed, but the majority of this collection felt really obvious and shallow.

Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge

I discovered this book as it was a pick from Emma Watson's book club, Our Shared Shelf. Eddo-Lodge originally wrote a blog post by the same title that went viral, and here she expands on what she meant by this. It's a really cohesive look about racism and race relations in Great Britain. Since I'm familiar with their culture on race, and I'm sure a lot of other American readers felt the same way, she uses a lot of examples of American culture to get an insight to racism in Britain. I think this is an excellent book to give to people who have difficulty understanding that racism is more complex than a dictionary definition. I particularly enjoyed the chapters on white privilege and feminism.

An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole

Here's another historical romance by a black woman! This was set during the American Civil War and features two undercover detectives, a black woman and a white Scottish immigrant man, falling in love while trying to derail the South. I didn't know if I'd like the setting, but ended up being so charmed by this novel. Cole is an excellent writer who balances a romance and action so well. I adored Elle as a protagonist, and Malcolm was a pretty good woke white bae. I definitely want to keep up with this series and read more of her other works!

The Princess Saves Herself in This One by Amanda Lovelace

I really hoped to like this collection, but I was severely let down. I had the same issues as I did with milk and honey. This collection was even shallower though. I was hoping for a lot more fairytale imagery than there actually was. I hate to sound obvious, but a sentence where each word is one line is not inherently poetry - or good poetry. You can have a sentence that really packs a punch, but there was very little of that in this collection.

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory

This book had so much hype before it's publication, and I was really excited to read it! This novel features a totally classic contrived romance situation - two people meet when they get stuck in an elevator together. What follows is a really sweet and charming novel about two people falling in love. I think The Wedding Date works to show that romance novels can discuss consent and be sexy, discuss privilege and not be preachy, and have problems between the hero and heroine that don't feel ridiculous and contrived. I really liked this work and hope Guillory writes more!

Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth by Warsan Shire

I found out who Warsan Shire was after Beyoncé use Shire's works in "Lemonade." I loved the poetry Beyoncé performs and definitely wanted to read more. This collection is very short, but the poems were incredible. Shire is a master at using language, and she had really gorgeous imagery of fire throughout the collection. I got this from the library, but need to acquire my own copy because I think these are the type of works that benefit from being reread and finding new interpretations and appreciations for the language each time. 

Ash by Malinda Lo

I'm a sucker for fairytale retellings, and I was really intrigued by Ash. Lo weaves a lot fairytales of her own creation into the story, which I adore when authors have the creativity to do. She also places so much emphasis on Ash's grief for her mother, which is something that is often skipped over when fairytale characters have dead parents. Lo also reinvented the fairy godmother and the love interest in this story, which set this a part as a retelling. It was a quick read, but very pleasurable and I squealed at the ending.

Interstellar Cinderella by Deborah Underwood

When clearing out my to-read list on goodreads, I stumbled across this little picture book, so I decided to grab it from the library. It's a fun Cinderella retelling where Cinderella is a ship mechanic in outer space. The illustrations are also so darling! I think it would be a perfect gift for a little girl.

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gillman

I had heard about this classic short story, and thought it would be a great read for Women's History Month. This short story was very compelling and certainly in today's atmosphere made me think there was some sort of gas-lighting going on from the husband and sister-in-law. I also really liked reading through a lens of disregarding women's health. I love the medical history podcast, Sawbones, and this was a great compliment to it. I certainly recommend giving this a read since it's so short!

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

Way back in 2012, I discovered the North and South BBC Miniseries on Netflix, and my life was changed. I always wanted to read the novel, and I'm so glad I finally got around to this and I'm especially glad I had it on audiobook. This novel has so much going on but its heart and soul is the romance between Margaret and Mr. Thornton. There's longing and pining and angst and it was so pleasurable to listen to these too fall in love and come together. By the time the ending came around, I was legitimately squealing with pleasure. The book ended up providing as much pleasure as the initial viewing of the miniseries did, and I really couldn't ask for anything else!

A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner

I fell in love with The Queen's Thief series last year, but unfortunately this was my least favorite in the series so far. It switched between first and third person, which was a bit jarring for me. I also don't particularly care much about Sophos who was the central character in this. However, I loved all the bits we got with Eugenides and Attolia, I was certainly swooning. When Eugenides recalls the moment he fell in love - Reader, I screamed.

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

My final read of March was an EXCELLENT book. When I first heard about the premise of this book I was instantly sold. The world of The Belles is a fantasy kingdom inspired by New Orleans where beauty is the main commodity. All people are born gray and ugly, except for the Belles who have the power to control beauty. This cover is so feminine and beautiful and sets the tone for the opening of the novel, until you learn things are much more sinister than you realize. This was such a strong start to the series. There was some really great character work, fantastic villains, beautifully lush writing. I marathoned it all in one day yesterday, and I'm still dwelling on how much I loved it!

WHEW that was a lot. I'm not challenging myself to any reading challenges for next couple of months, besides just my general reading goals for the year. I do think that every year in February and March I'll try reading according to Black History Month and Women's History Month. It was a successful experiment this year, and I think it'll make me focus and be very selective in how I'm reading. Not sure if that makes sense... Either way I hope my strong reading streak continues!

getting back into it

There's been a big change in my life recently. 3 months after falling off a bus and breaking my ankle, I am officially cleared by my doctor as fully healed! This process has been long and arduous, and I am so thankful that I was able to take the time I needed to be off my feet. My job was accommodating, and my mom was incredibly helpful by taking care of me for six weeks. While my bone is officially fully healed, I'm not 100% back to where I was. I get tired so easily and I'm not back up to my full strength yet. However, I think I'm being rather impatient in just assuming that I can immediately get back to my old self. Stairs are still a bit of trouble for me, but I can make it! I just take a bit of time to get there!

I'm working on keeping the positive attitude I was forced to adopt during my injury. It was the only way for me to cope with how helpless I felt, so I'm trying to carry it with me even as I slowly get back to my life pre-broken ankle. Remaining positive is something I struggle with personally, especially when my anxiety starts to rear its ugly head. I'll have to keep reminding myself how lucky I am to have what I have and to where I am. Sometimes life throws you a curveball like a broken bone just to give you a chance to see what you have an be grateful for it.

Here's to my new life getting back to my old life! I'm so excited to be walking and thinking positively - I hope both last!

one month in bullet journaling

I stumbled across the concept of bullet journaling in late 2015 when I saw these incredible photos on Tumblr of people using these customizable planners. They had gorgeous calligraphy and hand-lettering, beautiful photos pasted in, and these incredibly coordinated color schemes. I was completely obsessed, but also incredibly intimidated. I wanted to try out bullet journaling, but I was also so overwhelmed nor did I understand the weird bullet system. So I stuck to conventional planners and just kept it to my admiration of beautiful hand-lettering.

However, at the end of last year I discovered there was a whole bullet journal community on YouTube, and my obsession hit a fervor once again. I found a super cute pink dotted journal on Amazon and decided 2017 was the time to try out bullet journaling! So, now here's a reflection on February 2017, my first ever month using a bullet journal. I tried a lot of things, some of which I'm pleased with, some of which I won't be repeating.

This was my title page, which honestly I don't love. I saw this doodle on pinterest for roses, and just sort of ran with it. I don't love them on this page, but as the month progressed I drew them in a way I liked much better. I didn't really plan a theme for the month besides pink, but the roses ended up being the most prominent.

This was my monthly layout. I added in the flowers on the top right later when I was better at drawing them. It was a good reference point to have, but frankly when I need to look at an overall month I tend to just use my phone or computer.

Something that's really popular with bullet journals is a habit tracker and mood tracker. I wasn't interested in a mood tracker, although maybe some month in the future I'll try it. As for a habit tracker, there were only a couple things I was really interested in doing, so I threw some on there that I didn't do at all. Whoops! I did put in a line for blogging, which I'm only doing on Saturdays right now, but may increase in the summer. We'll see! I also hate all the doodles around my habit tracker. But I liked it for tracking my water and journalling. Also, I just decided a blank page for doodling throughout the month would be nice. I tried a couple things, and I also used it to wipe my highlighter when it got pen ink on it.

Here's my first week! This was incredibly simplistic, but it did the job! I decided to try a Sunday-Saturday layout, but by the end of the month I decided to return to Monday-Sunday as it was just a tad more efficient. This layout is no fun, so I decided to keep trying different methods throughout the month.

2 years ago I created a little tracker for Best Picture Oscar nominees, and I wanted to try it again. I actually loved this page even though I didn't manage to watch all the films. I think pages like this will be really fun to experiment with in the future! Also, I definitely want to see The Shape of Water and Phantom Thread very soon!

This was my second weekly layout and probably my least favorite. It was very pretty and I liked the bit of lettering I did. However, it was totally unpractical. The columns were so narrow, and I didn't like writing in them. For something more vertical, I would definitely need to keep less space between columns and combine Saturday and Sunday.

One of my favorite things about bullet journaling is getting the chance to just try things out on all the blank pages! I don't really like the one on the left because it was really a spur of the moment hand-lettering inspired by something I saw on Twitter. Angie Thomas wrote one of my favorite books last year, so I definitely wanted to do something to honor her after she was being attacked by twitter trolls. The piece on the right was inspired by Amanda Rach Lee, my favorite bullet journal YouTuber.

I'm so bad at watching television, so I made a little mini tracker to catch up on the shows I most needed to! Although, fuck the Bachelor after everything that happened with Arie in the finale, I'm glad I didn't watch this season. The crossed out page is something I used to help me make sense of all my medical bills, and I didn't want to publicly share it!

This was definitely my favorite weekly spread of the month! It was the perfect amount of space and I felt like I had really nailed the rose doodles by this point.

I've been getting quite into Korean beauty so I went through a really detailed list of all the steps and the products I'm interested in trying, as well as what I already own.

Something I want to do more frequently is letter Bible verses. I loved how this one turned out and it was very meditative. Also I started writing some things out for my upcoming Chicago Trip in April.

I also really loved this spread as well! The one thing I really learned during this experiment is that I need space for writing. So much inspiration I find on tumblr and Pinterest are gorgeous, but look incredibly impractical when it comes to actually planning out my life and work.

I LOVED how these pages turned out. Bullet journaling offers the ability to be partially a scrapbook as well. I definitely want to use higher quality paper because printing out photos has been so fun and I've been trying to incorporate it more and more. This was a celebration of the fabulous Galentine's Day party my friends threw!

More hand lettering! I loved how both of these turned out. The left is a quote from "All the Stars" a song I was obsessed with in February (and still listen to!) The right is a quote from An Untamed State by Roxane Gay. This line just struck me so hard as I was reading so I had to letter it.

I was realizing that Sunday-Saturday wasn't working out for me, so I decided to use the end of the month to switch into a Monday-Sunday weekly log. I did a super short February weekly, and then transitioned March's first week into an abbreviated one as well. As you can tell, I was really loving drop shadows, definitely an influence from Amanda Rach Lee!

Even though I journal nearly everyday, I decided to print out some photos and due a quick wrap up on how the month went for me. It was so fun writing this and choosing pictures. It was a great time of reflection and it made me so happy.

I continued something I had done in 2016, which was to track some of my favorites from the month. I did books, films, and music in the past, and then last minute I decided to write some of my beauty favorites down as well. I filled in the caps with some quotes from some of my favorites, which I'm still working on!

All in all, this month of experimentation has been so fun. I'm glad that I finally bit the bullet and decided to try bullet journaling. It's so cathartic and meditative for me. I do miss having a finished planner where I can add everything all at once in the far future, since I don't like adding a ton to my future log - although I probably could. Anyway it's still an experiment, but it's going well. I'm loving what I'm doing for March so far, and I'm constantly scrounging the Internet for more ideas and inspiration. It's been fun!

black history month reading wrap-up

After looking over the books I've read in the past couple of years, one of my overall reading goals for this year was to try and read more diversely. I noticed in 2015, I had barely read any nonwhite authors, which I was pretty disappointed in. However, I wanted to challenge myself even more. This year, I want to read more nonwhite authors, more non-American and non-British authors, more LGBTQ+ authors and stories, and a wider variety of genres. I already read more women than men, so I wasn't concerned about diversifying gender too much, unless it plays into an intersection with the other categories. It's hard to quantify this, but it's something I wanted to push myself to do.

Inspired by this goal, I last minute decided to only read black authors in February in celebration of black history month. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to read as much as I did in January, mostly because I quite a bit more free time in January due to spending most weekends sitting on the couch with my broken ankle. I've started to heal up in February and now I'm walking on my own! It's been incredible, but also exhausting, so I'm way more tired at the end of the day. Plus, my work load increased with my mobility. However I did finish 7 books, and I had a great reading month! Here's my thoughts on what I read:

Hunger: a Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay

So this is technically an end of January read, but it was the very end of January, and it inspired me to only read black authors for the month of February. Therefore, it's an honorary mention! I loved this memoir, even though it was very hard to read, well listen since this was an audiobook (BTW Roxane Gay has an amazing voice). Gay does not shy away from her trauma, and she manages to write beautifully about her life and body. She's incredibly open about her life, which gives the reader a tremendous intimacy to the author. Despite the difficult subject, this book is well worth the read.

Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More by Janet Mock

My first read of February was Janet Mock's first memoir. Mock began with the story of how she first met her now husband Aaron. She narrates it in a lush and poetic tone, drawing the reader into the romance. She then travels back and shares the story of her upbringing, her childhood with her father in California and then her mother in Hawaii, and her identity as a transwoman. It's an incredible story peppered with didactic passages about trans kids and people and what they face in the world. While it felt a bit tedious, I also understood the importance of Mock writing and sharing this information. She's also full of grace and reflection when she discusses her parents, which was incredibly moving.

This Is Just My Face: Try Not to Stare by Gabourey Sidibe

My third audio memoir! I had purchased all three of these titles via Audible, and it was easy for me to consume them while I did data work or cleaned or cooked. Gabourey Sidibe was so funny and such a delight to listen to! She had some really incredible stories and told them in a very engaging manor. Her chapter on her name in particular, its history and Americans inability to pronounce, really stands out for me. It was also really fascinating to see how all the stars had aligned for her to end up in the role of Precious. She's got a great presence on screen, and it really shines through her book as well.

An Untamed State by Roxane Gay

This was my first fiction work by Roxane Gay, and damn, she is quite the writer. This book was really difficult to read. It focuses on Mireille, a woman who in the opening pages is kidnapped and held for ransom for her wealthy father. When he refuses to pay, she goes through hell. Gay doesn't shy away from the horror and trauma Mireille faces, which honestly overwhelmed me. When I finished the first part, I was worked up and crying and had difficult calming down. I was really moved and some of the writing was gorgeous, but it was almost too difficult to read. The second half was better. Mireille works on becoming whole again and her trauma and healing were so compelling to read. This novel is certainly not for the faint hearted.

Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson

Last year, I had the pleasure of reading Jacqueline Woodson's Brown Girl Dreaming, and it was a gorgeously written poetry based memoir. Another Brooklyn certainly falls in this same vein. It was a very quick read about August and her friends coming into girlhood and womanhood. It focuses on friendships, family, and grief. I certainly did a lot of highlighting when reading because Woodson has a spectacular talent for stringing words together.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

This was certainly my favorite read of the month. Homegoing is a fantastic novel. It follows the lineage to two sisters throughout the years as their lives have such drastically different paths. This novel is more like a book of short stories than a long history; the reader only gets glimpses of each descendant, and it leaves you desperately craving more. Gyasi has a wide range of characters, and she navigates them so well. Each story is unique and intriguing. Eventually the parallel stories come together at the very end in a really satisfying conclusion. I loved reading this and couldn't put it down. I'm certainly looking forward to Gyasi's next work!

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Okay, so technically I finished this one in March, but since February is the shortest month, and I read at least the first half in February, it should certainly count! This novel is built on the premise that the Underground Railroad is a literal railroad: a series of connected underground tunnels that a single car locomotive will run through delivering runaways to new cities. It's a fascinating concept, but unfortunately it just wasn't explored enough for me in this. Whitehead clearly did extensive research for this, and he does not shy away from the variety of horrors slavery has inflicted on this country. However, I didn't really connect with this book; I wanted a bit more character work and felt like we didn't get enough from Cora, our protagonist.

This went really well, and I read some really fantastic books. Since March is Women's History month, I've decided now to read only women in March (even though Whitehead is technically a March read, but shhh it's okay!). I liked doing this since it was a really focused reading goal and allowed me to knock quite a few books off of my overly extensive to be read list.