Holy smokes, it's the end of May.
I had a pretty big month, from seeing my family and friends to graduating COLLEGE! In life, my May was pretty eventful. So let's recap!
| Genuine Fraud* by E. Lockhart | A Map for Wrecked Girls by Jessica Taylor | The Perfectionists by Sara Shepard | The Good Girls by Sara Shepard | It by Stephen King | Letting Ana Go by Beatrice Sparks/Anonymous | Jay's Journal by Beatrice Sparks/Anonymous | Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli | Royce Rolls by Margaret Stohl |
This month was a pretty great reading month for me, all things considered. I read a total of 9 books (technically 8 since I read Genuine Fraud on the last day of April). I enjoyed the majority of these books, and as you can tell, they went from serious dramas to more lighthearted contemporaries to ease myself into summer.
| Deadpool 2 | Avengers: Infinity War | 1984 (Amazon) | The Cloverfield Paradox (Netflix) |
Riverdale (Netflix) | Bob's Burgers (Hulu) | Lost in Space (Netflix) | Ash Vs. Evil Dead (Netflix) | 13 Reasons Why (Netflix) |
I actually had time to sit in bed and watch ALL THE THINGS! I caught up on Riverdale and 13RW and finally watched a bunch of stuff I had on backlog. I really enjoyed all of the things this month (except Cloverfield -_____-). I'm still going through my lists of "need to watch shows" but it's slowly working!
| Stardew Valley (Steam) | Overwatch (PC) | Just Dance Now (Android) | Orwell: Ignorance is Strength (Steam) |
I've enjoyed my downtime, but with Jon's new schedule, a lot of my gaming has been solo, more relaxed games. I'm loving easing myself back into playing games and finding the time to de-stress. Plus, the Stardew multiplayer is SO MUCH FUN!
Other Cool Stuff:
- Graduation!!!
- I've actually been working out a ton and eating healthier
- So much drawing and crafting!
- Job applications!
- Internet friends!
- Spending many days at the pool
This is the first month I've felt really free. Summer vibes are real, my dudes. And I am thoroughly enjoying them! I have a pretty exciting June planned, so stay tuned!
How was your May? Let's chat about it!
Always, Raineedayze
I've spent most of this summer so far with a good book by the pool, so it was only natural that as soon as I picked up Leah on the Offbeat, I would be rushing to read it. I loved Becky Albertalli's previous books in this universe, and so I couldn't wait to immerse myself in her new book.
This book follows Leah, the (in my opinion), badass underrated character featured in Simon Vs. The Homosapien Agenda. First things first, Leah is a bisexual ICON. She is adorable and tough as nails, and her musings about Harry Potter, fanfic, and Tumblr were music to my very nerdy ears.
As with all the books in this universe, there are a ton of references to fandoms, ships, and general geeky goodness.
The gang is back, now embarking on the last few months of high school and dealing with prom, dating, college preparations, and taking that scar leap into the unknown. This book was amazing in that regard and something I wish I had read in high school.
Though I adored Leah, I do have to say her narration was probably the weakest in comparison to the previous books in the series(?). She also had more of angsty feel, very different from Molly and Simon. As a standalone, this book would have been an automatic 5 star read. However, since the book did rely on the other two books a bit more than they relied on each other, I do think it diminished it a little bit.
The romance in this book was a bit obvious, but very adorable nonetheless, and I seriously loved the really cute moments. As always, there were a few shoutouts from the previous couples, which was always nice to see.
Overall, I gave this book 4/5 stars. It was a very cute read and Becky Albertalli has a way of writing nerdy teenagers and I could read a million books following this group.
In the spirit of it, I also made a playlist for the book! I'm getting a feel for it to see if I want to keep making these for books, so let me know if you enjoy it!
Have you read Leah on the Offbeat? Let's chat about it!
Always, Raineedayze
It sure has been a while since I have been able to get my thoughts coherent enough to blog, but I have a huge life update to talk about!
I officially graduated from college!
I'm so happy to finally finish my degree and now, it's on to figure out what exactly I want to do with my life. I have zero idea what's in store for me, but at least the hard part is over!
Other than that, I've been finally able to just relax, which for me means lounging by the pool, reading ALL the books, watching movies, and naps. SO MANY NAPS.
It feels so good to finally be done with something that I've been working for for over 4 years, but now I do kind of feel a little lost in the void. It's scary but feels really good to have so much potential.
For now, expect some more reviews, life musings, and a whole lotta weirdness! Thanks for sticking with me!
Always, Raineedayze
Holy Moly, It's the end of April!
This year has been going hella fast and I have a lot of stuff to talk about this month. As you may have noticed, there were no monthly goals or posts at all in April here. That's because I spent the entire month working my butt off to officially be ready to graduate college in 10 days!!
I am so so SO excited to finally be done with school and start figuring out what I want to do with my life. That being said, April was a blur of exams, paperwork, phone calls, and spending way too much money to make sure that I will be graduating next week. So, I didn't have a whole lot of time to get online this month. That being said, I actually was able to do some cool stuff so let's talk about it!
| Things I'm Seeing Without You by Peter Bognanni | Ana's Story by Jenna Bush | The Dead Inside by Cyndy Drew Etler | Want To Go Private? by Sarah Darer Littman | The Geek's Guide to Unrequited Love by Sarvenaz Tash | Save Me, Kurt Cobain by Jenny Manzer | Lies My Girlfriend Told Me by Julie Anne Peters | Game Over by Various Authors |
I had an excellent reading month, all things considered, reading a total of 8 books. A lot of these were very dark and thriller-type books and I really enjoyed being able to burn off my stress in these suspenseful novels. Most of these were also random library finds or thrift store finds, so it was nice to read a book completely blind.
| The Running Man (Amazon Prime) | Lost In Space (Netflix) | Meatballs (Amazon Prime) | The Emoji Movie (Netflix) |
| Citrus (Crunchyroll) | Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid (Crunchyroll) | Recovery of an MMO Junkie (Crunchyroll) | Himouto Umaru-Chan R (Amazon Prime | Pokemon Sun and Moon (Netflix) | Star Trek TOS (Netflix) |
This month I actually tried to watch a whole lot of new stuff and actually clear out my list of "should eventually watch". I also spent a lot more time watching anime this month and remembered why I love it.
As for movies, Jonathan got pretty sick this past weekend so in order to cheer him up, I relinquished my control over the remote and let him choose some movies I hadn't seen. And I loved them all. But let's be honest, Arnold Schwarzenegger in anything is fantastic.
| Just Dance Now (Android) | Hogwarts Mystery (Android) | Unravel (Xbox One) | Breath of the Wild (Nintendo Switch) |
Luckily, I had a little bit of time and energy to play some games this month. Since getting on my anti-depressants, I've really been way more motivated to do things I actually enjoy instead of just staring at the ceiling in bed. So even though this is a short list, I'm mostly excited that slowly but surely my hobbies are picking back up.
Other Cool Stuff this Month:
- I finally have confirmed my graduation! I have two more exams and then it's the big day!
- I've been way more healthy this past month. More water, less junk food, and actual exercise has been good to me!
- I got some cool merch and cute things in general. Now to make some room in my apartment! (Pics to follow when I clean my apartment!)
This month was hella stressful, but I was able to get through it. I know I'm probably gonna be on edge until I officially have my degree in my hand, but soon everything will be great!
Next month's posts may be a bit late since I'll be doing graduation stuff and finals at the beginning, so if you can bear with a week of silence, it will all be great!
How was your April? Let's chat in the comments!
Always, Raineedayze
I haven't had many 5 star books in a while, but Autoboyography definitely deserved it.
Autoboyography follows Tanner, an openly bisexual teenager who, after his move to Mormon-filled Utah, goes back in the closet. However, when he enrolls in a class to write a novel in a semester, he ends up falling for his male TA.....who just happens to be the bishop's son.
This book was amazing. Tanner was a hilarious narrator, and I loved his wit. The Scott family was wonderful and flawed but I adored them. There were also SO many tearjerker moments. I finished this book with a huge lump in my throat but I absolutely adored it.
Sebastian's storyline of dealing with who he is and what he has always known broke my heart, and his automatic shifts to being "fine" just tore me up. I was worried this book would bash religion, but I think it dealt with it in a very real way. It managed to deal with being a good person and religion in way that wasn't mutually exclusive and how you can be a person of faith and question different parts of your beliefs.
This book dealt with so many huge and real issues for teenagers growing in conservative/religious settings. The authors (Christina Lauren is actually duo, Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings) did a ton of research and featured a list of LGBTQ+ sources at the end of the book. Christina was also a school counselor who saw many children coming in her office dealing with these same issues.
This book was absolutely wonderful, had incredible bi representation, and I cannot recommend it enough. Definitely 5/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Let's chat about it!
Always, Raineedayze
Holy crap, we are already at the end of March. I have no idea where this year went, but here we are and with it has come some awesome changes.
Before we get into that, let's do a quick recap of what I played, watched, and read this month!
| Top Ten by Katie Cotugno | All About Mia by Lisa Williamson | I'm Not Your Manic Pixie Dream Girl by Gretchen McNeil | The Sister by Abigail Barnette | The Baby by Abigail Barnette | The Ex by Abigail Barnette | The Bride by Abigail Barnette | Wonder Women by Sam Maggs | Meet Cute by various authors | The Cruel Prince by Holly Black | Bookishly Ever After by Isabel Bandeira | Tash Hearts Tolstoy by Kathryn Ormsbee | Autoboyography by Christina Lauren |
This was an excellent reading month for me! I read a total of 13 books, by far the largest amount this year. I continued The Boss series' and am super excited for the new book coming out later this year. I feel like this month also allowed me to branch out from my reading comfort zone as well. I thoroughly enjoyed the majority of the books this month and I look forward to reading more next month.
| American Dad (Hulu) | Glee (Hulu | American Housewife (Hulu) | Bob's Burger's (Hulu) | Family Guy (Hulu) |
| A Wrinkle in Time | Ready Player One* |
*at the time of writing this, I haven't seen RP1, but I have tickets to see it at the end of the month!
I don't really watch a whole lot of stuff. I want to watch more movies but I think I spent the entirety of my viewing on Booktube. Although, I think I'll be hitting the movie theater more next month.
| Mother Simulator (Steam) | Viridi (Steam) | TsumTsum (Android) | Emoji Blitz (Android) |
I didn't play a whole lot of video games this month, though I did find two adorable mobile games that I love. Most of these games were time wasters more than actual games, but I enjoyed wasting my time.
Other Stuff
- I'm treating my depression!
- We celebrated Jonathan's birthday (and St. Patrick's Day = wicked hangover)
- Spring Break!
This month was a big step for me especially, because I am finally treating my depression. My doctor got me on some anti-depressants and though I'm nervous, I feel good that there is a chance I won't have to live under this dark cloud of doom forever. A lot of days have been spent under the blankets, skipping dinner, and staying unshowered with piles of clothes around me. I'm already feeling a bit more of myself and I can't wait to see how I do next month.
I hope your March was fabulous! Now onto April!
Always, Raineedayze
I decided to change things up a little bit this month because things were getting a little too redundant having two goals posts every month. So I think I am going to condense all my goals into one post instead.
1. Write 2 Book Reviews - SUCCESS
I wrote 3 book reviews this month and I loved it. I planned on writing a few more, but because the content of the majority of my books was a little....risque, I stuck to only reviewing a select few. However, I remembered how much I loved it and I'm super stoked to write more in the coming months.
2. Deep Clean the House - Kind of?
I didn't really hit the house hard this month, but I did clean out my wardrobe and got rid of a TON of clothes that were just taking up space. I'm not gonna lie, I may have cleaned up just to make room for more clothes, but whatever works right?
3. MCU Movie Marathon - FAIL
I honestly forgot about this goal. Life kind of got in the way and I haven't been in the movie mood lately. However, I won't say I never will do this. Hopefully, I can catch up before Infinity War.
All in all, I think I did a pretty decent job this month. I may not have completed all my goals, but I did enjoy what I was able to accomplish.
1. Play More Games - FAIL
Is it really a surprise at the moment that I keep failing at this goal? I just haven't been in that mood. I dunno. Maybe things will change next month. Though, I don't feel too bad since I am enjoying my free time.
2. Get Out More - SUCCESS
I'm super excited that I continue to do more for this goal each month. This month we headed to Six Flags and Sea World, and we got membership passes! So I can definitely see this becoming a usual thing! I also went out of my way to head to the movies instead of staying in with Netflix and junk food.
3. Create - SUCCESS
I bought a sticker machine this month, and I am so excited to use it. I also spent time taking photos and sketching when I could. I'm pretty stoked to do more next month and I have a few ideas.
4. Treat Yo' Self (Better) - SUCCESS
Okay, so this one was a big one. I finally started working with my doctor and managing my depression with meds and I am so stoked. If you've been a follower on here for a while, you might remember how I was pretty happy to be off meds for years. However, I realized I couldn't deal with it alone and I needed help to get back to myself. It was truly the best decision for me and I am super excited about that. I feel this is best to treat myself and I am very happy.
Overall, this month was pretty good for goals and I am super stoked to continue on in April.
What do you think of the new post format? How have your goals been achieved this month? Let's chat!
Always, Raineedayze
