02.08.21 – 29.08.21
Remember to stay up to date with the world, listen to those facing atrocities and help spread awareness/donate where you’re able to.
So, when my laptop was having a mental breakdown and I was just too busy with work, I didn’t realise that I had already made 4 reading challenge posts… I’ve grouped them altogether here. It’s over a month and a half late, but I hope you like it anyway~
I’m not sure whether I’ll keep doing these as my life has become even more boring 😅 However, I might get back to doing them when I have specific challenges in mind or I’m doing things.
Carrying on from my other challenges, we are going straight into Week 8:
Week 8 went okay. I got some books read and some others started, but I wish I could have done more reading. Some changes happened this week, so I’m not going to be hard on myself. Plus, I still got a couple of bingo’s!
Below is the bingo board I started the week with and the one I ended it with:
Monday 2nd
page count: 26
The week started with a bit of anxiety as Monday began with an interview on Teams. I have to use my phone because my laptop is busy having breakdowns every other day and my arm hurt by the end of it 😂 It went okay as the two interviewing were really nice and while I didn’t think I’d get it, I was happy I’d actually got through the interview! After I worked on a blog post and then my dad wanted to get more stuff for the garden.
In the evening I had control of the remote again and I put on My Sassy Girl. We watched the first 3 episodes and my dad loved the princess. I really enjoyed it too ♥
Before bed, I read The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (305-331).
Tuesday 3rd
page count: 166
On my commute to work I listened to The Desolations of Devil’s Acre by Ransom Riggs (419-489).
During my shift I found out that I got the job I interviewed for! I really wasn’t expecting it! I know that I’ll be involved with advising students on covid procedures and I think me having experience at the testing centre helped a lot.
During work, I finished The Thursday Murder Club (331-377) and I really enjoyed it! The twists, investigations and characters were wonderful. I’m excited for the sequel. Work was rather hectic as the centre is only open twice a week now. We suggest those on campus get tested twice a week (either on site or with home kits) and I suggest you do this as well if you can – I only know about the UK, where you can get home kits online and in the chemists for free.
On the way home, I started A Spoonful of Murder (1-12) by Robin Stevens which is the 6th book in the Murder Most Unladylike series.
At home, I finished The Desolations of Devil’s Acre (489-528). I think Ransom’s writing is really engaging, but the plot was a bit underwhelming as we seemed to just get back to where we were in the beginning. I also wish we hadn’t had any romance, I didn’t think Jacob had any chemistry with Nora.
My dad and I watched 2 episodes of My Sassy Girl before I went to bed.
Wednesday 4th
page count: 44
In the morning I worked on my blog, as well as going to the shops for some bits. For a few hours, I kept going back and forth on whether or not to get the kpop albums I wanted – YesAsia is finally delivering to England again! The only problem was I needed to make up the free delivery limit and I’m indecisive! I’m so excited for the SHINee album, as well as Kyungsoo’s solo ♥
On Darcy’s walk I listened to some of A Spoonful of Murder (12-56). And in the evening we watched another 3 episodes of My Sassy Girl~
Thursday 5th
page count: 48
Due to going into the office for training on Friday, I spent the first part of the morning planning my journey and sorting through my emails. I then wrote last week’s reading challenge.
On Darcy’s walk I continued with the A Spoonful of Murder audiobook (56-104). My dad and I then watched 3 episodes of My Sassy Girl before my early-ish night.
Friday 6th
page count: 85
I couldn’t focus on an audiobook, so I listened to music on my bus ride. I thought I’d treat myself before work and got a McDonald’s egg mcmuffin and hash brown. Due to being super early, I read before work. I started with A Spoonful of Murder (104-112) and then switched to Good Vibes, Good Life by Vex King (xi-xxi + 1-58). It’s a self help book and I thought it would relax me a but before I started work. I kind of did, but my nerves were more settled by watching a YouTube compilation of Kyungsoo laughing ♥
I started off work with a meeting and then my training on Teams lasted from 11am-5pm – during my break I read some of Good Vibes, Good Life (49-58) outside with my lunch treat of a twix~ I also read through my post and uploaded Weekly Reading Challenge No.7 – It’s very late, and sadly my knew schedule might go off the rails even more for a while as I get used to my new job.
At home we started episode 12 of My Sassy Girl, but my dad wasn’t feeling great. Instead I read a bit of A Spoonful of Murder (112-121) before going on my phone until I fell asleep.
Saturday 7th
page count: 63
My dad and I went shopping for stuff for the little family gettogether we’re having on Sunday with my sister and her family.
I didn’t have enough percentage to listen to an audiobook on Darcy’s walk, but I read A Spoonful of Murder (121-184) physically when we got home. And honestly, I’m not really enjoying the audiobook.
In the evening we watched episode 12 in full of My Sassy Girl and then continued onto episode 14.
Sunday 8th
page count: 213
I started Sunday out with shreddies and reading. I started Third Time Lucky (1-139), which is the third book in The Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot. I got ready and helped sort out the food and stuff, but as there was still time for my family to arrive, I got back to Third Time Lucky (139-161).
And of course, when my dad organises a little party for outside in the garden, it rains. We sat in the living room instead. My nephew really enjoys gaming and dinosaurs, so he spent most of the time talking to me about his Jurassic World games and other dinosaur related stuff. I have no idea what he’s talking about, but it’s great that he has such a passion about them and has enjoyed them for most of life (he’s 10 🙂).
Once they had left (and of course the sun came out right about then lol), I finished off Third Time Luck (161-213). With this I could squeeze in another bingo~ I quite liked this one, and I can see Mia getting a lot more settled in her princess role, even if she can’t see it.
We then finished My Sassy Girl and some of the twists and events were great! I do think the tone of the drama shifts back and forth quite dramatically. And there are a number of inconsistencies or unexplained things in the plot, but overall, it’s a fun drama with a great cast! Joo Won’s character has a little doggy and he’s so cute! They have him in little outfits and every time he came on screen my mood lifted! ♥
My dad had seen a picture of The Guest on my Netflix and was intrigued – Kim Jae Wook will do that to a person! We watched the first 2 episodes (I finally got past the first one… I’ve seen it three times now) and it’s scary! The acting is phenomenal so far!
Before bed I made my bingo board for week 8.
Overall Stats
page count: 645
books finished: The Thursday Murder Club; Richard Osman (5⭐) + The Desolations of Devil’s Acre; Ransom Riggs (3.5⭐) + The Princess Diaries: Third Time Lucky; Meg Cabot
books started/in progress: Good Vibe, Good Life; Vex King + A Spoonful of Murder; Robin Stevens + Three Dark Crowns; Kendare Blake + Shine; Jessica Jung + Emma; Jane Austen + Tales From the Shadowhunter Academy; Cassandra Clare & co.
I spent most of my workdays learning new things and learning is honestly so tiring. I kept waking up thinking about what I had learnt and doing tasks I’d done the previous shift… I was not in the right place to do much reading, or much of anything. This week was boring and I didn’t manage to get any bingo’s.
The board I had at the beginning of the week and how it looked at the end are below:
Monday 9th
page count: 111
Before work I read some of Good Vibes, Good Life by Vex King (58-108) to try and get my head in a less anxious space. It worked a little. My training lasted from 9am-3:30pm, and during my lunch I started episode 1 of the Japanese drama Good Morning Call. On my commute I read a little of A Spoonful of Murder by Robin Stevens (184-197).
When I got home I finished episode 1 of Good Morning Call. I started episode 2, but wasn’t feeling it, so watched The Addams Family instead ♥ This has to be one of the best films ever made!
In bed in read more of A Spoonful of Murder (197-245).
Tuesday 10th
page count: 100
In the morning I went full old lady and spent my time watching the Gold channel, while working on my blog.
My dad then decided he wanted to watch The Royal Gambler, so we watched 2 episodes and got back to where we were months and months ago 😂
I then spent more time on my blog and then got ready for work for Wednesday. My old lady self then went back to Gold and watched some Open all Hours~
In bed I read some Good Vibes, Good Lives (108-162) and A Spoonful of Murder (245-291) so that I could read 100 pages and I did it exactly! ♥
Side note: We’ve been growing tomato plants and the one below was kind of the runt of the pack and it’s doing so well. It’s growing nicely and at it’s own pace ♥
Wednesday 11th
page count: 18
On my commute to work I listened to a little of A Spoonful of Murder (291-309). I’m enjoying the book, just something about the audiobook isn’t working for me. I started work at 11am and finished at 5pm. I couldn’t be bothered to do anything when I got home, so I ordered Domino’s and binged Dinnerladies ♥
Thursday 12th
page count: 51
Before work I finished A Spoonful of Murder (309-354). On my lunch I got Pad Thai at the food truck on campus. It has been so long since I’ve had it and it’s still so good! After work, while I waited for the bus, I started the next and 7th books in the Murder Most Unladylike series – Death in the Spotlight (1-7).
My job is basically emails and using an excel spreadsheet and I’m not sure how I feel about it. The people in the office are all really nice though which is great ♥
When I got home from work, I took Darcy for his little walk and than ate leftover pizza. My life is so exciting 😅
Friday 13th
page count: 14
Another super exciting day…
I read a tiny amount of Death in the Spotlight (7-21) on my way to work. I finished at 5pm and when I got home I took Darcy on his little walk. I remembered that I needed to water my dad’s garden plants, so I did that – there are so many so it took ages – and then finished the last of my leftover pizza 😭
I finished my re-watch of Dinnerladies and then watched YouTube before bed.
Saturday 14th
page count: 46
In the morning I did chores before heading to Tesco’s for some groceries and I thought they might have some good work clothes… I bought two things because I would look awful in everything else. On the way I picked up my meds and sat on the beach while I waited for the bus.
I watched YouTube when I got home and then took Darcy for his normal walk – I listened to the audiobook of Death in the Spotlight (21-67).
I fell back into a YouTube hole when we got home until I went to bed.
Sunday 15th
page count: 111
I spent the morning doing nothing much. I made my bingo board for next week and scrolled through twitter.
I got my butt into gear and took Darcy for his walk, again picking up the audiobook of Death in the Spotlight (67-121).
When we got back, I did some planning for the coming week and then realised that I hadn’t got a bingo this week… I put on some sprints (from How to Train Your Gavin of course!) and picked up Mia Goes Fourth by Meg Cabot (1-55) – the cover is what the random colour generator gave me. However, I just wasn’t feeling in the mood to read.
After tea, I got some stuff reading for work while watching Keeping Up Appearances. I then decided to watch episode 3 of The Guest. I’m working my way slowly through this drama as I need to be in the right mood to creeped out 😂
Overall Stats
page count: 451
books finished: A Spoonful of Murder; Robin Stevens (4⭐)
books started/in progress: Good Vibes, Good Life; Vex King + Death in the Spotlight; Robin Stevens + Mia Goes Fourth; Meg Cabot + Three Dark Crowns; Kendare Blake + Shine; Jessica Jung + Tales From the Shadowhunter Academy; Cassandra Clare + co. + Emma; Jane Austen
Considering I properly started my job this week, I did really well with this board and reading in general ♥
The board and how I did are below:
Monday 16th
page count: 191
On the bus I listened to music, but once I’d got to work, I sat outside and read The Case of the Missing Treasure by Robin Stevens (1-148). It’s a little novella where Hazel and Daisy stumble upon a case and use their smarts to solve the case with Alexander and George. I love this little quartet~
During my lunch, I read some of Death in the Spotlight by Robin Stevens and then again on my commute (121-164). I really enjoy the setting of the theatre and the host of diverse actors.
When I got home I watched Keeping Up Appearances and went to bed at 9:30pm 😅
Tuesday 17th
page count: 72
On my commute I continued with Death in the Spotlight (164-193), but swapped to reading Good Vibes, Good Life by Vex King (162-205) once I got to campus. My workday was from 9-5pm and my evening looked basically the same as the night before.
Wednesday 18th
page count: 0
My day off!
In the morning, I watched Keeping Up Appearances and did the daily challenges on Pop Town (I’m addicted to this game lol). I walked Darcy and then we watched Matilda. Another perfect film ♥
Today was basically me spending my time off doing nothing.
Thursday 19th
page count: 97
Before work I read Good Vibes, Good Life and then went outside on my lunch break to read some more (205-267).
When I got home I took Darcy for his little walk and then watched YouTube for most of the evening. I don’t watch Anime, but I enjoy watching The Anime Man.
In bed I finished the little of Good Vibes, Good Life (267-272) that I had left. For the most part, I think this book has some good approaches and things to take into consideration, but sometimes I felt like I wasn’t the right target audience. I then read Death in the Spotlight (193-223) before I got too tired to read.
Friday 20th
page count: 38
Fridays are a later starting work day – 11am – but it means I only have a 30 minute lunch break. I don’t tend to use my breaks well in general, but I was just happy to inhale some fries ♥
When I got home I had to water the plants again (I should probably do it more often, but I never remember haha) and took Darcy for a walk before my Asda delivery arrived. I spent the evening watching Keeping Up Appearances and then YouTube.
Saturday 21st
page count: 20
Today, I started out doing chores around the house to prepare for my dad coming home with my step-niece. She’s spending this week coming on holiday with her grandparents.
I had a great salad for lunch – I’m so good at making soft boiled eggs now! After, I took Darcy for a walk and we both had to put our coats on.
I watched an episode of Book Jeopardy on The Library of Allenxandria’s YouTube channel while I was tidying my room. I was able to squeeze in watching episode 4 of The Guest before they arrived home.
I ended up watching Matilda again with my niece and then before bed I read some more of Death in the Spotlight (223-281).
Sunday 22nd
page count: 105
In the middle of the night we had a thunderstorm, which meant that I had to make sure Darcy was alright.
I spent the morning making some plans for the week and then played with my niece. She has Lego, so I put my A-level in art to good use and created a masterpiece~
While they went shopping for Sunday dinner stuff, I watched the 1st and some of the 2nd episode of Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food. Son Ye Jin and Jung Hae In have wonderful chemistry and I love them both ♥ I also want to know who hurt Kim Eun because her ex-boyfriend characters are the worst!
I took Darcy for a walk before dinner because my step-mum goes overboard with Sunday dinners and I knew I wouldn’t want to move after I ate 😂
In bed I listened to the audiobook of Death in the Spotlight (281-386) while eating mini blueberry muffins ♥ This is my favourite book in the series so far! I really liked the setting, the characters, the growth and the mystery itself was very well done.
Overall Stats
page count: 523
books finished: Good Vibes, Good Life; Vex King + Death in the Spotlight; Robin Stevens (5⭐)
books started/in progress: Mia Goes Fourth; Meg Cabot + Tales From the Shadowhunter Academy; Cassandra Clare and Co. + Shine; Jessica Jung + Three Dark Crowns; Kendare Blake + Emma; Jane Austen
Wow… this week was a right off. I was working, my niece was staying with us, and overall my mood just wasn’t in the right place to concentrate on most things. I’ve kept in some film/drama prompts and of course instead of finishing a drama, I’ve got a few episodes into another one 😅
The board I started with and how it looked by the end of the week is here:
Monday 23rd
page count: 0
Before work I watched a bit of Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food – I love that Netflix lets you download episodes to watch without wifi~
Once again, I treated myself to Pad Thai on my lunch break and I have no regrets! It’s delicious!
After spending my day staring at a screen, I continued outside while waiting for my bus and watched more of Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food ep 2. When I got home I walked Darcy and then sat and watched The Road to El Dorado with my niece. When she went to bed, I finally finished episode 2 and then spent the rest of the evening listening to music.
Tuesday 24th
page count: 23
Before work, I sat outside and read some of the short story The Devil We Love (271-294) from Tales From the Shadowhunter Academy by Cassandra Clare and Co.
During my lunch hour, I watched some of episode 3. I tried to watch some more when my bus got caught up in traffic due to an accident, but I still felt motion sick being stationary… I see people read on buses and I get so jealous! I wish that were me 😭
After Darcy’s little walk we all watched Shrek. I’ve yet to convince them that we should watch Shrek the Musical because it’s a masterpiece!
Wednesday 25th
page count: 17
On my day off, I went out with my family to a wildlife park. It’s one I haven’t been to since I was little and it’s changed so much! It has giraffes ♥ We also got to feed and pet some cute little goats! My niece loved it.
It was really warm and sunny, but I kept plastering myself in sunscreen so I came out burn free~
Thursday 26th
page count: 0
Back to work and back to watching bits of Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food before and after. I finished episode 3 and oh my god I love them so much! I really love how in Kim Eun’s dramas that even though you don’t know what they’re talking about sometimes, you still get a feel that the leads are getting to know each other better and enjoying each other’s company.
Also Jung Hae In’s smile is so beautiful ♥
Friday 27th
page count: 0
Today was boring. I went to work. Got home and walked Darcy – a shorted one as he heard fireworks and basically had us fast walking home. I then watched YouTube until I went to sleep.
Saturday 28th
page count: 81
In the morning I tried to make my laptop do something, but it wasn’t in the mood. Instead, I read some of Mia Goes Fourth by Meg Cabot (75-102).
After Darcy’s walk, I sat in the living room and watched some of episode 4 of Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food, but my niece wanted to listen, so I thought an episode of Men on a Mission would be more fun to watch.
After her bedtime, I listened to music and made the bingo board for next week. I then read a bit more of Mia Goes Fourth (102-156). I wanted to finish it, but I was too sleepy.
Sunday 29th
page count: 39
I spent the morning not doing much – I watched Kpop MV’s, YouTube videos and played Pop Town. I finished Mia Goes Fourth (156-195) – This was an okay instalment, but not much happened. I did like that we got to see Mia become more sure of Michael’s feelings, and we are seeing her become more confident in her princess duties, whether she realises it or not.
Yesterday my dad put my laptop back to factory settings or whatever it’s called and it only finished this morning. I spent the late afternoon and evening working on the blog posts I haven’t been able to do – I’ve caught up on 4 weekly challenges!
I got Dominos because I’m lazy and watched Dinnerladies. After, I watched Labyrinth to fulfil the bingo spot of watching a film with a book central to the plot. I love this film so much! ♥
I wanted to get some of the easy prompts on the board, but I procrastinated with YouTube, so didn’t end up doing them. I’m hopeful for next week so we’ll see how that goes!
Overall Stats
page count: 160
books finished: Mia Goes Fourth; Meg Cabot
books started/in progress: Shine; Jessica Jung + Three Dark Crowns; Kendare Blake + Tales From the Shadowhunter Academy; Cassandra Clare and Co. + Emma; Jane Austen
I hope you had a good reading week and a good week in general ♥
Thanks for reading!
I hope you’re having a lovely day and staying safe ♥
DramaRambles 🌸 
Pingback: Favourite Posts I Made in 2021 || Top 10 – DramaRambles 🌸