I'm Kind of Excited About It: Finishing My K-Drama Episode and Getting Back to Reading

As I sit here watching my latest K-drama episode, I have to admit that I'm getting pretty invested. The story is so relaxing and engaging, I find myself drawn in every time. There's something about the way the drama unfolds that just makes me want to keep watching. I know some people might think it's a bit over-the-top, but for me, that's part of its charm.

I've been binge-watching K-dramas recently, and I have to say, I'm really enjoying them. There's something about the combination of romance, drama, and mystery that just draws me in. Whether I'm watching a light-hearted comedy or a more serious drama, I find myself completely absorbed in the story.

I've got half an episode left to go on this latest K-drama, and I'm excited to see how it all plays out. The characters are so well-developed and relatable, it's hard not to get caught up in their struggles and triumphs. And let me tell you, this one is extra dramatic! The actors do an amazing job of conveying the emotions, making every scene feel like a intense, heart-wrenching moment.

But even with all the drama, I find myself feeling entertained rather than overwhelmed. There's something about the way the story unfolds that just keeps me engaged. Maybe it's the swoon-worthy romances or the intricate plot twists - whatever it is, I'm hooked!

I think what really draws me to K-dramas is the way they balance action, drama, and romance. It's like a recipe for success! The pacing is always spot-on, with just the right amount of tension and release to keep me on the edge of my seat.

Of course, not everyone might be as enamored with K-dramas as I am. Some people might find them too over-the-top or melodramatic, but for me, that's all part of the fun. And let's be real - who doesn't love a good romance? The chemistry between the leads is always so palpable, making every scene feel like a romantic fantasy come true.

So if you're looking for something to relax and enjoy, I highly recommend giving K-dramas a try. Just be warned: once you start watching, it's hard to stop!

As I wrap up this video, I wanted to take a quick moment to talk about my reading habits. Sometimes, when I'm feeling stressed or overwhelmed, I'll pick up a book and just get lost in the story. And that's exactly what happened over the weekend - I spent hours curled up with a good book, getting sucked into the world of "Sky Beyond the Storm".

I have to say, this series has really grown on me over time. The characters are so well-developed and complex, it's hard not to become invested in their lives. And let me tell you, this latest installment did NOT disappoint! The recap at the beginning was perfect - just enough to get me back into the world without feeling like I'd lost track of everything.

One thing that really stands out about "Sky Beyond the Storm" is the way it balances character development with the plot. It's clear that the author has a deep understanding of their characters, and that shines through in every scene. The relationships between the leads are so intricate and multi-faceted, it's like I'm reading a novel - not just a fantasy series.

Of course, no review would be complete without mentioning the world-building. This series does an amazing job of creating a rich, immersive environment that feels completely real. From the magical creatures to the politics and power struggles, every aspect of this world is carefully crafted to draw me in.

As I read through "Sky Beyond the Storm", I couldn't help but feel like I was right back where I left off. The story picked up exactly where it had left off, with all the cliffhangers and plot twists still intact. It's amazing how well the author weaves everything together - sometimes I forget what's going on, only to be reminded by a subtle detail or foreshadowing that sends shivers down my spine.

Speaking of characters, let me tell you about some of the side characters in this series. They're absolutely fantastic! Each one is so well-developed and unique, it's hard not to become attached to them as I read through their POV chapters. There's just something special about watching these people grow and change over time - it's like seeing old friends come back to life.

One character in particular stands out: the love interest. *sigh* They're just so beautiful! But what really makes them special is the way they interact with the other characters - their relationships are so deep and meaningful, it feels like I'm reading a novel rather than just a fantasy series.

As I wrap up this section of my video, I wanted to take a moment to talk about my progress through "Sky Beyond the Storm". It's been an amazing journey so far, with twists and turns at every corner. The story is full of surprises - sometimes I'm completely caught off guard by what happens next!

But even with all the drama and excitement, I never feel overwhelmed or unsure about where the story is going. The pacing is always spot-on, with just the right amount of tension and release to keep me engaged.

Overall, I highly recommend "Sky Beyond the Storm" to anyone looking for a great fantasy series. It's got everything: romance, drama, magic, and adventure - what more could you ask for?

That's all for now - thanks for watching, and happy reading!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhi everyone it's regan and welcome to the start of another weekend reading vlog so it's friday as i feel like that's an established fact at the start of all these vlogs usually and it is about exactly one-third way through the month and in full transparency i have not finished a book yet it has been about a month since i have completed a book which is by far and away the longest stretch of time that i can remember in like recent memory where i have not read a book so i think i can say with definitiveness that i am in a bit of a reading slump which is what i'm trying to resolve in this video i am excited about the tbr i've put together and i'm excited about all the books i want to read i'm really thrilled about my january tbr in general so this weekend i'm really just trying to get it together allow myself to relax and read and just try to read as much as possible see there's a variety of reasons why i haven't been reading some of them are as simple as the holidays and just taking some time off some of them have to do with current events from the georgia runoff which was a lot of fun to watch but then also the attempted coup on the capitol which was horrifying to watch so i just haven't been picking up books i haven't been motivated to read and so i'm trying to kind of pivot and change that a bit this weekend allow myself to decompress a bit and jump into some stories that i'm really excited about and i'm excited to share with you guys and to let you know my thoughts and feelings with you guys so anyway let's jump into the tbr as i don't know all three of these books i'm really thrilled about and i feel like you guys are either have read and loved them or like are also curious about them so let's just talk books oh here are the books a bit of a mix in terms of the style well some of them kind of go together but let's just dive in so the first is gods of jade and shadow by silvia morano garcia and this is the book i'm actually currently reading it's matilda um and i'm about 150 pages into this book and there's about 334 pages so um just a little under halfway and i am loving this book it is so beautifully written it's mesmerizing the writing style the setting it's set during the jazz era and it follows a girl who basically accidentally unlocks the chest and releases the mayan god of death is set in mexico and she travels with this god to help overturn his brother through various cities throughout mexico and it is just so good i'll talk about it a bit more obviously i'm currently in the midst of reading it um but from there i also really want to pick up the midnight library by matt haig this is a short novel so i'm also hoping this will just be really captivating and beautiful about a library between life and death any woman who travels there and is able to see how her life could turn out if she made different choices i've heard really good things about this i'm hoping it's a quick read an emotional read and just one that will just kind of capture me right away and then the last book is a very exciting book it is a sky beyond the storm by saba tahir this is the fourth and final book to the ember in the ashes series one of my all-time favorite y a fantasy series out there so good um just cannot wait to pick this up i don't think i'll be able to finish all three of these books so my hope is finish this read all of this or read all of this and start this or start this and read all of this i'm not sure the exact order but i'm hoping to get this reading vlog and then just carry on into another reading vlog as i just haven't in a while so i'm trying to catch up but anyway these are the three books i hope to read this weekend or start in some capacity i'm so thrilled about all of them and i hope you guys enjoy and are excited about it so as i said it's friday um i actually still have about an hour left of work but i just wanted to film this intro while there was some kind of some light outside um but my main plans are for tonight is to finish gods of date and shadow order some food just kind of hang out clay has been working a lot recently so i think we're going to try to catch up on some of our shows this weekend we've started the crown over the holidays and i am so invested in that show we're on season two it's so good but anyway bit of a ramble i just wanted to say hello i'm gonna get back to work now um but hey hi welcome to the start of this vlog just wanted to quickly document that i did get fully dressed today in this like little house on the prairie outfit i'm about to go put sweatpants on now that's yeah getting later in the evening but just wanted to document before i uh you know put pajamas on much more comfortable and probably no one's noticed this but i misplaced this sweatshirt like six weeks ago and i haven't been able to find it and i found it the other week and it feels right it feels right to be back in the sweatshirt anyway i'm gonna sit down and read some gods of dating shadow right now i wanna get a good chunk of it done before clay finishes up work um and then i'll obviously again try to finish it this evening i'm really loving this book so far it is exactly what i was wanting and craving i feel like often when i fall into a reading slump i generally crave like really beautifully written lyrical kind of magical story set also though in our world um and this is definitely that it's set during the jazz age in mexico and we follow our main character casa pia who as i said um lives at her grandfather's house and because her mother made a match that her grandfather just approved on um after her father passed away they moved back to his house but they're treated very very poorly and caspia kind of spends her day basically being a servant to the family cleaning um cooking just following orders doing everything she hopes for a different life she hopes to flee to a big city and at the beginning of the book she basically opens a chest and as i said releases the mind god of death and he was put there by his brother and so now he's seeking revenge for his brother these two individuals are tied to each other because when she opens the chest and how she's able to give him life again is that part of his bones like enter her finger so they are like tied to one another so she has to help him to be able to save her own life because they're connected and he's like stealing part like slowly siphoning off her humanity so that's kind of the premise of the start of this book and just to name off a few things as to why i'm loving it so far halfway through one caspy as a main character love her so much she's reading her story and her i don't know like her defiance and her desire to have self she doesn't let anyone take away her own self-worth is incredible and i just really enjoy seeing her kind of confront all different types of obstacles so far throughout the story and she just has like such grace i don't know i'm just like mesmerized by her two the writing is amazing i was immediately pulled into the story i feel like it has this just wonderful quality to it and it's also like not overly flowery or really descriptive but at the same time you constantly feel a very strong sense of place there's a lot of travel within this book as basically caspia to help the mind god or hun kame they have to go to different cities to basically find parts of his body to restore him to his original power so they're traveling all across mexico and as you travel to all these different cities you all have such unique like personalities to them you do see some really common elements that are just it really is a mark of the time so it's set again in the 20s which is about 15 years after the start of the mexican revolution so there are these like traditional elements that have been a part of the culture for a long time like religion some things left over from colonialism and classism and things kind of being confronted with the future and modernization and different aspects of this culture and socially things are changing as well happens in a lot of places in the 20s but it's happening obviously here as well and that's really prevalent part of the story and you see that in so many different kind of ways as they're traveling throughout and it's just i don't know so well written also i love the god element of this i love this relationship between cassipia and hun kame um something that's interesting too is that as he spends more time with caspia he becomes more human and i just love this sort of plot storyline like god's come to earth god's interacting with humanity their interactions are so interesting also because hoon kame has been trapped in a box for a long time so he hasn't seen this world recently either so he's kind of digesting it and kind of approaching it from like a different point of view like a god's point of view and asking questions that maybe cassopia like wouldn't ponder or because she's bit in the society like she wouldn't dare to think that which i think is interesting it's a little bit of a romance i don't know i'm rambling on and on but there's just so many qualities about this book that have just hooked me right away and i'm just so invested in it it's great like visually the writing the plotting the setting just like how transportive it is amazing um i'm just about halfway so i'm gonna sit down and try to read a good amount now finish it later but i just wanted to give you kind of an overview of the book as i have obviously started it and read over you know about 150 pages so far and those are my thoughts which are read it it's very good hi everyone so i have been reading i have read about 80 pages more of gods of jaden shadow i just really like this book it's just the writing the quality of it is transported it has this like quest and travel element to it too because they have to collect these items and as they're kind of traversing this landscape quickly together they're one kind of beginning to learn and understand each other which you kind of get the feeling that they have never felt this this feeling of being known before possibly one because han kane is becoming a human so he's never really had these thoughts and feelings before until this moment um it's just so well written i'm just captivated by it i don't have very much left and i definitely feel like i'm gonna be able to finish this tonight the magic and just the other kind of mythological creatures and beings are present in this world and plus you learn more about kind of how gods and the human world work which is cool you also get chapters from kind of the two villains one the brother who locked the mind god in the chest you see him as he's trying to like work through his machinations to maintain his power and in a way you kind of get this almost empathetic view of his like power grab i don't know like he's a bad person but he has this like inferiority complex that just like seeds through him speaking of inferiority complex you also read about um cassipia's cousin martine who is the worst and as i mentioned caspia's family her extended family especially i've always really mistreated her and no one worse than martine and he is kind of also on a quest like trying to find her and stop her those chapters coupled with cassipia oh you just want to scream i just want to scream at marti but like again you see and you are in his mind which i feel like just provides like a deeper more intimate look at sort of the bill like a human villain and a god villain and you can also see how there can be some similarities which i always really appreciate when there are parallels drawn between the desire of gods and the desire of humans i just i love when stories do stuff like that but anyway i read another quick 80 pages it's such a fast read i love the traveling component the writing is amazing i'm like a broken record but i'm definitely going to try to finish this tonight i've about a hundred or so pages left so shouldn't be an issue and then i'll move on to book two but when i finish this i'll have read a book this year hey everyone first book of the year better late than never it's a ramen kind of night everyone and we're gonna watch some community we are almost done with season three flying through this show all right friends we're on to the crown now what do you think already mentioned we started this over the holidays oh my god we're on episode six of season two anyway the crown is incredible i'm actually we'll talk about it for a second so the crown is incredible i won't lie i'm the one who wanted to watch the crown and even i thought it might be like a little slow and boring like i was like it's going to be good but it's going one of those slows it's like shows that's kind of slow but i don't think it's slow at all i don't think so it might be slow like a kid but i don't think it would be slow to really any adults i just feel like they've dramatized it so well the history aspect's so interesting and like i feel like there's been so much attention to detail with like the style like the clothes and everything i'm really excited to get the princess diana season for that reason especially but the crown is so good i really like the show so far it's been really good yeah it's uh really exciting the characters are done really well there's lots of good tension clay started reading a winston churchill biography after he watched this show so yeah if that says anything it's just really interesting i feel like it's a well done historical drama very well then yeah but anyway we're almost done with season two i didn't even realize well i guess we have like five episodes left but we're gonna watch some of the crown now and then i'm gonna get back to reading taking a bit of a break from the crown though we're still watching to make some oven s'mores which are just the pinnacle of taste and decadence i love it when millie becomes just the tightest little cinnamon roll but i have retreated to the bedroom and watched two episodes of the crown tonight but i am determined to finish gods of jaden shadow so i'm going to work to do that now i have a little over 100 pages left like 110 pages left i think exactly so i'm just going to hunker down and read i've been you know singing the praises of this book so i feel like i won't be an issue because once i pick it up i don't really want to put it down and i also have to say i really love how what i think what i perceive as some sort of romantic or chemistry of some kind between our two characters i'm really liking it's kind of one of those romances that like everyone else sees and they don't which is kind of sometimes my favorite because they're both just so oblivious to like these feelings because they neither of them have really felt them before in how they're manifesting so it's kind of fun that way it's very entertaining like they were just in a flower shop and she was like do you want purple flowers they made love at first sight and they were like what no we don't need a new flower anyway so i'm going to i'm going to read um and i will probably maybe check in one more time tonight if not tomorrow morning where i give you guys hopefully my final thoughts and feelings or at least i only have like 20 pages left or something but for now matilda and i are hanging out we're hanging out hello world good morning i don't know if i've shown this bad boy off in a video yet but clay got me the ember mug for christmas so it keeps your like your beverage warm for hours and fun fact about me it takes me like three hours to make an entire cup of coffee so this has actually been quite the game changer but i'm also happy to report that i stayed up really late last night but i finished my book i've officially finished the book in the year 2021 and i loved it i'll sit down and give you guys my final thoughts and feelings but i just thought it was beautiful i loved the plotting i loved that i loved i just thought the author did such a great job of like closing the things that needed to close but leaving moments open where it made sense it's just like a beautiful like tale it was a beautiful story and it like knew it was a story i don't know i just really really really enjoyed it um so that feels great to have finished a book i feel very accomplished um i'm gonna figure out what i'm gonna read next and just kind of relax obviously i have no plans today it's it's what i've been doing for the past nine months so i'm not sure if football's on so i'll probably just hang out um at home in my pajamas per usual but yeah just wanted to say i finished a book so matilda continues to be a sunshine queen and she loves a good smile isn't that right matilda yes so i've decided my next read is going to be the midnight library and then i'm going to start sky beyond the storm this is under 300 pages so i feel like it might just kind of give me continued motivation to feel like i'm bit on a roll plus it just has been kind of calling my name i am going to read more but i think i'm also going to watch an episode of the kdrama i've started recently i haven't watched it in a couple weeks but i'm in the mood i love a kdrama so i think i'm going to do that by the way the kdrama is cinderella and the four nights it's ridiculous so far and i love it um i'm only seeing like an episode but so far so good hi everyone i'm happy to report i put jeans on and as you just saw grab some hot cheetos for a snack so i wanted to wrap up my thoughts my final thoughts for gods of jaden's shadow by silvia morano garcia and as i've been kind of saying endlessly i really liked this book i felt like it was wonderfully paced the writing the plotting the setting like everything was written with such care and it just has this like wonderful fantasy quality to it i'm gonna try my best to try to articulate what that means but it's kind of like this intangible timelessness um that kind of what i feel like what i love most when i read these sort of like whimsical fantasy tales this like moment in time of two people or this kind of quest that people go on and it's just like beautiful and i i loved it i felt completely transported and it was just really well written and it also makes me want to like separately get some non-fiction of um it's just mexican history particularly around the mexican revolution as that's just something i don't know much about and some of the mentions in this book just really intrigued me to learn more so that's something i'm gonna separately do so um i would give this like a 4.5 out of five stars i really liked it a perfect book to start out the year and from there i've actually already started the midnight library i read a really quick 30 pages this book reads very fast the chapters are between one to two pages long at least so far that i've encountered it is under 300 pages and i will say so far i would just say right off the bat trigger warning for suicide um this basically follows a woman who in the beginning of the book tries to die and she wakes up in a library between life and death and she basically can read these volumes to see how her life could turn out if she made different choices so far in the 30 pages i've read i really like the writing and this sort of like staccato style of the storytelling like it's very very choppy like you're moving from one scene to another but at the same time it flows very naturally i've just gotten to the library part i've only read 30 pages so i have quite a bit left to encounter but i think i'm gonna enjoy this i've heard really good things people really like this book and i hear it has like a good message and heart um in it but so far like the story structure these short chapters that like approach is always something i enjoy in books of any genre but i'm going to eat some cheetos do some more reading watch some football but i did want to check in and let you know i finished a book and i've officially read over 200 pages so far i can't believe it i haven't read anything in so long so definitely feels good time for a second cup of coffee also flip you around like i literally did this shot like probably five minutes ago in this vlog but i've read 60 pages of midnight library the book reads so quickly i'm actually really really liking it so far it's really about like you know like sometimes all of us in life can fixate on the what if like what if i made different choices what if things like everything could have turned out better and that one might not be the case and two maybe you made a different choice for a reason you know what i mean like focusing on trying to understand yourself instead of being hard on yourself um i think at least so far and so our main character noah is kind of confronting all the choices that she didn't make and coming to terms with the fact that maybe that was in fact the right path for this version of herself so obviously there's a multitude of different versions of ourselves but i don't know i'm really liking it so far 60 pages it's not very long so i'm gonna keep reading and then obviously skype beyond the storm is next but i am gonna take a little bit of a break and watch some playoff football for a bit um and root for the buffalo bills for my grandmother grateful for bagels bless all right i'm actually going to give myself a pedicure i got this olive in june pedicure set uh monica really loves their polish so i thought i would try this out this kind of like home system it comes with like all sorts of tools and things i don't know again can't leave my house it looked nice i like the aesthetic so i'm gonna try it out painting your toes is hard at least i think so so if this makes it even a little bit easier i'm interested 5 p.m coffee matilda we have not really left the couch but we have moved back to the crown we have three episodes left of season two maybe finish it tonight but definitely finish it tomorrow and then i'm gonna i'm gonna read more but it's coffee time ignore the nail polish on this finger but i opted for a gold color which i thought was very regal queen elizabeth would definitely approve and millie guess what we're ordering pizza for dinner yes some fancy single individual well actually they're probably not made for individuals but clay and i treat them as individual italian pizzas our pizza has arrived folks yummy and we're gonna watch more crown and then i think we're gonna watch hal's moving castle we consumed some pizza for dinner and now we are watching the final season of our final episode of season two of the crown which is just so good love the crown but just having a nice relaxing um you know just trying to have a nice peaceful evening at home but yep netflix hello everyone so finished the crown season two i don't know i really like that show um i feel like i shouldn't be shocked because i love his historical dramas but really liking it and anyway i have retreated to the bedroom because i'm going to read more um random side note one of my goals for the new year um which i've been failing at i'm trying to get back on track is to um have like a more mindful nighttime routine in terms of like winding down i feel like last year and i'm sure a lot of you guys can relate i just kind of let ours bleed into each other and i was kind of i was having like insomnia because i just wasn't like i don't know like my i wasn't i wasn't having like intentional time to allow myself to relax and like mentally prepare to go to sleep so when i tried to go to sleep i would just be like ah what should i be doing right now because i'm not falling asleep anyway so something i'm trying to do this year i feel like i'm rambling is just kind of have like a more uh prolonged like sleeping routine and part of that is actually reading so my hope is i actually read more this year because i'm trying to read more before bed because for me it helps relax me and go to sleep unless sometimes when the book is really intense and then i'll stay up all night but you know double-edged sword so anyway i'm trying to read more before bed which is what i'm trying to get to in a really rambly way um and i guess i'll keep you guys posted and if anyone you know wants a recommendation for a mindful base resolution i think is always a good one i generally don't do a lot of like new year's resolutions but i do try to set focus on like setting i don't know like boundaries or like small little steps i can take for myself and try to achieve um i personally find that's best for me anyway more about this book so i've read to 60 pages and i have to say i'm really liking it i'm going to sit down and i think i'll be able to read quite a bit more as this book reads really quick again i mentioned already the chapters are really short it is a really interesting experience as we're kind of jumping around quite a bit because we're going and experiencing this woman's life if she made alternate decisions so far i'm definitely liking how the author is approaching to get us and to lead us and our main character nora to the message of this i'm gonna sit down now and read more i'll give you guys more of a kind of an articulate update in the morning but i just wanted to let you guys know i'm reading and going to bed hello world good morning i'm here with my cup of coffee i started the day reading the news for like two hours and then rage emailed my representative uh but then i'm trying to turn that more into productivity i'm finishing up watching lala's thumbnail video which is just incredible as a youtuber but i think it'd just be fascinating from anyone um lala's videos are always just so creative and she inspires me all the time it's like me watching her like as a viewer but as a creator i'm like how does she even think of these things um anyway so that's my morning so far emailing some rage some inspiration from lala just enjoying her content i'm like an hour into this video um and i think i'm gonna get dressed now actually and continue to try to be productive and film a video um in terms of how much i was able to read last night i did get to page 120 of the midnight library and i am really really liking this book i enjoy kind of how it's plotted and set up and i think it makes it a very easy read and i do just appreciate the overall thought and intention of the story i think a lot of us can relate to the fact of being frozen sometimes in an action at least i can kind of fearful of making decisions to a certain outcome or maybe fixating relatable fixating on past moments in our lives and kind of pondering what if i said this or what if i did this and we always assume if we did something different it would be better um or at least sometimes that's what i think like oh i beat myself up on like certain decisions i make or things i say or things i do but i don't think we often ponder to think about well wait what if that is exactly what we should have done or like what if this was actually the right step for ourselves and you don't really know like a differing path might not necessarily be the better path or it could just be simply different and that version of you is not appealing to the current version of you um that doesn't take away from the alternate version of yourself kind of some ramblings for this early sunday a.m i woke up pretty early today which is why it seems like i've done a lot and it's like 10 30 in the morning um but i am really liking this and i feel like i'm gonna be able to finish it uh pretty quickly i wouldn't say i feel that i'm like overly connected to the main character nora i feel like nora is a means to the end to the idea of the book but i don't think that's necessarily taking away from the experience of it because i do feel like the writing and the concept and again how the author's plotting it out has been very very successful um but i think because i i mean i still have about 100 and some change of this book left so my thoughts and feelings could change but i don't feel like this is a book where i'm going to be thinking about nora but more thinking about everyone like nora or who has felt like nora and you know that includes me in some capacity in terms of i feel like it's more like the about the experience of being and feeling like nora this uncertainty this confusion this desire to change or looking to the past or feeling frozen in action in the present um that makes this book really interesting and i think why so many people love it like i've gotten so many comments about this book in particular about having loved it or excited to pick it up because i think these types of stories really speak to so many different aspects of like human experience um but i'm liking it and i'm definitely gonna be able to finish it today and then i'm gonna move on to the sky beyond the storm but this is reminding me that i do like books like this i feel like i read so much fantasy last year that i forget that i like just books about life and humans and like i don't know i'm rambling but i just don't read a lot of stories like this or i haven't recently and this is a good reminder that i do like them and this does kind of have a fantastical element to it with this sort of library between life and death but i'm rambling i'm going to finish my cup of coffee i'm going to finish lala's video and then i'm going to get dressed and film a video myself till they kept me company while i was filming so cute um but here are the books i filmed i did a book haul no spoilers and i got dressed and i actually really like my outfit so i wanted to show it off saison made well made well proud of myself for fully putting on clothes today that wasn't on the docket so it was a surprise so as i said i have finished filming and i'm going to sit down and actually do a bit more reading it's around noon now i'm gonna make some breakfast lunch i think i'm gonna try my hand at making an omelette so we'll see how that goes but first i want to try to get to page 200 of the midnight library put some football on um just kind of lay low i suppose for the rest of the day but just wanted to let you know that is my general plan and i will update you once i read more of this book second cup of coffee time um that's all i really have to say i have football on i'm almost to page 200 of the midnight library it's talking about some multiverse stuff which i always love parallel world multiverse love those conversations no matter how many times i encounter it but so far having a relaxing sunday um despite how it started and um i'm gonna get back to reading i just wanted to give you a little bit of an update mostly because i was getting up to get some coffee well everyone it is well into the afternoon and i meant to only read like 60 pages of this but then i read the whole thing so i think first thing right off the bat this book is a very quick read i teared up a little bit definitely near the end but context i cry at pretty much everything um but i will say this definitely hit like an emotional chord and ultimately i do feel like the story and the message was one i really appreciated reading and i think a lot of people can take a lot of different things from this book because again i feel like the overall concept is one about life and living and in general i also like looking i guess beyond the message looking at the story structure one element i really appreciated that the author did to kind of tell this story is obviously the concept is she's opening books and being able to live other lives but she doesn't just like embody that person she enters that life suddenly and with no memories of what that other version of herself did she arrives as herself in this world and kind of like has to figure out everything suddenly so it's interesting because it shows how you as an individual can be slightly different versions of yourself and want slightly different things for yourself depending on various decisions um and so she's kind of like evaluating these lives almost objectively and ultimately you know it's not like she can just seamlessly fold herself into these because she's a different person than these other people and that's not a bad thing either like some lives are good some lives are bad but like ultimately life is messy and it's comprised of good and bad things like there's nothing that's going to be 100 what you expect and a lot of this book is about like shedding the regrets of what you perceive yourself to have not done and instead embracing what is there and embracing life and living that you can for yourself and whatever those circumstances are and instead of like letting like holding yourself back and becoming hyper fixated on what could have been or what should have been because you really ultimately don't even know how your life would turn out if you did take that route it could have been great it could have been fine it could you could have just been as happy as you are now or could have been terrible like you ultimately don't know so you can't fixate on the unknown in that way and i really think that's kind of what this book is the vehicle of using this library and these books and traveling to all these different existences was really effective to kind of portray that sentiment which i appreciated it was a short book i felt like was effective in its storytelling and what it was trying to say it hit me emotionally because like i think it's a very relatable and poignant tale in that way too you could give it like four stars it isn't the most incredible book i've ever read but i definitely feel like it was good and i can see why a lot of people love this and i just appreciated how it was written as well um but yeah i read this whole thing this morning and that means i've also read so this is 288 pages and then i read 184 pages already so i think math i have read over 400 pages so far this weekend which is amazing and i've read two books which is so much better than i was even hoping for um so i have one book left on my tbr which i'll try to get a good amount through but i finished a book which is great and it definitely like hit my heartstrings and i appreciated it but anyway i'm done rambling now all right i'm going i'm starting my omelette journey but i first want to show off my apron my mom got me a really nice apron for christmas it's like heavy duty it has pockets i'm very excited because i'm a super messy cook but you might be asking yourself why is she so you know having a whole omelet dirty i don't know someone eggs really intimidates me but i got i'll show you my ingredients i got the eggs i'm going to saute some onions and some jalapeno i've got this really good leftover cheese from when i made this um potatoes of groton okay myself my southerness is showing i think there's a french way to say it but in texas you say potatoes are groton anyway i have a lot of leftover cheese i'm going to use some bacon this is literally just what i have in my fridge um so it's not that i wouldn't put other things this is all i got so this is what i'm gonna start i watched a couple youtube videos i'm hopeful key is always to save some cheese for yourself all right i have my shredded cheese yummy and i have cut up jalapeno and onion which i'm gonna saute before putting into the omelet but first i'm cooking some bacon which i'm also gonna put in the omelet the omelet chronicles this might be truly the most boring footage ever i'm so sorry but i don't know i like cooking so here's my omelets she's not the cutest but she is an omelet so i'm gonna take that as a win time to make the second omelet but huzzah omelet number two though i won't lie the challenge is not making this part fall apart but i get it to roll together so i guess that's kind of the goal here guys i'm not gonna lie like not to toot my own horn or anything but those zombies were really good like maybe i found a new calling like i should just make omelets i mean i gotta work on my form but tasty definitely worth going the extra mile to like saute your veggies watch your youtube videos because i felt like i i was like in my own diner like reagan's diner omelets anyway that's what i would share i'm very pleased with myself first game is gonna start but i thought i would actually show off we put away all of our christmas decor last week we bought a new plant it's one of those ones that do the the growing down thing you know so we're hoping to keep that guy alive and i'm just proud that christmas has gone away and we just kind of have our normal mess in its place isn't that right matilda but as i said the bears game is about to begin so i'm gonna watch that and then i'm gonna start sky beyond the storm and that is something i am happy and proud of sometimes it's the little things it gets you refocused and i'm sure a lot of you guys it's reading watching the bears game with limited limited hope i'm also i put on my new blue light glasses my big blue light glasses which are amazing i might edit during this a little bit too i did the video i shot today but i will link these down below anyway i also wanted to show off my new frames with my black turtleneck who am i in our critic so i am moving my attention back to reading as i said i've almost already read 500 pages or i've read over 400 pages so far for this weekend so i am going to be starting a sky beyond the storm i don't think i'll be able to finish this entire book tonight that would be wild but my plan is to start it tonight get a good amount of the way through my hope is maybe like 200 pages or something and then i'm actually gonna start another vlog tomorrow is my plan because i'm just i haven't vlogged in a month but i'm just vlogging so i'm trying to kind of get some extra vlog content out there but i'm gonna sit down and actually start this now i need to figure out dinner i was gonna cook tonight but i'm just not feeling it sometimes you just gotta listen to your own like brain and body and be kind to yourself and i made those amazing omelets earlier and i'm just i'm not gonna lie i'm just not feeling up to it so i think i'm just gonna hang out with my weighted blanket read maybe watch some crown maybe watch some of my k drama i'm not sure but nonetheless i am so thrilled to be starting a sky beyond the storm i guess i should probably give you guys context what a sky beyond the storm is even about but this is the fourth book to the ember in the ashes series which is a dual perspective why fantasy story which i would say is uh roman inspired it's set in a world where there's like a lot of government control and very militaristic and essentially in the first one one of our main characters brothers like associated with these rebels and he's caught so she basically makes an agreement with them that she will like become a spy and infiltrate this strong military like academy and fortification get information and they'll help break out her brother the other main character is a soldier and leader at that military fortification first one they're drawn to each other secrets are revealed magic is uncovered and things really escalate and evolve from there there's so much angst so much angst but like really good angst and logical angst which is the best kind in my opinion um great combat and adventure and just the escalation of the series and the emotions of the characters is so good in my opinion just truly one of the best why a fantasy series out there so this is a series i this is a book and a series i guess i'm highly anticipating reading like one of my top reads for the year um i can't wait i'm really excited to get to this i'm scared to get to this but i think it's going to be amazing hanging out with matilda a little spoiler alert for video that's going up later this week because i'm actually uploading this vlog really quickly after i finish um filming it and then i have my book here all ready to start reading but i'm gonna finish listening to this back so in this household when i don't feel like cooking that can only mean one thing a box of mac and cheese but all we had was paw patrol friends matilda's part of the paw patrol anyway it's been a while since i've had character mac and cheese but i'm kind of excited about it finishing my kdrama episode i started on friday i still have half of it left my kdrama is so relaxing i don't know if anyone else does but i'm getting really into them recently paw patrol mac and cheese is done and uh i'm still watching my k drama all right i'm turning off my k drama in the favor of reading um i'm loving it so much i could watch this k drama all night it is so dramatic well k dramas in the name drama they're very dramatic um but this one is like extra specially dramatic and they really love doing this like hand grab spin slow-mo angsty yearning eye contact thing at least four times per episode and it works on me every time so there's that it's like on another level um very entertained but i'm going to stop watching it now and start sky beyond storm trying to get as far as i can tonight and obviously i plan to continue reading this over the next couple of days i'm going to start now and i'll give you guys an update in a bit probably want to read like 30 or 40 pages i hear this a good summary at the beginning of this which i definitely need because it's been about two years since i read the series because i keep reading them right when they come out but spine's beautiful but anyway back to reading it's me with my brain sounds um i guess i should probably put those down that's how i relax but also drown out the call of duty okay so i've read a quick 40 pages of a sky beyond the storm and definitely pulls you in really quickly i will can confirm i do feel like it does a pretty good job recapping the world like the major players like really quickly off the bat in a really non-intrusive kind of way which i can appreciate because as i said love this series but it's been a minute since i've read it so i definitely need a little bit of a like a hand-holding situation going into the into this final book um and something else i just wanted to law just in general just to get more people to read this so i feel like i've obviously spoken a lot about the main kind of two characters within this world elias and leia but there's a quite a large cast of characters outside of them that kind of gets expanded on throughout the entire series and you really root for them as well in fact some of the side characters particularly their povs throughout the story it becomes one of my favorite i know i keep saying it's a dual perspective story because i feel like in the beginning like in the first novel that is definitely the case but the narrative in the world expands beyond that throughout the rest of the book so i definitely wanted to wanted to make sure to note on that but there's just such a good side character that i'm like re-meeting everyone again and i'm like oh yeah i love you guys and i loved how good stop to hear is at creating relationships and just everything um there's just so much aches like everything is so dramatic like i'm remembering everything like as it left off in the third book and it was such a big cliffhanger and just like i don't know how they're gonna fix it like everything just feels so difficult on all my characters everything's like so sad and harrowing and traumatic all those things but i believe in them and i'm hoping they'll be able to save the day and figure it out but oh my god so much is going on but anyway i'm gonna keep reading i'm gonna try to read over 100 pages tonight i'll be pleased with that and as i said i'll work to finish it in the next couple of days but just want to give you guys a general initial update but back to reading enter my rain sounds back up confirming i'm making all this focus good progress i am over 70 pages in i'm gonna keep going again i'm trying to get over the 100 page mark and then i'll have read almost 600 pages which is definitely up from when i read zero pages so hi everyone and it's monday and i'm actually about to start another vlog but i wanted to wrap up this vlog as i was able to read just over 100 pages of skype beyond the storm i read like 106 pages which let me get a calculator which means i read 578 pages this weekend which i'm actually so so happy with and a little proud of myself just because i just have not been motivated to read loved everything i was able to pick up and i'm obviously planning on continuing this guy beyond the storm in the next couple of days and finishing it as well but hopefully i can keep staving off this reading slump but i do hope you guys enjoyed this video and i will see you soon with another one soon byehi everyone it's regan and welcome to the start of another weekend reading vlog so it's friday as i feel like that's an established fact at the start of all these vlogs usually and it is about exactly one-third way through the month and in full transparency i have not finished a book yet it has been about a month since i have completed a book which is by far and away the longest stretch of time that i can remember in like recent memory where i have not read a book so i think i can say with definitiveness that i am in a bit of a reading slump which is what i'm trying to resolve in this video i am excited about the tbr i've put together and i'm excited about all the books i want to read i'm really thrilled about my january tbr in general so this weekend i'm really just trying to get it together allow myself to relax and read and just try to read as much as possible see there's a variety of reasons why i haven't been reading some of them are as simple as the holidays and just taking some time off some of them have to do with current events from the georgia runoff which was a lot of fun to watch but then also the attempted coup on the capitol which was horrifying to watch so i just haven't been picking up books i haven't been motivated to read and so i'm trying to kind of pivot and change that a bit this weekend allow myself to decompress a bit and jump into some stories that i'm really excited about and i'm excited to share with you guys and to let you know my thoughts and feelings with you guys so anyway let's jump into the tbr as i don't know all three of these books i'm really thrilled about and i feel like you guys are either have read and loved them or like are also curious about them so let's just talk books oh here are the books a bit of a mix in terms of the style well some of them kind of go together but let's just dive in so the first is gods of jade and shadow by silvia morano garcia and this is the book i'm actually currently reading it's matilda um and i'm about 150 pages into this book and there's about 334 pages so um just a little under halfway and i am loving this book it is so beautifully written it's mesmerizing the writing style the setting it's set during the jazz era and it follows a girl who basically accidentally unlocks the chest and releases the mayan god of death is set in mexico and she travels with this god to help overturn his brother through various cities throughout mexico and it is just so good i'll talk about it a bit more obviously i'm currently in the midst of reading it um but from there i also really want to pick up the midnight library by matt haig this is a short novel so i'm also hoping this will just be really captivating and beautiful about a library between life and death any woman who travels there and is able to see how her life could turn out if she made different choices i've heard really good things about this i'm hoping it's a quick read an emotional read and just one that will just kind of capture me right away and then the last book is a very exciting book it is a sky beyond the storm by saba tahir this is the fourth and final book to the ember in the ashes series one of my all-time favorite y a fantasy series out there so good um just cannot wait to pick this up i don't think i'll be able to finish all three of these books so my hope is finish this read all of this or read all of this and start this or start this and read all of this i'm not sure the exact order but i'm hoping to get this reading vlog and then just carry on into another reading vlog as i just haven't in a while so i'm trying to catch up but anyway these are the three books i hope to read this weekend or start in some capacity i'm so thrilled about all of them and i hope you guys enjoy and are excited about it so as i said it's friday um i actually still have about an hour left of work but i just wanted to film this intro while there was some kind of some light outside um but my main plans are for tonight is to finish gods of date and shadow order some food just kind of hang out clay has been working a lot recently so i think we're going to try to catch up on some of our shows this weekend we've started the crown over the holidays and i am so invested in that show we're on season two it's so good but anyway bit of a ramble i just wanted to say hello i'm gonna get back to work now um but hey hi welcome to the start of this vlog just wanted to quickly document that i did get fully dressed today in this like little house on the prairie outfit i'm about to go put sweatpants on now that's yeah getting later in the evening but just wanted to document before i uh you know put pajamas on much more comfortable and probably no one's noticed this but i misplaced this sweatshirt like six weeks ago and i haven't been able to find it and i found it the other week and it feels right it feels right to be back in the sweatshirt anyway i'm gonna sit down and read some gods of dating shadow right now i wanna get a good chunk of it done before clay finishes up work um and then i'll obviously again try to finish it this evening i'm really loving this book so far it is exactly what i was wanting and craving i feel like often when i fall into a reading slump i generally crave like really beautifully written lyrical kind of magical story set also though in our world um and this is definitely that it's set during the jazz age in mexico and we follow our main character casa pia who as i said um lives at her grandfather's house and because her mother made a match that her grandfather just approved on um after her father passed away they moved back to his house but they're treated very very poorly and caspia kind of spends her day basically being a servant to the family cleaning um cooking just following orders doing everything she hopes for a different life she hopes to flee to a big city and at the beginning of the book she basically opens a chest and as i said releases the mind god of death and he was put there by his brother and so now he's seeking revenge for his brother these two individuals are tied to each other because when she opens the chest and how she's able to give him life again is that part of his bones like enter her finger so they are like tied to one another so she has to help him to be able to save her own life because they're connected and he's like stealing part like slowly siphoning off her humanity so that's kind of the premise of the start of this book and just to name off a few things as to why i'm loving it so far halfway through one caspy as a main character love her so much she's reading her story and her i don't know like her defiance and her desire to have self she doesn't let anyone take away her own self-worth is incredible and i just really enjoy seeing her kind of confront all different types of obstacles so far throughout the story and she just has like such grace i don't know i'm just like mesmerized by her two the writing is amazing i was immediately pulled into the story i feel like it has this just wonderful quality to it and it's also like not overly flowery or really descriptive but at the same time you constantly feel a very strong sense of place there's a lot of travel within this book as basically caspia to help the mind god or hun kame they have to go to different cities to basically find parts of his body to restore him to his original power so they're traveling all across mexico and as you travel to all these different cities you all have such unique like personalities to them you do see some really common elements that are just it really is a mark of the time so it's set again in the 20s which is about 15 years after the start of the mexican revolution so there are these like traditional elements that have been a part of the culture for a long time like religion some things left over from colonialism and classism and things kind of being confronted with the future and modernization and different aspects of this culture and socially things are changing as well happens in a lot of places in the 20s but it's happening obviously here as well and that's really prevalent part of the story and you see that in so many different kind of ways as they're traveling throughout and it's just i don't know so well written also i love the god element of this i love this relationship between cassipia and hun kame um something that's interesting too is that as he spends more time with caspia he becomes more human and i just love this sort of plot storyline like god's come to earth god's interacting with humanity their interactions are so interesting also because hoon kame has been trapped in a box for a long time so he hasn't seen this world recently either so he's kind of digesting it and kind of approaching it from like a different point of view like a god's point of view and asking questions that maybe cassopia like wouldn't ponder or because she's bit in the society like she wouldn't dare to think that which i think is interesting it's a little bit of a romance i don't know i'm rambling on and on but there's just so many qualities about this book that have just hooked me right away and i'm just so invested in it it's great like visually the writing the plotting the setting just like how transportive it is amazing um i'm just about halfway so i'm gonna sit down and try to read a good amount now finish it later but i just wanted to give you kind of an overview of the book as i have obviously started it and read over you know about 150 pages so far and those are my thoughts which are read it it's very good hi everyone so i have been reading i have read about 80 pages more of gods of jaden shadow i just really like this book it's just the writing the quality of it is transported it has this like quest and travel element to it too because they have to collect these items and as they're kind of traversing this landscape quickly together they're one kind of beginning to learn and understand each other which you kind of get the feeling that they have never felt this this feeling of being known before possibly one because han kane is becoming a human so he's never really had these thoughts and feelings before until this moment um it's just so well written i'm just captivated by it i don't have very much left and i definitely feel like i'm gonna be able to finish this tonight the magic and just the other kind of mythological creatures and beings are present in this world and plus you learn more about kind of how gods and the human world work which is cool you also get chapters from kind of the two villains one the brother who locked the mind god in the chest you see him as he's trying to like work through his machinations to maintain his power and in a way you kind of get this almost empathetic view of his like power grab i don't know like he's a bad person but he has this like inferiority complex that just like seeds through him speaking of inferiority complex you also read about um cassipia's cousin martine who is the worst and as i mentioned caspia's family her extended family especially i've always really mistreated her and no one worse than martine and he is kind of also on a quest like trying to find her and stop her those chapters coupled with cassipia oh you just want to scream i just want to scream at marti but like again you see and you are in his mind which i feel like just provides like a deeper more intimate look at sort of the bill like a human villain and a god villain and you can also see how there can be some similarities which i always really appreciate when there are parallels drawn between the desire of gods and the desire of humans i just i love when stories do stuff like that but anyway i read another quick 80 pages it's such a fast read i love the traveling component the writing is amazing i'm like a broken record but i'm definitely going to try to finish this tonight i've about a hundred or so pages left so shouldn't be an issue and then i'll move on to book two but when i finish this i'll have read a book this year hey everyone first book of the year better late than never it's a ramen kind of night everyone and we're gonna watch some community we are almost done with season three flying through this show all right friends we're on to the crown now what do you think already mentioned we started this over the holidays oh my god we're on episode six of season two anyway the crown is incredible i'm actually we'll talk about it for a second so the crown is incredible i won't lie i'm the one who wanted to watch the crown and even i thought it might be like a little slow and boring like i was like it's going to be good but it's going one of those slows it's like shows that's kind of slow but i don't think it's slow at all i don't think so it might be slow like a kid but i don't think it would be slow to really any adults i just feel like they've dramatized it so well the history aspect's so interesting and like i feel like there's been so much attention to detail with like the style like the clothes and everything i'm really excited to get the princess diana season for that reason especially but the crown is so good i really like the show so far it's been really good yeah it's uh really exciting the characters are done really well there's lots of good tension clay started reading a winston churchill biography after he watched this show so yeah if that says anything it's just really interesting i feel like it's a well done historical drama very well then yeah but anyway we're almost done with season two i didn't even realize well i guess we have like five episodes left but we're gonna watch some of the crown now and then i'm gonna get back to reading taking a bit of a break from the crown though we're still watching to make some oven s'mores which are just the pinnacle of taste and decadence i love it when millie becomes just the tightest little cinnamon roll but i have retreated to the bedroom and watched two episodes of the crown tonight but i am determined to finish gods of jaden shadow so i'm going to work to do that now i have a little over 100 pages left like 110 pages left i think exactly so i'm just going to hunker down and read i've been you know singing the praises of this book so i feel like i won't be an issue because once i pick it up i don't really want to put it down and i also have to say i really love how what i think what i perceive as some sort of romantic or chemistry of some kind between our two characters i'm really liking it's kind of one of those romances that like everyone else sees and they don't which is kind of sometimes my favorite because they're both just so oblivious to like these feelings because they neither of them have really felt them before in how they're manifesting so it's kind of fun that way it's very entertaining like they were just in a flower shop and she was like do you want purple flowers they made love at first sight and they were like what no we don't need a new flower anyway so i'm going to i'm going to read um and i will probably maybe check in one more time tonight if not tomorrow morning where i give you guys hopefully my final thoughts and feelings or at least i only have like 20 pages left or something but for now matilda and i are hanging out we're hanging out hello world good morning i don't know if i've shown this bad boy off in a video yet but clay got me the ember mug for christmas so it keeps your like your beverage warm for hours and fun fact about me it takes me like three hours to make an entire cup of coffee so this has actually been quite the game changer but i'm also happy to report that i stayed up really late last night but i finished my book i've officially finished the book in the year 2021 and i loved it i'll sit down and give you guys my final thoughts and feelings but i just thought it was beautiful i loved the plotting i loved that i loved i just thought the author did such a great job of like closing the things that needed to close but leaving moments open where it made sense it's just like a beautiful like tale it was a beautiful story and it like knew it was a story i don't know i just really really really enjoyed it um so that feels great to have finished a book i feel very accomplished um i'm gonna figure out what i'm gonna read next and just kind of relax obviously i have no plans today it's it's what i've been doing for the past nine months so i'm not sure if football's on so i'll probably just hang out um at home in my pajamas per usual but yeah just wanted to say i finished a book so matilda continues to be a sunshine queen and she loves a good smile isn't that right matilda yes so i've decided my next read is going to be the midnight library and then i'm going to start sky beyond the storm this is under 300 pages so i feel like it might just kind of give me continued motivation to feel like i'm bit on a roll plus it just has been kind of calling my name i am going to read more but i think i'm also going to watch an episode of the kdrama i've started recently i haven't watched it in a couple weeks but i'm in the mood i love a kdrama so i think i'm going to do that by the way the kdrama is cinderella and the four nights it's ridiculous so far and i love it um i'm only seeing like an episode but so far so good hi everyone i'm happy to report i put jeans on and as you just saw grab some hot cheetos for a snack so i wanted to wrap up my thoughts my final thoughts for gods of jaden's shadow by silvia morano garcia and as i've been kind of saying endlessly i really liked this book i felt like it was wonderfully paced the writing the plotting the setting like everything was written with such care and it just has this like wonderful fantasy quality to it i'm gonna try my best to try to articulate what that means but it's kind of like this intangible timelessness um that kind of what i feel like what i love most when i read these sort of like whimsical fantasy tales this like moment in time of two people or this kind of quest that people go on and it's just like beautiful and i i loved it i felt completely transported and it was just really well written and it also makes me want to like separately get some non-fiction of um it's just mexican history particularly around the mexican revolution as that's just something i don't know much about and some of the mentions in this book just really intrigued me to learn more so that's something i'm gonna separately do so um i would give this like a 4.5 out of five stars i really liked it a perfect book to start out the year and from there i've actually already started the midnight library i read a really quick 30 pages this book reads very fast the chapters are between one to two pages long at least so far that i've encountered it is under 300 pages and i will say so far i would just say right off the bat trigger warning for suicide um this basically follows a woman who in the beginning of the book tries to die and she wakes up in a library between life and death and she basically can read these volumes to see how her life could turn out if she made different choices so far in the 30 pages i've read i really like the writing and this sort of like staccato style of the storytelling like it's very very choppy like you're moving from one scene to another but at the same time it flows very naturally i've just gotten to the library part i've only read 30 pages so i have quite a bit left to encounter but i think i'm gonna enjoy this i've heard really good things people really like this book and i hear it has like a good message and heart um in it but so far like the story structure these short chapters that like approach is always something i enjoy in books of any genre but i'm going to eat some cheetos do some more reading watch some football but i did want to check in and let you know i finished a book and i've officially read over 200 pages so far i can't believe it i haven't read anything in so long so definitely feels good time for a second cup of coffee also flip you around like i literally did this shot like probably five minutes ago in this vlog but i've read 60 pages of midnight library the book reads so quickly i'm actually really really liking it so far it's really about like you know like sometimes all of us in life can fixate on the what if like what if i made different choices what if things like everything could have turned out better and that one might not be the case and two maybe you made a different choice for a reason you know what i mean like focusing on trying to understand yourself instead of being hard on yourself um i think at least so far and so our main character noah is kind of confronting all the choices that she didn't make and coming to terms with the fact that maybe that was in fact the right path for this version of herself so obviously there's a multitude of different versions of ourselves but i don't know i'm really liking it so far 60 pages it's not very long so i'm gonna keep reading and then obviously skype beyond the storm is next but i am gonna take a little bit of a break and watch some playoff football for a bit um and root for the buffalo bills for my grandmother grateful for bagels bless all right i'm actually going to give myself a pedicure i got this olive in june pedicure set uh monica really loves their polish so i thought i would try this out this kind of like home system it comes with like all sorts of tools and things i don't know again can't leave my house it looked nice i like the aesthetic so i'm gonna try it out painting your toes is hard at least i think so so if this makes it even a little bit easier i'm interested 5 p.m coffee matilda we have not really left the couch but we have moved back to the crown we have three episodes left of season two maybe finish it tonight but definitely finish it tomorrow and then i'm gonna i'm gonna read more but it's coffee time ignore the nail polish on this finger but i opted for a gold color which i thought was very regal queen elizabeth would definitely approve and millie guess what we're ordering pizza for dinner yes some fancy single individual well actually they're probably not made for individuals but clay and i treat them as individual italian pizzas our pizza has arrived folks yummy and we're gonna watch more crown and then i think we're gonna watch hal's moving castle we consumed some pizza for dinner and now we are watching the final season of our final episode of season two of the crown which is just so good love the crown but just having a nice relaxing um you know just trying to have a nice peaceful evening at home but yep netflix hello everyone so finished the crown season two i don't know i really like that show um i feel like i shouldn't be shocked because i love his historical dramas but really liking it and anyway i have retreated to the bedroom because i'm going to read more um random side note one of my goals for the new year um which i've been failing at i'm trying to get back on track is to um have like a more mindful nighttime routine in terms of like winding down i feel like last year and i'm sure a lot of you guys can relate i just kind of let ours bleed into each other and i was kind of i was having like insomnia because i just wasn't like i don't know like my i wasn't i wasn't having like intentional time to allow myself to relax and like mentally prepare to go to sleep so when i tried to go to sleep i would just be like ah what should i be doing right now because i'm not falling asleep anyway so something i'm trying to do this year i feel like i'm rambling is just kind of have like a more uh prolonged like sleeping routine and part of that is actually reading so my hope is i actually read more this year because i'm trying to read more before bed because for me it helps relax me and go to sleep unless sometimes when the book is really intense and then i'll stay up all night but you know double-edged sword so anyway i'm trying to read more before bed which is what i'm trying to get to in a really rambly way um and i guess i'll keep you guys posted and if anyone you know wants a recommendation for a mindful base resolution i think is always a good one i generally don't do a lot of like new year's resolutions but i do try to set focus on like setting i don't know like boundaries or like small little steps i can take for myself and try to achieve um i personally find that's best for me anyway more about this book so i've read to 60 pages and i have to say i'm really liking it i'm going to sit down and i think i'll be able to read quite a bit more as this book reads really quick again i mentioned already the chapters are really short it is a really interesting experience as we're kind of jumping around quite a bit because we're going and experiencing this woman's life if she made alternate decisions so far i'm definitely liking how the author is approaching to get us and to lead us and our main character nora to the message of this i'm gonna sit down now and read more i'll give you guys more of a kind of an articulate update in the morning but i just wanted to let you guys know i'm reading and going to bed hello world good morning i'm here with my cup of coffee i started the day reading the news for like two hours and then rage emailed my representative uh but then i'm trying to turn that more into productivity i'm finishing up watching lala's thumbnail video which is just incredible as a youtuber but i think it'd just be fascinating from anyone um lala's videos are always just so creative and she inspires me all the time it's like me watching her like as a viewer but as a creator i'm like how does she even think of these things um anyway so that's my morning so far emailing some rage some inspiration from lala just enjoying her content i'm like an hour into this video um and i think i'm gonna get dressed now actually and continue to try to be productive and film a video um in terms of how much i was able to read last night i did get to page 120 of the midnight library and i am really really liking this book i enjoy kind of how it's plotted and set up and i think it makes it a very easy read and i do just appreciate the overall thought and intention of the story i think a lot of us can relate to the fact of being frozen sometimes in an action at least i can kind of fearful of making decisions to a certain outcome or maybe fixating relatable fixating on past moments in our lives and kind of pondering what if i said this or what if i did this and we always assume if we did something different it would be better um or at least sometimes that's what i think like oh i beat myself up on like certain decisions i make or things i say or things i do but i don't think we often ponder to think about well wait what if that is exactly what we should have done or like what if this was actually the right step for ourselves and you don't really know like a differing path might not necessarily be the better path or it could just be simply different and that version of you is not appealing to the current version of you um that doesn't take away from the alternate version of yourself kind of some ramblings for this early sunday a.m i woke up pretty early today which is why it seems like i've done a lot and it's like 10 30 in the morning um but i am really liking this and i feel like i'm gonna be able to finish it uh pretty quickly i wouldn't say i feel that i'm like overly connected to the main character nora i feel like nora is a means to the end to the idea of the book but i don't think that's necessarily taking away from the experience of it because i do feel like the writing and the concept and again how the author's plotting it out has been very very successful um but i think because i i mean i still have about 100 and some change of this book left so my thoughts and feelings could change but i don't feel like this is a book where i'm going to be thinking about nora but more thinking about everyone like nora or who has felt like nora and you know that includes me in some capacity in terms of i feel like it's more like the about the experience of being and feeling like nora this uncertainty this confusion this desire to change or looking to the past or feeling frozen in action in the present um that makes this book really interesting and i think why so many people love it like i've gotten so many comments about this book in particular about having loved it or excited to pick it up because i think these types of stories really speak to so many different aspects of like human experience um but i'm liking it and i'm definitely gonna be able to finish it today and then i'm gonna move on to the sky beyond the storm but this is reminding me that i do like books like this i feel like i read so much fantasy last year that i forget that i like just books about life and humans and like i don't know i'm rambling but i just don't read a lot of stories like this or i haven't recently and this is a good reminder that i do like them and this does kind of have a fantastical element to it with this sort of library between life and death but i'm rambling i'm going to finish my cup of coffee i'm going to finish lala's video and then i'm going to get dressed and film a video myself till they kept me company while i was filming so cute um but here are the books i filmed i did a book haul no spoilers and i got dressed and i actually really like my outfit so i wanted to show it off saison made well made well proud of myself for fully putting on clothes today that wasn't on the docket so it was a surprise so as i said i have finished filming and i'm going to sit down and actually do a bit more reading it's around noon now i'm gonna make some breakfast lunch i think i'm gonna try my hand at making an omelette so we'll see how that goes but first i want to try to get to page 200 of the midnight library put some football on um just kind of lay low i suppose for the rest of the day but just wanted to let you know that is my general plan and i will update you once i read more of this book second cup of coffee time um that's all i really have to say i have football on i'm almost to page 200 of the midnight library it's talking about some multiverse stuff which i always love parallel world multiverse love those conversations no matter how many times i encounter it but so far having a relaxing sunday um despite how it started and um i'm gonna get back to reading i just wanted to give you a little bit of an update mostly because i was getting up to get some coffee well everyone it is well into the afternoon and i meant to only read like 60 pages of this but then i read the whole thing so i think first thing right off the bat this book is a very quick read i teared up a little bit definitely near the end but context i cry at pretty much everything um but i will say this definitely hit like an emotional chord and ultimately i do feel like the story and the message was one i really appreciated reading and i think a lot of people can take a lot of different things from this book because again i feel like the overall concept is one about life and living and in general i also like looking i guess beyond the message looking at the story structure one element i really appreciated that the author did to kind of tell this story is obviously the concept is she's opening books and being able to live other lives but she doesn't just like embody that person she enters that life suddenly and with no memories of what that other version of herself did she arrives as herself in this world and kind of like has to figure out everything suddenly so it's interesting because it shows how you as an individual can be slightly different versions of yourself and want slightly different things for yourself depending on various decisions um and so she's kind of like evaluating these lives almost objectively and ultimately you know it's not like she can just seamlessly fold herself into these because she's a different person than these other people and that's not a bad thing either like some lives are good some lives are bad but like ultimately life is messy and it's comprised of good and bad things like there's nothing that's going to be 100 what you expect and a lot of this book is about like shedding the regrets of what you perceive yourself to have not done and instead embracing what is there and embracing life and living that you can for yourself and whatever those circumstances are and instead of like letting like holding yourself back and becoming hyper fixated on what could have been or what should have been because you really ultimately don't even know how your life would turn out if you did take that route it could have been great it could have been fine it could you could have just been as happy as you are now or could have been terrible like you ultimately don't know so you can't fixate on the unknown in that way and i really think that's kind of what this book is the vehicle of using this library and these books and traveling to all these different existences was really effective to kind of portray that sentiment which i appreciated it was a short book i felt like was effective in its storytelling and what it was trying to say it hit me emotionally because like i think it's a very relatable and poignant tale in that way too you could give it like four stars it isn't the most incredible book i've ever read but i definitely feel like it was good and i can see why a lot of people love this and i just appreciated how it was written as well um but yeah i read this whole thing this morning and that means i've also read so this is 288 pages and then i read 184 pages already so i think math i have read over 400 pages so far this weekend which is amazing and i've read two books which is so much better than i was even hoping for um so i have one book left on my tbr which i'll try to get a good amount through but i finished a book which is great and it definitely like hit my heartstrings and i appreciated it but anyway i'm done rambling now all right i'm going i'm starting my omelette journey but i first want to show off my apron my mom got me a really nice apron for christmas it's like heavy duty it has pockets i'm very excited because i'm a super messy cook but you might be asking yourself why is she so you know having a whole omelet dirty i don't know someone eggs really intimidates me but i got i'll show you my ingredients i got the eggs i'm going to saute some onions and some jalapeno i've got this really good leftover cheese from when i made this um potatoes of groton okay myself my southerness is showing i think there's a french way to say it but in texas you say potatoes are groton anyway i have a lot of leftover cheese i'm going to use some bacon this is literally just what i have in my fridge um so it's not that i wouldn't put other things this is all i got so this is what i'm gonna start i watched a couple youtube videos i'm hopeful key is always to save some cheese for yourself all right i have my shredded cheese yummy and i have cut up jalapeno and onion which i'm gonna saute before putting into the omelet but first i'm cooking some bacon which i'm also gonna put in the omelet the omelet chronicles this might be truly the most boring footage ever i'm so sorry but i don't know i like cooking so here's my omelets she's not the cutest but she is an omelet so i'm gonna take that as a win time to make the second omelet but huzzah omelet number two though i won't lie the challenge is not making this part fall apart but i get it to roll together so i guess that's kind of the goal here guys i'm not gonna lie like not to toot my own horn or anything but those zombies were really good like maybe i found a new calling like i should just make omelets i mean i gotta work on my form but tasty definitely worth going the extra mile to like saute your veggies watch your youtube videos because i felt like i i was like in my own diner like reagan's diner omelets anyway that's what i would share i'm very pleased with myself first game is gonna start but i thought i would actually show off we put away all of our christmas decor last week we bought a new plant it's one of those ones that do the the growing down thing you know so we're hoping to keep that guy alive and i'm just proud that christmas has gone away and we just kind of have our normal mess in its place isn't that right matilda but as i said the bears game is about to begin so i'm gonna watch that and then i'm gonna start sky beyond the storm and that is something i am happy and proud of sometimes it's the little things it gets you refocused and i'm sure a lot of you guys it's reading watching the bears game with limited limited hope i'm also i put on my new blue light glasses my big blue light glasses which are amazing i might edit during this a little bit too i did the video i shot today but i will link these down below anyway i also wanted to show off my new frames with my black turtleneck who am i in our critic so i am moving my attention back to reading as i said i've almost already read 500 pages or i've read over 400 pages so far for this weekend so i am going to be starting a sky beyond the storm i don't think i'll be able to finish this entire book tonight that would be wild but my plan is to start it tonight get a good amount of the way through my hope is maybe like 200 pages or something and then i'm actually gonna start another vlog tomorrow is my plan because i'm just i haven't vlogged in a month but i'm just vlogging so i'm trying to kind of get some extra vlog content out there but i'm gonna sit down and actually start this now i need to figure out dinner i was gonna cook tonight but i'm just not feeling it sometimes you just gotta listen to your own like brain and body and be kind to yourself and i made those amazing omelets earlier and i'm just i'm not gonna lie i'm just not feeling up to it so i think i'm just gonna hang out with my weighted blanket read maybe watch some crown maybe watch some of my k drama i'm not sure but nonetheless i am so thrilled to be starting a sky beyond the storm i guess i should probably give you guys context what a sky beyond the storm is even about but this is the fourth book to the ember in the ashes series which is a dual perspective why fantasy story which i would say is uh roman inspired it's set in a world where there's like a lot of government control and very militaristic and essentially in the first one one of our main characters brothers like associated with these rebels and he's caught so she basically makes an agreement with them that she will like become a spy and infiltrate this strong military like academy and fortification get information and they'll help break out her brother the other main character is a soldier and leader at that military fortification first one they're drawn to each other secrets are revealed magic is uncovered and things really escalate and evolve from there there's so much angst so much angst but like really good angst and logical angst which is the best kind in my opinion um great combat and adventure and just the escalation of the series and the emotions of the characters is so good in my opinion just truly one of the best why a fantasy series out there so this is a series i this is a book and a series i guess i'm highly anticipating reading like one of my top reads for the year um i can't wait i'm really excited to get to this i'm scared to get to this but i think it's going to be amazing hanging out with matilda a little spoiler alert for video that's going up later this week because i'm actually uploading this vlog really quickly after i finish um filming it and then i have my book here all ready to start reading but i'm gonna finish listening to this back so in this household when i don't feel like cooking that can only mean one thing a box of mac and cheese but all we had was paw patrol friends matilda's part of the paw patrol anyway it's been a while since i've had character mac and cheese but i'm kind of excited about it finishing my kdrama episode i started on friday i still have half of it left my kdrama is so relaxing i don't know if anyone else does but i'm getting really into them recently paw patrol mac and cheese is done and uh i'm still watching my k drama all right i'm turning off my k drama in the favor of reading um i'm loving it so much i could watch this k drama all night it is so dramatic well k dramas in the name drama they're very dramatic um but this one is like extra specially dramatic and they really love doing this like hand grab spin slow-mo angsty yearning eye contact thing at least four times per episode and it works on me every time so there's that it's like on another level um very entertained but i'm going to stop watching it now and start sky beyond storm trying to get as far as i can tonight and obviously i plan to continue reading this over the next couple of days i'm going to start now and i'll give you guys an update in a bit probably want to read like 30 or 40 pages i hear this a good summary at the beginning of this which i definitely need because it's been about two years since i read the series because i keep reading them right when they come out but spine's beautiful but anyway back to reading it's me with my brain sounds um i guess i should probably put those down that's how i relax but also drown out the call of duty okay so i've read a quick 40 pages of a sky beyond the storm and definitely pulls you in really quickly i will can confirm i do feel like it does a pretty good job recapping the world like the major players like really quickly off the bat in a really non-intrusive kind of way which i can appreciate because as i said love this series but it's been a minute since i've read it so i definitely need a little bit of a like a hand-holding situation going into the into this final book um and something else i just wanted to law just in general just to get more people to read this so i feel like i've obviously spoken a lot about the main kind of two characters within this world elias and leia but there's a quite a large cast of characters outside of them that kind of gets expanded on throughout the entire series and you really root for them as well in fact some of the side characters particularly their povs throughout the story it becomes one of my favorite i know i keep saying it's a dual perspective story because i feel like in the beginning like in the first novel that is definitely the case but the narrative in the world expands beyond that throughout the rest of the book so i definitely wanted to wanted to make sure to note on that but there's just such a good side character that i'm like re-meeting everyone again and i'm like oh yeah i love you guys and i loved how good stop to hear is at creating relationships and just everything um there's just so much aches like everything is so dramatic like i'm remembering everything like as it left off in the third book and it was such a big cliffhanger and just like i don't know how they're gonna fix it like everything just feels so difficult on all my characters everything's like so sad and harrowing and traumatic all those things but i believe in them and i'm hoping they'll be able to save the day and figure it out but oh my god so much is going on but anyway i'm gonna keep reading i'm gonna try to read over 100 pages tonight i'll be pleased with that and as i said i'll work to finish it in the next couple of days but just want to give you guys a general initial update but back to reading enter my rain sounds back up confirming i'm making all this focus good progress i am over 70 pages in i'm gonna keep going again i'm trying to get over the 100 page mark and then i'll have read almost 600 pages which is definitely up from when i read zero pages so hi everyone and it's monday and i'm actually about to start another vlog but i wanted to wrap up this vlog as i was able to read just over 100 pages of skype beyond the storm i read like 106 pages which let me get a calculator which means i read 578 pages this weekend which i'm actually so so happy with and a little proud of myself just because i just have not been motivated to read loved everything i was able to pick up and i'm obviously planning on continuing this guy beyond the storm in the next couple of days and finishing it as well but hopefully i can keep staving off this reading slump but i do hope you guys enjoyed this video and i will see you soon with another one soon bye\n"