Hello, lovelies! Welcome to another Bookish Breakdown installment, my monthly wrap-up post. In a Bookish Breakdown, I discuss life generally for the past month. Also, I share last month’s reading, as well as life musings, blog hopping links and intention updates!
OCTOBER. 🎃
You all know me. Traditionally, October starts off the best time of the year. Yet, this year, on par with 2022 in general, I didn’t get that lucky. Instead, I:
- Got a viral infection that lasted almost two weeks
- Which also used up all my sick time at work
- Have had an intense chronic health flare up I can’t shake, making it hard to walk or move without pain
- Work has been in a “no breaks, all meetings” mode for too long now and I am EXHAUSTED
- Could this be related to chronic pain flare up? WE THINKS IT IS, PRECIOUS.
- My brother was hospitalized last Friday and is still recovering, due to diabetic complications
Honestly, friends? It’s been quite shit. I’m exhausted, burnt out and missing my creative pursuits that have been abandoned in lieu of survival.
Bookish Breakdown: Reading
What I Read
I am glad I was able to get a little reading done, even if not as much as I hoped. Notorious Sorcerer by Davinia Evans was a joy to read, even if a few bits did miss the mark for me. While Empire of Exiles by Erin M. Evans was a bit overwhelming with some of a worldbuilding, the PLOT. Wow, did that deliver.
Reading Challenges Update
What: Yearly challenge tracked via StoryGraph of how my books I want to read.
Goal: 50 Books
Status: 30/50 Books
What: A personal challenge to read at least one antiracist book a month (or 12 a year).
Goal: 12 Books
Status: 3/12 Books
What: I want to do a better job that of reading books written by (or featuring protagonists) that aren’t the publishing “standard”, i.e, white, male, able-bodied, straight and based on Western cultures or Christian/Catholic religions.
Goal: More books that break away from that “standard” than books that do.
Status: 14/25
What: Hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction and Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight where you write and share your bookish discussion posts!
Goal: 24 Discussion Post (Chatty Kathy Level)
Status: 18/24 Posts
Posts:
- Let’s Talk Bookish: 2022 Reading Goals
- Let’s Talk Bookish: Blogger and Audience Relationship
- Let’s Talk Bookish: Changing Book Ratings
- Book Bloggers, Why Aren’t We Kinder to Ourselves?
- Let’s Talk Bookish: Maintaining A Blog Aesthetic
- Let’s Talk Bookish: Updating Old Content
- When A Reader Fights Reading
- Let’s Talk Bookish: Evolution of Book Blogging
- Let’s Talk Bookish: Book Blogging Joys and Pet Peeves
- The Importance of Commenting on Book Blogs
- Reading and Mental Health
- Let’s Talk Bookish: Rapid Fire Book Blogging Takes
- Let’s Talk Bookish: Book Blogging Friendships
- Let’s Talk Bookish: Tracking Your Reading
- Let’s Talk Bookish: Unhauling Books
- Let’s Talk Bookish: Blogging Balancing Act
- Let’s Talk Bookish: Tackling Your TBR
- Blogging Engagement: An Inspired Post
Bookish Breakdown: Blogging
What I Posted
Ha, blogging was definitely sacrificed thanks to just trying to survive. I definitely missed it.
Read Around the Blogosphere
I also hardly blog hopped. Honestly friends, when I say I was barely able to do anything creatively, I’m not kidding. 😭
Other Bloggers’ Posts I Loved
- Shealea @ Shut Up, Shealea has launched NoNoReMo or National Notion Revamp Month and y’all, I’m excite!
- Krysta @ Pages Unbound writes a fantastic discussion on exposure value versus financial value for authors that I agree with wholeheartedly.
- Charlotte @ Rainbow Reads shares a fantastic list of (over 100!) queer books coming out next year
Looking Forward
Thanks for reading this month’s Bookish Breakdown. Honestly, I *need* November to be better. It’s my birthday month (expect a blog post about that this week) and I’m going to attempt NaNoWriMo again. So, we’ll see how that fares. But, I’d really love to be physically healthy again next month. No more back and leg pain, no sickness, no family members in the hospital.
Please, universe. I need a win. 😭
What about you? I hope life is being much kinder and you’re able to be kind to yourself, too. But, let me know what’s going on and how things are going!
🖤
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![HAPPY PRIDE MONTH, EVERYONE! 🏳🌈
Queer writers deserve to have our stories told. And I want to help more writers get there.
So, in honor of Pride, I'm increasing my normal discount for all queer writers (10%) to 20% off all full manuscript edits booked the month of June 2023.
A few finer details:
Full manuscript means you can choose between three services: a developmental edit (what I'm best at!), line edit or proofreading.
You'll book in June and pay a down payment to secure your spot, but our actual edit can be anytime between now and May 2024. That way, I can be as available for as many queer writers as possible!
Even with this discount, you can still take advantage of my payment plans!
As always, I will never ask you to disclose or prove how you're queer (nor will I share it). Simply tell me you'd like to take advantage of my pride month discount and I'll take it at your word.
I wrote more about it (including a few reminders, if you're a queer writer and you're struggling) in the blog post linked below.
https://thoughtsstainedwithink.com/calling-all-queer-writers/
[Image description in alt text.]
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