Reading Wednesday Thursday Friday.

If's been a while since I've done one of these but it's not been for a lack of reading!

What I've finished reading
Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer. I thought it managed to hold up the atmosphere and uneasiness factor the whole way through, and I was definitely intrigued by the biologist, though I was a little unsure about the Crawler scene. I'm not sure I'll reread this, but I'm glad I read it and I'll be reading the next book in the Trilogy, Authority, as I'm even more curious about Area X now.

The Chicagoland Vampire series by Chloe Neill. I spent about a fortnight reading these and they were exactly what I needed them to be: fast, enjoyable reads that distracted me. I was a little disappointed that I didn't love the rest of the books as much as I loved the first one, but not enough to stop me adoring certain characters or carry on reading. I will be reading new books in the series as they come out, but I think they will be library only books.

Poison Study by Maria V Snyder. I first read this years ago and though I hadn't really planned on rereading it, it crossed my desk at work and it really appealed to the mood I was in. I really enjoyed reading it again even if it did feel a little clunkier in some places than I remember. The main romance seemed a lot less sudden for me this time, but I think this is just that I have become better at reading subtext since then rather than I was expecting it. I plan on catching up with the other two in the trilogy sometime soon.

The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith. As with the first one, my main reaction was ROBIN! and this time around I really appreciated Strike a lot more. I definitely agree with those who say the locations are a bit over described, but that didn't stop me enjoying it and after a while I stopped noticing as the book completely sucked me in. My overall reaction is the same as the first one as well; really enjoyed it, don’t particularly plan on rereading it, but I’m looking forward to the next one.

I DNF'd Trading in Danger by Elizabeth Moon. I finally admitted it just wasn't doing anything for me so off to the charity shop it goes.


What I'm reading
The Shadow Throne by Django Wexler. Well, I've only just started this but it is shaping up to be full of political intrigue and I've really liked what I've read so far.

Thief's Magic by Trudi Canavan. It's hard to tell if its me or the book, but I've lost a lot of my initial enthusiasm for this. I did skim ahead though and it seems like I will like it later on so I'll carry on with this next week when I've had a chance to relax and get some enthusiasm back.

What' I'm reading next
I've got a pile of books I plan to read on my week off: Authority, The Martian by Andy Weir, The Lascar's Dagger by Glenda Larke, and Girls, Goddesses and Giants by Lari Don.

WIP: Oodles and oodles and a bit of hooking

Let's just pretend it's Wednesday.

I've been doing oodles and oodles of lovely, brain-free garter stitch lately as the log cabin blanket has been my mainstay project. It's also lovely and cosy for curling up to knit with (usually in the evening when it gets quite cool) so that's a definite plus.

There is a super-secret project going on in our family just now that means I'm crocheting again. I'm still fairly new at it, and these motifs are taking more brain power than I have at times so my progress here is a lot slower. I am really pleased with the one I've finished though so it is proving something of a mood boost!

Sucess Journalling

For a multitude of reasons life has been rather rough lately to say the least. I'm trying to get my mental health back on track so I thought I would try success journalling, something I've heard and read a lot about over the last couple of years as being beneficial.

Success journalling is exactly what it sounds like: at the end of each day you reflect and write down what you consider to be successful or positive about your day. It can be anything from the smallest thing to the larger, the idea is to remind you that despite the fact we can have a tendency to dwell on the negative, positive things do occur in our lives.Things like spent time with friends or family, knitted or crocheted, wrote, cooked, made an awesome cup of tea, didn't eat all the chocolate raisins (wait, is that just me?), anything at all during our day that is good or positive.

I've seen different numbers bandied about as the ideal list number, but after thinking about it carefully I settled on a minimum of six things. It's a big enough number to make a positive impression, but not too big that it's going to make me feel worse on bad days for not being able to come up with more.

It's also a good reason to break out one of the notebooks from my stash. (Not that I really need one.) This one in particular is purple with shiny owls, and it practically screamed my name the second I saw it in Paperchase. I look forward to writing in it every night (especially with a purple pen that is a nice writer), and that can only be a good habit builder.