Thank you again to Sam @ Taking on a World of Words for hosting this weekly meme. I’m pretty sure you all know the drill by now, but in case you don’t and you want to join, here are the three questions we always answer:

1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you will read next?

• One Dark Window – Rachel Gillig
• Our Violent Ends – Chloe Gong
• A Torch Against the Night – Sabaa Tahir

I’m doing something that I never thought I would do! Continue the series that I actually started!

I’m actually so freaking proud of myself! It’s been a few years since I read These Violent Delights, and I’m debating on whether I should have done a reread before I started the sequel, but honestly I don’t think it’s needed. I may do it later on this year, or even in a couple of years, but I’m glad that I’m back in this world. I seem to be on a fantasy kick again though, since every single book I am reading is fantasy, even though Our Violent Ends is more of historical fantasy since it’s taking place in Shanghai in the 1920s but there’s some magic involved. Very limited magic though, it’s not like the magic is well known or even utilized by a lot of people, but there are monsters to pay attention to, and the monsters aren’t people. Let’s just say that.

I’m really enjoying all of the books I’m reading, and I’m hoping that I can continue to progress on One Dark Window to try to get the next one before I can’t. I’ve also been listening to Tahir’s series with my partner, so we are working on the second book together! It’s fun to buddy read with him since he’s not much of a reader. So we are listening to it as we run errands together.

• Witch of Wild Things – Raquel Vasquez Gilliland
• An Ember in the Ashes – Sabaa Tahir
• Black Girls Must Be Magic – Jayne Allen

I’m so freaking proud of myself for getting through three books so far this month! I think I’m making pretty great progress. I have to say that I think Witch of Wild Things is going to be my all-time favorite book this year. I know it’s only February, but I love it so much! I actually want to reread it, and get a physical copy for my collection so I can annotate it one day. I remember starting to annotate A Blade so Black because I was supposed to send it to one of my friends, but we didn’t end up getting to it. I was supposed to send her that book, and she was supposed to annotate one of her favorite books and send it to me. Sometimes I feel like the act of annotation is so long and tedious, but it really is because it’s something that you need to set aside time for. It’s not something that you can finish in three hours or something, since you are reflecting on your thoughts as you’re reading the text. So maybe when things slow down again, I can try to set aside time to do this. It will be another activity to do to continue to develop and evolve my reading journey, and I’m excited to able to try to do this one day.

On a side note, do you annotate all of the books you read, or just your absolute favorites? Or do you not annotate at all? I know it’s not for everyone. I’m just curious.

• Fake Dates and Mooncakes – Sher Lee
• Black Girls Must Have it All – Jayne Allen
• No Filter and Other Lies – Crystal Maldonado
• Love, Decoded – Jennifer Yen
• Pachinko – Min Jin Lee
• She Who Became the Sun – Shelley Parker-Chan

So I still haven’t gotten to Fake Dates… I don’t know why it’s taking me so long to get to it since it’s so short, but maybe it will be the next book I read. I’m also trying to listen to all of the books I borrowed on Libby before I listen to other books that I bought so that I don’t run out of time… and Fake Dates is one that I had to buy because none of my libraries had the audiobook. But again, we will see.

I listed all the books I want to read this month, especially since they would help me accomplish this month’s challenges. Hopefully, I can get through them, but I’ll be okay either way. Here’s to hoping, though!

Here’s to also consistently posting my Wednesday post! I actually wanted to post a Sunday Post but I’ll try to aim for this Sunday to get everything out. I’ve been doing great with reading every single day, and catching up on my journal so I can stay up to date every once in a while. I’m debating on whether I need to pause while I’m going through the changes I’ve been alluding to, so that I don’t add undue stress… but when I think about it, working on my journal is one of the only things that don’t actually stress me out. I feel so calm and grounded when I work on it when I can.

Just some things that I have to think about. But I’ll figure it out. I hope everyone is having an awesome week. I have another board meeting that I have to attend at the end of this week. I have work tomorrow morning and night, and then I have to drive two hours away to spend the night before my meeting. It helps when I stay up close to where my meeting is rather than try to drive in the morning because I seem to have really bad morning migraines and it prevents me from actually going like I need to. At least I’ve figured out the hack to getting to these meetings!

I hope your reading journey is going great this year, and I hope everything else in your life is the way you want it to be. I’m rooting for you all the time.