December Roundup
Jan. 1st, 2023 09:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
drpanda99It would probably be better to do a 2022 roundup, but my memory is such that I don't remember much from earlier in the year. Oh well.
The month got completely derailed by family stuff and me getting really sick, so only the first half of December was very productive/went as planned, but c'est la vie.
Fandom:
I got about 15k words done on my Bottomji Big Bang fic! First check-in is done, so that means I'll be assigned an artist soon! I'm officially 1/4 (ish?) complete, so I'm hoping to keep up this pace so I have plenty of time to edit this time around.
No other writing got done, but I did come up with my idea for an exchange fic due... very soon. Should probably do that, hmm.
I tried to clean up some of my MFL list this month with marginal success. I'm hoping to cut down to 10 pages by the end of March *fingers crossed*.
Reading:
Thanks to the magic of Audible, I have been able to hit my reading goals for the year and actually exceed them!
Jade Legacy by Fonda Lee: I finally finished this series - I was holding off on the last novel because I heard it was an emotional rollercoaster. It definitely was and I found myself bawling at several parts. A very fitting conclusion to the series that actually felt concluded. The last scene touched back on the first scene of the series and the decades worth of storylines were wrapped up. I'm really sad to be done with this series, but I will definitely be reading whatever Fonda Lee writes next!
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Hendrix, Grady: This was the free Audible book for this month or last month in Canada. I DNF'd it (which is very rare for me) because I could not get over the passivity of the characters and the sheer degree of racism, sexism, classism, etc. I know it's written to reflect how things were "at that time" and in Southern USA, but it ended up feeling like an excuse for the (male) author to be as racist/sexist/etc as he wanted. I had originally thought it was written by a woman and thought maybe they were sharing some of the things they had experienced at first, but even when I believed that it was still too much. I would not recommend this.
The Vampire Wish series by Michelle Madow: I got this because I got 4 books for $5 and I thought I enjoyed Michelle Madow's work in the past. I was wrong. I got Michelle Madow mixed up with Richelle Mead for whatever reason (who writes the kind of vampire/supernatural stuff that I actually enjoy) and didn't realize until after I finished this series. I apparently listened to the entirety of book 3 while I was either drunk or asleep and had no recollection of the entire book; despite this, I managed to correctly predict the major events of book 4 and probably got marginally more enjoyment out of series because I missed book 3 (because the climactic fight of the series was such a huge let down). Anyway. I also would not recommend this.
Chinese Learning:
I managed to catch up on doing a few of the poems for poetry club yesterday! I'll probably upload my translations to date either tomorrow or later this week. I've been holding off because I want to record readings of the poems (both original and translations) for fun and accessibility but my voice is still dying from the URTI. I might do the uploads separately, we'll see.
Knitting:
I made a headband for a friend (with skulls!!) that I failed to take a picture of before giving it away like just about every other gift I make lol. I made some progress on the final sleeve of a sweater I started last year and put down at the last 1/2 sleeve, which is very me to do. Didn't get much else done.
And that's a wrap for this month! It definitely kinda sucked, but the fact I got anything done is a Christmas miracle. I'll practice being kind to myself and be proud of what I managed. Here's to hoping 2023 is better than the last two shit years I've had! lol
The month got completely derailed by family stuff and me getting really sick, so only the first half of December was very productive/went as planned, but c'est la vie.
Fandom:
I got about 15k words done on my Bottomji Big Bang fic! First check-in is done, so that means I'll be assigned an artist soon! I'm officially 1/4 (ish?) complete, so I'm hoping to keep up this pace so I have plenty of time to edit this time around.
No other writing got done, but I did come up with my idea for an exchange fic due... very soon. Should probably do that, hmm.
I tried to clean up some of my MFL list this month with marginal success. I'm hoping to cut down to 10 pages by the end of March *fingers crossed*.
Reading:
Thanks to the magic of Audible, I have been able to hit my reading goals for the year and actually exceed them!
Jade Legacy by Fonda Lee: I finally finished this series - I was holding off on the last novel because I heard it was an emotional rollercoaster. It definitely was and I found myself bawling at several parts. A very fitting conclusion to the series that actually felt concluded. The last scene touched back on the first scene of the series and the decades worth of storylines were wrapped up. I'm really sad to be done with this series, but I will definitely be reading whatever Fonda Lee writes next!
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Hendrix, Grady: This was the free Audible book for this month or last month in Canada. I DNF'd it (which is very rare for me) because I could not get over the passivity of the characters and the sheer degree of racism, sexism, classism, etc. I know it's written to reflect how things were "at that time" and in Southern USA, but it ended up feeling like an excuse for the (male) author to be as racist/sexist/etc as he wanted. I had originally thought it was written by a woman and thought maybe they were sharing some of the things they had experienced at first, but even when I believed that it was still too much. I would not recommend this.
The Vampire Wish series by Michelle Madow: I got this because I got 4 books for $5 and I thought I enjoyed Michelle Madow's work in the past. I was wrong. I got Michelle Madow mixed up with Richelle Mead for whatever reason (who writes the kind of vampire/supernatural stuff that I actually enjoy) and didn't realize until after I finished this series. I apparently listened to the entirety of book 3 while I was either drunk or asleep and had no recollection of the entire book; despite this, I managed to correctly predict the major events of book 4 and probably got marginally more enjoyment out of series because I missed book 3 (because the climactic fight of the series was such a huge let down). Anyway. I also would not recommend this.
Chinese Learning:
I managed to catch up on doing a few of the poems for poetry club yesterday! I'll probably upload my translations to date either tomorrow or later this week. I've been holding off because I want to record readings of the poems (both original and translations) for fun and accessibility but my voice is still dying from the URTI. I might do the uploads separately, we'll see.
Knitting:
I made a headband for a friend (with skulls!!) that I failed to take a picture of before giving it away like just about every other gift I make lol. I made some progress on the final sleeve of a sweater I started last year and put down at the last 1/2 sleeve, which is very me to do. Didn't get much else done.
And that's a wrap for this month! It definitely kinda sucked, but the fact I got anything done is a Christmas miracle. I'll practice being kind to myself and be proud of what I managed. Here's to hoping 2023 is better than the last two shit years I've had! lol
no subject
Date: 2023-01-02 02:39 am (UTC)Take care and get some rest, I hope this new year goes way better than the previous ones!
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Date: 2023-01-02 02:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-01-03 12:54 am (UTC)A headband with skulls sounds like so much fun!
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Date: 2023-01-03 02:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-01-03 01:11 am (UTC)And I heard Fonda Lee's books was super good. Ahhh feeling sad after a series is down is a good feeling. I'll have to move her books up my to-read list.
Glad you're feeling better too!
no subject
Date: 2023-01-03 02:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-01-03 04:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-01-03 07:29 pm (UTC)Ok looks like I do have some suggestions after all lol.
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Date: 2023-01-06 08:53 pm (UTC)LOL my sister read These Violent Delights and hated it, lmao. I think she kind of felt betrayed because her friend highly recommended it to her. But I trust my sister's judgment and yours so I probably won't be touching that. Haven't heard of Shadow of the Fox so I'll definitely add that to my list!
I'm about to start The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea - have you read that at all?
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Date: 2023-01-08 09:25 pm (UTC)Omg These Violent Delights sucked so much... I paid money for it and its sequel via Audible and I feel truly ripped off lmao.
I haven't read the Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, but it's on my to reads list! I'm currently waiting for it from my library. I'd love to hear what you think of it! =D
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Date: 2023-01-09 04:35 am (UTC)Oh noooo!! I'm so sorry - yeah, my sister paid for the physical book (rip).
WELL I just started. I like the story so far, but the writing is meh to me. Sometimes it's nice, but sometimes it's over-the-top dramatic.
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Date: 2023-01-15 05:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-01-03 07:05 pm (UTC)Also, the headband that you knitted sounds adorable!
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Date: 2023-01-03 07:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-01-05 04:34 pm (UTC)I haven’t really paid attention to the event, when is it supposed to be posted?
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Date: 2023-01-08 09:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-01-09 06:23 pm (UTC)Good luck for many, many words! :D