Monthly Digest & Wrap Up

Monthly Digest | September 2022

Reading

Maledictions: A Horror Anthology by Cassandra Khaw, I ended up really enjoying this collection of horror short stories. It was just great to pick up here and there and read something when I didn’t have a ton of time. That being said, it is a collection and I liked some sort stories better than others. I feel like that is just how collections work though in general. This was also my first introduction to the WarHammer universe and I enjoyed how vast it is through these little stories. I am interested in diving into this universe a bit more, I just need to figure out where to dive in fully.

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy, I know a lot of people have been talking about this memoir so I won’t ramble on too much. I really loved this memoir because of McCurdy’s voice and her ability to explain her story and her feelings. This book has a lot of tough topics throughout, various types of abuse, which no child should have to go through. Let alone from their own mother. This book was one I had a hard time putting down because I just wanted to keep reading and I have to say I am so happy for McCurdy and where she is now. In charge of her own decisions and her own life.

Crochet, Knitting and Crafting

Sadly, I did not finish my sweater by the end of the month, but I am so close! I had to wait for a needle to get here, in the mean time I ended up starting and finishing another project while I waited. I ended up crocheting a Float Tote by Knitty Natty, which is like a project bag, but you also create an insert to organize different skeins of yarn. I ended up making the biggest size, 5 skeins. I plan on using this to make a sweater where I am knitting together 3 strands at a time and this is perfect so all my yarn doesn’t get tangled and roll all over the place.

Life

This month I really focused on my making my space comfortable and relaxing. I ended up doing an unhaul a bit of books to donate locally. I also reorganized my dressers and closet to better work for me as well. It was a lot of work, but now that it is done I am really happy and feel a bit more at ease when I walk in the door since I am not faced with so much clutter and stuff piled everywhere. I do have one more drawer, my crafting drawer, that I want to tackle still, but I am waiting until next month and the colder months to look through those items. The main reason being I tend to do more crafting during that time of the year and I want to see what I use and don’t use.

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Monthly Intent & TBR

Monthly Intent | September 2022

Hello and welcome to my blog! I am just taking a moment to write some goals I have for myself this upcoming month. This month I feel like I am already ready to say goodbye to the heat of summer and embrace the light chill in the air of the start of fall later in the month. I don’t know about you, but I am already noticing the days getting shorter. Anyway, with all that in mind here is my intent for the month of September

Reading Plans

This month I would like to finish my two current reads, Maledictions: A Horror Anthology by Cassandra Khaw and I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy. I mentioned yesterday in my Monthly Digest | August 2022 post that I have really been enjoying both of them for different reasons. I am about 30% into both of them so I feel like I will fly through the rest of both of them.

Crochet and Knitting Plans

Collar and start of zigzag section of the colorwork yolk on needles and balls of yarn attached.

This month I have the goal of completing a sweater called Alpenglow I by Andrea Mowry. I have never made a colorwork sweater, but so far I am really enjoying it! It has been engaging so I don’t think I will have a problem finishing it up.

Random Goals

As for my random goal of the month, I really would like organize my space a bit more. I did a lot of unhauling of books, items, etc. because I had to downsize. While I was able to take some things out of my space, I kind of just shoved things where ever they would fit instead of organizing. So it has been a little difficult finding items and my space just doesn’t seem to be working for me. I feel like it is going to take some time, but I really want try to tackle it. or at least most of it, this month.

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Wrap Up

Middle Mark | September 2020

Hello and welcome to a little reading check in! Every month I do a mid month check in to share what I have finished so far and what I am in the middle of reading. So far, this month is going pretty well, but I entered a bit of a slump, I am hoping it just lasts this week. Fingers crossed! But, on to the books!


Midnight Sun (Twilight, #5)Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I got very bored halfway though. The main selling point of this book is seeing more of the Cullens. That is how this book got 2 stars. The rest, really didn’t really keep me engaged and was not really interesting.

View all my reviews The Financial Diet: A Total Beginner's Guide to Getting Good with MoneyThe Financial Diet: A Total Beginner’s Guide to Getting Good with Money by Chelsea Fagan
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This was a VERY basic finance book that seems to be only for women. If you know anything about basic budgeting you can skip this. But, this could be good for someone who just graduated and is just starting out.

View all my reviews Shiver: Selected StoriesShiver: Selected Stories by Junji Ito
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As always Junji Ito has an eerie imagination. This is a bind up if twisted tails with curse, monsters, and some out of this world things. Since it was a bind up, I don’t want to say too much other than all were equally creepy and were very distinct. If you like manga and horror I suggest you give it a go. TW for suicide and murder.

View all my reviews One by OneOne by One by Ruth Ware
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

*Book given via netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

Overall, I really enjoyed this thriller. The setting was amazing, the atmosphere was palpable, the characters were interesting as well as their dynamics, and the story fully pulled me in. Once again Ware has proven to be an amazing writer and continues to be one of my auto-buy authors. Even though I received this book for free, I am going to go pick up another on publication day. If you want a good secluded thriller that appears to be a dream come true at first, but turns into a horror, I feel like this is one you should certainly look into.

View all my reviews Tidy the F*ck Up: The American Art of Organizing Your Sh*tTidy the F*ck Up: The American Art of Organizing Your Sh*t by Messie Condo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A hilarious approach to decluttering and getting your space in order. I laughed quite a few times, but it has some great advice as well. It really got me in the right mindset to get cleaning and sorting.

View all my reviews

I am currently reading two tomes, the firs is 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami and I am about 14% through it. From what I have read, I can see why so many people enjoy it and I am actually excited to pick it up again. The reason I have not is because I like sitting for more than an hour with this book. The second book is A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon, I am 36% through this one, I had to stop this one because I was borrowing it from the library. I have it on hold again so as soon as it comes in I will fly through it.


What was the last book you read, did you like it?

How are your reading month coming along? 

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Hauls & Unhauls

Book Unhaul | November 2019

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Hello and welcome to my book unhaul. So, with the end of the year coming I really like to take the time to go through my owned TBR and read pile and decide if I really am going to read some of these books in the new year or reread them in the future.

If you are unfamiliar, I have a challenge of sorts when it comes to my owned tbr to help keep it in check and from getting completely out of hand again. My TBR used to be over 100 and now I sit around 35 most of the time. I do this by saying to myself if I don’t read it within a year of buying it, I need to unhaul it. At this time I actually read all the books I bought before January 2019, so I am doing very well with this. On the other hand my owned and read shelf is a little over the top and I am running out of room quick. So, I would like this time to reevaluate my shelves so I can donate books during the holiday season to libraries and other charities.

If you want to see my most up to date owned TBR list you can check that out here:Bookish Luna’s Owned TBR Shelf 


-Books I Unhauled-

All of the books in this pile I read and honestly some of these were not easy to unhaul such as A Very Large Expanse of Sea and the Teddy Roosevelt trilogy. But, if I am being honest with myself, I wont ever reread these. I do have one negative memory with Carry On, when it came out I was in the hospital for a decent chunk of time and I read it there, and quite honestly I can’t bring myself to reread it.

Here are a few classics that I read and enjoyed as well. Pet Sematary is going because I don’t like the edition and I want a better one. The others I wont ever reread personally and A Little Princess also has a bad association with it, so I don’t really want the reminder around.

I really enjoyed the books in this pile apart from A Delusion of Satan, I got it on vacation a few years ago when I went to Salem, LOVEE Salem would go again, but it was just awfully written. Also, same is true of the Salem’s Witch House. Once again it was hard to get rid of the Teddy books and also the Eleanor Roosevelt books because I have had them for so long. Washington Black, Stalin’s Daughter, and The Underground Railroad are only going because a good friend wants them. If they were not wanted, they would be staying with me.

So, the top is the original serialized edition of The Green Mile, which is a wonderful story.  I am only getting rid of them because they are falling apart and I would not be able to reread them. Doctor Who Fairy Tales were cute to read, but I have not reached for them for years. All of the books in this pile were once again really good, but I just wont reread them if I am honest with myself.

The same is true for this pile, apart from three book. a majority of these were read and loved, but I am not going to reread. The three books I just unhauled without reading were Wicked Saints, His Perfect Wife, and The Flight Portfolio because I never saw myself really wanted to read them even though they sound awesome.

61 books Unhauled!


Would you have kept any of these books?

What is the last book you unhauled?

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Hauls & Unhauls

Book Unhaul | March 2019

declutter

Hello everyone, since I managed to acquire a ton of books I decided to revise my shelves to see if there were any books I was willing to part with and make room for some new arrivals. I don’t know about you, but I have done quite a bit of unhauls in the past few years. With everyone I do I find that it is harder and harder to get rid of the books on my shelf. I think it is because I have really gotten my reading tastes down and because I have already removed the “easy” books.

This round I found that I was able to still get rid of quite a few, 13 in fact. But, I had to make quite a few hard decisions. Since some of these have great memories attached to them and I did quite enjoy many of these as well. I just had to realize, I was never going to reread any of them.

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-The Books-

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-The Reasons-

The Silent Companions: I was given this book for free from my local indie bookstore, which was really nice of them. I just realized that I was never really going to be in the mood to read it, even though it sounded really interesting. It has made the cut for many unhauls already, but this time I realize that it was always in the maybe pile, but I never picked it up to read.

in a dark, dark wood: I really loved this book and Ruth Ware is one of my auto buy authors. Just for me it is really hard to reread a thriller and I would rather donate this book and allow someone else to experience this wonderful book!

Feminists Don’t Wear Pink: This book was also hard to part with, I really enjoyed reading it, but ultimately I think it would be better passed on to someone else who would love to read it since I would not be rereading it.

Fresh Ink: I am not a big anthology person so I knew I would never reread this. I am going to be passing this on to a friend who loves reading collections from various authors.

Everything’s Eventual: I have so many Stephen King books I love and I would rather just have the ones I love instead of just having all of his books if I am honest.

The Winter People: I loved this book, I just will never reread it in the future. I would rather allow someone else to read it.

East of Eden: I read this and I was eh about it. I will be donating it.

Faithful: Love this author, but I have never really been in the mood to read this book.

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing: I picked this book up for the BN book club, I lost it, found it and realized I didn’t care about it at all. I never finished it and I don’t really care to. It wasn’t a bad book. I just didn’t care.

The Broken Girls: Another amazing books that I want to share with others, I just wont ever reread it.

The Book of Essie: I realized I was more into the idea of this book than actually reading it. Which, is a huge shame.

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things: I think I was not in the right mood to read this book, but I thought it was okay and I am passing it on to my friend Reg!

The Wicked Deep: This is another book I really loved the idea of this book and I read the first few chapters and enjoyed it. I was just never really pulled in enough to keep on reading. I think it was just the mood I was in when I picked it up, but I know I am not going to pick it up again and I would prefer not to waste a good book.

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Those are the books and the reasons why I am unhauling them. Do you agree with my decisions? What is the last book you unhauled?

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Let's Talk

Decluttering | Switching to Ebooks

declutter

So, in the past I have written quite a bit on decluttering and finding balance in my life. You can find some of those posts here, decluttering. I have done many book unhauls and I have gone through quite a bit of my belongings. But, there is one thing I always have difficulty with keeping organized and a bay, my books.

While I know there is quite a bit of talk around books and Marie Kondo, much of it being misquotes and unfair towards her in my option.  Anyway, this is a method I have used to get my life organized and it has helped me quite a bit. Anyway, I digress. Books are still an area I have trouble with, an area I spend a ton of money on. I want to change this.

I currently have 3 bookshelves that are filled with books stuffed all over the place. I don’t feel joy when I look at it, in fact I feel as though I am doing the books a disservice. They look uncared for and unloved, which is far from the truth. Forty of these books are unread, the rest have been read and have found a place in my heart where I can’t currently part with them. Here is the problem, at this point all of the books I own I love and want to keep, but I have no room.

To rectify this I have decided to try and make the switch to ebooks. I already own a kindle, the most basic one, it would not cost me anymore money to make the switch. While I do use it from time to time, I do overall enjoy using it. It is light and I can carry it around with me without worrying about it becoming bent or ripped.

While I know this decision might be controversial to some, I too love reading a physical book. But, it is the best route that I can think of for my own personal journey. I feel like I am not giving my books justice and that just isn’t how I want to feel.

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What do you think about ebooks? Do you read off an ereader?

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Lists & Recommendations

Annotating My Bookshelf | II

BOOKSHELVES   

Since I enjoyed annotating my shelves so much I decided to share a little more. So this shelf is a little more aimed towards classics and modern classics, but not strictly. After the image I will link all of the book titles to their goodreads accounts so you can learn more about them. Also, on this shelf I read a total of 6 books out of the 9. Not to bad if you ask me.

Oddly, I forgot to annotate for Isherwood’s A Single Man, it was heart breaking, but beautiful. Divider

The Books

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle

The Life Changing Manga of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Prater Violet by Christopher Isherwood

Down There on a Visit by Christopher Isherwood

A Meeting by the River by Christopher Isherwood

A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood

Christopher and His Kind by Christopher Isherwood

 

*All links go to their goodreads pages.

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Do you have any thoughts on these books?

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Knitting, Crochet & More

DECLUTTERING | Make Up, Hair, and Self Care

declutter

I don’t know about you, but over the years I have subscribed to beauty boxes over the years and have so many samples hidden in my bathroom and in my bedroom. I have often found myself using a product not because I liked it or really wanted to try it, but because I paid for it and I want to get moneys worth of it. Now while reading through Marie Kondo’s book she sights this a large reason why people keep things. She says people feel like they are being wasteful or feel guilty. I fall into the first category, especially when it comes to the hair and makeup categories.

Now before I went though this drawer I wanted to get down to the reason why I felt guilt getting rid of things I don’t like or don’t use. When you think about it is sounds silly. “I feel horrible about getting rid of this thing I don’t like”. If someone said that to me I would be confused. The more I thought about it I realized I hate being wasteful of the product and of money. I feel guilty not using a product because someone else could have used it or needed it. I also feel guilty because I spent money I worked for on something I wasn’t using.

At this point I decided I needed to stop just buying skincare, makeup, hair care, and other beauty and self care product without researching. Also, I needed to stop getting samples to random products and only get samples of products I am very much interested in. I do not wear mascara so why did I need 4 samples of them? So I decided to cancel the my beauty box subscription to avid this problem again.

Before

After

As you can see, I cleared out a lot of this drawer. My massive amount of samples and unused hair products have been removed, I can actually see the bottom of the drawer. I placed all of my skin care and makeup in the galaxy bag to the right and all my hair styling goodies I use everyday or every other day in the middle. It is nice to know exactly where all my things are and not have to dig through a bunch of stuff. Since taking the After picture I put the my clear little hair ties and bobby pins in a small box so they do not spill all over the place. Yay for functional organization and only needing to organize the things you actually use!

What are your can’t live without hair or skin care products and/or makeup products?

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Hauls & Unhauls

Decluttering | My Books

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So this time around I did not take pictures of my declutter for two reasons, I had way to may books to fit in a single picture and the second was, I did not want to look back on some of my unread books and get mad at myself.

Now in the KonMari method you are instructed to get rid of all your unread books and only keep books you have read and spark joy. You are not allowed to read descriptions and you cannot open the book. You can only look at the cover and hold it in your hands. Now as a book worm running a bookblog I obviously love books. I love surrounding my self with them and often buy new ones even though I have some unread ones waiting for me at my house. This category was very difficult for me.

I decided to break this category down into two groups read and unread. I decided to tackle the read ones first then the unread ones, more on that later. I think the longest part was taking all the books off of my shelf. I counted all of my beloved books and it was nearly 200 books. Even though I am a book lover, for some reason this just felt like to much. I knew deep down I was never going to reread 200 books. I knew I had a lot of work ahead of me.

When I finally conquered my read books I took all the unread books off of my shelf and placed them on the floor in front of me. Now, I broke a rule. I kept some of my unread books for a few reasons. The first was I just went on a short vacation with my mom and I bought a few books that I have already started to read so I knew I was going to read them and they filled me with joy. The second reason was even though they were unread they filled me with joy. Now the whole purpose of this method is to surround yourself with things that spark joy, well just because something is unread doesn’t mean it does not spark joy. Even though I broke this rule, I did end up admitting to myself that I was not going to read all the books on my TBR, so they went into the donation bin.

When I finished going through all of my books I went from nearly 200 down to 119. I donated nearly 80 books. Even though I have already done this and all the books have found a new home at my local library I cannot believe I had that many books. I am currently sitting looking at the books I have left and I cannot imagine where those 80 books fit.

Even though I removed 80 books from my collection I am very happy. All the books I have are sitting properly so their binding will not be damaged. I can see each book I own. All the books I have make me happy. As a bookworm it is like a dream come true. My books reflect me, they are well taken care of, and they aren’t crowded or hidden away.

Now that the hard category is finished, on to an easier one!

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Knitting, Crochet & More

Decluttering | Daily Clothing

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I have to say over the years I have collected a lot of clothing that at times seems all over the place. I have dress clothes and high heels as well as having t-shirts with skulls and lace up boots covered in studs. I think the main reason for this is because over the last 10 years or so of my life and style has changed considerably. At this point in my life I can no longer wear the clothes I wore 10, 7, or 5 years ago on a daily basis to work. So i have essentially two different wardrobes in my closet. I have work clothes and weekend clothes, but this makes it hard to find clothes to wear. I would like to streamline my clothing and have pieces that work well together.

Now, in no way am I going to give up my leather jackets or my studded boots, but I need to find a balance between these and my work clothing. Now through some research I have come across katberries post on capsule wardrobes and loved the graphic that she

posted. It shows a variety of colors that work together and can be mixed and matched. I used this for a guide while sorting through my clothing. Now, I am not aiming to have a capsule wardrobe, but I want my clothes to work together.

I did not discard clothes if the color was not on this palette but I did discard them if I was iffy and they were not on this palette. Since I am aiming to mesh my personal style and my work clothes together I though it was most important to remove things I was iffy about and did not help me in this venture.

I will say that I do have some clothing in storage that I cannot get to at this point in time, but I am going to sort through it as soon as I can get access to them. Trust me, if I could go through them I would have. Anyway, I will stop my rambling and get to showing you my before and after for my closet.

Before

After


I stunned myself with this process. In the first picture you can see my closet is jammed packed with clothes, shoes, and other odds and ends. I hated opening my closet, I usually had  trouble finding things and when I went to take a shirt out a few more usually came with it. I ended up getting rid of 5 bags worth of clothing and shoes. All of which I donated right away since 99% of it was in good condition. Plus a lot of it was work clothing I did not really enjoy anymore and I know work or professional clothing is much needed.

My closet is now more open at the bottom, I can actually see the back wall! Plus, my clothes aren’t as jam packed. Also, my shoes now all fit in my vertical shoe organizer and I was able to get rid of my floor one, which never did much good for me honestly. I am very happy with this outcome. I cannot wait to do the next category, although I am a bit worried because it is books. Ekk!

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