December Wrap Up & January TBR // Exciting things for 202!

As Imagine Dragons said…

Happy belated new year to all of you, I hope you guys are having an amazing first week of 2021! After the madness that was 2020, hopefully 2021 will be a VERY different year for all of us ✨🌱

Let’s talk about the books first!

1. THE TOWER OF NERO by Rick Riordan // ✰✰✰✰
2. RENT A BOYFRIEND by Gloria Chao // ✰✰✰✰
3. DEAD VOICES by Katherine Arden* // ✰✰✰✰✰
4. TODAY TONIGHT TOMORROW by Rachel Lynn Solomon* // ✰✰✰.5 – RTC
5. LEGENDBORN by Tracy Deonn* // ✰✰✰✰ – RTC
6. THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS by Chloe Gong* // ✰✰✰✰.5 – RTC

books with asterisk were read as part of STIL readathon

December was a great reading month for me! I didn’t really follow my monthly TBR since I decided to sign up for STIL readathon, but I highly enjoyed all my reads so it’s a win for me! I changed my prompts a bit and used RENT A BOYFRIEND as the book for my “family” prompt. The best read for me was SMALL SPACES, but I love the feelings TODAY TONIGHT TOMORROW evoked in me- it was exactly what I was looking for.

1. BEFORE THE COFFEE GETS COLD by Toshikazu Kawaguchi {eARC}
2. REVENGE OF THE SLUTS by Natalie Walton {eARC}
3. THE BRIGHT AND THE PALE by Jessica Rubinkowski {eARC}

I don’t have a specific book in mind yet for January, so I thought about knocking some e-ARCs off my TBR. They all sound amazing to start 2021 with!

• Sabrina @ Wordy and Whimsical listed 25 sequels she wants to read before she turns 25
• CW @ The Quiet Pond recommended 20 diverse and modern retellings of old classics
• Claire @ Clairefy reflected on fall 2020 where she experienced the sophomore slump but also found her passion!
• Rivalie @ Small Stained Pages shared books she had set aside for now in 2020
• CW @ The Quite Pond guides you to write that review where you’re feeling out of depth
• Fanna @ Fanna for Books shared her 5 most anticipated sequels by South Asian authors in 2021
• Sofii @ A Book A Thought shared her favorite 2020 book covers
• Maha @ Sunshine and Books wrote a helpful guide on how to request ARCs

First things first: I GOT A JOB!!!

Today marks the end of my first week and it’s been amazing so far! There are a lot of things to do and learn and I seemed to be getting in right at the thick of it, because it’s been really busy so far. I’m super excited for this new chapter of my life- I admit, I’m also terrified especially since the COVID situation in my country is bad. But it’s also super exciting?? New year, a totally new start for me. I really hope it will all work out well!

Other than that, not much happened in December. Christmas and NYE were a super low-key affairs; we joined mass at home, then just went out to the porch to watch the fireworks and took some pictures. At first I thought I would be sad, but then I realized I really enjoyed how simple and intimate the whole thing was 😄 The korean award season happened and it was amazing! We got NCT 2020 all together (their performance always slaps), Stray Kids giving different performance every single time, and GOT7 and Super Junior having a lot of fun with their performance. My favorite performance would be WayV’s Turn Back Time at MAMA, SKZ Dionysius cover at KBS Gayo Daechukje along with My House and God’s Menu at SBS Gayo Daejeon! 🤩

I guess the only significant and constant part of December was the amount of COVID scare we had. Seriously, the cases were rising rapidly and the circle is getting smaller- it seemed like a lot of people we knew got it left and right. All the hospitals are also apparently full??? It’s insane how many people still went out on a holiday and the government did not have an emergency measures to the whole situation 😨😡

• November Wrap Up & December TBR // 1 month to go!
• The Tower of Nero by Rick Riordan // The End of An Era
• Favorite Blog Posts I’ve Written // Looking back through 7 years of blogging
• Small Things in Life Readathon // Finding the good things in 2020
• My favorite 2020 song releases 🎤
• Books Under the Tree Tag 🎄
• 4 Reasons I Loved Rent A Boyfriend by Gloria Chao
• 2020 Reading Wrap Up

Happy new year! How was 2020 for you? Anything to look forward to in January or 2021 as a whole? 🌱