December 21th, 2021.

Hello friend,

has it really been almost a month since my last post? It's crazy, isn't it? Time flies by so fast, and then they say it only gets worse when you get older (I'm screwed). Is that correct though, the time flies sentence? I think it is 'time flies' and 'time goes by so fast', isn't it? Oh, whatever!

WIPs: 1. Ailene (Ailene #1): second draft/editing process

I've edited so much since my last post! I'm currently at chapter 30 (out of 40) and it's going great. Of course, I'll need to start over once I'm finished, but still... I'm pretty proud of myself. The best part of it all is that I love it so much that I feel like I'm kind of living the dream. (If only I could do this for the rest of my life and actually make a living out of it, well...then I'd be living the dream life).

My cat just joined me and he says hi. He's also currently sitting on my lap + in front of my screen, so I'm now both freezing (he just came from outside) and I can't see a thing. Great fun. (No, but really he's the best, so I'm not complaining. Maybe only just a little bit.)

2. Purpose [working title] (Ailene #0.5): first draft I've actually not written anything for my second book since last time, because I'm still working out for myself what should happen next.

MY GOODNESS MY CAT'S PAWS ARE SO COLD. HELP.

Current reads: 1. Ahsoka by E.K. Johnston (yep, still reading this one. I love it, but I put it aside for a bit to read Christmas books. Same goes for number 2.

2. Everything Is F*cked: A Book About Hope by Mark Manson

3. Candy by Kelly Fox

Books I recently read and recommend:

I Am Arcana by Kristy Nicolle (eARC) I wasn't entirely sure what to expect before I started reading this poetry book, but I am glad I gave it a try. I won't claim to have lots of knowledge of what makes poetry good poetry, but I can give my opinion on their meaning (or what I think they mean) and how they make me feel, and to me, every poem in this book has a great meaning/story, and I was touched by most of them; I highly recommend this!

Christmas Wish List by N.R. Walker This was such a cute Christmas story. I must admit I haven't read the first book, but you can easily read this one as a standalone. To be honest, I'm not very fond of Christmas books, because most of them are too cheesy or too (un)realistic. Yes, I didn't make a mistake: too (un)realistic. Think of 'girl meets boy, they fall in love almost immediately and three days later they know they will stay together forever and ever and ever' VERY UNLIKELY. But come on, I really don't want a Christmas story without some magic either, so I don't want to read about people cheating on each other or...I don't know, just the miserable stuff we don't want to read about during Christmas. RIGHT? So in my search for Christmas stories, I DNFd (did not finish) eight books. EIGHT. I was almost ready to give up on my quest when I accidentally stumbled upon this book.

In Christmas Wish List, Jayden Turner agrees to a short-term chef position at a Bed and Breakfast over the Christmas holidays. OF COURSE, there he meets the love of his freaking life, and (HAHAHA) they fall in love in a little over a week, BUT for some reason it is written so well that it's actually quite believable. And it was really funny! It's a solid 4 stars for me.

But yeah, I'm still looking for that one special Christmas story. Something like A Christmas Carol (I'm so going to reread it AGAIN this Christmas, it will probably always be my favourite). If you have any recommendations, please let me know!

So, that's it for now. If you like, you can check out my Bookstagram or Goodreads page for reviews of other books I've read since my last post.

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Be kind & do good.

Love, Annabel