January 29th, 2022

Hello friend,

Just a short post today since I’m having a bit of a headache.

Current reads

The Legends of Luke Skywalker by Ken Liu

Books I recently read and recommend:

Here's To Us (What If It’s Us #2) by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera

Ben has spent his first year of college working on his fantasy manuscript with his writing partner Mario, who is a great Spanish tutor, and an even better kisser. So why can’t he stop thinking about the fact that Arthur’s back in town two years after they called it quits? Arthur is in New York for a dream internship on Broadway, with a boyfriend back at home that he couldn't be happier with. But when he comes upon Ben cuddled up with a mystery boy, he starts to wonder if his feelings for Ben ever truly went away. Even as the boys try to focus on their futures, they can't seem to help running into each other in the present. Is the universe forcing them to question if they’re actually meant to be? Possibly not. After all, things didn’t work the first time around. Possibly yes. After all, the sparks are still flying. Sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith and raise a glass. Here’s to celebrating old friends! Here’s to embracing new beginnings! Here’s to believing in second chances!

REVIEW ** spoiler alert **

This was EXACTLY what I needed. Thank you, Becky Albertalli, for always finding ways to put a smile on my face. I forgive you, Adam Silvera, for always finding ways to break my heart (just to be clear: I always 'complain' about Silvera, but I think he's both an amazing writer and person, and his books are really, really good. So one bad word about him and I'll hunt you down. Nah, just kidding. Or am I?). Thank you both for this perfect, PERFECT ending. I love Arthur (and Ben of course, but I have a soft spot for Arthur) so much and I'm incredibly sad I won't be able to read about him anymore (unless, of course, I reread both books, which I certainly will), but I'm also really happy he FINALLY got the HEA he deserved. The book itself was so easy to read. I found myself laughing out loud numerous times, and I loved how both Mario and Mikey were really great guys as well. During the chapters about Arthur and Mikey I actually shipped them together, and the same thing happened with Ben and Mario. Yet, the moment Ben and Arthur were thrown into the same room (or just any place really) together, it became immediately clear they were the ones that were meant to be. Ben and Mario were good together, Arthur and Mikey were good together, but Arthur and Ben are RIGHT together, and I think that's one of the main reasons why this book is so brilliant. Here's To Us is literally the best do-over ever.

WIPs: Purpose (Ailene #0.5): first draft I finished part two (there are four parts), so I guess I’m halfway now!

Digital Art

I made a drawing of Jax and Liam (Purpose characters) and it was so incredibly difficult. Liam was doable, but for a really long time Jax didn’t look like Jax and it was super frustrating. I spend almost an entire day trying (I really need to learn not to obsess over these kinds of things) and then I wasn’t able to draw for 2 days because my hand/arm hurt too much. Yep, I’m an idiot.

Yesterday I tried again and ha-ha the universe was being its funny self once again: I managed to fix Jax in less than 5 minutes.

What do you think? Does it look good (enough)?

Anyway, that's it for now. Have a great day and don’t forget to like this post (by clicking on the heart in the bottom right corner of this post), leave a comment below, and/or subscribe to my blog by entering your email address in the Subscribe Form at the bottom of the page.

Be kind & do good.

Love, Annabel