This hasn’t been the best month for me. I mean, what month has been lately, for most people? But still. It was also my birthday, but I didn’t do anything special. Couldn’t even if I felt up to it, what with the pandemic and all.
Anyway, unable to focus on much, I’ve watched a lot of baking shows on Netflix. They’re a nice distraction, and I’ve rarely come across one I didn’t like. “Is It Cake?” was silly and fun, and I’m always impressed by how people can make cake look like real things. “Baking Impossible” was cool because of how it combined baking and engineering. My favorite was the costumes, some of those were gorgeous! I also watched “Zumbo’s Just Desserts S2.” They make some whimsical and pretty desserts on that show. After that, I watched “School of Chocolate,” and not only was the food really cool, I liked how it was more focused on teaching/learning than competing.
I’ve also taken to flipping through shorts on YouTube or watching compilation videos of things like art, hair transformations, cute animals, and more baking. My mood differs, and sometimes YouTube will toss me some random thing that turns out to be really entertaining. Didn’t know I’d be into sheep-shearing videos until I tried them! (I recommend the Right Choice Shearing channel.)
A bit further into the month, I managed to do some art, though it turned out to be a frustrating one. I haven’t quite finished it yet, so I’ll share it here next update, or you can see it when I post it on Twitter for Mermay. And, as usual, I’m excited to check out everyone else’s #Mermay2022 art on Twitter over the next month!
Blog/Bookish Updates:
I’m finally just about caught up on posting reviews that I had backlogged. I don’t review every book I read, but for so long I had so many reviews just sitting there in my drafts, finished but not posted. Now the problem is that I might run out of posts because I haven’t found a lot of books lately that I feel strongly enough about to review. Oh well. I’ve got bigger problems to worry about than maybe skipping a post day here and there.
Books I Received for Review:
Felix Silver, Teaspoons, & Witches by Harry Cook, from NetGalley. Poised in Either Eye by B. Pigeon & Fell A. Marsh, from StoryOrigin.
Books I Finished:
If you’re considering buying one of the books below from Amazon, I’d really appreciate if you’d use my affiliate link!
All That’s Left in the World by Erik J. Brown – A lovely queer post-apoc YA book. Appropriate heaviness of a post-apoc story, but still sweet and hopeful.
Believe Me by Tahereh Mafi – A really sweet extra after the events of Book 6.
Capt. Hook, The Adventures of a Notorious Youth by J. V. Hart – I’ve finally found the kind of Hook backstory book I’ve been wanting! Well, close. Disappointed it ended before he got to Neverland, but this author really did the character justice and wrote a fun story.
Red Riding Hood by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright – I’d been wanting to try this one for so long, but I was disappointed. A great premise, but I just didn’t feel much in the execution.
The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks – Definitely not bad, though I couldn’t get super into this one either. But I loved how believably flawed/awkward/anxious/frustrating the characters were.
Poised in Either Eye by B. Pigeon & Fell A. Marsh – A light, quick, nice read about gay dragons trying to blend in as humans.
The Ghost Variations by Kevin Brockmeier – I think 100 stories about ghosts was a really cool idea, and the stories were really creative, even if super short stories aren’t quite for me.
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller – I waited so long to try this one because I was scared of the emotions, but I was actually a bit bored and not emotional.
In Case You Missed It:
– I reviewed The Alpha’s Son by Penny Jessup, a queer YA shifter book with a bit of both romance and action.
– I reviewed All That’s Left in the World by Erik J. Brown, a nice queer YA post-apoc both heavy and sweet.
– I shared some of my reader confessions and unpopular opinions.
– I recommended 10 books about dragons… kinda.
– I reviewed Song of Farca, a fun, somewhat intense hacker/P.I. puzzle game.
– I reviewed Trailer Park Trickster by David R. Slayton, a great sequel in a m/m urban fantasy with imperfect relationships that shone.
Happy belated birthday! I don’t bake but I love watching baking shows, so I’ll have to check some of those out!
Thanks! I also do not bake, haha.
Happy birthday! I love baking shows. If I’m home alone and need company, I always put on the food channel. Have a great May!
Thanks! They’re just kinda chill shows, it’s nice. You too!
“Didn’t know I’d be into sheep-shearing videos until I tried them!”
😂
At least the internet brings you some confort. Happy belated birthday!
I had my eyes set on The Ghost Variations because, well, you know me and ghosts LOL. But I don’t always fare well with short stories, especially (like you pointed out) the very short ones.
Looking forward to your MerMay art!
Really, you should watch one lol. The wool as it fluffs off is so hypnotizing!
Thanks 🙂
Who knows, maybe you’d like it? It does have a lot of really ideas.
I’ll probably share it soon!
Happy Belated Birthday!! My best friend’s birthday was April 22. She didn’t get to do much either for her birthday. I’m hoping to give her her birthday present today. Yesterday I finished listening to The House Long Ago by Steve Berry. It is a novella and it was really good. Today I started listening to The End of Forever by Steve Berry. It’s another novella. Then I will read either Seraphina by Rachel Hartman or the latest book by Kent Wayne. I don’t watch baking shows. I do watch Bailey Sarian on youtube. She talks about true crime while she does makeup and she also talks about Dark History. For shows, I have been watching a western sci-fi show called Outer Range. It’s awesome. It’s about a ranger who finds a huge hole on his land and he is pushed into it. I also have been watching The Blacklist, This is Us, A Million Little Things, Lucifier, Kung Fu, and CSI: Las Vegas.
Oh my gosh Outer Range is a trip. Sorry to butt into someone else’s comment O.o
IKR. I had seen a teaser for the show during a survey and I knew I had to see the actual show.
Thanks! Hopefully your friend liked her gift? Glad you found a good novella. Those can be hit or miss for me cuz of the length. YouTube is great. True crime and makeup is such an interesting combo! I hadn’t heard about Outer Range, it sounds cool. Ooh I loved Lucifer!
Happy birthday! Even if the times don’t make it easy to celebrate. Youtube ha does often surprise me with nice stuff, too. And oh yeah Mermay! It’s May, isn’t it? I love merfolk so looking forward to seeing all the Mermay stuff now…
The Song of Achilles- I’ve been wanting to read her stuff for a while…
Thanks! Sometimes the algorithms go a bit haywire, but sometimes they give you some neat stuff. Yep, it’s Mermay!
Lofi music is a good example ha. I never listened to it or even really knew what it was and then tried it on Youtube- now it’s like a daily thing getting the newest playlist from certain sites…
Nice! It’s funny to think about things we wouldn’t have known we liked if it hadn’t just popped up.
I’ve also been turning to all the baking shows! I didn’t think I’d like Is It Cake? at first but all the contestants were so lovely. Now I’m on to Australian GBBO. And happy belated birthday!
They’re just so great as a chill distraction! Is It Cake? was fun, and yeah, they all seemed pretty nice. Thanks!
Happy belated birthday. It sucks you didn’t do anything but then I actually prefer being chilled on my birthday so I didn’t do anything major either. I just always make sure I’m not working as some things just shouldn’t be done on birthdays and work is one of them. The only baking show I watch religiously is Great British bake Off (although, is it the Great British Baking Show in the US? I’m sure you guys have a slightly different title which is weird) but I do love watching Nigella when she does her cooking shows on the BBC. You know I’ll be eagerly anticipating the final version of your Mermay picture, the struggles have to be worth it right? At least you know the colouring is amazing. And you didn’t get emotional at Song of Achilles? It’s been a long while since I read it but I remember tears… I think? I don’t even remember anymore.
Thanks! Yeah, you should at least take off work, if nothing else. To be honest, GBBO is the only baking show I’ve ever watched and didn’t like, haha, though I know people love it. I don’t even know anymore with this art, I’ve looked at for too long, so it all just looks normal but is probably a mess. But aww thank you about the coloring! I do seem in the minority with Song of Achilles. That’s why I thought it would make me emotional, cuz everyone said it made them! So idk what happened.
I tried watching Is It Cake with my grandson but I didn’t like the show at all.
Happy belated birthday.
Aww, darn! At least there’s lots of other shows to choose from on Netflix! Thanks!
Happy belated birthday!
Another fun show to binge was Big Flower Fight on Netflix. It was nice because they people were from different backgrounds and weren’t always experts so the results were interesting.
I tend to watch a lot of food travel shows instead of the competitive/reality based ones.
Karen @For What It’s Worth
Thanks!
I assume it’s about flower arranging? I’ve never watched anything like that, but it sounds cool! I’ll look it up.
I hope May is a better month for you. Happy Belated Birthday! Mine is May 30. The Ghost Variations is on my wish list. Seems intriguing!! 🙂
I do love baking shows – need to check out some more on Netflix.
Lauren
Thanks! It really is a creative book, I hope you like it!