Category: The Book Fort

“Building the Book Fort” is a weekly post where I track my bookish life.

Currently Reading:

• Feral Self-Care by Mandi Em
• Destination Simple by Brooke McAlary
• Bored and Brilliant by Manoush Zomorodi
• A Fellowship of Bakers & Magic by J. Penner
• Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide to the Care & Feeding of British Dragons by Quenby Olson

Finished:

• Sweatpants and Spells by Keira Blackwood

Total pages read this week: 479

Total books read: 35 of 75

TBR (goal is -24): -7

#ShelfLove Challenge: 20 of 51

This was a difficult week. When it comes to friends, I prefer quality over quantity. The few people who I call friends are like family to me, especially if I trust them enough to invite them into my home. This past week I discovered that someone I worked with who I called a friend (and had over to my house) stabbed me in the back and caused me some trouble at work before he got fired. I learned that he had fully pulled the wool over my eyes after being told why he was fired and some of the other things he had done to ruin friendships in the office, attempted to get sympathy for illnesses he didn’t have, and made false complaints against anyone he decided he didn’t like.

Though what he did hurt me, I understand that he is a very unhappy person who wanted to make everyone else around him unhappy as well, and I hope that he finds what he needs to be happy and gets some help for whatever it is that has turned him into such a hateful person. It was somewhat of a relief when he was fired, though the damage he did will likely take a long time to be repaired. There are a couple of people in the office who, after everything, have decided to continue being friends with him. That baffles me, but since there isn’t anything I can do about it, I’m moving on with my life by trying to keep an open heart.

What are you reading? Let me know in the comments!

“Building the Book Fort” is a weekly post where I track my bookish life.

Currently Reading:

• The Comfort Book by Matt Haig
• Sweatpants and Spells by Keira Blackwood
• Feral Self-Care by Mandi Em
• Destination Simple by Brooke McAlary
• Bored and Brilliant by Manoush Zomorodi

Finished:

• The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love by India Holton
• The Bookstore Sisters by Alice Hoffman
• Gentle by Courtney Carver

Total pages read this week: 702

Total books read: 34 of 75

TBR (goal is -24): -9

#ShelfLove Challenge: 19 of 51

While I’m keeping my Goodreads account for now, I’ve switched over to StoryGraph. I’ve also been doing a bit of binge reading because while I thought that a week-long staycation full of relaxation, rest, and great home-made food would be enough to get me back in good mental health, my return to work ramped up my stress levels all over again. I haven’t been sleeping well, I’m having tension headaches and muscle pain, and it takes very little to send me into emotional chaos.

I was able to just barely finish Gentle before having to return it to the library, and I’m going to buy myself a copy. I want to reread it and really spend some time with each chapter. It was helping me lower my stress up until I felt rushed to finish it and didn’t have time to truly process the information.

What are you reading? Let me know in the comments!

“Building the Book Fort” is a weekly post where I track my bookish life.

Currently Reading:

• The Comfort Book by Matt Haig
• Gentle by Courtney Carver
• The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love by India Holton

Finished:

• The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
• Eric by Terry Pratchett
• The Lost Art of Doing Nothing by Maartje Willems and Lona Aalders

Total pages read this week: 798

Total books read: 31 of 75

TBR (goal is -24): -10

#ShelfLove Challenge: 18 of 51

I hope to finish at least two of my current read prior to going back to work on Monday, but I’ve got a fairly busy weekend, so I’m not sure that will happen. If I finish at least one book, I’ll be happy.

What are you reading? Let me know in the comments!

“Building the Book Fort” is a weekly post where I track my bookish life.

Currently Reading:

• The Comfort Book by Matt Haig
• The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
• Eric by Terry Pratchett

Finished:

• An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor
• Essentialism by Greg McKeown

Total pages read this week: 434

Total books read: 28 of 75

TBR (goal is -24): -8

#ShelfLove Challenge: 16 of 51

I didn’t read nearly as much as I had intended last weekend, but at least I finished a couple of books this past week.

What are you reading? Let me know in the comments!

“Building the Book Fort” is a weekly post where I track my bookish life.

Currently Reading:

• The Comfort Book by Matt Haig
• Harry Potter’s Bookshelf by John Granger
• An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor
• Essentialism by Greg McKeown
• The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

Finished:

• Quicksilver by Callie Hart

Total pages read this week: 549

Total books read: 26 of 75

TBR (goal is -24): -7

#ShelfLove Challenge: 15 of 51

I found the perfect excuse for an impromptu readathon: I’ve got three library books to finish in three days, it’s supposed to rain all weekend, and I have no plans to go anywhere at all.

What are you reading? Let me know in the comments!

“Building the Book Fort” is a weekly post where I track my bookish life.

Currently Reading:

• The Comfort Book by Matt Haig
• Harry Potter’s Bookshelf by John Granger
• Quicksilver by Callie Hart
• An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor

Finished:

• Wintering by Katherine May
• The Search for the Red Dragon by James A. Owen

Total pages read this week: 507

Total books read: 25 of 75

TBR (goal is -24): -6

#ShelfLove Challenge: 15 of 51

I’m back to trying to finish way too many library books before they’re due back instead of reading my own books (other than audiobooks). I’ve stopped putting anymore library books on hold so I can at least catch up with the books I’ve got checked out, and I’m hoping to start a 1:1 library book and book from my TBR once I am caught up.

What are you reading? Let me know in the comments!

“Building the Book Fort” is a weekly post where I track my bookish life.

Currently Reading:

• The Comfort Book by Matt Haig
• Harry Potter’s Bookshelf by John Granger
• Wintering by Katherine May
• Quicksilver by Callie Hart
• The Search for the Red Dragon by James A. Owen

Finished:

• The House Witch by Delemhach
• The Whole Five Feet by Christopher R. Beha

Total pages read this week: 736

Total books read: 23 of 75

TBR (goal is -24): -9

#ShelfLove Challenge: 14 of 51

My Boyfriend’s Mom is visiting so I’ve been fairly busy, especially since my job is getting more and more chaotic and stressful. I’ve been reading whenever I get a little time, and greatly enjoying each book. Two of the library books I have checked out are due within a couple of days, so I’ll be trying to finish those this weekend.

What are you reading? Let me know in the comments!

“Building the Book Fort” is a weekly post where I track my bookish life.

Currently Reading:

• The Comfort Book by Matt Haig
• The House Witch by Delemhach
• Harry Potter’s Bookshelf by John Granger
• The Whole Five Feet by Christopher R. Beha

Finished:

• Night Shift by Stephen King

Total pages read this week: 840

Total books read: 21 of 75

TBR (goal is -24): -8

#ShelfLove Challenge: 13 of 51

I’m slowly getting caught up on all of the library books I checked out, and am getting more into Cozy reading. I’m hunkering down this weekend thanks to even more uncertainty with my job, the possibility of two of my work friends getting let go (both of whom moved long distance away from friends and family for their jobs), and now I’m sick with either a cold or a sinus infection. I hope it’s only a cold and that a lot of rest and soup will take care of it. I hope my friends still have jobs on Monday.

What are you reading? Let me know in the comments!

“Building the Book Fort” is a weekly post where I track my bookish life.

Currently Reading:

• The Comfort Book by Matt Haig
• The House Witch by Delemhach
• Harry Potter’s Bookshelf by John Granger
• Night Shift by Stephen King

Finished:

• Hunted by Meagan Spooner
• The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson
• Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman
• The Colossus and Other Poems by Sylvia Plath

Total pages read this week: 925

Total books read: 20 of 75

TBR (goal is -24): -9

#ShelfLove Challenge: 13 of 51

I’ve been checking out a lot of books from the library, and five of them are going to be due over the next week. I don’t know if I’ll be able to finish all of them, so I’ve prioritized reading the one I checked out for a reading challenge on Litsy, Night Shift. It’s one of the few King books I’ve never read, and since it’s one of his older short story collections, I’m really looking forward to diving in (I’ve only read the Forward so far). While it’s definitely not a Cozy read, it does bring up a lot of fond memories of me checking out and devouring his books during my teen years.

What are you reading? Let me know in the comments!

“Building the Book Fort” is a weekly post where I track my bookish life.

Currently Reading:

• Hunted by Meagan Spooner
• The Comfort Book by Matt Haig
• The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson
• Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman
• The Colossus and Other Poems by Sylvia Plath
• The House Witch by Delemhach

Finished:

• Slow Productivity by Cal Newport
• The Tea Dragon Society by Kay O’Neill
• Goblin Mode by McKayla Coyle
• Guidebook to Murder by Lynn Cahoon

Total pages read this week: 808

Total books read: 16 of 75

TBR (goal is -24): -6

#ShelfLove Challenge: 10 of 51

TL;DR: You’ll be seeing me reading a lot of cozy books for a while. Please give me your cozy recommendations!

I’ve heard the saying, “Life happens when you’re busy making plans,” and I thought I understood that. Nope. As with so many other bits of wisdom, you don’t really know what they mean until you learn them through first-hand experience. I had planned to step down from full-time work, hoping it would help me with my mental and physical health. I calculated, planned, cut as many unnecessary expenses as I felt comfortable doing, discussed it with my boyfriend on multiple occasions, and squirrelled away as much money as I could in preparation for this huge change. Everything was falling into place. I updated my resume, applied for several part-time jobs, and got an interview to one of them. I was feeling pretty good about my life and was looking forward to when I could put in my two-week notice.

Then, wham!, my situation changed enough that working part-time would no longer be sustainable financially. On top of that, there has been a whole lot of upheaval at my job that has destroyed my chances of advancing my career for several years and might result in me getting laid off. I’m not happy at all with what has been going on, but the stability my job provides (if I can keep it) would be nearly impossible to find anywhere else right now. I feel stuck, and like I now have to do everything I can to keep a job I didn’t want to stay at in the first place. I’ve been trying to feel grateful about the fact that I have a job at all and about so much else in my life, but I’ve been feeling so angry and disappointed that I’ve retreated into coziness whenever possible.

While there are a couple of books I’m trying to get through for book challenges before the end of the month, everything else I’m reading is pure Cozy with a capital ‘C’. I’ve already binged a couple of books that I checked out from the library, and I have a lot of Cozy books on my shelves that I will be reading sooner rather than later. I know that I will get through this and that things will eventually get better. However, if you have any Cozy book, podcast, show, or movie recommendations please leave a comment.

What are you reading? Let me know in the comments!