Reading
January: Just Read
Blogging is a way to escape. A place where you can write what you’re feeling or think the world should know. When I first started this, I was still finding out what I liked, and what worked best for me. Over that time, things have definitely changed. Im constantly learning new things. How to improve what I read, write and live about. For example, I used to goal orientate my months to the EXTREME. This caused me to panic and stress out when I couldn’t meet those goals. This year I decided against that and to just live and learn through the year.
Just Read
For the month of January I decided to go with the theme of “Just Read.” I chose this theme because I haven’t been reading as much as I’ve wanted to. With Nursing school starting, I’m bombarded with textbooks instead. While I am learning from them, I’m not relaxing with them. This month I picked up my book of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and started to read. It’s almost the end of January and the book is more than halfway read. One way I kept up on my reading so far was to try something new and kind of fun. Everyday of the month I would read the amount of pages pertaining to the date. For example, today for January 28th I read 28 pages. It’s a nice and straightforward way of keeping up with something.
What was the last book you read for fun? Any books you would suggest to read?
“The library is inhabited by spirits that come out of the pages at night.”
Isabel Allende
American Gods: Loved It.
American Gods by Neil Gaiman was definitely an interesting book. It was recommended to me by my boyfriend Chris and I’m glad he told me about it. Without spoiling anything, this book follows a man named Mr. Wednesday and a man named Shadow. Their paths intertwine and Shadow finds himself questioning certain things about the world. There is mystery, thrills and craziness. The book is categorized as a fantasy/horror fiction, more fantasy than horror.
I had received this book from Chris as a gift and it took me forever to pick it up and read it. Mainly due to the fact of not making time for myself to read and being busy with work and life. I finally was able to finish it in May of 2021 and I just wanted to read more. While reading, what I like to do is take note of words that I don’t know. This makes me diversify my vocabulary and just educate myself a little more on my own.
If you are looking for an interesting book to read, than look no further this is the one. You can find it HERE.
Words that I didn’t know, and their meanings. This is the order that I came across them as I was reading the book:
- Oubliettes – a dungeon with an opening only at the top.
- Recidivism – a tendency to relapse into a previous condition or behavior.
- Archetypal – the original pattern or model of which things of the type are copies.
- Ornithologist – a branch of zoology dealing with birds.
- Perforce – by force of circumstances or of necessity.
- Impecunious – having very little or no money usually habitually.
- Avarice – excessive or insatiable desire for wealth or gain.
- Prestidigitation – sleight of hand. A cleverly executed trick or deception.
- Gesticulating – to make gestures when speaking.
- Omertà – code of silence, usually about criminal activity.
- Kobold – a gnome in German folklore inhabits underground places.
These definitions come from Merriam-Webster Dictionary. If you enjoyed what I had to say about this book, you should give it a read. Neil Gaiman is a fantastic author. What book are you reading now? Any book recommendations, leave them below in the comments. 😃
“What I say is, a town isn’t a town without a bookstore. It may call itself a town, but unless it’s got a bookstore, it knows it’s not foolin’ a soul.”
― Neil Gaiman, American Gods
May 22nd 2021
“They tried to stand off the soldiers, but the men fired and killed them both. So the song’s wrong about the jail, but that’s put in for poetry. You can’t allus have things like they are in poetry. Poetry ain’t what you’d call truth. There ain’t room enough in the verses.”
– A singer’s commentary on “The Ballad of Sam Bass,” A Treasury of American Folklore
That’s a Wrap
We’re a third of the way through the year 🌼
April is on its way out and were ready to bring in May. This year is definitely breezing by and, I can’t decide if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. While in some ways I do enjoy seeing the months pass, I also realize that the year is ending and I need to keep getting my life in order. May is the month to take care of your mental health and its Military Appreciation Month too. This year and last year has been an extreme rollercoaster of emotions that has in some way, affected all of us. We have fought through everything that has been thrown our way and we have to try to take care of ourselves. Mind, body and soul.
May is where I will be taking care of my mental well being. These past couple of months I have put it on the backburner. I am learning to find things that reignite my soul and mind. A few ideas are hiking, gardening and learning more about crystals, rocks and plants. I’m drawn to these things and when I learn about them it sends peace through my body. I am also being more diligent on what I eat and working out more with no excuses. Making it through April to May and actually keeping up to date on my Bullet Journal was an achievement. Around month 4, I always seem to give up and get into a rut, and stay in that rut. This time though, I was able to get out of the rut, with some help and stick to my goals.
How do feel so far through this year? Have you taken up any new hobbies or had any new ideas? Keep staying strong, being smart and being safe. If you have any new things you think I should try, leave them below in the comments. I would love to read them. 💚 Kat
“If you are losing your leisure, look out! — It may be you are losing your soul.”
― Virginia Woolf
Photos from the Sky
One of my favorite places to take photos is on the plane. Everything is so surreal and calm. It also helps when you have a pretty majestic playlist to listen to. I hope you all enjoy these as much as I enjoyed taking them.
It’s amazing what you can see when you’re in the sky.
“Great photography is about depth of feeling, not depth of field.”
-Peter Adams
February 26th 2020
“No one who achieves success does so without acknowledging the help of others.”
– Unknown
I just want to say thank you to everyone on this adventure with me! I’ve hit 100 followers and I am so thankful and ecstatic! I wouldn’t have started this adventure with a little push from someone, so thank you for pushing me and letting me know that I CAN do this (: I hope everyone keeps on enjoying my blog and reading! Keep staying curious lovelies!
Four Books For A Rainy Day
Some of my Favorite Books for the Rain
First off…There will always be a never ending list of books that will be amazing to read in the rain. The list will always change and everyone has their own views on whether or not a book is worth reading or not. Why specifically reading in the rain you may ask, simple, it is some of the most calming (in some cases) weather there is. I’m sure many of you have heard that rain can make you sleepy or feel more calm that’s because rain tends to be white noise or what some call pink noise. Pink noise allows you to focus on just the sound of the rain and nothing else. This allows your body to rest, focus and to destress in a sense. This is why reading in the rain is calming and one of my favorite times to get cozy on the couch with a book. Here is a small list of my favorite books to read while it’s raining.
- The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. This comedic book series gets you through the galaxy over a span of 5 books! It keeps you entertained and glued to the pages the whole time! They also have a movie based on the books and a radio series that was done.
- The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. A very gripping story that tells the chilling tale of Susie. The movie was also just recently released.
- The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman. Four different women whose lives intersect around chaos, keeping secrets about themselves and who they love. A captivating well researched and written novel. Fiercely independent and mind provoking.
- The Pact by Jodi Picoult. This is a heart wrenching love story between two teenagers with a tragic story to tell. It’ll keep you guessing until the very last page. I loved this book so much I actually wrote a post about it, which you can read here.
This is just a short list of a few mesmerizing stories. Each book will fill your soul with happiness, sadness and every emotion in-between. Reading not only stimulates your brain with creativity and calmness. It allows a little time of escaping to just be you and not have to worry about anything for another chapter. Even if it isn’t raining, you should still give these books a good read. So sit down, have some tea, get cozy and start reading.
“You are only worthy of what you prove yourself to be.”
―Alice Hoffman, The Dovekeepers
Weekends Are For Reading
Entertain Your Brain!
This past weekend I did my “Weekend Warrior” duty. I also saw it as an opportunity to FINALLY finish my book that I received as a gift from Christmas of 2018 The Pact by Jodi Picoult! It is now September 2019….Almost a year. I had made a resolution that I tried to stick to which was: Read one book a month for pleasure. That was it. I had no idea that it would be this difficult to find time to actually sit down and get back to the enjoyment of reading. I finally did it everyone, almost a year but I finished my first book of the year. I was happy when I ended up finishing all my training and coursework I had to do for the weekend because that meant I had time to read. I was actually super excited that I could finish this book. I had started it the beginning of the year but then life hit and it felt like I had no time to just unwind with my book. So I sat my happy self down and in between tasks, conversations, and helping other Sailors I managed to get 3/4 of the book finished. I was instantly drawn into the book after getting over the first two chapters (a slowish start) and I couldn’t be happier. I was so involved in the book I felt so torn for Chris! I don’t want to give anything away but be ready to have your heart strings tugged. Picoult has an amazing way of writing and its almost as if you are there inside the book experiencing her story. Go take a breather, pick up a book and immerse yourself in a different world. In a different story give your brain a different form of entertainment and joy.
Becoming A Bookworm Again
Growing up I always had my nose in a book. I loved going to those Scholastic Book Fairs that they would put on in the school library. My mom would enroll me in the summer reading programs at our library. I mean I was going through books like nobodies business. I loved going to the library, the smell of books, the peacefulness and calm the library held. The history, imagination and unknown stories these books told. It is a magical feeling how you can immerse yourself completely into a book you are reading and lose track of time and I missed that feeling. As I grew older it became harder but I still managed to read more for my pleasure in my free time. These last few years it became harder. Not enough time, always working or just constantly tired. The last time I really read I think was my 2016 deployment. Mainly for the fact that I had a lot of free time on my hands. I read more than a dozen books. Either from the ship library or my kindle that I bought specifically for deployment. Usually I would read before “Taps” or more commonly lights out. It would wash away the stress of the day and it would be quiet and relaxing. If I didn’t read before bed I would read outside on a catwalk and sit above the ocean as we were sailing. It was definitely a sight to hold. Enough about me though! Here is a little bit about the book!
The Pact By Jodi Picoult
A little synopsis of the book. The Pact is a story about two teens who have literally grown up together since birth, and are seemingly destined to be together. Chris and Emily have lived next door to one another for seventeen years. They are closer than siblings and their families even wish them to be married. And yet their lives are forever altered by a dark “pact” one night that has one child injured and the other dead. This pact, or secret, of the title’s namesake is one that will cause both sets of parents, as well as the person whos reading, to seriously question morality, as well as the underlying themes of friendship and love. Picoult definitely tugs at your heartstrings and leaves you to ponder certain questions of your own. This is a book you want to finish immediately. It’s a book that has you realizing you have read through 100 more pages more than you said you would before bed. This is a good read from me. Thoroughly enjoyed it and can’t wait to read more from her.
“The right idea is the one you can’t stop thinking about; the one that’s in your head first thing in the morning.” – Jodi Picoult
September 14th 2019
“Books let us into their souls and lay open to us the secrets of our own.” – William Hazlitt
Katie Writes 