I think it’s safe to say that 2016 generally sucked. Sucked hard. Maybe this is why it doesn’t feel like the holidays for me. But I have to take a step back and remember that one year does consist of 11 other months, not just November. Now, I definitely don’t really have enough content to do the usual ‘Year in Review’ post, but maybe this can be my chance to show what I’ve been up to that kept me away.
Change of Scenery
I got a new job in the industry I was aiming for in the beginning, publishing (comics, no less!) and moved from Oakland to Los Angeles. Moving to LA wasn’t as crazy as say, when I moved to Japan 6 years ago, but the learning curve of the job and just living in SoCal has been a whirlwind.
Matter Over Mind
Despite struggling over anxiety and depression for years, it’s only been the last year or so where I started to seek professional help. I stopped once the job stuff came up (the gap in health insurance was a huge reason for that), but now that things have more or less settled, my mind has come back with a vengeance. I started seeing a therapist again, though to be honest I’m not sure how it’s going. Regardless, I enjoy blogging about books and pop culture stuff makes me feel good so there we are.
Reading in 2016
Despite the above, I did read, though not as much as I did in the bay. In Oakland, I biked, bussed and walked my way everywhere (I actually miss that very much) which was a perfect time to get reading done. In my car in LA? Not so much (my podcast list though, skyrocketed). According to my Goodreads, I’ve:
- Read a total of 20 books (compared to 29 last year. Damnit). Though I never log in my graphic novel reads. I might have start counting that in my reads for 2017
- Read 6,027 pages total, with the largest being Cibola Burn (611 pages) by James S.A. Corey
- Read via 1 audiobook (The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, narrated by Claire Danes). I’m finally on the audiobook bandwagon everyone, woop woop!
I’m pretty ashamed of my reading year to be honest.
2017
I’ll probably keep my reading goal of 30 books, since I obviously didn’t hit it this year (damnit). I’m also going to switch over my blog to my new book blog, Shelf Gems. In the ‘About’ section I explain why, but basically the new name fits better to what I want and I have a better focus of which books I’d like to show in the blogosphere. For the brave (or bored) people who took the time to read and actually follow my blog thus far: thank you. It would be GREAT if you would follow my new blog, Shelf Gems, but if not, no worries!
To be honest, I’m a little…apprehensive to say the least of what 2017 will bring. I definitely want to step up my game in terms of getting to know the world around me via non-biased news sources and intersectional feminist movements. And gosh-darnit I want to read more books.
Well 2016. You have been an asshole more or less and I am very very glad to see you gone. You honestly couldn’t leave fast enough. Cheers to 2017. You better be much better than your predecessor damnit.