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( ONE! )  what are your reading goals this year?

— i want to be able to read more in one sitting without giving up on it or getting bored

—i want to be able to understand certain texts more without having to look back

( TWO! ) were you able to achieve these goals in the first sem?

—unfortunately, no because i honestly kind of forgot about them

( THREE! ) what do you think helped you in achieving these goals/what do you think hindered you from achieving these goals?

—a busy schedule has hindered me from achieving my goals this year

( FOUR! ) what do you want to work on for next semester?

—trying to read more books

( FIVE! ) what books would you like to read more?

—i am i big fan of fantasy and science fiction

( SIX! ) what will you do differently next sem that will help you with your reading goals?

—probably prioritise more on reading and find time in my schedule for reading

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one of my favourite books that has been required from us students to read because normally i dislike the given books. maus is an oldie, but a goodie.

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it is friday the 13th and of course i am nervous. i was able to read a book that i have read before called "shine" and it has to be one of my favorite books ever. also, i am reading this book so i can finish my lit essay for writer's workshop.

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i read the 36th chapter of the same book i have been reading for the last month. in this chapter i learned about more of the modern mythical beasts such as;

phoenix
- a fire bird that can get reborn from ashes, it has red feathers too

basilisk
- a big serpent basically, it's related/inspired by a non legged lizard (not a snake)

unicorn
- a beast that has the head of a dear, feet of an elephant, tail of a boar, and a single horn on the top of their head. this is weird because i'm used to a horse with a horn as a unicorn and not some elephant legged creature.

salamander
- it is a fire spitting lizard basically.

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hey broskis ! this monday i am reading chapter 11 of bulfinch's mythology while listening to carly rae jepsen's album (emotion) on miko's computer lol. this chapter shares the love story of cupid and psyche.

the story starts out with psyche. she is a beautiful lonely princess !! every man has fallen for her and even venus (the goddess of beauty) envied her. so envious, that she sent her son (cupid) to go kill her. so at night when she was asleep, he accidentally woke up the princess, but he was invisible. but he was startled by her and accidentally trips on his own arrow, falling in love with her. she goes to a cliff the next morning to sulk in her own loneliness and there she meets zephyr who takes her to the monster that she is going to marry. the monster (that is invisible) treats her with hospitality in his home. she begged for him to make him visible to her but he was consistent with saying no. her sisters come to her in the palace and tell her how jealous they are and how she should murder the monster before he kills her and the unborn child. so at night she grabs a dagger and a lamp to see who the monster boyfriend was. and when she saw him, he was not a monster boyfriend but a hot god boyfriend. she tripped on cupid's arrows and the fire from the lamp burned him which made him fly to venus and him ranting. venus then gives her (very hard) assignments in order for her to marry cupid. she passes them without any effort just like any ordinary disney princess and they live happily ever after (forgot to mention that her 2 sisters di

i had a weird time reading this because i have seen different renditions of this story. like how psyche was sleeping on a fountain and not in her room, how psyche was not the one to speak to apollo but her parents instead,  and other stuff like how they refer to venus as aphrodite and how they refer to eros as cupid. and how eros is not the god of all gods because he can manipulate zeus to keep his pants on unlike every myth ever that includes zeus. but over all, t'was great.

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new school year !! on this painfully long monday, i am reading bulfinch's mythology. specifically chapter 16 where in it talks about the most well known mythical creatures of mythology such as ;

the sphinx
- a creature that has the body of a lion and head of a woman

the pegasus
- a horse with wings

the chimaera
- a monster that has a compound of a lion and goat and the hind of a dragon

centaurs
- monsters that were represented as as men from head to loins while the rest is the body of a horse.

pygmies
- a nation of dwarfs

griffin
- a monster that has the body of a lion and head, wings and tail of an eagle.

i enjoyed reading this part of the book because i was always interested in these kind of creatures and i am planning to use some of them for a future project :)

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Continuing on the book, I am now in the part where in Eliza (2 years after the ball) is on a carriage to New Jersey with her chaperone Mrs. Jantzen since her mother could not come since she was sick. On their way, one of the wheels of the carriage breaks which causes to break/sprain the ankle of Mrs. Jantzen. Luckily, help was nearby. Alex was there. So the family driver Mr. Vincent took Mrs. Jantzen to the nearest hospital while Eliza and Alex rode on Alex's horse to continue on their journey with Eliza leading by being in front and driving the horse while Alex was in the back awkwardly hanging on to her for dear life.

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I am still continuing on Alex & Eliza (IT'S A LONG BOOK OKAY) and I never really realised how` Eliza was witty just like her other sisters. In the chapter I am in, it is finally where Eliza and Alex meet in Mrs.Schuyler's ball, but they're both being really hard-headed and playing "hard to get" with each other. Sure it's cute and stuff watching them shoot each other snarky remarks but it's annoying because why can't they talk to each other without FULLY ROASTING the other or saying a witty comeback.
We also in the story why the Schuylers are throwing a big ball; because the family is going in debt since the father has been using the money for war funds. Needing to get more money back, the sisters have to marry a rich man for wealth and a good reputation.

(My personal favourite character so far is Peggy since she is just so vain and sarcastic because who would think that a historical figure who was so underrated and got murderd in a morbid way would be so bitter?)

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Last week, I gave up on "A Happy Death" because it did bore me. So, when I went home I looked for a book on my shelf that was untouched. I was able to make a pile of 4 books that were unread. Then, I picked a book that looked the most interesting and I picked Alex and Eliza. I remember getting the book when I was in Hawaii back in 2017 when my Hamilton phase was still alive. I guess I just put it on my shelf and never read it.

The book is about or mostly revolving on the love story of Alexander Hamilton & Elizabeth Schuyler. It includes the events they have had to go through and the people in their life. I am still in the beginning of the book and I am pumped to see what else the book has in store for the reader. I am also excited for Mondays now since I have time to read on my own.

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Today, I read a novel (which was written by Albert Camus) since the books I have been reading have been "bite-sized". I honestly had a pretty hard time looking for a book I would actually be interested and so I gave up and just so happened to pick up this book. Honestly, I am not the BIGGEST fan of this book since I do get bored easily. The book follows the main character named Patrice Mersault into his home and history and then to his journeys where death is a common thing. So far, I am only on the 2nd chapter so I hope it gets better. I would recommend this book if you had an actual attention span.

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Today, I just felt like reading poetry. So I looked over our shelf in our classroom, I saw a book by Lang Leav. It was pretty easy to tell if the book is by her because of her 2 iconic types of covers. She was actually one of the first authors I got into or obsessed with, so I already knew her and her works (Sad Girls & Lullabies) which made me want to read this book since all the books I have previously read were actually really good. The book "Memories" is a collection of beautifully written poems about her relationship with people (at least the first part). My favourites are "The Rose", "After the Storm", "Sunday Best", "Her", "My heart" & "After you". If you like poetry I recommend this book!

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Today, I was able to chose this book because the cover looked very interesting and so did the first few pages I flipped through (and it was honestly the first book I saw that actually caught my eye in the pile). It is a graphic novel that holds 5 mysterious and eerie stories that always seem to lead to the dark, deep forest (where all strange things supposedly happen and await you). The book has thriller moments and dark twists. I finished it in ONE sitting (I feel SO accomplished). I am definitely going to look for more of Emily Carroll's books in the future and I am looking forward to it !