4 Month Wrap-up: July, August, September and October

Tags

A Corner of White, A.S. King, Amy Ewing, Aurelia Wills, Barry Jonsberg, Black, Brodi Ashton, Cat Clarke, Crimson Bound, Cruel Beauty, Cynthia Hand, Deborah Biancotti, Eleanor and Park, Em Bailey, Far From You, Fleur Ferris, Francesca Haig, Frayed, Garth Nix, Harry Potter, Here I Stand, Hold Me Like a Breath, It Looks Like This, J.K. Rowling, Jaclyn Moriaty, Jay Kristoff, Jennifer Donnelly, Jodi Meadows, John Flanagan, Justine Larbalestier, Kara Terzis, Lady Renegades, Lauren James, Lauren Oliver, Maggie Stiefvater, Magnus Chase, Margo Lanagan, Megan Miranda, Miss Mayhem, My Lady Jane, My Sister Rosa, Nevernight, Pandora Jones, Paula Garner, Phantom Limbs, Please Ignore Vera Dietz, Rachael Craw, Rachel Hawkins, Rafi Mittlefehldt, Rainbow Rowell, Ranger's Apprentice, Rebel Belle, Renee Ahdieh, Replica, Rick Riordan, Rosamund Hodge, Sabriel, Scott Westerfeld, Shield, Someone I Wanted to Be, Soulprint, Spark, Stray, Swarm, Tess Sharpe, The Black Key, The Book That Made Me, The Fire Sermon, The Hammer of Thor, The Last Beginning, The Lost and the Found, The Mirror King, The Raven Boys, The Rose and the Dagger, The Ruins of Gorlan, The Special Ones, The Sword of Summer, These Shallow Graves, Tiffany Schmidt, Zeroes

WOW, it has been a long time since I’ve posted anything.

Such a long time.

So, let’s have a look at what’s been going on in the last four months.

July

In July had my first prac teaching thing, which was a bucket load of fun.

I’m definitely on the right career path, guys.

Books read:

Rebel Belle trilogy, by Rachel Hawkins

Books Bought:

Nevernight, by Jay Kristoff
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, by John Tiffany and Jack Thorne (and J.K. Rowling)

August

Nothing exciting really happened in August…that I can remember. It was 3 months ago, guys.

I just finished my prac teaching, went back to uni. There was probably some book event on that I’ve now forgotten about.

Books read:

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, by John Tiffany and Jack Thorne (and J.K. Rowling)
The Fire Sermon, by Francesca Haig
Shield, by Rachael Craw
Frayed, by Kara Terzis

Books Bought:

A Corner of White, by Jaclyn Moriaty
The Special Ones, by Em Bailey
The Rose and the Dagger, by Renee Ahdieh
Shield, by Rachael Craw

September

In September we had YAFanFest, which was heaps of fun.

And then we had a Rachael Craw Skype chat at Dymocks which was SO AWESOME!

I also had my uni mid-semester break, which meant I got loads more reading done.

Books read:

Hold Me Like a Breath, by Tiffany Schmidt
Zeroes, Swarm, by Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, Deborah Biancotti
Eleanor and Park, by Rainbow Rowell
Please Ignore Vera Dietz, by A.S. King
The Book that Made Me, by various
Pandora Jones trilogy, by Barry Jonsberg
Soulprint, by Megan Miranda
Far From You, by Tess Sharpe
Rangers Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan, by John Flanagan
The Lost and the Found, by Cat Clarke

Books Bought:

Sabriel, by Garth Nix
Swarm, by Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, Deborah Biancotti

Books Received:

For review (Thanks Walker!):
The Last Beginning, by Lauren James
The Black Key, by Amy Ewing
My Lady Jane, by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows
Here I Stand, by Amnesty International

From the YAFanFest goodie bag:
These Shallow Graves, by Jennifer Donnelly

October

Books read:

Black, by Fleur Ferris
The Sword of Summer, The Hammer of Thor, by Rick Riordan
Cruel Beauty, by Rosamund Hodge
Crimson Bound, by Rosamund Hodge
The Mirror King, by Jodi Meadows
The Raven Boys (reread), by Maggie Stiefvater
My Sister Rosa, by Justine Larbalestier

Books Bought:

The Hammer of Thor, by Rick Riordan
Replica, by Lauren Oliver
Illustrated Chamber of Secrets, by J.K. Rowling and Jim Kay

Books Received:

For review (Thanks Walker!):
Phantom Limbs, by Paula Garner
Someone I Wanted to Be, by Aurelia Wills
It Looks Like This, by Rafi Mittlefehldt

May and June Wrap Up

Tags

A Court of Mist and Fury, Ally Condie, Amy Zhang, And I Darken, Atlantia, Confused, Deborah Biancotti, Girl Out of Water, Half Bad, Half Lost, Half Wild, Inbetween Days, Kiersten White, Lauren James, Let the Wind Rise, Lynette Noni, Margo Lanagan, Morgan Matson, Nat Luurtsema, Pittacus Lore, Raelia, Rick Riordan, Sally Green, Samantha Shannon, Sarah J. Maas, Scott Westerfeld, Shannon Messenger, Since You've Been Gone, The Bone Season, The Book of Pearl, The Hidden Oracle, The Next Together, This is Where the World Ends, Timothee de Fombelle, Trials of Apollo, United as One, Vikki Wakefield, Wanda Wiltshire, Zeroes

Ok, so June went by so fast that it was over before I realised I hadn’t yet done my May wrap up…

So today we’re going to have two wrap ups in one!

General Happenings

So, I realised that half my books didn’t fit properly on my bookshelf…

So, I decided that a complete bookshelf rearrangement was in order.

And this was the result:

I hit 300 Instagram Followers

YAY!

There was a lot of rain in Sydney

This was our backyard at around 9pm. We had to spend about an hour getting the sheep out of the paddock and into the backyard (which is higher ground). Our house is at the top of a rather decent sized hill, so we were fine.

Bookish Info

Books Read:

The Hidden Oracle, by Rick Riordan
Atlantia, by Ally Condie
Half Bad, by Sally Green
Half Wild, by Sally Green
Half Lost, by Sally Green
This is Where the World Ends, by Amy Zhang
A Court of Mist and Fury, by Sarah J Maas
And I Darken, by Kiersten White

Books Bought:

The Hidden Oracle, by Rick Riordan
A Court of Mist and Fury, by Sarah J Maas
Let the Wind Rise, by Shannon Messenger
And I Darken, by Kiersten White
United as One, by Pittacus Lore

Books Received for Review:

The Book of Pearl, by Timothée de Fombelle
Girl Out of Water, by Nat Luurtsema

(Both from Walker books Australia)

Books from TeenCon:

Inbetween Days, by Vikki Wakefield
The Next Together, by Lauren James
Since You’ve Been Gone, Morgan Matson
Confused, Wanda Wiltshire
Raelia, Lynette Noni
Zeroes, by Scott Westerfield, Margo Lanagan, and Deborah Biancotti
The Bone Season, by Samantha Shannon

April Wrap Up: Being social, Allegiant movie and RAVEN KING

Tags

Allegiant, Amy Zhang, Blue Lily Lily Blue, Elementary, Falling Kingdoms, Half Lost, Lady Renegades, Maggie Stiefvater, Morgan Rhodes, Rachel Hawkins, Sally Green, The Raven Cycle, The Raven King, This is Where the World Ends

WOW April was an exciting month.

First of all, I was so busy that I didn’t get around to posting my March wrap-up until the 18th. That was awkward.

So, of course, to ensure that didn’t happen again, I wrote this post two weeks ago, and then added to it as things happened.

Of course this post is STILL late…because I needed time to take pictures and upload them and that takes time that I do not have, but never mind.

April was the month of me being social apparently

There was a week in April when I hung out with people and didn’t get home until late three times. THREE. In ONE week.

But I got to hang out with people that I don’t get to see very often, so that was awesome.

I hung out with people I met at NextGen

As I mentioned in my January wrap up, I went to a Christian Leadership conference-thingy called NextGen, where they give us heaps of awesome advice on running a youth group.

Anyways, while there, I made friends! And we kept in touch, and decided we should organize meet-ups so that we can still see each other. It was awesome.

My friend got married

When I was in primary school (kindergarten – year 6, for those who are unfamiliar with the Aussie schooling system), I had two best friends. One of them moved away as we started high school.

Anyway, one of those friends got married last August, and the other one (the one who moved away so I rarely get to see anymore) FINALLY got married a few weeks ago (they’d been engaged for almost 3 years).

So that was exciting.

WE GOT A PUPPY

His name is Percy. He is adorable.

I helped run a Circus-themed holiday club

Once a year, my church runs a holiday club for primary-school kids. Usually, this runs in the Easter holidays.

The plan is simple: we spend the Monday setting up, Tuesday-Thursday is the actual thing, and then Friday is packing up.

It. Is. Exhausting.

We had over 50 kids for all three days. I was in charge of teaching circus skills.

Basically, this means that I spent three days teaching kids in groups of 20 how to juggle. (We did other things, too: ‘tightrope’ walking, hula-hooping, limbo…but juggling was their favourite).

By the end of the week, I was literally fit for nothing but curling up in my bed and binging TV shows.

Speaking of which…

CAN WE PLEASE TALK ABOUT HOW AMAZING THE ELEMENTARY TV SHOW IS?

Elementary is a Sherlock Holmes-inspired show in which Sherlock is a recovering drug-addict living in America. Joan Watson starts off as his Sober Companion, but stays on to learn about detective work.

Anyway, this show is approaching the end of season 4, and I swear IT JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER!

Like, seriously, I’m dying here. This show’s awesomeness has killed me.

I saw Allegiant

Thanks to Kinokuniya, I got to go see Allegiant two weeks before it came out.

You can read my thoughts about the movie here.

Basically, it was made more enjoyable by the people I was with.

THE RAVEN KING IS HERE! IT EXISTS!

I HAVE READ IT AND IT WAS PERFECTION! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CONTINUE WITH MY LIFE??

Also, my sister made me this AWESOME dress!

It took me about 11 hours to read (it’s the sort of book I like to take my time reading) which means I finished it about 8:30am the morning after I got it.

And I would like to thank The Book Depository and the post office people for getting the book to me THE DAY it came out. If it had come any later, I would have had to wait another week to read it (I was determined to read it in one sitting).

Bookish Info

Books Bought:

This is Where the World Ends, by Amy Zhang
Half Lost, by Sally Green
Lady Renegades, by Rachel Hawkins
The Raven King, by Maggie Stiefvater

Books Read:

Falling Kingdoms, by Morgan Rhodes
Blue Lily, Lily Blue, by Maggie Stiefvater
The Raven King, by Maggie Stiefvater

So, only three books this month, but I didn’t want to get into anything else before Raven King, and I’m still in post-Raven King book-hangover mode.

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And that’s that. How was your April?

March ended, I didn’t notice…

Tags

Alison Goodman, Alwyn Hamilton, Demon Road, Derek Landy, Frankie, Heartland, Kylie Fornasier, Lady Helen and the Dark Days Club, Lauren Brooke, Maggie Stiefvater, Rebel of the Sands, Shivaun Plozza, Something Strange and Deadly, Susan Dennard, The Dream Thieves, The Raven Boys, The Sidekicks, The Things I Didn't Say, Will Kostakis

So…it’s been April for a while now…and here’s me realising that I haven’t done my monthly recap for March yet…

happenings in March

YA Squad Tour:

The YA Squad Tour happened, and it was ever so much fun.

Even though I was late…as usual.

Look at all the pretty books I got:

University:

Despite posting TWO posts (Jan AND Feb wrap up) about how I was going to be around more regularly, that still hasn’t happened.

This is largely due to the fact that this semester at uni I have 2-3 assignments due every week, with an occasional other assignment thrown in. So, I am quite busy at the moment. (Though at this very moment I’m about to go on a two week break, so I have two weeks to breathe…and then I have 1 major assignment and 2 mid-sem tests first week back *dies*).

That said, I think this is the most fun I’ve ever had at uni. I’m doing Group Theory (it’s a maths thing) and it is SO AWESOME! Also, topology (another maths thing) is pretty awesome as well.

To sum up, uni is awesome, but I have so many assignments that I don’t have time to procrastinate…which is when my blogging would usually happen.

BUT the plan is to write up a heap of posts during this two week break (because, let’s be honest here, I won’t be studying), so that things can keep happening on the blog while this is me:

Books

Books Bought:

Rebel of the Sands, by Alwyn Hamilton
The Sidekicks, by Will Kostakis
Frankie, by Shivaun Plozza
The Things I Didn’t Say, by Kylie Fornasier

Books Won:

(From AngelReads)
Lady Helen and the Dark Days Club, by Alison Goodman
Demon Road, by Derek Landy

Books Read:

Rebel of the Sands, by Alwyn Hamilton
Heartland (9-20), by Lauren Brooke
The Raven Boys, by Maggie Stiefvater
The Dream Thieves, by Maggie Stiefvater
Something Strange and Deadly, by Susan Dennard

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So…that was my March. Better late than never, right? Seriously, though, when it says in the title that I didn’t realise that March ended, it was completely true. I don’t know what day of the week it is…I haven’t known for 6 weeks. I don’t have any brain capacity beyond “this assignment is due either today or tomorrow, so I should work on it”.

How was your March?

I’m Back…again…for reals this time

Tags

Gillian Rubenstein, Hate is Such a Strong Word, Heartland, Justin Richards, Lauren Brooke, Lisa McMann, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Ryan Graudin, Sarah Ayoub, Seth Grahame-Smith, Space Demons, Time Lord Fairy Tales, Visions, Wolf by Wolf

So, at the beginning of February I said that I was back from my break.

As it turns out, I lied.

Sorry about that.

But I am actually back this time, I promise.

So, what happened in February?

Books were bought:

Hate is Such a Strong Word, by Sarah Ayoub
Visions trilogy, by Lisa McMann
Every Breath, by Ellie Marney
Wolf by Wolf, by Ryan Graudin
Heartland (1,2,4), by Lauren Brooke
Time Lord Fairy Tales, by Justin Richards

Books were read:

Space Demons, by Gillian Rubenstein (reread)
Heartland (books 1-8), by Lauren Brooke (rereads)
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Seth Grahame-Smith

Lambington the Second was born

His birth happened right outside my bedroom window…at 6am…

We called him ‘the second’ because it sounded better, not because there is a Lambington the First.

I had a birthday

As always, I got a valentines day cake from woolies…it had the word ‘Love’ written on it, so as I cut the cake I was yelling “DESTROY THE LOVE”.

It was a great day.

So, what’s going to happen in March

As I said earlier, I had fully intended on starting back blogging regularly at the beginning of February.

Evidently, that didn’t happen.

And uni starts back today, so I’m going to be super-super-busy (two third-year maths subjects *shudders*), but that also means PROCRASTINATION!

Which means more blogging.

Hopefully.

I’m BACK!!!

Tags

Alexandra Bracken, Amie Kaufman, Meagan Spooner, Megan Jacobson, Passenger, Their Fractured Light, This Shattered World, Yellow

So, three weeks ago, I said I was taking a one week break that was possibly going to turn into a two week break.

I honestly didn’t expect it to become a three week break, but here we are.

So…what happened in January?

The YA Book meet was on again at Dymocks, this time talking about historical YA books.

Picture taken by Emily

Then I, along with the other youth group leaders at my church, went to NextGen16, which is a week long conference all about how to become better youth leaders. It’s a pretty fun week.

After getting back from NextGen, we went to visit my grandparents who live in QLD, and we spent a week there. The week mostly consisted of shopping and playing Rummy, but we did also go to Movie World, which was fun.

And last week was the book launch for Yellow, by Megan Jacobson.

And that was pretty much my January. I also have my uni timetable now, and this semester is looking pretty full-on, so don’t expect to see me around much, though I will do my best to post whenever I can.

Confession time

I was going to mention the books I read in January, but then I realised…I didn’t read any.

Like, I let an ENTIRE month go by, and I haven’t read a single book.

So, instead of talking about the books I read, I decided I should examine the reasons (*cough*onlyreason*cough*) I didn’t get any reading done.

As those who follow me on twitter may be aware, I recently discovered the TV show Heartland. I read the books that this TV show is based on back when I was 12/13, and while I can’t really remember anything that happens in the books, I do remember loving them, so when I discovered that there was a TV show, I had to watch it.

I then discovered that the show is already half way through season 9.

Three weeks later, and I have completely caught up (which is even more impressive when you realise that I couldn’t watch any of it for the 5 days I was at NextGen), and I’ve now gone back to the beginning and am rewatching the whole thing.

So, no, I haven’t really had the time/motivation to do any reading.

However, I did buy stuff

I bought four books in January, which I am quite impressed with.

This Shattered World, by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Their Fractured Light, by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Passenger, by Alexandra Bracken
Yellow, by Megan Jacobson

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So…that was my January. One month of 2016 gone. How was yours?

2015 Wrap Up

With the end of the year happening, I thought I would do a quick wrap up of all the awesome things that happened this year.

Note: This post will not feature the books I bought…that’s coming tomorrow.

Favourite Posts of Mine

These are some of the posts that I posted this year that I’m actually quite proud of.

A Book Made Me Do It
How I Rate Books
Managing the TBR Pile
The Ability to Live in Denial
My Favourite Things In Books

I Finished The Book Thief…Now what?
How I met The Selection
Cover Reveal: Stray
10 Reasons you need The Princess Bride in your Life

Review: Falling into Place
Review: Skulduggery Pleasant series
Blog Tour Review: Stray

Favourite Books I read

I read 90 books this year…10 short of my goodreads goal, and two more than last year.

I had many favourites.

Favourite Instagram Pics I Posted

For those of you who are unaware, I have instagram. You can find me here.

It’s December!

Tags

Crown of Midnight, Heir of Fire, Ignite Me, Jodi Meadows, Margo Lanagan, Queen of Shadows, Sarah J. Maas, Sarah Rees Brennan, Sea Hearts, Soman Chainani, Tahereh Mafi, The Demon's Surrender, The Orphan Queen, The School of Good and Evil, Throne of Glass, White Time

The year is ending, Christmas is coming, and THERE IS NO MORE UNI UNTIL FEBRUARY!!

What happened in November?

There was another book meet at Dymocks.

Photo taken by Emily

Exams happened…it kind of sucked, but at least they’re over now.

And I didn’t make it to BTCYA, unfortunately, but I was busy winning at laser tag.

AND I GOT TO MEET SARAH J. MAAS!!!!! SHE WAS SO AWESOME AND HILARIOUS AND WONDERFUL AND SHE LIKED MY HAIR!!!!!

Books were read:

The Orphan Queen, by Jodi Meadows
The Demon’s Surrender, by Sarah Rees Brennan
Ignite Me, by Tahereh Mafi
Queen of Shadows, by Sarah J Maas
Way Down Dark, by James Smythe
The Iron Warrior, by Julie Kagawa
Shadow and Bone, by Leigh Bardugo

Books Bought (and received):

The School of Good and Evil, by Soman Chainani
Sea Hearts, by Margo Lanagan
White Time, by Margo Lanagan

I expect you all to be very proud of me, I only bought 2 books.

So…Christmas is coming

It’s December now, so I have heaps of free time on my hands in which I can blog and read as much as I want.

YAY!

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So, how was your November? Any Plans for December? Let me know.

What do you mean, it’s November?

Tags

Amie Kaufman, Back to the Future, Derek Landy, Ellie Marney, Every Breath, Every Move, Every Word, Far From You, Happily Ever After, Harry Potter, Harry Potter Illustrated Edition, Hold Me Like a Breath, Illuminae, In The Skin of a Monster, J.K. Rowling, Jay Kristoff, Julie Kagawa, Kady Cross, Kathryn Barker, Kiera Cass, Magnus Chase, Pokemon, Rick Riordan, Skulduggery Pleasant, Tess Sharpe, The Girl With the Windup Heart, The Iron Warrior, The Selection, The Sword of Summer, Tiffany Schmidt

But…how…wait…Where did the year go??

So…October was a busy month

First of all, I FINALLY got to go to the YA Book Club that meets at Dymocks once a month 😀

Photo taken by Emily

(I’ve been trying to get there since the first one)
And so I got my copy of In The Skin of a Monster signed 🙂

And then there was a rerelease of the first Pokemon movie at Hoyts, so naturally, my brother and I HAD to go see it (we have it on video…VIDEO, PEOPLE), and my sister hadn’t seen it, so she came along too.
Much fun was had.

Also, the Back to the Future movies are now set entirely in the past. Please excuse me while I go lament the fact that I do not yet have a pink hoverboard.

And the Illuminae Book Launch happened! Aside from a disappointing lack of underwater jet skis, it was very enjoyable. And I got to meet the authors, which was pretty awesome.

Books Bought:

Hold Me Like a Breath, by Tiffany Schmidt
Far From You, by Tess Sharpe
Happily Ever After, by Kiera Cass
Every Word, by Ellie Marney
Every Move, by Ellie Marney
Illuminae, by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman

Many Skulduggery Pleasant books, by Derek Landy (seriously, though, this entire pile cost $20!! How was I supposed to not?)

Books Received:

Illustrated HP and Tote bag (which I preordered a very long time ago)

Magnus Chase (signed)

Dymocks had a twitter competition, and so I won The Iron Warrior, by Julie Kagawa

Books Read:

In the Skin of a Monster, by Kathryn Barker
Every Breath, by Ellie Marney
The Maleficent Seven, by Derek Landy
Every Word, by Ellie Marney
Every Move, by Ellie Marney
The Girl with the Windup Heart, by Kady Cross

Plans for November?

It’s November now…which means EXAMS ARE COMING!

And this time around, I get the added pleasure of having both my exams on the SAME DAY!

So…yeah…I’m gonna be disappearing for a little bit. I’ll post occasionally, but I will be mostly absent.

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So, how was your October? Any Plans for November? Let me know.

Wait, it’s October? When did that happen?

Tags

Ambelin Kwaymullina, Armageddon Outta Here, Because You'll Never Meet Me, Cloudwish, Derek Landy, Doctor Who, Fate of Ten, Fiona Wood, Lauren James, Leah Thomas, Once Upon a Time, Pittacus Lore, Queen of Shadows, Renee Ahdieh, Sarah J. Maas, Scorpion, Skulduggery Pleasant, The Foretelling of Georgie Spider, The Next Together, The Wrath and the Dawn

Whoa, ok…so, it’s already October…and it’s been October for a few days…How did that happen?

What happened in September?

I had a challenge:

Sister was to give me some books to read…which she did. Gladly.

Did I read any of the books sister asked me to read?

Umm…no…

So, what did I actually end up reading?

Armageddon Outta Here, by Derek Landy
The Next Together, by Lauren James
The Foretelling of Georgie Spider, by Ambelin Kwaymullina

And then I just reread the Raven Cycle, suffered feels and complained about uni assignments. I think I also reread Sinner at some point…

I bought some books:

Because You’ll Never Meet Me, by Leah Thomas
Queen of Shadows, by Sarah J Maas
The Fate of Ten, by Pittacus Lore
The Wrath and the Dawn, by Renee Ahdieh

I received some books:

The Next Together, by Lauren James

I won some books:

Cloudwish, by Fiona Wood (Thanks Emily)

But that’s not all that happened in September

Sister and I made a tower of books:

It was awesome.

And to bring it down…we played Jenga with it…and we videoed it.

New seasons of Doctor Who, Scorpion and Once Upon a Time happened

I am LOVING the new season of Doctor Who…I love Peter Capaldi’s Doctor, and Missy is hilariously deranged.

As for Scorpion, I JUST CANNOT HANDLE THE FEELS RIGHT NOW! I JUST SHIP EVERYONE AND I NEED MY SHIPS TO SAIL AND IT’S NOT HAPPENING! Seriously, guys, I’m dying here.

And Once Upon a Time is back…FINALLY! After binging the entirety of seasons 3 and 4 back in July I have needed this in my life! I have seen the first episode of season 5 and *GROSS SOBBING*

So…what’s going on in October?

University is most unkindly taking up a great deal of time at the moment, so I’m not going to be posting very much, at all.

Which sucks. But, really, what can you do?

Darn priorities.

Anyways, I have some reviews that need posting, but that’s probably all you’ll see from me for a while.