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Starlog Magazine (January 1999, Issue #258) Scans

Today we are taking a look at some scans from a magazine I archived last year - Starlog Magazine from January 1999 (Issue #258).

As I stated in my previous Starlog Magazine post, the magazine started out as a Star Trek fan magazine, but branched out into more general fantasy, sci-fi, and fandom media topics.

One of those topics included animation, which we can see reflected in the Pixar cover art for A Bug's Life.

I like how this magazine has different spreads devoted to showcasing different mediums, such as video, books, and games. All aptly titled (name)+log. Booklog, gamelog - you get the idea. Here are the book and game pages pages below.

It's always cool to see what was "new" and "up-and-coming" at the time.

This issue had a pull-out, double-sided page that was kind of awkward to scan. Because the Internet Archive books upload format is that of a standard book, multi-page spreads look a bit off when flipping through the magazine online.

Because of this, sadly, some spreads do not reflect as intended when converted into the online book/magazine.

With scanning, some things like that just get lost in "translation". Like perfume advertisements with the scented sticky tab so you can experience what the scent actually smells like.

It may be difficult to see details here based on tumblr's post size, but here is what the pull out pages look like stitched together.

I particularly like the A Bug's Life screenshots and blurbs on this spread meant to introduce the A Bug's Life article.

I do want to highlight the first page for the Star Trek favorite character poll which I think is quite fun! Ah, the days of filling out a polling form and mailing it in.

Admittedly I know absolutely nothing about Star Trek beyond having seen the (checks Google) 2009 movie (rip Anton Yelchin), but these category names are kind of slay, especially Klingon Kings.

I think now's a good time to share some merchandise advertisements and order forms. Truthfully, seeing the products, merchandise, and advertisements is my favorite part of flipping through older magazines.

Magazines are fun time capsules as to what people during that time period were buying, had available to buy, or were being pushed to buy. Especially in more niche, hobby oriented, collector magazines like this one.

Like these Star Trek and Babylon 5 collectible trading cards.

Or these life-size cardboard stand-ups of your favorite characters! (I can only imagine how many people couhcouhmencoughcough bought the Princess Leia slave outfit stand-up...)

Or these...Hercules and Xena character busts?

Do the collectors who bought these busts still have them to this day? I feel like I'm going to be keeping an eye out for one of these when I go thrifting from now on...

And then of course, you have your interview / spotlight articles. Here are the cover pages for some of those.

As always, you can view the full magazine for yourself over on my Internet Archive account.

Thanks for stopping by!

[cafalla]

Chiikawa Icons - Manga Chapters 1 - 10 (Part 2)

Here is Part 2 of my Chiikawa icons for Chapters 1-10!

(Part 1 Icons)

Part 2 Icons below the cut ♡

Happy / Excited Chiikawa (not crying lol)

Happy Chiikawa (crying)

Nervous / Anxious / Upset Chiikawa

And finally, Determined Chiikawa

And those are the Chiikawa icons I made from the manga Chapters 1-10. Please feel free to save and use for whatever! This was just something I did for fun and for the love of Chiikawa ♡

Hope you like the icons! ♡

[cafalla]

Chiikawa Icons - Manga Chapters 1 - 10 (Part 1)

It's an understatement to say that I have been absolutely obsessed with Chiikawa since learning about them a month or so ago.

I just started reading the manga and it's super cute so far! Something about Chiikawa specifically makes me feel so warm and fuzzy inside - I can never feel upset looking at their little face.

I haven't made icons since my tumblr roleplaying days, which were well...10+ years ago now. But I kept seeing cute expressions on Chiikawa, and wanted to make some icons for my own personal use.

I love Chiikawa so much - I thought I'd share in case anyone else wants some Chiikawa icons for pfps or reactions.

I made quite a few...way more than I anticipated. Unfortunately, tumblr only lets you upload 30 images per post, so I'll have to do a part 2.

I separated them out as best I could based on Chiikawa's expressions / vibe. I hope these categories make sense!

Part 1 of Chapter 1-10 Icons below the cut ♡

(Part 2 Icons)

Full Body / Active Chiikawa:

Neutral Chiikawa

[cafalla]

Diary Entry - 01/01/2025 - Entering 2025

Last year I made a rather long resolutions post for 2024. I'd say I succeeded in some aspects, and lacked in others. But overall, I had a great year regardless of meeting my goals or not!

This year for 2025, I think I should keep it simple.

I really enjoyed my reading challenge I did for 2024. For 2025, I'd like to up my goal to reading at least 15 books by the end of the year. My goal was 12 for last year, and I managed to read 16. I think 15 is a reachable goal.

I also would like to get back into being more consistent with my hobbies - scanning and uploading to the IA, blogging here more, and working on actually making videos. These are all just general desires I have with no real "goal" to reach or deadlines, but I'd like to be more active in these hobbies than I had been this past year.

As a random silly goal, I've been playing a lot more League of Legends lately, and I'd love to rank up to Gold rank (currently Bronze😭). If I'm playing more consistently, it's possible I could improve my skills and get to Gold, right? Haha, I know it's silly, but I think I can do it!

Otherwise, for 2025, I'd love to just continue enjoying life. It feels difficult with how the election went (ugh) and the general social climate we're in, but I'd like to try and keep positive and do things that inspire me and bring me happiness.

Here's to 2025!🥳

[cafalla]

2024 READING RESOLUTION - END OF THE YEAR WRAP UP

At the beginning of the year, my main resolution was to pick up reading again. I set a goal for myself to read twelve books this year - a rate of at least one book per month. This was just the minimum goal, and I could read more if I wanted to. No limitations.

I'm happy to report that I've exceeded this goal!🤗 - Total Books Read: 16 - Total Pages Read: 4,500

(What a great, round number of pages to end this year off on!)

It's not a lot compared to most people, but I haven't been much a reader for many years, so I'm proud of having read this much in 2024! Young me, who used to read probably sixteen books a month, is excited for me (I hope).

I do intend to keep reading, and I think my reading goal for 2025 will be to hit at least fifteen books for the year.

However, I think I would do my postings differently. As I've touched upon in my most recent book post - I've realized I just don't like "reviewing" books? I know I don't HAVE to, but making a post for each book made me feel like I had to say at least something about the book.

I'm just not really someone that feels the need to talk a lot about books I've read, at least when it comes to writing about it online. I have much more fun writing about the stuff I post on the Internet Archive (which I haven't forgotten about!! I still intend to write about that stuff)!

It's just something I've learned about myself and noticed while doing my book posts this year.

So for the upcoming year, I'm thinking I'll do more "batch" updates with the stats. Maybe a star ranking system? Or just a sentence or two if I really had something I wanted to say about the book?

Well, to end this post off, I wanted to list my top three favorite reads of the year! 1 - Flame in the Mist / Smoke in the Sun 2 - The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest 3 - Tuck Everlasting

Honorable Mention: The Road

I've tied Flame in the Mist and Smoke in the Sun together, since it is the same story told across both books. Love love loved these books.

Those books, along with The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest, are the only books I've kept and not donated after reading. They're going to stay on my shelf and I'll revisit them later down the line after they're not as fresh in my mind.

Haha, from that list it is obvious my favorite genres to read are romance, fantasy, historical/period, drama stories. Bonus points if the story has all of it combined, like these top three books did. Well, Tuck Everlasting wasn't romance, but it was quirky and lovely and I greatly enjoyed reading it.

Completely opposite of that vibe is The Road. When not indulging in romance, I do quite enjoy a survival "man vs the elements / world / fellow man" type story. Really good read.

So yeah! That's all I have to say - here's to another year of reading in 2025!👏

[cafalla]

2024 READING - COMPLETED BOOK 16/12

Hehe, well hi again. Just like my most recent last post from *checks blog*...August..., I've fallen a bit off the wagon for both reading and posting.

Despite starting this book soon after finishing my last, it took me months to get through it. Not because I didn't enjoy the book - I absolutely did. The other day I simply realized I wasn't setting aside time anymore to read. And therefore, I haven't been reading at all.

Lo and behold - once I set aside some time before bed to read again, I found myself wanting to read more and more! Funny how that works. It's kind of like the gym - difficult to set aside the time and energy to start, but so satisfying and addicting once you get rolling.

With the end of the year drawing to a close, I knew I wanted to finish this book before Christmas. Let me get to what is probably my final finished book for this year: Five (324 pages).

This is a murder mystery thriller type of story and I had a lot of fun with it. A main component is geocaching, which was interesting to read about. I've never been geocaching, but admittedly it does seem like a fun hobby. Maybe that is something to try in the new year!

The ending was very entertaining to watch unfold, and I really didn't see the twist coming. Definitely a fun read.

I wish I had more to say about it, but through writing these posts for every book I've read, I've come to realize I just don't like to "review" things lol. I like to read and move on. This is something I've been thinking about and will probably speak on more at length in my final wrap up post.

But all in all, I liked this one and recommend it if the premise sounds interesting. It didn't disappoint, even if it did take me months to sit myself down and get through it haha

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Total books read: 16 Total pages read: 4,500

[cafalla]

2024 READING - COMPLETED BOOK 15/12

Oh man, I've really fallen off the wagon as far as reading and updating on my reading, haven't I?

I finished my 15th book of the year back in like...July? Very beginning of August? I think? And tomorrow is September. Oops.

Let's just say getting Covid in July immediately following my birthday didn't keep my spirits or motivation high. Truthfully, I'm only just now starting to feel fully recovered and like my drive to pursue my hobbies is coming back to me.

Speaking of hobbies - the latest book I finished: The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest (306 pages).

I really enjoyed this story! The feelings and motivations of each character felt grounded and easy to follow. The main characters were both very likable to me, and watching them meet, fall in love, and reach their happily ever after was sweet.

Maybe I'm just simple and sappy, but I love a good ending where everything is resolved at the end lol! I mostly figured out the "mystery" right away, but I was still hooked on seeing how it played out.

The only part I was kind of iffy on was the masquerade fiasco, which I had to suspend my disbelief on in regards to the situation. I don't want to spoil it, but it was basically a mistaken identity situation (masquerade, masks - you know). Given what we know about Jorgen (the main guy) and how smitten he is with Odette (main girl), I just couldn't believe he would not realize it wasn't her?

The conflict there felt a bit forced, but everything else I really enjoyed! All in all, a good read.

I'm about 1/4th of the way through my next book, but at the rate I'm reading (and updating) on here, it probably won't be seen for a while lol. Hopefully I can burn through a few more books before we reach the end of the year. I can't believe it's already September!!

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Total books read: 15 Total pages read: 4,176

[cafalla]

Internet Archive Account Restored!

I was able to get my account back!

According to the reply email from staff, there was a system glitch that removed some accounts.

The solution was to "create" a new account with my same account email. The downside is that I can't use my original username anymore 😕 (which was the same as my blog handle).

Thankfully all my items are still saved under my email, so I don't have to reupload anything! That's a win. But I'm going to have to go and re-do my IA links on this blog and possibly some on my photoblog.

Ah well, at least my account wasn't fully terminated for what I've uploaded. That's a relief.

Here's the link to my "new" Internet Archive account. I named it "cafallachu", like Cafalla + Pikachu, since I love my Pikachu avi haha.

I'm excited to get back to work on scanning and uploading some new stuff!

[cafalla]

Internet Archive Account Deleted -?

I attempted to go on my IA account today, and it's just...gone.

I'm not sure if I've uploaded something in violation of TOS or if there was a piracy issue with an upload, but it seems odd I didn't at least get a notification/warning on a specific item, or only had that one item deleted. Instead my whole account is just GONE with no word, when it was fine and untouched just last night!!

I attempted to log in with what I know is my correct login, and it says there is no registered account with my email. I've been able to click through direct links from this blog and can see my items still there, but with an "Unknown" uploader where my username used to be.

I'm confused, as I haven't even uploaded anything very recently...my last upload must've been weeks ago. I've emailed the help center email to see if I can at least get my account back. This is so weird.

I'm saddened as I enjoy scanning and uploading there. Just feeling a bit defeated is all. :(

[cafalla]

Rainbow Brite Saves Spring (1984) Book Scans

Long time, no see! It's been a while since I last posted about a scanned project. The last time I posted was about an issue of Starlog Magazine back in February.

Most of my latest posts really focused on my reading goal for the year, though that has fallen a bit to the wayside lately. I'm still reading, but at a much slower pace of about one book a month. I've been playing more video games, which I mentioned in my last post, and I do want to post and talk about them sometime!

But for today, we are going to look at this little story book I scanned: Rainbow Brite Saves Spring (1984).

My history with Rainbow Brite is quite short and limited. My mom had many VHS tapes with randomly taped episodes of Care Bears that I used to watch. Sprinkled throughout were also the occasional episode of the Rainbow Brite cartoon. I think I also had a VHS tape with one of the Rainbow Brite movies that I would watch sometimes as a kid...but that's about it.

Aesthetically, I LOVE Rainbow Brite. I even bought an artist pin of her from a horror convention.

I'm so sad I don't remember the artist - it's been years and I no longer have the pin backing that came with it. I tried googling around and couldn't locate the art either. If anyone knows the artist, please let me know so I can include a link for credit!

Back to the storybook - it's a simple story about Rainbow Brite and friends saving the Rainbow Sprites from Murky Dismal and Lurky's gloom potion. After the gloom potion has been blown away, the gang run off to start work on making the first day of Spring vibrant and lively with color!

I'm going to be honest, I was kind of shocked when I flipped to this page.

They just casually drop that the Rainbow Sprites are slaving away in the MINES. I honestly forgot that was a thing.

It wouldn't surprise me if the Rainbow Sprites were the type to yearn for the mines...brb, making a terrible meme.

I'm so sorry, I couldn't help myself. I have impulsive thoughts, a computer, and basic editing software...it gave me a giggle, at least.

And this sad realization isn't helped by the little art on the inside cover of the book of the Rainbow Sprites looking absolutely miserable.

Worked to the bone with nothing to boost their morale.

Someone give these little guys a Happy Meal! Do I gotta do everything myself around here?!

There we go!

(Ok, I promise to stop making edits for my own amusement, at least for the remainder of this post lol).

This artwork is actually in relation to the plot of the Rainbow Sprites becoming gloomy...but I like to think it's due to their abysmal working conditions.

The potential lack of Rainbow Sprite labor and lunch laws aside, here's some art from the book that I really enjoy!

Starlite is definitely my favorite character in the book - he looks so pretty and elegant in this art style! The kids look cute too, but they run the risk of looking a bit wonky at times. See Rainbow Brite's toad-like appearance and Red Butler's pog face in the above panel.

I'll be posting the above artwork and more over on my photoblog, nostalgiahime, if you're into reblogging art without all my words attached to them. I've been lacking on posting to both this account and that one, but I'll have them queue'd up here soon!

Also, feel free to take a look at and read the whole storybook here on my Internet Archive account!

Thanks for stopping by ♡︎

[cafalla]

Diary Entry - 07/14/2024 - Happy Birthday (Covid Edition)🍰

The beginning of July marks the the start of my 30th year on this planet. Growing up, certain ages always felt so "adult" to me. Sixteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-five. Always "so far off" in the future, yet these numbers always crept up and passed me by so quickly.

30 in particular has always felt lightyears away from my current self and well...here I am now.

No longer in my twenties - truly now I am an "adult".

Why is it that I still feel so young?

I think the older I get, the more the same I feel. I still feel seventeen, and twenty-two, and twenty-eight...even though I'm not. I know I have learned life lessons and have grown between all those ages...but I still feel the same? Ageing is weird.

Cheers to my 30s, and to what this decade will bring me.

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And well...my first week of being 30 brought me Covid, of all things. I've managed to go this whole time without contracting Covid, and here I've been cooped up in the house this past week trying to get over it.

My sister had come to visit for my birthday, and she is very much a restaurant/bar hopping type of person, so we were out and about and around tons of people all weekend.

If it was just me and my bf, we probably would've just gone to dinner and stayed home all weekend playing video games. But because we had a guest, we made a point to go out and socialize more.

And in a dark way, I joke that God has smited me with Covid for daring to go out and have a good time on my 30th.

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My timeline of symptoms were as follows:

Sat 07/06 & Sun 07/07 - My birthday! And the day after. We were outside for extended periods of time in what was the hottest weather for our area this weekend. I wouldn't be surprised if heat exhaustion/dehydration had something to do with how horrific I felt when my fever started to hit. Sunday night, I started to get a little cough and headache, but I attributed it to us being outside more than usual and allergies.

Mon 07/08 & Tue 07/09 - Ran a fever, was in bed all of both days. Fever high was 102. Barely ate/didn't eat anything at all - could still taste. Headachy and tired, alternated between freezing and overheating. Slept on and off, kind of delirious. Voice sounded off/sick.

Wed 07/10 - Fever gone, throat sore and coughing a lot. Sinuses started to get stuffy. Voice sounded sick and no sense of taste. Stayed in bed/body achy. Barely ate.

Thurs 07/11 - Sore throat and coughing a lot. Sinuses really stuffy. Voice still sick, sense of taste still gone. Stayed in bed/body achy. Barely ate.

Fri 07/12 - Sore throat and coughing a lot. Throat starting to feel a little better. Voice sounded more normal. Sinuses still stuffy. Still can't taste. Stayed in bed/body achy. Barely ate anything other than dinner. Boyfriend made curry for me because I was desperately craving a potato and soup and even though I couldn't taste it, it was so good I cried. Mental was pretty rough - had a bit of a breakdown over never being able to taste again/being tired of feeling terrible and in bed.

Saturday 07/13 - Throat felt a lot better, still coughing. Sinuses starting to loosen. Voice sounded normal. Moving around felt easier and I moved around the house more/wasn't always in bed laying down. Taste still mostly gone, but was able to eat more food.

Sunday 07/14 - Throat feels normal, still have a cough. Sinuses still a little stuffy, but much better/almost normal. Voice sounds normal. Taste has come back a bit more as has my appetite. Ate lots more food and was more mobile/doing things around the house. Feeling pretty good.

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And that's where I am now. Still a bit under the weather, but I think I can function again.

My dry cough is quite annoying, but I can deal with it. I'm hoping my sense of taste comes back stronger as the days go by. I truly was getting fearful I'd be one of those unlucky people who did not get it back for an extended period of time. This was honestly the main part for my mental boom on Friday.

I had gone most all week without really eating anything, and I was feeling terrible and weak. I lost like, almost 10 pounds from Monday to Friday, and I was just mentally over it all and couldn't hold it in anymore.

It's been rough, but I'm glad to be through it. Even my bf (who has had Covid 2-3 times) said it really hit me rough. Kind of sucks I had to take so much sick time off of work to deal with this, but that's what the sick time is for, right? I'm a little apprehensive to return to work tomorrow after having been gone for over a week. Hopefully my dry cough won't be too terrible to deal with at work.

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That being said, I'm happy to be alive and 30! And I'm happy to have such a great bf who has taken care of me this whole time and helped me through it all. I'm glad I got to see my sister and spend time with her, but I'm happy to go back to my homebody ways for the weekends lol!

Here's to the next few weeks treating me with some kindness, and to hopefully NOT getting sick with Covid ever again!

[cafalla]

I finally beat PokeRogue!

This game was really kicking my butt. I tried this final fight with this team so many different times, using different strategies, and spent at least 2 hours the other night trying to win.

Yes, I was save scumming, and I do want to try and beat the game without doing so one day, but honestly the team I had just was not good enough to do it on an initial/no reset run. I got very unlucky with my random drops, and my move sets were not crafted with the final boss in mind.

I made it this far though, and wanted to try and see if I could win. I felt it was impossible.

Today I picked it back up after a break and thought "Ok, I'll give it one final go. If I lose this time, I'll take the loss and start a new run."

And what do you know, I beat it on my first try this time!!

This was probably my 4th or 5th run, and I still am having tons of fun with this game!

It just feels good to have finally beaten the campaign at least. x

[cafalla]

2024 READING - COMPLETED BOOK 14/12

Gosh, it's been a while since I last posted!

My reading has slowed down drastically, mainly because I've been becoming more engrossed in video games again. I got quite burned out on them last year, which was why I switched to reading more.

I've been picking quite a few back up recently, which obviously cuts into reading time. I'll show off the games I've been playing in another post!

On to the most recent book I've completed, The Princess (294 pages).

This is a weird one. I picked it up because the cover felt very secret garden fantastical, and the premise of a royalty-slow-burn-arranged-marriage plot always intrigues me. I naturally assumed the book was a period piece.

The book actually takes place in like, the 90s/"present day". It is a fantasy (sort of?) because the characters live in a country that...doesn't exist. But the country does exist in our normal world, because they reference the USA and one of the side characters is from France.

But there are no other fantastical elements, just that they live in a place that doesn't exist. Oh, and they have a monarchy, and there's an arbitrary (but heavily enforced/always followed) rule that the king successor needs to be married by like, 26 years old, and also everyone is...turbo Christian?

Yeah, so going into this book I had no idea the author was a Christian author, or that this book was SO heavy on Christianity in terms of how the characters think and talk to each other. Like prayer, being a good Christian, Jesus, converting others to Christ, etc are constantly being talked or thought about by everyone.

I'm not religious at all by the way, and I don't typically enjoy reading religious books/characters. It's not a deal breaker for me, however, and I was still interested in the romance of the story that I kept chugging through.

Honestly, the romance story wasn't too bad. It definitely was a slow burn, and there were many sweet moments. I felt there was a lot to dig into with how the main characters (Shelby & Nicholai) were set up, and overall it was a sweet story.

Unfortunately, I felt the whole Christianity aspect of it all kind of took away from the love story. Like, if they spent less time praying a talking about God to others...maybe we could've had even more romance and emotional beat moments with the main couple. Oh well.

Weirdly enough, I felt blindsided towards the end because I did NOT process the part where the characters had sex for the first time.

I interpreted the scene of them sleeping in the same bed the first time as an act of evolved trust/taking the next step towards intimacy. Like yes, I know Shelby went and bought lingerie because she was feeling ready to take that next step, but I felt like it was not clear at all that they actually did take the step.

It was a typical they kissed while holding each other in bed and the scene "faded to black". We didn't even get a scene of her wearing the lingerie and them having a nice intimate moment!! The characters did not allude to sex or act any different right after the fact, which didn't strike me considering sex was a big weight on Shelby's shoulders regarding the marriage. The couple having sex was also a big deal for both sets of in-laws....like they talked about it constantly.

So when they had sex, y'know, I figured it would be a very big moment.

But apparently it was not big enough for me to catch, and Shelby got pregnant. I also did not pick up on her being pregnant, because I hadn't had thought they had sex yet!!! I was shocked and confused to say the least lol

Overall, this was a cute slow burn, but the religious stuff really threw me off in some places.

I was really skeeved out when Shelby was asking her mother how sex would look like in a married relationship, in terms of like...what to do if your husbands wants sex and you're maybe not ready or wanting it in that moment. And sheeeeeesh, the mom basically gave her the "well, our duty as wives is to always be there for our husband and his needs"....biiiiig yikes.

It's sad, because I know purity culture is so damaging and puts so much societal, emotional, and sexual pressure on women. Marital rape is a real issue in these communities, for this exact sentiment that the wife "belongs to her husband" and "can't say no". Ugh.

Thankfully in the book, nothing of the sort happens and it is all consensual, but still.

There was also a weird line where I think Nickolai (or one of the fathers) is praying, and he thinks something along the lines of "hoping Shelby will become a perfectly submissive wife" or something. Ick!!!

The epilogue also was a bit of the shock, in that in the future the main couple has like...literally 5 or 6 kids. It's a lot. I couldn't help but think it was alluding to the "quiverfull" sentiment.

Which fine, if you want that whatever, but it felt a little disingenuine to Shelby as a character. We watch her struggle with falling in love with Nickolai, and figuring out her place as a wife. And then she had a horribly traumatic end to her first pregnancy, and I think at some points in the book it mentions how Shelby was the last in her family to really come to faith.

To me, I felt Shelby would maybe have a couple children, but 5+ seems outrageous. But idk, she's a fictional character and none of this matters haha. Moving on! x

—

Total books read: 14 Total pages read: 3,870

[cafalla]

2024 READING - COMPLETED BOOK 13/12

I've completed another book - the first past my initial reading milestone!

Recently, I finished Devil's Wake (276 pages).

The summary on the back pitches this book as a love story within a zombie apocalypse, but the romance of this book was very...underwhelming. This book itself was underwhelming.

Heck, Devil's Wake isn't even a major part of the story. I kept expecting it to be, but it never was.

The "romance" felt forced to me. I didn't feel any connection between the main characters other than them being the only nice/reasonable single boy/girl in the group. It seemed as if that was the only reason they even "liked" each other. They don't have too many actual bonding moments that we see. They mostly silently admire each other for being cool or shooting a gun well or something lol. So that was kinda lame when I expected the romance to be a bigger plot point.

The book goes back and forth from the POV of the main characters, but then will randomly show POV from a side character? Their whole backstory is crammed into their section - then we never hear from their POV again lol. Those sections were a bit odd to me.

I fully expected them to mean that that character would die soon - like in movies when the focus is suddenly on a side character who then dies or leaves the group dramatically. No one from the main group of characters died/left/fell ill/got bit/etc though, which was kinda lame.

There was never any real drama between characters - there really wasn't much drama at all? Which made it kinda boring when action wasn't happening.

OH, and this is not even touching on how weirdly anti-vaxx the whole book sounded? In the book, the zombie disease originated from taking both a flu vaccine and ingesting a mushroom which was a new trendy "medicine/supplement". Many of the characters (mainly the main girl character), bring up in conversation/inner monologue multiple times about how they knew the flu shot was bad and basically patting themselves on the back for not taking it. It had a weirdly victim-blamey tone in some parts to me - the vibes were kinda sus. Like what lmao.

Idk, I didn't dislike this book, but I think I just expected more from it?

I haven't felt like I've had much to want to talk about with recent books I've finished - I'm surprised I wrote this much. I didn't even realize I had so many thoughts I wanted to type out about this book lol, but hey, sometimes it's like that. x

—

Total books read: 13 Total pages read: 3,576

[cafalla]

DIARY ENTRY - 04/02/2024

I found out yesterday that I have been promoted, and will now be working in a different unit starting next week. It seems this unit is thought highly of, it is located in a desirable new (clean and updated) building, and I know I'll have a much better "quality of working life" there. This applies to the building and amenities, down to the storage and privacy within my working space. Everyone says it will be a good place to work.

I'm truly excited, but a little shocked since this opportunity was all but dropped on my head yesterday and I'm being shuffled away from my current unit so quickly. I like my current unit, but I know this is a huge upgrade from where I am now.

Money wise, I won't be making too much more since I'm maxed out on my position "steps", but I still will be making a couple bucks more, so that adds up.

I think my work itself will also be much lighter in load, and because of that I'll have more downtime. Maybe things won't be as stressful over there as they feel now in my current spot.

I'm looking forward to the change, as I'll be able to learn so many new things and be in a nicer working environment, but I can't help but feel a little sad that I'm leaving the unit I was hired on with. They've all been really good and nice to me since I started.

Truthfully though, I never felt like I fully fit in with my unit in the sense of like...friendliness? Not that everyone isn't friendly to me, or I'm not friendly to them, but I always feel somewhat left out of the loop in terms of social situations and information exchanges. I know that is vague, but I don't really care to go into detail about it.

I think a part of myself is relieved to go and start new with a new group of people in a new place. But also selfish because me moving leaves them in a precarious situation as far as the work is concerned. It's nothing they can't handle, but it will take them a while to recover from being a person down, if that makes sense.

It wasn't my idea to move though, it was an internal decision made - I had no idea of this position opening or that I was considered/picked for it until yesterday.

It's been a lot for me to take in. I'm not sure I've even fully processed the change. I feel silly for being so blindsided and stunned over something that is a positive change for me. I know I'll look back on this time months from now and think "what was I even worried about?" But for now, I'm still feeling a little anxious over it all. x

[cafalla]

2024 READING - COMPLETED BOOK 12/12 !!!

I did it, I reached my yearly reading goal of 12 books this year!

I know that doesn't seem like a lot, especially considering how I reached this year-long goal in only a few months. (I finished this book a few days ago, so this counts as a March book!)

But I think it's important to consider that I have been only averaging 0-1 book a year for the past...10 years or so? So, despite having once been a bookworm of a reader long long ago, this was a lofty goal for me to start with. I'm glad to have achieved it, and now know what is possible for me!

This is my twelfth book completed for the year, The Game of Love and Death (329 pages).

I quite enjoyed this one. All of the characters had interesting backstories and goals, and I liked that we followed the actual characters Love and Death throughout the story. I felt satisfied with the conclusion, despite it being a safe one.

I've also hit over 3k pages read! I truly did not start this year thinking I'd be at this point by the beginning of April. I figured it'd take me at least twice as long to get to where I am now! x

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Total books read: 12 Total pages read: 3,300 (what a pleasing number lol!)

[cafalla]

2024 Reading - Completed Book 11/12

I finished my 11th book of the year a few days back, The Lover (117 pages).

Honestly, I don't have much to say about this book. I feel like I should, considering its contents, but I don't. I've never been good at theme analysis, and I'm sure there is plenty to talk about regarding this story. I thought the writing was interesting, and it was a decent quick read.

I feel like I should have more to say, but eh. Sometimes you just read a book, finish it, and think "cool, ok moving on". It's not a bad book, but I guess nothing in it resonated with me or excited me enough to want to say anything more about it.

I'm amazed I am almost to 12/12 books read! I gave myself a whole year to reach this goal, and here I am, right at the line to reach it in March. x

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Total books read: 11 Total pages read: 2,971