Tag: 2025

Reading Challenges I Took Part In This Year – Blogmas 2025

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Let’s continue on with the book theme, now shall we?

Here’s a fun little tidbit. Towards the end of 2024, I hit a reading slump. Nothing was catching my eye, nothing was piquing my interest. Manga I’d enjoyed earlier that year bored me. Novels I’d waited all year for were set aside.

I was a right mess.

And then… I discovered a reading challenge.

Okay, now let’s be fair. I’ve been doing the Goodreads Challenge for years now. Set a goal, read that goal, bask in the glory of finishing that goal before the end of the year. But just reading x number of books in a year because a chore, a task to do. There was nothing interesting about it.

Until there was.

Throughout the year, Goodreads has been setting little reading challenge. Read a book off of a specific list, and get a fabulous prize! Also known as stroking your ego and boosting your reading goal by reading books that are probably outside your preferred genre and comfort zone. The challenges had to be completed within a specific timeframe, usually two months or so.

Thanks to this challenge, I have read award winning books, books by marginalized authors, Queer positive stories that have been in genres I would normally touched… The Goodreads Reading Challenges have very much opened up many doors for me.

But that’s not the only official reading challenge I’ve done this year. I discovered that Barnes and Nobel has their own, which isn’t very well advertised. And actually, they did two.

Barnes and Noble’s Reading Challenge presented 52 prompts around the year, meant to be weekly, though you could easily read ahead if wanted. The prompts were for the most part one word challenges, such as “prequel” or “relaxing, “avoided” or “memoir”. A kind soul over on Storygraph made a reading challenge page for it, which has made keeping up with the challenge much more manageable.

On top of this, Barnes and Noble also did a 14 week Summer Reading Challenge, with the fourteen prompts being common summer themes, from “hot dogs” and “forests” to “shark week” and “campfire stories”. I was the one who set up the challenge over on Storygraph (which has been a lifesaver this year), and it went well, I think.

Because of these reading challenges, and my own personal goal to attempt to not overlap book picks all that much if possible, my reading goal for this year when from high and probably insane to very much possible, with added manga to the mix.

Here’s hoping that next year brings more reading challenges that are fun and inventive, but also allow for readers’ choice.

Happy reading!

My Rise and (Tiny) Fall from Book Clubs – Blogmas 2025

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

If someone told me that in late 2023 or early 2024 I would be a part of a bunch of book clubs, and that by the end of 2025 I’d be down to just a few, I’d laugh at them.

Okay, maybe not laugh, but I wouldn’t believe them all that much. And honestly, I have personal history to back that up.

For the vast majority of my life, I have detested being told what to read or when to discuss it, how to read something in a particular way and how to “engage with the text.” Even though I have an English degree and love reading, it’s always been difficult for me to read assigned books. Sure, some ended up becoming books I liked or loved or fought for, but in the end, that was like four out of fifty.

I also don’t particularly like discussing books down to the most minute detail. When I read, I want to enjoy books, not analyze them.

But then… well… the pandemic finally eased and I needed to get out of the house.

Without going through the entire history, I ended up joining book clubs at two different used bookstores and through my local library. Each one had a different mix of choices and types of discussions and in general everything seemed to be working out great.

I have read books that were so out of my comfort zone that it was unbelievable, and yet I ended up liking several of them. (Even the one that still gives me the occasional nightmare because it was so well written and vivid.) I’ve also read books that I thought I would enjoy, and discovered that I didn’t. I’ve found new auto-buy authors and whole genres I’ll give a second shot.

Over the past few months, things have changed a bit. I’ve made the decision to cut out all but two of the book clubs. Past of the reason is that I didn’t feel heard anymore. My suggestions weren’t being taken seriously. My points were being ignored in conversations, or were being somewhat manipulated to mean something else. It felt like anything I had to contribute was just… a waste of my time. But more over, it was becoming a waste of anyone else’s time but the core group.

So, I cut down from five or six book clubs (there was one that we only held sporadically) to just firmly two. One is fiction that feels very open to all conversation (and suggestions and picks are welcomed with open arms) and the other is queer, with subjects and genres galore.

Technically there is one more within that store, I just don’t go to it, as the theme just doesn’t click with me (and that’s fine!). I also have an open invitation to book clubs at any of the other locations, as well as one of the Barnes and Noble locations near me (though they have cancelled the YA Book Club, but that’s a conversation for another day).

As for now, i have two book clubs in two weeks in December, reading Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (for this coming Saturday) and The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch (on the following Sunday). I’m slightly behind in my reading, so I’m off to jump in.

Happy reading!

Oh How I Love Advent Calendars – Blogmas 2025

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

I have always loved Advent Calendars. From the beautiful one that has always graced my family’s wall each year to the newer ones bought each year, I have come to appreciate them.

This year, I’m doing several. Some that are advertised as Advent calendars, and others that… well, okay, it’s more like a series. But it counts!

Lego Star Wars 2025 Advent Calendar

For the past few years, I have made it a point to do a Lego Advent calendar. In 2023, it was the Lego City calendar, and last year was the Lego Star Wars one (mostly because it included a minikit! I couldn’t pass that up!)

This year I had been planning on returning to the Lego City calendar, but it has been sold out since mid October, I swear. So, instead, I’m “settling” with the Lego Star Wars one, as the other themes don’t do it for me and I’m too lazy to come up with something for myself, at least like this.

Each day comes with either a Minifigure to put together or a little set that is Star Wars themed. They are very adorable to look at and the Christmas theme, while not exactly Star Wars appropriate (as besides several Lego Star Wars movies, Christmas doesn’t exist in Star Wars to my knowledge…).

A Heart For Christmas by Sophie Jomain (A Advent Romance)

Thanks to the magic of random internet browsing, I happened upon a novel designed to be read as a chapter a day. Of course, being myself, I didn’t bother to read the reviews (not exactly great…) and instead just bought it and have been impatiently waiting to read it.

From the first chapter, I’ve met the main female character of this romantic (apparently young-adult) story, who is eighteen and spending the Christmas holidays in the Alps with her father, two years after a heart attack left her with a donor heart. I’m curious to see if the story takes off into unexpected directions or if I’ll be reading the same old tale again… We shall see.

Disney’s Twisted Tales Advent

Ever since I saw the first book in Disney’s Twisted Tales series, I’ve been wanting to get into them and enjoy all that is within the pages. Of course, every time I think “this is it”, something comes up and I never crack open that book.

This summer, I happened upon an official Advent Calendar for the Twisted Tales, originally released in 2023. I scooped it up… and then promptly forgot about it until yesterday, when I was starting to set up for Christmas and found it again. So I decided I would do a tale a day… until discovering that there were only ten actual short stories, and the rest were diaries, coloring pages, and other random things. And THEN (I promise this will be the last one, I swear), I found out that a second Twisted Tales Advent was released in the UK in October. So that will get here when it gets here, and until then I’m doing two. The short stories are spread out enough to accomidate that, or so I hope.

This might be the only one that I’m behind on come the end of December.

A Manga a Day…

And finally, my own kind of Advent calendar, based entirely on my feelings for that day.

Over the past few years, my manga collect has massively expanded. I’m reading series that I would have never though to touch before (including a horror series, and I hate horror! And I love that series!). There’s long ongoing series, short ones that I have collected complete, a few that I’m in the middle of because of printing issues (In/Spectre, why are volumes 5 and 6 still the only ones out of print?!)… All over the map at this point.

Because I have so many unread volumes due to life and other obligations, I decided that each day in December, I’m going to read at least a volume a day. It doesn’t have to be from the same series (for example, on December first I finished Aria the Masterpiece and then volume 13 of Otherside Picnic, two wildly different manga). My reason for this is two-fold. I have so much left to read… and I desperately want to pad my Goodreads total for personal reasons. Yeah, that’s happening.

And Of Course, The Classic

The final Advent calendar is the one that hasn’t actually been put up yet, because this year we’re behind in our decorating.

Many years ago, I think before I was born or the year that it happened, my parents were gifted a beautiful Advent calendar from my aunt. Yes, I think it was from a catalogue, and yes, it’s old, but we hang it every year and fight where to place all but a few of the pieces (certain ones have their own special place, because I said so).

No matter what happens, no matter if we have ten Advent calendars or one, this will always be that one. And that’s what makes it all that more special.

Once the month draws to a close, I’ll rate and discuss which one were worth the money, and which ones weren’t (hint, it’s probably the book, based on the reviews alone, from people I trust, haha).

Until then!

It’s a Holiday Surprise! I’m Back for Blogmas – Blogmas 2025

~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

It’s been a long time coming.

No, really. I’ve been wanting to sit back done and return to this blog, but it’s been hard. There’s a lot that has stopped me, both in my life and mentally. But I decided today that it was time. A habit takes, what, thirty days? And though I only really want to blog once or twice a week, let’s just go full throttle throughout December to Christmas, because why not.

There’s a lot to talk about. I’m going to make the time to do so.

The basics: I’m 35 now. Spent my last birthday celebrating at Disneyland, staying at the Disneyland Hotel (thanks Mom!), having the time of my life. I still have my job that I don’t talk about, been there now three years. Even though each day is taxing, I know what I’m doing is helping people, and that’s what my main goal is.

I’m basically out of the writing and fandom scene. I don’t really write much anymore, completely burnt out thanks to the BS of the last fandom I was in. I’m toying with some things that I may put to paper, but it’ll be a long time coming before anyone sees a glimpse of anything. As for fandoms, I watch stuff, I read more, but I don’t engage. After the fiasco of The Old Guard 2‘s release (yes it came out, yes we’re gonna talk about it), I’ve firmly stepped back. Primarily to protect myself, secondary because I just don’t feel like fighting strangers on the internet.

I’ve joined a bunch of book clubs, and left most of them, mostly due to interpersonal drama and/or clashing personalities. I just don’t see the point of taking part when all opinions can’t be heard or discussed without being told “nah, this is the only thing.” The ones I’m still in are great, fine, calm, and the people there are sweet.

Still reading, still with my insane reading goals. The full thing will be a post on it’s own, but I’ve been doing two reading challenges this year, and I’m about to complete them both. It’s satisfying.

Still gaming, completely in love with Disney Dreamlight Valley, and about to restart Animal Crossing New Horizons because of the surprise 3.0 update coming in January.

And really? Just living. Just getting up every day, doing my job, slowly breaking out of the shell I forced myself into the past couple years when everything seemed to be crumbling around me. It’s going to take some more time, more exploration of myself, before I’m the “me” I can be fully happy with, but it’s a journey. I’m on that path, and it’s healing.

Let’s see what tomorrow brings.