Another year, another January, another month in review. I’ve always thought January is kind of a strange month. On one hand, it feels like thirty-one Mondays in a row, but on the other hand, everything feels so fresh and exciting! That’s the approach I try to have, but when it’s dark by 5:30 p.m. and the temperatures are freezing most of the time, it’s hard.

On the bright side, there was a lot of new and exciting stuff to keep my spirits up this month! I’ll talk about all of that in just a second, but first, here’s what I blogged about this month:

• The goals that I want to work towards in 2020
• My experience with the Save the Cat! theory and how it’s helping me with my writing
• Why e-books and audiobooks aren’t as bad as we make them out to be

The biggest (and really only exciting) thing I was up to this month was taking a “Paper Processes” class to fulfill my arts requirement. In short, we worked on making handmade paper for about a week and a half, and then spent the other half of the class making handmade books.

I had heard good things about this class from a couple of my friends, but I still wasn’t sure how I was going to do with it. As it turns out, I had a lot of fun! Both parts of the class were interesting, but I definitely enjoyed the bookmaking part more. By the end of the class, I turned in six books with different types of covers, binding, and styles.

We also had to make two “artists books,” or books that were artwork in their own right. The first one was a fold book, which was themed around time, and the second one had to answer the question “What is a book?” I’m really happy with how both of mine turned out!

Outside of class, I also got to grab meals with a few of my friends and catch up with them, so that was fun too. I was also…

Watching…

Nothing really new and exciting in terms of TV shows, but my mom and I did go see the new Little Women film this month! It’s been a long time since I read the book, but I really enjoyed the movie adaptation. I’m sure a film or literary critic has said something more intelligent about it all, so I’ll just leave it at I really enjoyed it, and I definitely recommend it!

Reading…

SO MUCH. I don’t think I’ve read this many books (14!) in a month since I was like… eleven? There’s so much to talk about that I’m gonna do it in bullet points instead of paragraphs because that seems less overwhelming.

• I finished listening to Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo, the sequel to Six of Crows. It’s even better the second time around!
• I read six volumes of the Fullmetal Alchemist manga. I started the series in December, so I’m actually up through volume 11 now. Even though I’m familiar with the plot by now, I love reading the manga because it has so many extra details and scenes that didn’t make it into the anime adaptation.
• My brother gave me The Rift, one of the graphic novels set in the Avatar: The Last Airbender universe, so I read that too. It makes me really happy that these characters live on in graphic novels!
• I read Archenemies and Supernova by Marissa Meyer, the second and third books in her Renegades trilogy. I struggled to connect with the characters, but I was very curious to see how the story ended, and I’m glad I took the time to finish it.
• Finally, I listened to all four books in Maggie Steifvater’s The Raven Cycle. I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with it but BOY DID I. Listening to them on audiobook made the experience really enjoyable, and I’m glad I was able to listen to them all close together. I felt really close to the characters, and I kind of miss them now…

Listening to…

“Labeled,” a podcast that documents the history of Tooth & Nail Records. For those unfamiliar with it, Tooth & Nail is one of the first and arguably the most prominent record label for alternative Christian music (think punk, hardcore, etc.). A lot of my favorite bands (past and present) are connected to Tooth & Nail in some way, so it’s been fun to listen to this oral history of the label and how it’s influenced Christian music.

Around the Internet

• Navybratlyss – Christian Teen Girl Retreat
• Untitled Talent – Fan Animation of Zelda (BOTW)
• Simply Write – Anything You Make Is Better than the Masterpiece Inside Your Head (Thanks for the shoutout, Sarah!)
• Hannah Heath – Why We Need to Let Female Protagonists Just Be Protagonists
• Wonder Woman 1984 Trailer (I know it’s from December, I just haven’t had a chance to share it yet)
• Film Theory – Two part series on Jeopardy! and James Holzhauer (Part 1 and Part 2)

Gratitude

I’m thankful for new bullet journal pages, Doctor Who, my hoodie, safe travels, grilled cheese, clean sheets, chapstick, lunch with friends, my colorful paper, snow, yellow legal pads, three day weekends, goldfish crackers, Reddit, free books, my handmade books and paper, and spending time with family.

How was your January? Did you see any movies or read any good books? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

Until next time!