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  34. <title>2024 in books</title>
  35. <link>https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2025/01/2024-in-books/</link>
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  38. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Audrey]]></dc:creator>
  39. <pubDate>Fri, 31 Jan 2025 04:01:52 +0000</pubDate>
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  43. <description><![CDATA[At 23 books this past year, I had the slowest reading year since I started tracking my annual reading on Goodreads in 2015 (my second slowest was 27 books in 2016)&#8230; and 4 of those books were illustrated children&#8217;s/middle grade reads, 2 were romance rereads, and 1 was fanfiction LOL. That said, things are looking up for 2025! This past November,...
  44.        <div class="more-button"><a class="more-link" href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2025/01/2024-in-books/">Read More</a>
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  46. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>At 23 books this past year, I had the slowest reading year since I started tracking my annual reading on Goodreads in 2015 (my second slowest was 27 books in 2016)&#8230; and 4 of those books were illustrated children&#8217;s/middle grade reads, 2 were romance rereads, and 1 was fanfiction LOL.</p>
  47. <p>That said, things are looking up for 2025! This past November, I got <a href="https://pagetheshop.com/products/clementine-kindle-case">a new Kindle case</a> from <a href="https://pagetheshop.com">Page the Shop</a>, which has motivated me to read more. I am <em>desperate</em> to be in a constant state of reading just so I can whip out my Kindle anytime, anywhere. Nay, every time, everywhere! In fact, I want to be reading so much that I don&#8217;t even get the opportunity to whip out my Kindle because it&#8217;s already out!!</p>
  48. <p><span id="more-14643"></span></p>
  49. <p><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="14711" data-permalink="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2025/01/2024-in-books/img_0445-2/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_0445.jpg?fit=%2C&amp;ssl=1" data-orig-size="" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="[]" data-image-title="the night parade by jami nakamura lin, shark heart by emily habeck, before i let go by kennedy ryan &#8211; top reads of 2024" data-image-description="&lt;p&gt;the night parade by jami nakamura lin, shark heart by emily habeck, before i let go by kennedy ryan &#8211; top reads of 2024 | brunch at audrey&#8217;s&lt;/p&gt;
  50. " data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_0445.jpg?fit=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_0445.jpg?fit=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-14711" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_0445.jpg?w=830&#038;ssl=1" alt="the night parade by jami nakamura lin, shark heart by emily habeck, before i let go by kennedy ryan - top reads of 2024 | brunch at audrey's" /></p>
  51. <h3><strong>Top reads</strong></h3>
  52. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/90588968-the-night-parade"><em><strong>The Night Parade</strong></em></a> by Jami Nakamura Lin: A memoir of grief, mental illness, and identity that plays with form and genre, and incorporates Japanese, Taiwanese, and Okinawan legend, as well as illustrations by the author&#8217;s sister! This book is art!! Honestly I was just immersed in this read and don&#8217;t have much of my own thoughts at the moment, but a reread is pending! I&#8217;m determined to formulate a proper review to spotlight this underrated book and sing its praises to anyone who will listen. Please give this book a try if you&#8217;re at all intrigued, but especially recommended for those who enjoy memoirs like <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50644618-tiny-moons"><em>Tiny Moons</em></a>, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54814676-crying-in-h-mart"><em>Crying in H Mart</em></a>, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43317482-in-the-dream-house"><em>In the Dream House</em></a>, or <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40121993-the-collected-schizophrenias"><em>The Collected Schizophrenias</em></a>.</p>
  53. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62919375-shark-heart"><em><strong>Shark Heart</strong></em></a> by Emily Habeck: A love story between a wife and a husband who is slowly turning into a shark &#8212; as much a story of loss as it is of love. I was a bit nervous that this book would be too weird for me, but I absolutely loved it. I spent a day at a cafe and read it all in one go. Wren and Lewis were two different personalities, but their love for each other was so tender, and their loss all the more heartbreaking for it. I kind of don’t want to say too much more about the book, because I think it’s one better experienced blind with an open heart. The story was so much more expansive than I expected. An absolutely sublime journey.</p>
  54. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60568471-before-i-let-go"><em><strong>Before I Let Go</strong></em></a> by Kennedy Ryan: A second-chance romance following Yasmen and Josiah as they navigate life after divorce. I loved Yasmen and Josiah. They were two people who were so clearly drawn to each other, but had stuff they needed to deal with and were just doing the best they could for themselves, each other, and the kids they co-parent. It was refreshing to see two mature characters in this genre with healthy boundaries and healthy communication. The book explores themes of grief, depression, and therapy, and is filled with yearning, not just in terms of the characters for each other and the loss of their relationship, but also for the selves they used to be and the healing they’re trying to find.</p>
  55. <h3><strong>Honourable mentions</strong></h3>
  56. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62919847-the-reformatory"><em><strong>The Reformatory</strong></em></a> by Tananarive Due: A masterful blend of southern gothic, historical fiction, and horror set in Jim Crow Florida. Twelve-year-old Robbie is sent to a segregated reform school for kicking the son of the largest landowner in town in defence of his older sister Gloria, where he witnesses the horrors of racism and injustice for the living and the dead. This was a dark, gripping, haunting read. I was particularly invested in the chapters from Robbie’s pov in the reformatory, his interactions with the other kids, and the ghosts (Gloria’s pov focused on her efforts outside trying to get Robbie out). Horror isn’t just about shock or the supernatural, but a genre that can reflect the darkest realities of society, and this novel is a perfect example of that. Highly recommended!</p>
  57. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/156023123-annie-bot"><em><strong>Annie Bot</strong></em></a> by Sierra Greer: Annie is the perfect robot girlfriend, designed to please her human owner Doug, but as her AI improves and she evolves to become more human, the further she strays from the perfect ideal she was created to be. The premise isn&#8217;t super novel, but the story was engaging all the same, and sometimes even felt like a thriller. It had me coming up with all sorts of directions for the story to go. I would have loved to explore various plot points and supporting characters some more, but I also think the way the story only touched on those aspects worked for the pacing and made the book more accessible. It was interesting to see how anxiety (and even trauma) manifested in this robot as she attuned herself to her owner, precisely gauging his displeasure and the pain it was designed to cause her, creating a constant undercurrent of tension.</p>
  58. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7932991-delay-deny-defend"><em><strong>Delay, Deny, Defend</strong></em></a> by Jay M Feinman: Why and how insurance companies avoid paying claims. A read influenced by our hero Luigi. This was a super enlightening read for me, as someone who doesn&#8217;t know anything about insurance or adult things haha. Though the examples in the book focus on home and auto insurance, the insights are extensible to the insurance industry as a whole, and I would be curious to read up on the finer nuances of health insurance. The book includes some history, some case studies, a whole chapter on Hurricane Katrina, and ends with actionable advice for consumers and proposals for structural changes in the industry. There wasn&#8217;t any filler, though the writing could be a bit more concise at times (just to make it <em>super</em> tight), but the writing was pretty standard for nonfic and it succeeded in making this overwhelming topic accessible.</p>
  59. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37186.The_Miraculous_Journey_of_Edward_Tulane"><em><strong>The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane</strong></em></a> by Kate DiCamillo: A beautiful but vain china rabbit is adored by his owner but one day is lost and embarks on an unexpected journey. I did not expect this children&#8217;s book to hit so hard. It was an emotional journey &#8212; melancholic and sometimes downright hopeless, but also whimsical and redemptive. I was influenced to read this book after rewatching the kdrama <em>You Who Came from the Stars</em> lol.</p>
  60. <h3><strong>The rest</strong></h3>
  61. <h4>Nonfiction</h4>
  62. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8520610-quiet"><em><strong>Quiet</strong></em></a> by Susan Cain: I usually avoid self-help books, but this one is constantly referenced and I&#8217;ve even had friends in my personal life recommend it, saying it helped them understand themselves better and embrace their introverted nature. So I finally read it and&#8230; it was just fine. Like most self-help books, it could have been condensed into a poignant essay or article. I didn&#8217;t find the anecdotal case studies very compelling, except for the one about Esther&#8217;s public speaking. Personally, I was most interested in practical examples and advice for the workplace. The book felt pseudo-scientific, and sometimes it felt like the author attributed certain observations solely to personality type without addressing whether confounding factors were considered. All that said, this book has clearly benefited many, so it&#8217;s a good thing a book like this exists.</p>
  63. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/182095845-here-after"><em><strong>Here After</strong></em></a> by Amy Lin: A young widow&#8217;s love story and memoir of grief. Lin&#8217;s writing brims with raw, heartfelt emotion as she navigates the overwhelming pain and grief of losing her husband. The death of a loved one is something no one ever really gets over, but the experience can be particularly lonely as a young widow. Through vignettes, the narrative alternates between the before and after of her husband&#8217;s untimely death. If you&#8217;re expecting a traditional memoir, this book may feel a bit incomplete.</p>
  64. <h4>Contemporary fiction</h4>
  65. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/209801563-city-of-night-birds"><em><strong>City of Night Birds</strong></em></a>* by Juhea Kim: Told in alternating timelines, a once-famous ballerina returns to the world of the Russian ballet two years after a devastating accident that stalled her career. This was my most highly anticipated read of the year, but unfortunately, that also made it a candidate for the most disappointing read of the year. I didn’t connect with any of the characters, least of all the protagonist Natalia. Everything just happened to her and she was just there. She didn’t seem particularly passionate about dance or struggle for what she achieved, not like her peers.</p>
  66. <p>But there was so much potential for this book! There could have been much more tension built up between certain characters, more drama, more desire, and perhaps even an allegory to a particular ballet throughout the novel. Maybe it could have gone the route of something like <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59336344-sirens-muses"><em>Sirens and Muses</em></a>.</p>
  67. <p>This felt like a book the author loved to write because she loves ballet and could flex her knowledge of and vocabulary for the art, but if you’re not already in that world, the writing doesn’t do much to bring you into it. I had hoped that even if I didn’t connect with the characters or care about the plot, that I’d at least be immersed in the world of ballet atmospherically or aesthetically, but alas. I think people who love the ballet world would appreciate this book more.</p>
  68. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/200987323-i-hope-this-finds-you-well"><em><strong>I Hope This Finds You Well</strong></em></a> by Natalie Sue: When an office worker gets caught sending hidden petty email postscripts in white font about her coworkers, she is assigned HR training and rigorous email restrictions, but an IT mix up gives her access to her coworkers&#8217; private emails instead. The premise is hilarious and I thought Jolene&#8217;s cynical POV would feel cathartic to read, but it ended up feeling a bit miserable. I didn&#8217;t care for her complaints or the commentary on office politics. It took me awhile to get through the first third of the book because of this, but then it got juicy. I enjoyed the middle and the parts where she schemed ways to keep her job and one-up her colleagues. The end was super rushed.</p>
  69. <h4>Horror</h4>
  70. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/195703882-the-eyes-are-the-best-part"><em><strong>The Eyes are the Best Part</strong></em></a> by Monica Kim: A girl becomes obsessed with the idea of eating her mom&#8217;s obnoxious boyfriend&#8217;s blue eyes. Recommended for those who support female rage and women&#8217;s wrongs. This story could have been even more compelling with stronger character development and understanding of character motivations. Without that, the plot sometimes just felt chaotic and with little intention.</p>
  71. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62888191-monstrilio"><em><strong>Monstrilio</strong></em></a> by Gerardo Samano Cordova: A grieving mother cuts out a piece of her deceased son&#8217;s lung, which she nurtures until it gains sentience. The book is told in four consecutive POVS: that of Monstrilio&#8217;s mother, a family friend, father, and Monstrilio himself. Monstrilio&#8217;s mother&#8217;s POV was intriguing, especially as the story opened with her and there was the mystery and magic surrounding the lung that would become Monstrilio. The middle POVs were boring. Monstrilio&#8217;s POV was my favourite. His part of the story was the most dramatic plot-wise, and it was interesting seeing him contend with his nature, reminding me of Frankenstein&#8217;s monster.</p>
  72. <h4>Romance (and fanfiction lol)</h4>
  73. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59365218-better-than-the-movies"><em><strong>Better than the Movies</strong></em></a> by Lynn Painter (reread): Liz the hopeless romantic enlists the help of her obnoxious neighbour Wes to get noticed by his best friend Michael, in exchange for the parking spot they’ve been feuding over. I loved this YA romance just as much on a reread as <a href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2023/07/2023-mid-year-book-freak-out-tag">the first time I read it</a>, and had the same thoughts and feelings &#8212; wholesome, sweet, giddy, even liked the third act conflict, only bothered (slightly) by the parts Liz was a bad friend to her bff. A must-read for anybody like me who grew up watching rom coms!</p>
  74. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42201431-the-unhoneymooners"><em><strong>The Unhoneymooners</strong></em></a> by Christina Lauren (reread): Nemeses Olive and Ethan reluctantly go on an all-expenses-paid honeymoon together when the bride and groom (Olive&#8217;s sister, Ethan&#8217;s best friend) get food poisoning. I had the same thoughts on my reread as on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B1miVrsAiKm">my first read</a> (fun banter and bickering, unsatisfying resolution of third act conflict), but it didn&#8217;t hit as much. Still a great fluffy romance that I&#8217;d recommend, but personally wouldn&#8217;t reread (well, not again haha).</p>
  75. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199928276-the-love-of-my-afterlife"><em><strong>The Love of My Afterlife</strong></em></a> by Kirsty Greenwood: A recently deceased woman meets &#8220;the one&#8221; in the afterlife waiting room, scoring a second chance at life (and love!) if she can find him on Earth before ten days are up. It was kind of boring following Delphie chasing Jonah around the city in her search for him. She&#8217;s terrible at scheming, doesn&#8217;t understand subtlety, and is just a bit delulu. I&#8217;m not big on overdone grumpy/sunshine or unconvincing &#8220;enemies&#8221; to lovers. There were some sweet non-romantic moments though (particularly in the latter part of the book), and worthwhile explorations of fate and fighting it, and grief. Recommended for fans of <em>The Good Place</em>.</p>
  76. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/211780885-the-wedding-forecast"><em><strong>The Wedding Forecast</strong></em></a> by Nina Kenwood: At her best friend’s wedding weekend, Anna braces for an awkward reunion with her ex, but luckily she has the wedding photographer and a groomsman as a distraction. This was a solid adult romance that I read in one sitting. I loved the sisterhood between Anna, her best friend, and their moms. I wished there was more chemistry with one of the corners of the love triangle so that they could be evenly matched. I almost DNFed the book in the last five chapters &#8212; my romance girlies need to grow a spine!! Overall a fun read though!</p>
  77. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56250307-the-darkest-temptation"><em><strong>The Darkest Temptation</strong></em></a> by Danielle Lori: I don&#8217;t even know what to say about this one haha. I&#8217;m sure you&#8217;ll like it if you&#8217;re into mafia dark romance. I&#8217;m not generally, but sometimes curiosity gets the best of me.</p>
  78. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60039506-manacled"><em><strong>Manacled</strong></em></a> by SunLinYu: Dramione fanfic, soon to be traditionally published as <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/207670238-alchemised"><em>Alchemised</em></a>. In an alternate timeline where Voldemort has won the war and enacts a dystopian repopulation effort, Hermione, the Order&#8217;s last survivor, is kept alive in captivity as Voldemort seeks to break into her locked memories. I was in a desperate reading slump, so I thought it’d be fun to venture into fanfic for the first time and was looking for a silly goofy time in the Wizarding World, but <em>Manacled</em> was an unfortunate choice on my part. I searched up the top Dramione fanfic on Goodreads and didn’t do any further research, so that’s on me. This was a dystopian war story with some graphic sexual assault. Hermione was routinely tortured and raped, her character was completely beaten down, and the golden trio was in shambles (before they died).</p>
  79. <p>I think I may potentially prefer <em>Alchemised</em> &#8212; a version of the fanfic that will not be directly connected to the world of Harry Potter &#8212; because to be honest, <em>Manacled</em> felt like a complete character rewrite. idk if that&#8217;s a common thing for fanfic tho. Maybe for some fanfic that&#8217;s the whole point &#8212; that is, rewriting as opposed to expanding on the world. Anyways, imma go read <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49982302-the-handmaid-s-tale"><em>The Handmaid&#8217;s Tale</em></a> now lol.</p>
  80. <h4>Middle grade fiction</h4>
  81. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/201721655-magnolia-wu-unfolds-it-all"><em><strong>Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All</strong></em></a> by Chanel Miller: A wholesome middle grade chapter book sprinkled with little life lessons and Chanel Miller&#8217;s beloved illustrations. It follows ten-year-old sock detective Magnolia Wu, who is determined to return all the lonely only socks left behind in her parents&#8217; NYC laundromat.</p>
  82. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56470362-garlic-and-the-vampire"><em><strong>Garlic and the Vampire</strong></em></a> &amp; <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59811239-garlic-and-the-witch"><em><strong>Garlic and the Witch</strong></em></a> by Bree Paulsen: A wholesome middle grade graphic novel series, perfect for the autumn and gardening vibes. <em>Garlic and the Vampire</em> explores themes of anxiety and bravery, while <em>Garlic and the Witch</em> explores themes of change and transformation. The first book was my favourite. Recommended for fans of the whimsical, cute-spooky aesthetic of <em>Over the Garden Wall</em>.</p>
  83. <h4>Classic</h4>
  84. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/122638.The_Importance_of_Being_Earnest"><em><strong>The Importance of Being Earnest</strong></em></a> by Oscar Wilde: Two compulsively lying friends pretend to be the same fictional guy to escape social obligations and woo their love interests. I&#8217;ve previously read <em>The Picture of Dorian Gray</em>, and as someone who doesn&#8217;t usually &#8220;get&#8221; classics, I was surprised to find myself appreciating and enjoying the wit, humour, and drama. <em>The Importance of Being Earnest</em> was more of what I love about Oscar Wilde.</p>
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  87. <p style="text-align: center;">207 posts &#8211; 2690 followers &#8211; 193 following</p>
  88. <p>*e/ARC gifted from publisher</p>
  89. <p><strong>What was your favourite read of 2024?</strong></p>
  90. <p>PS: <a href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/01/all-the-books-i-read-in-the-second-half-of-2023/">all the books i read in the second half of 2023</a>, <a href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2023/07/2023-mid-year-book-freak-out-tag/">all the books i read in the first half of 2023</a>, <a href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2023/01/2022-in-books/">2022 in books</a>, <a href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2021/08/2021-mid-year-reading-check-in">2021 mid-year reading check-in</a>, <a href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2020/07/2020-mid-year-reading-check-in">2020 mid-year reading check-in</a>, <a href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2020/01/2019-in-books">2019 in books</a>, <a href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2019/01/2018-reading-challenge/">2018 in books</a>, <a href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2018/01/2017-reading-challenge/">2017 in books</a>, <a href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2017/01/2016-reading-challenge/">2016 in books</a>, <a href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2016/06/2015-reading-challenge/">2015 in books</a></p>
  91. <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://instagram.com/brunchofbooks"><strong>BOOKSTAGRAM</strong></a> <strong>|</strong> <a href="http://goodreads.com/auderoy"><strong>GOODREADS</strong></a></p>
  92. ]]></content:encoded>
  94. <wfw:commentRss>https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2025/01/2024-in-books/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  95. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  98. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">14643</post-id> </item>
  99. <item>
  100. <title>Favourite crochet projects of 2024</title>
  101. <link>https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/12/favourite-crochet-projects-of-2024/</link>
  102. <comments>https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/12/favourite-crochet-projects-of-2024/#respond</comments>
  104. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Audrey]]></dc:creator>
  105. <pubDate>Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:40:48 +0000</pubDate>
  106. <category><![CDATA[crochet]]></category>
  107. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.brunchataudreys.com/?p=14691</guid>
  108.  
  109. <description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve been crocheting for three years now, but I still consider myself a beginner-intermediate crocheter, as I mostly stick to making the same things: basic hats, bags, and pouches, which are pretty much just rectangular or circular shapes made of single, half, or double crochets. This year, I&#8217;ve been a bit more adventurous with my projects and even bought some...
  110.        <div class="more-button"><a class="more-link" href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/12/favourite-crochet-projects-of-2024/">Read More</a>
  111.        <span class="meta-divider"></span></div>]]></description>
  112. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;ve been crocheting for three years now, but I still consider myself a beginner-intermediate crocheter, as I mostly stick to making the same things: basic hats, bags, and pouches, which are pretty much just rectangular or circular shapes made of single, half, or double crochets. This year, I&#8217;ve been a bit more adventurous with my projects and even bought some patterns for the first time! Next year, I&#8217;d really like to learn how to gauge swatch and make a properly sized wearable (not just accessories like hats and bags), and learn more about different types of yarn. If I have the bandwidth for it, I&#8217;d also like to learn C2C crochet and Tunisian crochet.</p>
  113. <p><span id="more-14691"></span></p>
  114. <p>Without further ado, here are my favourite projects of 2024! (Nothing fancy, but lots of fun haha)</p>
  115. <p><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="14693" data-permalink="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/12/favourite-crochet-projects-of-2024/img_0256/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_0256-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1920&amp;ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,1920" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;1.8&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;iPhone XS&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1733325378&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;4.25&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.021276595744681&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}" data-image-title="crochet multi-checker scarf &#8211; favourite crochet projects of 2024" data-image-description="&lt;p&gt;crochet multi-checker scarf &#8211; favourite crochet projects of 2024 | brunch at audrey&#8217;s&lt;/p&gt;
  116. " data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_0256-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_0256-scaled.jpg?fit=830%2C623&amp;ssl=1" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-14693" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_0256-scaled.jpg?resize=830%2C623&#038;ssl=1" alt="crochet multi-checker scarf - favourite crochet projects of 2024 | brunch at audrey's" width="830" height="623" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_0256-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_0256-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_0256-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_0256-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_0256-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_0256-scaled.jpg?w=1660&amp;ssl=1 1660w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_0256-scaled.jpg?w=2490&amp;ssl=1 2490w" sizes="(max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px" /></p>
  117. <p><strong>Crochet multi-checker scarf</strong> (freehanded). A basic scarf made of double crochets&#8230; but the colours make it look really cool, if I do say so myself! I actually made this scarf twice in the exact same colour combination, as there were some minor improvements I wanted to make (weaving in ends more securely &amp; not counting the turning chain as a stitch). I ended up gifting the original scarf to a friend who also crochets.</p>
  118. <p>I want to make another version of this scarf in a different colour combination, maybe something more masculine/unisex but still fun. It&#8217;s hard coming up with colour combinations though. If I have a reallyy hard time with it, maybe I&#8217;ll make the scarf with two colour combinations instead of ten.</p>
  119. <p>Another thing I&#8217;m considering is whether I want to use bamboo yarn again or a different type of yarn. I used bamboo since I had a bunch and it&#8217;s soooo soft, but it&#8217;s also a bit weighty, perhaps too heavy around the neck. I don&#8217;t have much experience working with different types of yarn, so I&#8217;ll have to do some research (I&#8217;ve only worked with cotton, acrylic, and now bamboo).</p>
  120. <p><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="14694" data-permalink="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/12/favourite-crochet-projects-of-2024/img_5082-2/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_5082-2.png?fit=1376%2C1835&amp;ssl=1" data-orig-size="1376,1835" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}" data-image-title="crochet sonny angel peanut pouch &#8211; favourite crochet projects of 2024 | brunch at audrey&#8217;s" data-image-description="&lt;p&gt;crochet sonny angel peanut pouch &#8211; favourite crochet projects of 2024 | brunch at audrey&#8217;s&lt;/p&gt;
  121. " data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_5082-2.png?fit=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_5082-2.png?fit=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-14694" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_5082-2.png?resize=830%2C1107&#038;ssl=1" alt="crochet sonny angel peanut pouch - favourite crochet projects of 2024 | brunch at audrey's" width="830" height="1107" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_5082-2.png?w=1376&amp;ssl=1 1376w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_5082-2.png?resize=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1 225w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_5082-2.png?resize=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_5082-2.png?resize=1152%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1152w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_5082-2.png?resize=1080%2C1440&amp;ssl=1 1080w" sizes="(max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px" /></p>
  122. <p><strong>Crochet Sonny Angel peanut pouch</strong> (freehanded). Sonny Angel collectors are obsessed with peanuts because of the highly sought after secret peanut figure from the <a href="https://www.sonnyangel.com/en/creatures-series">Donna Wilson Creatures</a> series, but still, I had no idea how much my peanut pouches would take off when I first designed them! They have funded my Sonny Angel collection and then some haha.</p>
  123. <p>I started crocheting Sonny Angel pouches in an effort to distract myself from buying more Sonnys, which worked for about four months. Even though I eventually lost my willpower, limiting my trinket purchases and trades to my crochet pouch earnings helped me slow down with collecting and be a little more intentional about it &#8212; spending money is easy, but do I like a figure enough to spend time crocheting another pouch for it? I actually quite like crocheting the pouches and find it meditative, but it&#8217;s weaving in ends and the stitching that&#8217;s incredibly tedious.</p>
  124. <p>The peanut pouches were the first Sonny Angel pouches I designed, but I&#8217;ve crocheted many other kitschy designs as well and they&#8217;ve really spurred my creativity! Plus, the pouches are quick wins since they&#8217;re small projects, and that always feels good.</p>
  125. <p><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="14695" data-permalink="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/12/favourite-crochet-projects-of-2024/img_8287/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_8287-scaled.jpeg?fit=1920%2C2560&amp;ssl=1" data-orig-size="1920,2560" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;1.8&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;iPhone XS&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1725027815&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;4.25&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;160&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.016666666666667&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}" data-image-title="crochet BLT sandwich coaster set &#8211; favourite crochet projects of 2024" data-image-description="&lt;p&gt;crochet BLT sandwich coaster set &#8211; favourite crochet projects of 2024 | brunch at audrey&#8217;s&lt;/p&gt;
  126. " data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_8287-scaled.jpeg?fit=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_8287-scaled.jpeg?fit=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-14695" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_8287-scaled.jpeg?resize=830%2C1107&#038;ssl=1" alt="crochet BLT sandwich coaster set - favourite crochet projects of 2024 | brunch at audrey's" width="830" height="1107" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_8287-scaled.jpeg?w=1920&amp;ssl=1 1920w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_8287-scaled.jpeg?resize=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1 225w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_8287-scaled.jpeg?resize=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_8287-scaled.jpeg?resize=1152%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1152w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_8287-scaled.jpeg?w=1660&amp;ssl=1 1660w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px" /></p>
  127. <p><strong>Crochet BLT sandwich coaster set</strong> (<a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sandwich-coaster-set-2">Ravelry pattern</a>). I&#8217;m so in love with the playful design of this coaster set! The coasters look so cute when packed into the bread bag too &#8212; <a href="https://www.instagram.com/sonnysupper/p/C_eSTBXykVy">more pics on my insta</a>! I&#8217;m still missing the cheese slice and mustard coasters (still looking for a shade of yellow I like), as well as some embellishments on the cucumber and tomato coasters, but I&#8217;ll get around to that eventually.</p>
  128. <p>This is one of the first patterns I ever bought. It includes nine coasters and the bread bag. Even though you could probably figure out how to make the coasters without a pattern, I thought the pattern designer deserved her flowers for her creativity. The pattern saved me time and I learned some new techniques, so it was worth it to me! The individual coasters were super quick and satisfying to make; the bread bag took a little longer, but was still pretty quick and straightforward.</p>
  129. <p>These would make such a cute gift for artsy friends and bread lovers! I just love coasters. (Alternatively, these <a href="https://designideas.net/products/toastit-coasters-set-8">cork toast coasters</a> are also super fun!)</p>
  130. <p>PS: <a href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/01/favourite-crochet-projects-of-2023">favourite crochet projects of 2023</a>, <a href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/01/incomplete-crochet-projects-of-2023">incomplete crochet projects of 2023</a>, <a href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2021/12/i-made-a-bag-and-a-hat">i made a bag and a hat</a></p>
  131. ]]></content:encoded>
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  134. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  137. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">14691</post-id> </item>
  138. <item>
  139. <title>My Christmas playlist</title>
  140. <link>https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/11/my-christmas-playlist/</link>
  141. <comments>https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/11/my-christmas-playlist/#respond</comments>
  143. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Audrey]]></dc:creator>
  144. <pubDate>Fri, 01 Nov 2024 04:01:33 +0000</pubDate>
  145. <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
  146. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.brunchataudreys.com/?p=14650</guid>
  147.  
  148. <description><![CDATA[As Mariah Carey says&#8230; IT&#8217;S TIIIIIIIIME! I love Christmas pop songs and covers. I&#8217;ve been building on this playlist for a few years and sometimes add a whole album at a time, so I would recommend listening to it on shuffle. It&#8217;s still November, but I&#8217;ve already been vibing to it while sipping on tea, munching on Trader Joe&#8217;s biscuits,...
  149.        <div class="more-button"><a class="more-link" href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/11/my-christmas-playlist/">Read More</a>
  150.        <span class="meta-divider"></span></div>]]></description>
  151. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As Mariah Carey says&#8230; IT&#8217;S TIIIIIIIIME! I love Christmas pop songs and covers. I&#8217;ve been building on this playlist for a few years and sometimes add a whole album at a time, so I would recommend listening to it on shuffle. It&#8217;s still November, but I&#8217;ve already been vibing to it while sipping on tea, munching on Trader Joe&#8217;s biscuits, and crocheting a new scarf. It&#8217;s just started getting a little chilly in LA, so I&#8217;m trying to finish the scarf ASAP to get the most wear out of it this season.</p>
  152. <p><span id="more-14650"></span></p>
  153. <p>What&#8217;s on your Christmas playlist?</p>
  154. <p><iframe loading="lazy" style="border-radius: 12px;" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/2zHALdNOjF2vNvGBhCKofp?utm_source=generator&amp;theme=0" width="100%" height="352" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
  155. ]]></content:encoded>
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  158. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  161. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">14650</post-id> </item>
  162. <item>
  163. <title>My Halloween playlist</title>
  164. <link>https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/10/my-halloween-playlist/</link>
  165. <comments>https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/10/my-halloween-playlist/#respond</comments>
  167. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Audrey]]></dc:creator>
  168. <pubDate>Tue, 01 Oct 2024 04:01:32 +0000</pubDate>
  169. <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
  170. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.brunchataudreys.com/?p=14649</guid>
  171.  
  172. <description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve had a Christmas playlist for the longest time, but for some reason I&#8217;ve never put together a Halloween playlist. I suppose that&#8217;s because I usually opt for Halloween movies (namely Henry Selick/Tim Burton movies and Harry Potter) over Halloween music, whereas for Christmas, I usually opt for Christmas music over Christmas movies (also Harry Potter haha). I&#8217;ve only just...
  173.        <div class="more-button"><a class="more-link" href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/10/my-halloween-playlist/">Read More</a>
  174.        <span class="meta-divider"></span></div>]]></description>
  175. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;ve had a Christmas playlist for the longest time, but for some reason I&#8217;ve never put together a Halloween playlist. I suppose that&#8217;s because I usually opt for Halloween movies (namely Henry Selick/Tim Burton movies and Harry Potter) over Halloween music, whereas for Christmas, I usually opt for Christmas music over Christmas movies (also Harry Potter haha). I&#8217;ve only just noticed this about myself. Is anyone else the same?</p>
  176. <p>Anyways, I miss Halloween on the east coast. Halloween is pretty big in LA &#8212; people like to get dressed up and the amusement parks have their Halloween themes &#8212; but it just isn&#8217;t the same when sun is shining on palm trees and it&#8217;s too warm to get bundled in coats and scarves. I really feel like a weirdo wearing a scarf in LA unless it&#8217;s actually cold out&#8230; so I haven&#8217;t yet!</p>
  177. <p>And that brings me back to my Halloween playlist. I need all the Halloween vibes I can get! I&#8217;ve only got 24 songs on my playlist so far, but I plan to add to it for years to come.</p>
  178. <p><span id="more-14649"></span></p>
  179. <p>What&#8217;s on your Halloween playlist? I need recs!</p>
  180. <p><iframe loading="lazy" style="border-radius: 12px;" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/7vGwQmVrEsUJYkZ0Fwle47?utm_source=generator&amp;theme=0" width="100%" height="352" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
  181. ]]></content:encoded>
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  184. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  187. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">14649</post-id> </item>
  188. <item>
  189. <title>Favourite crochet projects of 2023</title>
  190. <link>https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/01/favourite-crochet-projects-of-2023/</link>
  191. <comments>https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/01/favourite-crochet-projects-of-2023/#respond</comments>
  193. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Audrey]]></dc:creator>
  194. <pubDate>Wed, 31 Jan 2024 04:01:21 +0000</pubDate>
  195. <category><![CDATA[crochet]]></category>
  196. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.brunchataudreys.com/?p=14724</guid>
  197.  
  198. <description><![CDATA[After sharing my incomplete crochet projects of 2023, I suppose it&#8217;s time to share my favourite crochet projects of 2023! This past year I crocheted many more love letter book sleeves for gifts and have loved the meditative process of this familiar project. I also tried some new things that I didn&#8217;t get around to finishing, mostly due to getting...
  199.        <div class="more-button"><a class="more-link" href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/01/favourite-crochet-projects-of-2023/">Read More</a>
  200.        <span class="meta-divider"></span></div>]]></description>
  201. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>After sharing my <a href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/01/incomplete-crochet-projects-of-2023/">incomplete crochet projects of 2023</a>, I suppose it&#8217;s time to share my favourite crochet projects of 2023!</p>
  202. <p>This past year I crocheted many more <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CoIQn1xPSL6">love letter book sleeves</a> for gifts and have loved the meditative process of this familiar project. I also tried some new things that <a href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/01/incomplete-crochet-projects-of-2023">I didn&#8217;t get around to finishing</a>, mostly due to getting stuck in the design process. But there were also some new things that I <em>did</em> get around to finishing. They&#8217;re far from perfect, but I&#8217;m (generally) proud of them all the same!</p>
  203. <p><span id="more-14724"></span></p>
  204. <p><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="14725" data-permalink="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/01/favourite-crochet-projects-of-2023/img_0939/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_0939.jpg?fit=1229%2C1229&amp;ssl=1" data-orig-size="1229,1229" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;1.8&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;iPhone XS&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1683563417&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;4.25&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;100&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.014925373134328&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}" data-image-title="crochet checker book tote &#8211; favourite crochet projects of 2023" data-image-description="&lt;p&gt;crochet checker book tote &#8211; favourite crochet projects of 2023 | brunch at audrey&#8217;s&lt;/p&gt;
  205. " data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_0939.jpg?fit=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_0939.jpg?fit=830%2C830&amp;ssl=1" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-14725" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_0939.jpg?resize=830%2C830&#038;ssl=1" alt="crochet checker book tote - favourite crochet projects of 2023 | brunch at audrey's" width="830" height="830" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_0939.jpg?w=1229&amp;ssl=1 1229w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_0939.jpg?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_0939.jpg?resize=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_0939.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_0939.jpg?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_0939.jpg?resize=1080%2C1080&amp;ssl=1 1080w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px" /></p>
  206. <p><strong>Crochet checker book tote</strong>. My biggest project to date! Checker pattern inspired by a knit top I saw on Instagram; shape inspired by the Christian Dior book tote! I am absolutely obsessed with how the checker pattern turned out and I love love loveee the colours.</p>
  207. <p>That said, while the photo may lead you to believe otherwise (thanks to my strategic styling lol), the tote doesn&#8217;t have any structure. It&#8217;s really more of a hobo bag. The bag is too stretchy, the edges aren&#8217;t defined, and the bottom will sag if the things inside are moderately heavy. I probably should have constructed the bag in separate panels and then stitched the panels together for defined edges, rather than do the whole bag in one piece. What can I say? I despise weaving in ends.</p>
  208. <p>I considered ordering a custom-sized bag organiser to give the bag more shape, but I don&#8217;t know how much I&#8217;m willing to pay for that. Perhaps I could make do with just a bottom insert, but I need to look into what kind of material to use. I also wonder if there&#8217;s any extra stitching I can add to give the bag more shape. Please let me know if you have any ideas! Ya girl is stuck! I would love to be able to give this bag enough structure to carry my laptop.</p>
  209. <p>Another improvement I want to make to the bag is attaching D-rings for removable bag straps. Although I can hook a bag strap directly to the bag via the spaces between the crochet stitches, that would definitely stretch out over time.</p>
  210. <p><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="14726" data-permalink="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/01/favourite-crochet-projects-of-2023/img_2002/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_2002.png?fit=3024%2C4032&amp;ssl=1" data-orig-size="3024,4032" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}" data-image-title="great wave off kanagawa mini tapestry crochet &#8211; favourite crochet projects of 2023" data-image-description="&lt;p&gt;great wave off kanagawa mini tapestry crochet &#8211; favourite crochet projects of 2023 | brunch at audrey&#8217;s&lt;/p&gt;
  211. " data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_2002.png?fit=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_2002.png?fit=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-14726" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_2002.png?resize=830%2C1107&#038;ssl=1" alt="great wave off kanagawa mini tapestry crochet - favourite crochet projects of 2023 | brunch at audrey's" width="830" height="1107" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_2002.png?w=3024&amp;ssl=1 3024w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_2002.png?resize=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1 225w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_2002.png?resize=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_2002.png?resize=1152%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1152w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_2002.png?resize=1536%2C2048&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_2002.png?resize=1080%2C1440&amp;ssl=1 1080w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_2002.png?w=1660&amp;ssl=1 1660w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_2002.png?w=2490&amp;ssl=1 2490w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px" /></p>
  212. <p><strong>Great Wave mini tapestry crochet</strong>. (Third version of) my first tapestry! I was inspired by the #grannysquarebookchallenge to crochet a little square representing my favourite book in the whole wide world: <em>Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow</em> by Gabrielle Zevin. It was a pain in the ass keeping my yarn from tangling, but I&#8217;m so proud of my colour-work! It didn&#8217;t hit me until I finished my tapestry and looked at it several times over that I should have reversed the order of the background gradient. I don&#8217;t know what I was thinking. One day I&#8217;ll get around to my fourth version of this tapestry and fix that!</p>
  213. <p>I considered fully participating in the #grannysquarebookchallenge and crocheting a square for every book I read, but I knew I&#8217;d stress over keeping up, and tbh not every book deserves the effort of a uniquely designed granny square hahah. I think the most common way people do the #grannysquarebookchallenge is by choosing one granny square pattern and switching up the colours to match their reads but&#8230; meh. I would prefer designing unique squares to represent my favourite books!</p>
  214. <p>PS: <a href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/01/incomplete-crochet-projects-of-2023">incomplete crochet projects of 2023</a>, <a href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2021/12/i-made-a-bag-and-a-hat">i made a bag and a hat</a></p>
  215. ]]></content:encoded>
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  221. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">14724</post-id> </item>
  222. <item>
  223. <title>Incomplete crochet projects of 2023</title>
  224. <link>https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/01/incomplete-crochet-projects-of-2023/</link>
  225. <comments>https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/01/incomplete-crochet-projects-of-2023/#respond</comments>
  227. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Audrey]]></dc:creator>
  228. <pubDate>Mon, 15 Jan 2024 02:30:07 +0000</pubDate>
  229. <category><![CDATA[crochet]]></category>
  230. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.brunchataudreys.com/?p=14535</guid>
  231.  
  232. <description><![CDATA[Time is an illusion! Annual goals are arbitrary! Incomplete projects are not failures! There is time yet! Crochet has been a lesson in living for the journey, not the destination. A testament to this is how compelled I am to share my incomplete crochet projects, not realising until now that I have yet to share my completed projects (this intro...
  233.        <div class="more-button"><a class="more-link" href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/01/incomplete-crochet-projects-of-2023/">Read More</a>
  234.        <span class="meta-divider"></span></div>]]></description>
  235. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Time is an illusion! Annual goals are arbitrary! Incomplete projects are not failures! There is time yet!</p>
  236. <p>Crochet has been a lesson in living for the journey, not the destination. A testament to this is how compelled I am to share my incomplete crochet projects, not realising until now that I have yet to share my completed projects (this intro is the last part I&#8217;m writing in this whole post, trippy). Maybe that post will come haha. Back to the point. I don&#8217;t need a million hats or bags or coasters or book sleeves, but I love making them! I&#8217;m happy to make the same things over and over, to make different things, to gift away things I&#8217;ve made. Frogging work isn&#8217;t so unbearable (mostly). Because as long as I&#8217;m crocheting, it doesn&#8217;t matter so much to me that it&#8217;s taking me ages or I&#8217;ve had to restart. This is the joy of a hobby, where the reward is in the doing, not some prize at the end.</p>
  237. <p>That said, the amount of Baby Baggus I have lying around with my half-finished projects is getting out of hand, so I&#8217;ve gathered my crochet works in progress as a way to take inventory, expound my mental (and technical) blocks, illuminate actionable steps forward, and get your feedback too! There are some projects I&#8217;ve simply not gotten around to finishing and some I&#8217;m genuinely stuck on.</p>
  238. <p><span id="more-14535"></span></p>
  239. <p><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="14536" data-permalink="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/01/incomplete-crochet-projects-of-2023/crochet-incomplete-2023/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/crochet-incomplete-2023-scaled.jpg?fit=1920%2C2560&amp;ssl=1" data-orig-size="1920,2560" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}" data-image-title="pile of incomplete crochet projects &#8211; incomplete crochet projects of 2023" data-image-description="&lt;p&gt;pile of incomplete crochet projects &#8211; incomplete crochet projects of 2023 | brunch at audrey&#8217;s&lt;/p&gt;
  240. " data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/crochet-incomplete-2023-scaled.jpg?fit=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/crochet-incomplete-2023-scaled.jpg?fit=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-14536" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/crochet-incomplete-2023-scaled.jpg?resize=830%2C1107&#038;ssl=1" alt="pile of incomplete crochet projects - incomplete crochet projects of 2023 | brunch at audrey's" width="830" height="1107" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/crochet-incomplete-2023-scaled.jpg?w=1920&amp;ssl=1 1920w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/crochet-incomplete-2023-scaled.jpg?resize=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1 225w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/crochet-incomplete-2023-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/crochet-incomplete-2023-scaled.jpg?resize=1152%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1152w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/crochet-incomplete-2023-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C2048&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/crochet-incomplete-2023-scaled.jpg?resize=1080%2C1440&amp;ssl=1 1080w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/crochet-incomplete-2023-scaled.jpg?w=1660&amp;ssl=1 1660w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px" /></p>
  241. <p><strong>Crochet cake tissue box cover</strong></p>
  242. <p>I have a tissue box by my bedside that&#8217;s a bit of an eyesore, so I decided to jazz it up with a cover. Plus, it was the perfect project to use up my acrylic yarn, which I don&#8217;t like using for bags/hats/wearables (my most common types of projects), and I already had all the colours I needed: pink, blue, white, red.</p>
  243. <p>My vision for the tissue box cover is a vintage style piping cake (or Lambeth cake). So far, I&#8217;ve got a minimum viable product that conveys a vague notion of a cake, consisting of a dusty pink rectangular prism with baby blue iced edges. I followed this free <a href="https://blog.twinkiechan.com/2014/04/30/free-crochet-pattern-cake-tissue-box-cozy-chiffon-cake-with-fruit-topping">fruit cake tissue box cover</a> tutorial, but instead of decorating the top with kiwis, strawberries, and blueberries, I want to decorate the top with whipped cream and cherries, then gradually build up the piping on the sides for that super extravagant look. Plastic pearls would also do the trick.</p>
  244. <p>This will be a great project to learn different techniques to create the dollops of whipped cream, amigurumi cherries (I&#8217;ve never tried amigurumi before!), piped ruffles, and perhaps other patterns too, if I haven&#8217;t run out of surface area. Actually, the same blog I got the fruit cake tissue box cover tutorial from also has a <a href="https://blog.twinkiechan.com/2021/02/08/heart-shaped-crochet-cake-pattern">heart-shaped cake</a> tutorial, which is pretty much exactly what I want my cake tissue box cover to be (just a differently shaped base), but it&#8217;s a paid pattern and the only new thing I can learn from it is the whipped cream dollops, so maybe I can find a free pattern or experiment myself (I think it&#8217;s just a circle with hella increases?).</p>
  245. <p><strong>Crochet multi-checker scarf</strong></p>
  246. <p>A year or two ago my mom impulsively bought out the Lion Brand Truboo yarn at Michael&#8217;s (the Michael&#8217;s was woefully stocked). It&#8217;s 100% rayon from bamboo and so so soft. At the time I was still pretty new to crochet, so I didn&#8217;t want to waste it on a lumpy project and stowed it away in my closet, forgotten until the end of 2023. When I rediscovered it, I realised there would be no better way to appreciate the ultra soft yarn than as a scarf to wrap my neck in. A scarf in my signature checker would be an easy, mindless project, and playing around with colour combinations would keep it interesting.</p>
  247. <p>The only reason the scarf isn&#8217;t further along is because there were additional colours I wanted and didn&#8217;t have. But don&#8217;t fret! I&#8217;ve just ordered some more colours! So much for this being a stash-busting project. Oh well. This scarf is going to be glorious!! And I can use the leftovers to make a vest! The yarn has the perfect weight for a vest! I&#8217;ll need to learn how to crochet ribbing though.</p>
  248. <p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cpxl_V3LYXq"><strong>Crochet checker bag</strong></a></p>
  249. <p>I&#8217;ve been stuck with this teal and orange crochet checker bag for a year and a half. I ran out of orange, bought more orange, but the difference between dye lots was too obvious, and now I don&#8217;t know what to do. I could continue with a completely different colour combination (like I&#8217;m doing with my scarf) or do a colour combo with teal, but the issue is that the base teal and orange are so bright, and I feel like it would look awkward if the top half of the bag was darker/heavier, so that limits some options. I actually have a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Chn2LEVpuQE">checker Kindle sleeve</a> that&#8217;s half teal/orange and half teal/malachite that isn&#8217;t half bad, but the teal/orange is the top half. Anyways, I&#8217;ve been too lazy to puzzle out an ideal colour combination, so this project rests in limbo.</p>
  250. <p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CoIQn1xPSL6"><strong>Crochet love letter book sleeve</strong></a></p>
  251. <p>Crochet love letter book sleeves are a versatile gift (as opposed to the trendy aesthetic of checker bags and scarves) and always in demand (mostly because they&#8217;re in short supply, aka I&#8217;m slow af), so I try to always keep one of these going. It&#8217;s my go-to easy, mindless project. Well&#8230; The cream granny square base and red heart are easy and mindless, but stitching together the envelope and the hearts is very not fun haha. Meticulous business.</p>
  252. <p>For this particular sleeve, I&#8217;m thinking of gifting it as a wedding gift for my friend (her wedding has already passed, oops) and maybe surface crocheting her initial on the heart. Or maybe bride initial + groom initial? I&#8217;ll have to experiment because the heart is kinda small and the stitches are kinda large, so it may be difficult to surface crochet precisely. Embroidery is also an option; I&#8217;d have to pull out the skills I learned in my middle school elective class. It may very well be that leaving the heart plain would be best. Anyways, after I finish this sleeve, I&#8217;ll be starting another one.</p>
  253. <p><strong>Crochet <em>Nightmare Before Christmas</em> granny square hat</strong></p>
  254. <p>This is my most ambitious project yet! I was hyperfixated on <em>The Nightmare Before Christmas</em> this past year and decided I wanted to freehand <em>Nightmare Before Christmas</em> granny squares, focusing on the more Christmassy motifs. I didn&#8217;t think I&#8217;d have the perseverance for a cardigan, so a hat it is!</p>
  255. <p>Note that my crochet experience mostly lies in checker bags, bucket hats, and granny square book sleeves, so these decorative squares have involved lots of trial and error. The pieces include Santa Jack, Man-Eating Wreath, Vampire Teddy, Undead Duck, Giant Snake, and a black and white spiral top. I redid the Santa Jack smile several times, wrangled the Man-Eating Wreath&#8217;s eyes into shape, repositioned the Undead Duck bullet holes and blood drips several times, redid the Giant Snake&#8217;s head several times, and have redone the spiral top once already but will need to give it another attempt in a smaller hook size, which would also give me the opportunity to fix the centre spiral. I&#8217;m also reconsidering the black and white striped borders between the granny squares, because although they look great, they jut out awkwardly when stretched around my head because they&#8217;re too bulky.</p>
  256. <p>I&#8217;m alsooo reconsidering whether I want this to be a hat at all, or perhaps it would be better as a pouch, tote, or cardigan. Then the bulky striped border wouldn&#8217;t be such a big deal. The issue would be that these granny squares are actually trapezoids, which make sense for a hat (narrower at the crown, wider at the brim), but less so for a pouch, tote, or cardigan. And given all the attached embellishments and woven ends, rejigging the trapezoids into squares would require an amount of patience I don&#8217;t have. Much to contemplate&#8230;</p>
  257. <p><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="14537" data-permalink="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/01/incomplete-crochet-projects-of-2023/crochet-cake-tissue-box/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/crochet-cake-tissue-box.jpg?fit=1089%2C1452&amp;ssl=1" data-orig-size="1089,1452" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}" data-image-title="crochet cake tissue box cover &#8211; incomplete crochet projects of 2023" data-image-description="&lt;p&gt;crochet cake tissue box cover &#8211; incomplete crochet projects of 2023 | brunch at audrey&#8217;s&lt;/p&gt;
  258. " data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/crochet-cake-tissue-box.jpg?fit=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/crochet-cake-tissue-box.jpg?fit=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-14537" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/crochet-cake-tissue-box.jpg?resize=830%2C1107&#038;ssl=1" alt="crochet cake tissue box cover - incomplete crochet projects of 2023 | brunch at audrey's" width="830" height="1107" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/crochet-cake-tissue-box.jpg?w=1089&amp;ssl=1 1089w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/crochet-cake-tissue-box.jpg?resize=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1 225w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/crochet-cake-tissue-box.jpg?resize=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/crochet-cake-tissue-box.jpg?resize=1080%2C1440&amp;ssl=1 1080w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px" /></p>
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  268. ]]></content:encoded>
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  275. <item>
  276. <title>All the books I read in the second half of 2023</title>
  277. <link>https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/01/all-the-books-i-read-in-the-second-half-of-2023/</link>
  278. <comments>https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/01/all-the-books-i-read-in-the-second-half-of-2023/#respond</comments>
  280. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Audrey]]></dc:creator>
  281. <pubDate>Mon, 08 Jan 2024 11:02:58 +0000</pubDate>
  282. <category><![CDATA[books]]></category>
  283. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.brunchataudreys.com/?p=14477</guid>
  284.  
  285. <description><![CDATA[I hit a reading slump mid-year and my reading never really picked back up. In the second half of 2023, I read 19 books or 5261 pages, bringing my 2023 total to 53 books or 16611 pages. I didn&#8217;t think I&#8217;d hit 52 book this year and had even gone back to readjust my Goodreads reading challenge in the last...
  286.        <div class="more-button"><a class="more-link" href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2024/01/all-the-books-i-read-in-the-second-half-of-2023/">Read More</a>
  287.        <span class="meta-divider"></span></div>]]></description>
  288. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I hit a reading slump mid-year and my reading never really picked back up. In the second half of 2023, I read <strong>19 books</strong> or 5261 pages, bringing my 2023 total to 53 books or 16611 pages. I didn&#8217;t think I&#8217;d hit 52 book this year and had even gone back to readjust my Goodreads reading challenge in the last days of December, lowering it to 50, but I hit 52 books just in time and randomly came across a picture book that got rave reviews from Redditors, taking me to 53. The number doesn&#8217;t matter so much to me, but I still wanted to remember reading that book! (I promptly reverted my Goodreads reading challenge goal back to 52.)</p>
  289. <p>I&#8217;m a slow reader and turn to books to avoid responsibilities, so I spend more time than I should reading and have been telling myself to read less, or at least not get so caught up in reading the incredible number of books that it feels like so many other bookstagrammers do. Quality, not quantity! That said, I only have one new all-time favourite from the second half of the year and two honourable mentions. Anyways, I&#8217;m planning to share my 2023 reading wrap up in a separate post (including top reads), so look out for that!</p>
  290. <p><span id="more-14477"></span></p>
  291. <h3>Romance</h3>
  292. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/75665887-you-again"><em><strong>You, Again</strong></em></a> by Kate Goldbeck: Josh and Ari are instant enemies. Finding out you&#8217;re both sleeping with the same woman can do that to ya. Over the years they have more chance encounters that don&#8217;t go any better until one does, and an unlikely friendship develops. I admit that I was on the fence for the first fourth or third of the book, and it took me awhile to warm up to Josh and Ari as individuals. They felt like caricatures; Josh was too anal and kinda sus, and Ari was too &#8220;quirky.&#8221; Their encounters before their friendship started to develop did not endear them to me; if I were a participant in the encounters, they would be my enemies too. But I was on board once their friendship started, and I loved seeing their relationship progress over the years. As a gal in her 20s who is still trying to figure out what to do with her life, it was comforting to see Josh and Ari also still figuring it out, going through stages of life together and dealing with failures without the story harping too much about it. The third act conflict was annoying, but the fact that there were lots of time jumps in the book helped me not dwell on it too much (which also helped ease any other issues I had). This might be a bit of a spoiler but, [HOVER TO REVEAL SPOILER ON WEB BROWSER, avert your eyes otherwise lol] <span class="spoiler">&lt;SPOILER&gt; in the relationship, I really appreciated how Josh was always straight up with Ari and his feelings about her, and how he would notice when Ari would start pulling away/felt uncertain and would try to make her feel safe and bring her back in, but also had an awareness of when she needed space &lt;/SPOILER&gt;</span>.</p>
  293. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40189670-josh-and-hazel-s-guide-to-not-dating"><em><strong>Josh and Hazel&#8217;s Guide to Not Dating</strong></em></a> by Christina Lauren: Josh and Hazel get off on an awkward start, but seven years later they run into each other again and become unlikely friends. They would never date each other, but they <em>would</em> help set each other up on double blind dates! I thought the double blind dates would be a silly goofy time, but I was quickly bored by Josh and Hazel&#8217;s lack of commitment to setting up and being on the dates. The double blind dates got less and less interesting as Josh and Hazel ran through potential options and just started pairing each other up with random people, only to ignore their dates and make inside jokes with each other. Also, the way Hazel constantly called herself &#8220;undateable&#8221; got old, and the end was abrupt and unsatisfying. I wish [HOVER TO REVEAL SPOILER] <span class="spoiler">&lt;SPOILER&gt; one of the double blind dates worked and there was a love triangle &lt;/SPOILER&gt;</span> because dramaaa.</p>
  294. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48715812-the-flatshare"><em><strong>The Flatshare</strong></em></a> by Beth O&#8217;Leary: Desperate for a place to stay after a bad breakup, Tiffy answers an ad to share a flat with a complete stranger. Tiffy takes the flat at night and on weekends, while Leon (a night-shift worker) takes it in the day, so they never meet but gradually get to know each other through the notes they leave each other. I was anticipating a feel-good romance, but Tiffy&#8217;s ex Justin absolutely ruined the book for me. He was so clearly a gaslighting POS and it was no fun at all. As for Leon, I get that his whole thing was supposed to be that he’s a man of few words, but the chapters from his POV were so affected, almost caveman-like. I did like the original take on the one bed trope, that Tiffy was an assistant editor at a small publisher that specialises in crafting and DIY books, that her eccentric author&#8217;s niche was in knitting and crochet, and I liked Mr. Prior.</p>
  295. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/75665914-this-spells-love"><em><strong>This Spells Love</strong></em></a>* by Kate Robb: Heartbroken over her breakup, Gemma drunkenly casts a love cleansing spell from one of her aunt’s books to undo the night she met Stuart. The only problem is, that was also the night she met her best friend Dax. Desperate to return to her timeline and carefully planned life, Gemma works to get her best friend back and undo the spell with his kiss. I was expecting a witchy friends-to-lovers romance, but this was neither witchy nor friends-to-lovers. Gemma was not a witch but simply followed some instructions from a random book from her aunt&#8217;s bookshop&#8217;s donation bin and made some guesses about how the spell would work and what conditions to perform them in, just for funsies, not actually believing anything would happen. There were lots of plot holes regarding the spell and alternate timelines. As for the friendship part, while Gemma and Dax were friends in the original timeline, they weren&#8217;t in the alternate timeline. Gemma&#8217;s approach to befriending him wasn&#8217;t convincing, and when they eventually got together, it didn&#8217;t feel rooted in friendship. All that said, I did enjoy the first half of the book. I also loved Aunt Livi, who toed the line between fairy godmother and eccentric aunt.</p>
  296. <p><!-- notionvc: 728ed056-0f3a-449a-819e-6e7c1a4727ef --></p>
  297. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/178628557-punk-57"><em><strong>Punk 57</strong></em></a> by Penelope Douglas: Misha and Ryen have been pen pals for seven years. They tell each other everything, and although they&#8217;ve never met, no one knows the other better and they accept each other for who they are. To keep a good thing going, they agree to no social media, no phone numbers, and no pictures, but when Misha switches schools and accidentally discovers Ryen, his perfect image of her is shattered. I picked up this book because I was curious about the TikTok hype. All I knew about it was that it was a bully romance. I&#8217;ve never read a bully romance before and thought it might be something like enemies to lovers, but I was so wrong. First of all: Romance?? Where??? Do Misha and Ryen even like each other?? Ryen was a bully. Misha was disappointed that Ryen was a bully then bullied her. I don&#8217;t want to waste any more brain space on this book.</p>
  298. <h3>Fantasy</h3>
  299. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77523.Harry_Potter_and_the_Sorcerer_s_Stone"><em><strong>Harry Potter and the Sorcerer&#8217;s Stone</strong></em></a> by JK Rowling (reread): I&#8217;d been in a reading slump and wanted to return to something cosy and familiar, so I decided to do my second reread. Unfortunately, my reading slump won over, so while I finished the reread, I wasn&#8217;t super immersed and I didn&#8217;t get around to rereading the rest of the series. I&#8217;m constantly playing the movies in the background though.</p>
  300. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/589836.Coraline"><em><strong>Coraline</strong></em></a> by Neil Gaiman (reread): Another attempted salve for my reading slump. After watching the film around Halloween, I decided to do my first reread since childhood. Again, my reading slump won over so I wasn&#8217;t that immersed or haunted, but it was fun to pick up on the differences between the book and film, and I felt it when Coraline&#8217;s mom said, &#8220;Well done, Coraline&#8221; (in the book). But the whimsicality of the film can&#8217;t be beat!</p>
  301. <p>♡ <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13546433-the-power-of-poppy-pendle"><em><strong>The Power of Poppy Pendle</strong></em></a> by Natasha Lowe: Poppy&#8217;s parents are proud to have a gifted witch in the family and send her off to magic school, but Poppy would rather pursue her passion for baking. An empowering story for children and a healing story for adults about following your passion. It sounds like such a basic message, but this cosy middle grade fantasy tells it masterfully. This is a story for anyone who has been told their passion is not important or has had their passion written off as a mere hobby or distraction. It is for anyone who has had to hide their joy to fit a mould. For anyone who has then felt anger, sadness, loss, lost. This story made me think of this quote from <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58784475-tomorrow-and-tomorrow-and-tomorrow"><em>Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow</em></a>: &#8220;To be good at something is not quite the same as loving it.&#8221; Also recommended for those who liked the cosy baking vibes of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61219635-legends-lattes"><em>Legends &amp; Lattes</em></a>. A new favourite.</p>
  302. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/162409663-kappa"><em><strong>Kappa</strong></em></a> by Ryunosuke Akutagawa: A man spots a kappa monster and chases it, tumbling down a hole into the realm of kappas. I was intrigued by the fusion of an Alice in Wonderland concept with Japanese folklore and looked forward to the world building, but the satirical novella was mostly dialogue and philosophising (morality, legal justice, economics, sex). It didn&#8217;t really do much for me.</p>
  303. <h3>Literary fiction</h3>
  304. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40400269-a-ladder-to-the-sky"><em><strong>A Ladder to the Sky</strong></em></a> by John Boyne: An untalented writer who will do anything for fame, recommended for fans of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62047984-yellowface"><em>Yellowface</em></a>. The plot felt a bit slow and didn&#8217;t pick up for me until later, but the undercurrent of desire and ambition felt propulsive, and I was thoroughly invested. If you liked the exploration of &#8220;who gets to tell what stories&#8221; in <em>Yellowface</em> (or wanted more) and unlikeable, manipulative, opportunistic characters, I highly recommend this book.</p>
  305. <h3>Contemporary fiction</h3>
  306. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62047992-days-at-the-morisaki-bookshop"><em><strong>Days at the Morisaki Bookshop</strong></em></a> by Satoshi Yagisawa: When Takako&#8217;s relationship with her coworker ends badly, she breaks it off, quits her job, and eventually takes up her uncle&#8217;s offer to work at his bookshop. Slowly, she learns the joys of reading, bookshops, cafes, and the community. One day, her uncle&#8217;s estranged wife shows up mysteriously. While I wasn&#8217;t that attached to Takako, I did enjoy reading about bookshops and cafes. I was less interested in her uncle&#8217;s wife. Overall, the story was a bit quiet for my taste, but could be for readers who enjoy quiet, cosy, slice of life stories and books about books.</p>
  307. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62987063-let-s-go-let-s-go-let-s-go"><em><strong>Let&#8217;s Go Let&#8217;s Go Let&#8217;s Go</strong></em></a>* by Cleo Qian: &#8220;A short story collection exploring the alienated, technology-mediated lives of restless Asian and Asian-American women today.&#8221; I struggle to describe this collection as the stories felt like non-stories and didn&#8217;t go anywhere. I was anticipating some Black Mirror-type stories, but the technology wasn&#8217;t innovative, nor an important presence in the stories, and in fact, the stories didn&#8217;t feel modern at all. I didn&#8217;t get the point of them, except to convey an air of loneliness. My favourites (using the term loosely) were &#8220;Monitor World,&#8221; in which a woman hooks up with an older man she meets online but then feels uneasy and breaks it off but remains paranoid, and &#8220;We Were There,&#8221; in which a woman has a casual relationship with a clingy man while working on a friendship with a disinterested man.</p>
  308. <h3>Nonfiction</h3>
  309. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44765586-orca"><em><strong>Orca: The Whale Called Killer</strong></em></a> (5th ed) by Eric Hoyt: A personal scientific memoir organised by journal entries detailing seven summers of orca research off northern Vancouver Island. The 5th edition (most recent as of 2023) has a new introduction, extended epilogue and afterword, and updated footnotes. The intro, prologue, and appendix were helpful primers on orca research and events. The journal entries began in July 1973 in Johnstone Straight, which separates northern Vancouver Island from mainland British Columbia, with Hoyt working hydrophones and eventually sighting his first orcas in the wild. We learn about orcas as sonic creatures, intelligent social mammals with matriarchal structures, threats to survival, captures, and more (but note that this isn&#8217;t a book that investigates the captive industry). I loved reading about the individual orcas Hoyt became familiar with, as well as the popularly known orcas. I find that some scientific memoirs can focus more on the scientist than I would like rather than the subject, but this is good one that is informative about the subject while also sharing the scientist&#8217;s personal research experience.</p>
  310. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/65215677-exit-interview"><em><strong>Exit Interview</strong></em></a> by Kristi Coulter: A memoir from ex-Amazon middle management. It isn&#8217;t news that Amazon has a toxic and relentless work environment, but this was still a grossly fascinating read. In her memoir, Coulter recounts her experience as an ambitious woman in corporate hell. It was impressive to see how her career path often involved diving headfirst into unknown territory, from merchandising to Amazon Crossing (Amazon Publishing&#8217;s translation imprint) to Amazon Go, though less heartening to know it was often forced by Amazon&#8217;s constant re-orgs. I will say that the storytelling isn&#8217;t super dynamic, so what you get at the beginning is pretty much what you get at the end, and the middle can feel pretty relentless, but I imagine that&#8217;s exactly how her time at Amazon was. Work, work, work. If you&#8217;re already interested in the topic (I was), you&#8217;ll enjoy this one, but if you&#8217;re not already interested, it doesn&#8217;t really get any &#8220;better&#8221;/more interesting (though general readers may find the Amazon Publishing part of her career in the middle of the memoir more interesting). If anything, I only got more frustrated as I read, not because of the writing, but because of Coulter&#8217;s situation at Amazon &#8212; getting passed up on promotions, working with incompetent men, and eventually leading to her exit&#8230; interview. This memoir reminded me of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62919394-ripe"><em>Ripe</em></a> and <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45186565-uncanny-valley"><em>Uncanny Valley</em></a>. Note that it very much focuses on her personal office experience and doesn&#8217;t really delve into other aspects of Amazon like warehouse conditions.</p>
  311. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/96178188-the-loneliness-files"><em><strong>The Loneliness Files</strong></em></a>* by Athena Dixon: A memoir in essays exploring loneliness, though the first part of the collection felt more on theme than the latter two parts. I was anticipating some social commentary but it felt more like a diary of internal musings and speculation. It kinda gave Tumblr + WebMD self-diagnosis energy. The true crime essays probably could have been combined into one and explored further, going beyond speculation to examine the structures that perpetuate such conditions or supplementing with investigative journalism, and the other essays could have been built out as well. The idea of choosing loneliness was repeated, and I would have also been interested in interrogating that more. Nonetheless, when you’re lying awake at 2AM with your thought spirals, you may find this collection a comforting companion (if you’re in an ok mental space).</p>
  312. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/127008410-moonshot"><em><strong>Moonshot</strong></em></a>* by Mike Massimino: I&#8217;m not usually one for self-help books, but after loving his memoir <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28439264-spaceman"><em>Spaceman</em></a> so much, I wanted to give this one a try. In <em>Moonshot</em>, Massimino shares ten lessons to help you reach your own personal moon shot (goal) and fills each lesson with anecdotes. Many of the lessons were about perspective and already familiar to me from reading his memoir, but sometimes it’s helpful to hear it more explicitly. As it is with most self-help books, it&#8217;s often just about hearing the right thing at the right time and taking what you need. I would recommend his memoir.</p>
  313. <h3>Illustrated</h3>
  314. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53344030-heartstopper"><em><strong>Heartstopper: Volume 5</strong></em></a> by Alice Oseman: Volume 5 is as charming as ever while grappling with challenges of teenhood. Charlie is in recovery from his eating disorder, Nick is preparing to leave for university, and both of them are looking forward to their first sleepover but also have anxieties about sex. The first two volumes are still my favourites because of how light and wholesome they are, but I look forward to the 6th and final volume!</p>
  315. <p>♡ <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62109072-the-unfortunate-life-of-worms"><em><strong>The Unfortunate Life of Worms</strong></em></a> by Noemi Vola: A hefty 260 paged art book for both kids and adults that starts off as nonfiction then tells the story of a worm that gets zapped by lightning, losing half of itself and having an existential crisis. A perfect gift for your illustrator friend or anyone that would appreciate a cute book!</p>
  316. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20821299-the-book-with-no-pictures"><em><strong>The Book with No Pictures</strong></em></a> by BJ Novak: Well, not illustrated, but lots of silly words in various fonts! A playful book to read aloud to children.</p>
  317. <p><em>*e/ARC gifted from publisher</em></p>
  318. <p>PS: <a href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2023/07/2023-mid-year-book-freak-out-tag">all the books I read in the first half of 2023 + mid-year book freak out tag</a></p>
  319. <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://instagram.com/brunchofbooks"><strong>BOOKSTAGRAM</strong></a> <strong>|</strong> <a href="http://goodreads.com/auderoy"><strong>GOODREADS</strong></a></p>
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  328. <title>2023 mid-year book freak out tag</title>
  329. <link>https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2023/07/2023-mid-year-book-freak-out-tag/</link>
  330. <comments>https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2023/07/2023-mid-year-book-freak-out-tag/#respond</comments>
  332. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Audrey]]></dc:creator>
  333. <pubDate>Sun, 16 Jul 2023 10:12:59 +0000</pubDate>
  334. <category><![CDATA[books]]></category>
  335. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.brunchataudreys.com/?p=14391</guid>
  336.  
  337. <description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s been a very lacklustre reading year so far! January started off strong, as I usually like to get ahead of the Goodreads reading challenge over winter break. February and March were steady. April was finals month, so I only managed to binge the Twisted series. I kicked off summer break in May with a super casual readathon and kept...
  338.        <div class="more-button"><a class="more-link" href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2023/07/2023-mid-year-book-freak-out-tag/">Read More</a>
  339.        <span class="meta-divider"></span></div>]]></description>
  340. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It&#8217;s been a very lacklustre reading year so far! January started off strong, as I usually like to get ahead of the Goodreads reading challenge over winter break. February and March were steady. April was finals month, so I only managed to binge the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/314410-twisted"><em>Twisted</em></a> series. I kicked off summer break in May with a super casual readathon and kept the momentum going, but it all fell apart in June haha. In the latter half of June, I was hyperfixated on James Cameron, maritime disasters, and Bakery Story, so I barely picked up a book. I&#8217;m still ahead of my Goodreads reading challenge though, thanks to the buffer I set up for myself in January. Across these past six months, I&#8217;ve read <strong>34 books</strong> or 11350 pages, of which 81% were by women authors and 55% by authors of colour. 5 were rereads, and I have 2 new all-time favourites, so all is not lost!</p>
  341. <p>Some bookish highlights include hosting <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CoIQn1xPSL6">my first ever bookstagram giveaway</a> where I gave away one of my crochet love letter book sleeves, receiving an ARC and signed final copy of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59357120-yellowface"><em>Yellowface</em></a> by RF Kuang from the publisher, and receiving a <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58784475-tomorrow-and-tomorrow-and-tomorrow"><em>Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow</em></a> publisher tote bag and signed hardcover, which <a href="https://www.instagram.com/notcheryne">Cheryne</a> won in a giveaway then sent to me?? Speechless.</p>
  342. <p>The bookish lowlight was the end of Book Depository, rip. I&#8217;ve loved watching everyone&#8217;s final Book Depository hauls&#8230; but at what cost??? For those in the US looking for UK editions, <a href="https://blackwells.co.uk">Blackwell&#8217;s</a> is an affordable option, but unfortunately I don&#8217;t have any recs for those in the UK looking for US editions. Please share if you know any!</p>
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  344. <p><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="14393" data-permalink="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2023/07/2023-mid-year-book-freak-out-tag/painter-williams/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Painter-Williams-scaled.jpg?fit=1920%2C2560&amp;ssl=1" data-orig-size="1920,2560" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}" data-image-title="better than the movies by lynn painter &#038; seven days in june by tia williams &#8211; 2023 mid-year freakout tag" data-image-description="&lt;p&gt;better than the movies by lynn painter &#038; seven days in june by tia williams &#8211; 2023 mid-year freakout tag | brunch at audrey&#8217;s&lt;/p&gt;
  345. " data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Painter-Williams-scaled.jpg?fit=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Painter-Williams-scaled.jpg?fit=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-14393" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Painter-Williams-scaled.jpg?resize=830%2C1107&#038;ssl=1" alt="better than the movies by lynn painter &amp; seven days in june by tia williams - 2023 mid-year freakout tag | brunch at audrey's" width="830" height="1107" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Painter-Williams-scaled.jpg?w=1920&amp;ssl=1 1920w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Painter-Williams-scaled.jpg?resize=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1 225w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Painter-Williams-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Painter-Williams-scaled.jpg?resize=1152%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1152w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Painter-Williams-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C2048&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Painter-Williams-scaled.jpg?resize=1080%2C1440&amp;ssl=1 1080w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Painter-Williams-scaled.jpg?w=1660&amp;ssl=1 1660w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px" /></p>
  346. <h2 style="text-align: center;">Mid-year book freak out tag</h2>
  347. <p>(Rereads excluded from tags)</p>
  348. <h3>Best book you’ve read so far this year</h3>
  349. <p>No more beating around the bush. My two new all-time favourites are <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59365218-better-than-the-movies"><em><strong>Better than the Movies</strong></em></a> by Lynn Painter and <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55648820-seven-days-in-june"><em><strong>Seven Days in June</strong></em></a> by Tia Williams &#8212; a YA romance and an adult romance! If you love rom coms, you have to give <em>Better than the Movies</em> a try. Back in middle school and high school, I pretty much only watched rom coms and <em>Grey&#8217;s Anatomy</em>, so <em>Better than the Movies</em> was everything for me! Normally I&#8217;m very skeptical of YA romances, but this one was so cute and wholesome. The story follows Liz the hopeless romantic, who enlists the help of her obnoxious neighbour Wes to get noticed by his best friend, her crush Michael, in exchange for the parking spot they&#8217;ve been feuding over. I had a smile on my face the whole time reading this book. I even made a whole ass <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CoAMQY_AWCZ">reel</a>.</p>
  350. <p><em>Seven Days in June</em> is a second chance romance following a literary writer and erotica writer who have been secretly writing about each other in their books ever since the end of their whirlwind week of teenage romance. I read this at the same time as my reread of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58784475-tomorrow-and-tomorrow-and-tomorrow"><em>Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow</em></a> by Gabrielle Zevin, and oh gosh, these books got me all in my feels the way the characters were speaking to each other through their art!</p>
  351. <h3>Best sequel you’ve read so far this year</h3>
  352. <p>There isn&#8217;t too much competition in this category. I&#8217;ve only read two series so far this year, which have both been romance series. Amongst the romance series I&#8217;ve read so far this year, my favourite book was <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27252717-the-score"><em><strong>The Score</strong></em></a> from Elle Kennedy&#8217;s <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/144827-off-campus"><em>Off-Campus</em></a> series. Most people&#8217;s favourite <em>Off-Campus</em> book is either <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24920901-the-deal"><em>The Deal</em></a> (#1) or <em>The Score</em> (#3). <em>The Score</em> is a friends-with-benefits romance, which I wouldn&#8217;t think I&#8217;d care for, but there&#8217;s something to be said for a couple that&#8217;s just having fun with each other and on the same page about it. No unnecessary traumatic backstories, thank you very much. When the couple eventually developed feelings for each other, they didn&#8217;t pretend otherwise. There&#8217;s nothing more boring than a couple pretending to not be into each other when they&#8217;re obviously obsessed (*cough* enemies-to-lovers *cough* (when done wrong)). I didn&#8217;t like the third act conflict, but when do I ever?</p>
  353. <h3>New release you haven’t read yet but want to</h3>
  354. <p>Not to expose <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CsUJg9iRZKH">Cindy</a>, but both of us have been in a bit of a reading slump this year. <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63880836-the-postcard"><em><strong>The Postcard</strong></em></a> by Anne Berest briefly pulled her out of it and she&#8217;s been singing its praises, so that one&#8217;s on my TBR. <em>The Postcard</em> is a work of autofiction translated from French about the Holocaust. The story begins when a postcard is delivered with four names scrawled on the back: family members who died at Auschwitz.</p>
  355. <p>On a lighter note, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Ctma-xZPIoH">Cheryne</a> reminded me of Maurene Goo&#8217;s new YA novel <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59642596-throwback"><em><strong>Throwback</strong></em></a>, which I want to give a try, though YA has been a hit or miss for me lately. I&#8217;ve previously read Maurene Goo&#8217;s <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31145133-i-believe-in-a-thing-called-love"><em>I Believe in a Thing Called Love</em></a>, which follows a high school girl who tries to get a boyfriend by following the k-drama formula. <em>Throwback</em> follows a girl who is thrown back in time after a fight with her mom and meets the high school version of her mom.</p>
  356. <h3>Most anticipated release for the second half of the year</h3>
  357. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61884842-the-deep-sky"><em><strong>The Deep Sky</strong></em></a> by Yume Kitasei (Jul 18) is a sci-fi thriller about a space mission gone wrong. On the eve of earth&#8217;s environmental collapse, a ship carries the last of humanity, whose mission is to repopulate in space, but an explosion occurs halfway to their destination and the only surviving witness becomes the prime suspect. The top Goodreads review hilariously writes: &#8220;Among Us fanfiction???&#8221;</p>
  358. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62987063-let-s-go-let-s-go-let-s-go"><em><strong>Let&#8217;s Go, Let&#8217;s Go, Let&#8217;s Go</strong></em></a> by Cleo Qian (Aug 15) is a short story collection exploring the alienated, technology-mediated lives of restless Asian and Asian-American women today. Say less!</p>
  359. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/75665914-this-spells-love"><em><strong>This Spells Love</strong></em></a> by Kate Robb (Dec 5) is a witchy romance &#8212; a growing sub-genre I&#8217;m loving more and more! When Gemma gets dumped, she and her best friend Dax perform a love-cleansing spell to forget about her ex involving a platonic kiss, but it doesn&#8217;t turn out as she expects. Gemma wants her old life back and needs Dax&#8217;s help to reverse the spell, but the only problem is, in this alternate reality, Dax has no idea who she is.</p>
  360. <h3>Biggest disappointment</h3>
  361. <p>No one is more disappointed than I am about DNF-ing <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19161852-the-fifth-season"><em><strong>The Fifth Season</strong></em></a> by NK Jemisin. It&#8217;s blasphemy!! You know this is unexpected because I owned the whole trilogy before reading a single page. Luckily I got the books for free through a trade so I didn&#8217;t sink any money into it. This was supposed to be a buddy read with <a href="https://www.instagram.com/okinmybook">Kyra</a>, but neither of us got through it. I binged half of the book because I was thoroughly confused and just wanted to know what the heck was going on. I didn&#8217;t understand the magic system or the prejudices in this world, and I wasn&#8217;t interested in any of the characters except for Alabaster. In the end, I read the <a href="https://recaptains.co.uk/2019/03/the-fifth-season-by-n-k-jemisin">recap</a> and called it a day.</p>
  362. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26032825-the-cruel-prince"><em><strong>The Cruel Prince</strong></em></a> by Holly Black was another disappointment, but I didn&#8217;t have as high expectations as I did for <em>The Fifth Season</em>, so I&#8217;m not quite as heartbroken, but my hopes were still dashed. I don&#8217;t consider myself a very picky YA fantasy reader (I enjoyed <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50659467-a-court-of-thorns-and-roses"><em>A Court of Thorns and Roses</em></a>!), but <em>The Cruel Prince</em> was so blah. The world building left me with some questions, lots of things didn&#8217;t make sense or were convenient, and I didn&#8217;t care about any of the characters except for the main girl&#8217;s older sister. I would have DNF-ed this one too, but it was an easy read to finish.</p>
  363. <h3>Biggest surprise</h3>
  364. <p>I didn&#8217;t expect to love <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59365218-better-than-the-movies"><em><strong>Better than the Movies</strong></em></a> as much as I did or that it&#8217;d make me so giddy &#8212; a booktok rec, no less! Another one that caught me by surprise was <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63313300-boy-parts"><em><strong>Boy Parts</strong></em></a> by Eliza Clark. It&#8217;s not an all-time favourite or anything, but there were two points in the book that completely reframed what the story was about to me. It would be an interesting one to reread!</p>
  365. <h3>Favourite new author (debut or new to you)</h3>
  366. <p>This is tough! I usually hold off on bestowing this label until I&#8217;ve read and loved at least two books from an author, which hasn&#8217;t happened for me yet. I&#8217;m absolutely smitten with <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59365218-better-than-the-movies"><em>Better than the Movies</em></a> and romance authors are often reliable for giving more of the same, so Lynn Painter could be a contender (though I think it&#8217;s an even greater treat if an author can give more of something different that you love just as much). Her other books are quite popular too, but I think <em>Better than the Movies</em> is most people&#8217;s favourite so there&#8217;s nowhere to go but down, and I&#8217;m kind of afraid that reading her other books will retroactively taint my memory of <em>Better than the Movies</em>. I&#8217;m happy with just rereading <em>Better than the Movies</em> tbh!</p>
  367. <h3>Newest fictional crush</h3>
  368. <p>I don&#8217;t know if I&#8217;m the kind of reader that crushes on fictional characters? I love romances, but I more so love the couples with each other than want to be with any of them, if ya know what I mean. I haven&#8217;t had any &#8220;I want to be you&#8221; moments either. Everyone&#8217;s got issues.</p>
  369. <h3>Newest favourite character</h3>
  370. <p>Again, none really come to mind. Maybe Wes Bennett from <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59365218-better-than-the-movies"><em>Better than the Movies</em></a>? He&#8217;s a sweet boy.</p>
  371. <h3>Book that made you cry</h3>
  372. <p>None of the books I&#8217;ve read so far this year have made me cry, but the most depressing book I&#8217;ve read so far has been <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62919394-ripe"><em><strong>Ripe</strong></em></a> by Sarah Rose Etter. It captures the futility of modern life, getting at everything that feels so discouraging and exhausting about the corporate world, tackling toxic workplace culture, socioeconomic inequality, and depression and anxiety. Capitalism bad lol.</p>
  373. <h3>Book that made you happy</h3>
  374. <p>I read sad books far more often than I read happy books, but this one&#8217;s easy. <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59365218-better-than-the-movies"><em><strong>Better than the Movies</strong></em></a> had me cheesin&#8217; the whole time :&#8217;) Ugh, I just love rom coms!</p>
  375. <h3>Most beautiful book you acquired this year</h3>
  376. <p>Besides books I&#8217;ve been gifted, I&#8217;ve also spent ~$30 on 9 books: 7 for $1 each from my library&#8217;s sale, 1 bought secondhand online, and 1 bought new in my final Book Depository haul, rip. My favourite aesthetic amongst the books I&#8217;ve acquired is <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63313300-boy-parts"><em><strong>Boy Parts</strong></em></a> by Eliza Clark, but I also love the gold foiling on <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44061900-the-stationery-shop"><em>The Stationery Shop</em></a> by Marjan Kamali and <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61269202-you-made-a-fool-of-death-with-your-beauty"><em>You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty</em></a> by Akwaeke Emezi. <em>YMAFODWYB</em> also has a gorgeous spine. Spine design is underrated!</p>
  377. <h3>Books you need to read before the end of the year</h3>
  378. <p>Ursula K Le Guin&#8217;s short story collection <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77289.The_Wind_s_Twelve_Quarters"><em><strong>The Wind&#8217;s Twelve Quarters</strong></em></a> has been on my TBR ever since <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CX4WNjbpHlV">americanbaron</a> reviewed the story &#8220;The Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas,&#8221; and it&#8217;s been sitting on my shelf for a year already. Maybe this will be the year I finally read it? <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CsS2r-Oo4JX">Michelle</a>&#8216;s author study has also been inspiring me to start my Le Guin journey.</p>
  379. <p>In the spirit of reading off my shelf, I want to prioritise the books I bought this year. So far I&#8217;ve read 3 of the 9. Of the 6 remaining, 1 is a chunky poetry collection that I&#8217;m okay with not reading from start to finish but I&#8217;d like to at least start, 3 are classics, and 2 are contemporary. Classics are a challenge for me, but I definitely want to at least finish the contemporary books: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/243272.Mistborn"><em><strong>The Final Empire</strong></em></a> by Brandon Sanderson and <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9647295-the-way-of-kings"><em><strong>The Way of Kings</strong></em></a> by Brandon Sanderson. I&#8217;m intimidated though, since they&#8217;re separate series and they&#8217;re both chonkers.</p>
  380. <p>Some other books I want to get around to are <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58395049-true-biz"><em><strong>True Biz</strong></em></a> by Sara Novic, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59900688-solito"><em><strong>Solito</strong></em></a> by Javier Zamora, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58214328-what-my-bones-know"><em><strong>What My Bones Know</strong></em></a> by Stephanie Foo, and <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52128695-ace"><em><strong>Ace</strong></em></a> by Angela Chen. A reread I want to get around to is <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25852828-a-little-life"><em><strong>A Little Life</strong></em></a> by Hanya Yanagihara, which I&#8217;ve been meaning to reread ever since I read <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58784475-tomorrow-and-tomorrow-and-tomorrow"><em>Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow</em></a> last year. I&#8217;ve now already read <em>tmrx3</em> a second time and still haven&#8217;t reread <em>A Little Life</em> haha. I&#8217;ve also wanted to reread <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35068705-the-poppy-war"><em><strong>The Poppy War</strong></em></a> trilogy by RF Kuang since finishing <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59357120-yellowface"><em>Yellowface</em></a>, and maybe <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57945316-babel"><em><strong>Babel</strong></em></a> too, for good measure, but I&#8217;ve read these more recently, so they aren&#8217;t as high priority.</p>
  381. <h2 style="text-align: center;">All the books I&#8217;ve read so far this year</h2>
  382. <h3>Classics</h3>
  383. <p>The most effective way to get me to read a classic is to give me a pretty cover. I finally read these three classics off my shelf. You can see part of <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CM9xUD0rlV5">my vintage paperback collection here</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CpQn2lQSasu">one of my favourite contemporary editions here</a>.</p>
  384. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9646992-and-then-there-were-none"><em><strong>And Then There Were None</strong></em></a> by Agatha Christie: This was my first non-Hercule Poirot Agatha Christie, my third Agatha Christie ever. She did it again. The best mysteries are the ones you didn’t see coming (or the ones with too many plausibilities to choose between), but once revealed, you realise couldn’t have been any other way… albeit I don’t read many mysteries, so maybe my skills of deduction are a bit rusty. The dwindling figurines really added to the suspense. This would be a fun one to read with friends and try to guess who’s killing everyone off, but it might be hard to find people who aren’t already familiar with the story haha.</p>
  385. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25716554-the-master-and-margarita"><em><strong>The Master and Margarita</strong></em></a> by Mikhail Bulgakov: The plot-driven chapters were wacky and adventurous, but the episodic feel didn&#8217;t give me the urge to pick the book back up between reads. Book 1 introduced lots of different characters but they all felt peripheral, and I kept wondering when we&#8217;d come back to them. The scenes with Homeless and Woland were fun, but the Pontius Pilate chapters were difficult for me to get through. Book 2 mostly focused on Margarita&#8217;s POV, but I wasn&#8217;t as concerned with her and the master as I was with enjoying Woland &amp; co.&#8217;s antics, especially any scene with Behemoth. This is a book that definitely requires a reread for me to fully appreciate, but I did notice themes of art and authenticity, bureaucracy, and housing.</p>
  386. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45689208-the-phantom-of-the-opera"><em><strong>The Phantom of the Opera</strong></em></a> by Gaston Leroux: The book was an interesting experience because the author was trying to convince people that the Opera Ghost was real, not some fantastical story, so there was lots of information that tried to normalise/rationalise the Ghost, whereas the Broadway show felt so magical. The book wasn&#8217;t as glamorous or immersive as the show either, but to be fair, the show is tough competition armed with Andrew Lloyd Webber&#8217;s score. With the book, lots of the narrative was characters recounting what happened, such as Christine explaining her disappearance to Raoul, and the Persian explaining how he guided Raoul to the Opera Ghost’s lair to rescue Christine. A last note is that Christine wasn&#8217;t really the main character in the book, which focused more on the opera managers then Raoul and the Persian. The epilogue revealed more about Erik&#8217;s backstory.</p>
  387. <h3>Literary fiction</h3>
  388. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29044.The_Secret_History"><em><strong>The Secret History</strong></em></a> by Donna Tartt (reread): This was my first physical read through, as I only listened to the audiobook previously (I would not recommend the audiobook). This time around, I had fun picking up on all the foreshadowing. Reading along with a book club, I developed a new appreciation for how silly this book is and embraced not taking this pretentious read too seriously.</p>
  389. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59336344-sirens-muses"><em><strong>Sirens &amp; Muses</strong></em></a> by Antonia Angress: I would have preferred if this book focused on Louisa and Karina&#8217;s fraught relationship and just dropped Preston&#8217;s and Robert&#8217;s POVs completely. I think the intention of the four POVs was to explore their different relationships with art, but the artists were all so uninspired. There was so much that could have been done with four POVs, but it felt like as soon as any interesting conflict between characters were raised, the POV would switch, leaving the story on a cliffhanger, then time would pass without the characters interacting, the characters might wallow internally if they thought about it at all, and by the time they crossed each other again, they’d have found their peace or whatever and would pick up as if everything was fine. The conflicts were never addressed and almost never came to a head, the POVs felt disjoint, and there was no forward movement or build up of tension. In a word: anticlimatic.</p>
  390. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63313300-boy-parts"><em><strong>Boy Parts</strong></em></a>* by Eliza Clark: Irina was narcissistic, manipulative, and fascinating. I couldn&#8217;t look away. She liked to make people feel bad in small ways, making them question if they were insecure and going crazy or if this bitch was really that petty haha. Then there were the big ways. There were two points in the book that completely reframed what the story was about to me, and that&#8217;s kind of cool? It started out as just another unhinged woman/sad girl book then almost turned into a horror novel, and I wasn’t expecting that! <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4195398014">One Goodreads review</a> aptly describes it as &#8220;american psycho but for hot girls.&#8221;</p>
  391. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62919394-ripe"><em><strong>Ripe</strong></em></a>* by Sarah Rose Etter: A bleak read following a disillusioned woman one year into working her dream job at a Silicon Valley startup. It’s a story that feels like a haze, more conceptual than narrative-driven, capturing that futile sense of modern life, tackling toxic workplace culture, socioeconomic inequality, and depression and anxiety (which manifest as a literal black hole that has followed our protagonist around ever since she was born), getting at everything that feels so discouraging and exhausting about the corporate world — the job hunt, the workplace, the burnout — so it’s one you might want to save for when you’re in a good headspace. I was surprised by how 2020-coded the book got as it progressed, hinting at the pandemic and including anti-abortion protests. (<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Ctj41wKv06A">See my full review here</a>)</p>
  392. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61105578-y-n"><em><strong>Y/N</strong></em></a>* by Esther Yi: A psychological satire you&#8217;ll either love or not get. I tried to get it haha. I thought the unnamed protagonist’s earnest online interactions with her idol were hilarious at first, but as the story became increasingly erratic, I was just trying to figure out what was going on in this fever dream. There were some interesting meditations on how maintaining the fantasy of intimacy is to maintain a distance, illusion and delusion to transcend the confines of your singular experience, and collective adoration.</p>
  393. <h3>Contemporary fiction</h3>
  394. <p>♡ <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58784475-tomorrow-and-tomorrow-and-tomorrow"><em><strong>Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow</strong></em></a>* by Gabrielle Zevin (reread): I’ve lost count of the number of reviews that start with “I’m not into gaming but…” But this is a book about so much more than gaming. It’s about the heart that artists and creators of all sorts put into their work, whether it’s a game, a book, a song, a painting, an Instagram post. It’s about finding someone to do that with, opening yourself to intimacy, pushing each other’s ambitions. It&#8217;s about creative collaboration, love and friendship, art and storytelling. It&#8217;s extraordinary how many different meanings this book has for people, and at the same time, how so many people have also said how this is one of the most personal-to-them books they&#8217;ve ever read, me included.</p>
  395. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62047984-yellowface"><em><strong>Yellowface</strong></em></a>* by RF Kuang: I loved the discussion about exploitation of trauma and other people’s stories, but I found the middle a bit repetitive with June attempting to write her next novel, doing something problematic, getting cancelled, waiting it out, then rinse and repeat. I think it would have been more fun to forget about June’s attempts at writing for a bit and lean into more thriller vibes, do more detective work, maybe even build on the minor theme of ghosts, weave in some magical realism, and see June’s descent into madness. However, that is not this story, so this isn’t a critique so much as a personal preference. The end I found satisfying thematically, but not plot-wise. (<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CtS2JOGrSOe">See my full review here</a>)</p>
  396. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61021929-central-places"><em><strong>Central Places</strong></em></a>* by Delia Cai: Audrey was unlikeable, both self-centred and full of self-loathing, yearning for that white &#8220;all-American&#8221; family, embarrassed and dismissive of all the ways her parents show their love. There was too much love lost in this family. While I understand that Audrey&#8217;s actions and superficial complaints were indicative of deeper feelings, her character was underdeveloped, leaving this portrayal of an Asian American experience feeling rather generic. Her dynamic with her parents was interesting, but we didn’t get that discussion until the third-to-last chapter, when Audrey and her mom resolved everything between them in one conversation. It had potential. I liked how her mom’s pet name for her came full circle by the end, and I liked the one chapter with her dad.</p>
  397. <h3>YA fantasy</h3>
  398. <p>As I was sorting my 2023 reads by genre, I realised that although I&#8217;ve read a fair amount of fantasy so far this year, I haven&#8217;t read any adult fantasies yet. Perhaps I haven&#8217;t felt in the mind space to commit to one, but maybe an adult fantasy is just what I need to pick up the second half of the year. Anyways, I could probably give the same review for all three of the YA fantasies I read. They all read on the younger end of YA. The characters were juvenile and underdeveloped. There were gaps and inconsistencies in the character motivations and world building. The romances detracted from the story. Not for me, but maybe for younger YA readers. I still have hope that I haven&#8217;t outgrown the older end of YA though.</p>
  399. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56030267-the-keeper-of-night"><em><strong>The Keeper of Night</strong></em></a> by Kylie Lee Baker: The world building felt incomplete, and Ren the half-British reaper, half-Japanese shinigami had a uninspiringly human conception of death. I wanted this book to transport me the way <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28954189-scythe"><em>Scythe</em></a> by Neal Shusterman did (another book that plays with the idea of death). I did like learning about Japanese mythology through the yokai quests, albeit the quests were formulaic plot-wise.</p>
  400. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26032825-the-cruel-prince"><em><strong>The Cruel Prince</strong></em></a> by Holly Black: Cardan &amp; co. gave middle school bully energy, and you could tell he liked Jude from a mile away. That said, I&#8217;ll give it to him that he was the only faerie who got around the inability to lie in an interesting way. I didn&#8217;t get why Jude wanted to be part of this faerie world that disdains humans when she could just live in the human world like a normal person or why she&#8217;d be at all invested in faerie politics, which goes back to my critique about character motivations. Her schemes toward the end of the book were intriguing, but I don&#8217;t care enough about any of the characters or what happens to them to continue with the series.</p>
  401. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60188249-the-luminaries"><em><strong>The Luminaries</strong></em></a>* by Susan Dennard: This book felt like a set up for another book, and to be fair, it is the first book in a series, but it felt more like the first half of the first book in a series. The plot pretty much just consisted of Winnie participating in the hunter trials to become a Luminary (the people who protect the town from monsters) to restore her family&#8217;s honour, and telling the council that there&#8217;s a new monster on the loose and no one believing her (like Harry Potter trying to tell the Ministry that Voldemort is back lol). The trials were repetitive and Winnie didn&#8217;t have any skills. All she&#8217;d do was panic and revert to her tic of reciting the monster encyclopaedia from memory. As for the dealio about nobody believing there&#8217;s a new monster out there, Winnie never tried to investigate herself or come up with different ways to convince the council. She just kept telling them and hoped they&#8217;d eventually believe her. The whole mystery about her dad was completely unresolved, as well as the mystery about Jay and all the other little mysteries.</p>
  402. <h3>Cosy fantasy</h3>
  403. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61219635-legends-lattes"><em><strong>Legends &amp; Lattes</strong></em></a> by Travis Baldree: A high fantasy, low stakes story following Viv the orc who retires from a life of dangerous adventure to open a coffee shop. It was heartwarming to read about a retired monster easing into small town living, to make roots instead of chasing the next thrilling quest, to nurture people instead of battling them. I loved watching Viv’s coffee shop grow — the menu expanding drink by drink, pastry by pastry, each with the most enticing description — the community gathering to begrudgingly discover the pleasures of milky bean water. That said, the fantasy/world building and romance were underdeveloped. Okay, but not a story I&#8217;d think about again. I pretty much agree with <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CrfZ2VMLpvq">Maddie</a>&#8216;s review. A fine pick if you&#8217;re a big cosy reader.</p>
  404. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56755560-the-cat-who-saved-books"><em><strong>The Cat Who Saved Books</strong></em></a> by Sosuke Natsukawa: A boy closing his late grandfather&#8217;s tiny secondhand bookshop is called on an adventure to save books by a mysterious talking tabby cat. If you love books about books, you’re in for a treat. And if you’re on bookish social media, you might have even more fun with this one. There isn’t any social media commentary, but there are characters with tendencies that might remind you of some trends and characteristics we’ve all seen on bookish social media (like superhuman reading goals and glorious home libraries). I lovedd the first quarter of the book and it almost inspired me to throw out my book collection &#8212; almost! The rest was a little more cliche and less memorable, but it&#8217;s a short little book and worth the read for the first quarter.</p>
  405. <h3>Magical realism</h3>
  406. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60243188-bliss-montage"><em><strong>Bliss Montage</strong></em></a> by Ling Ma: My immediate reaction after reading each of the eight short stories was confusion about what I was supposed to get out of them, but I was able to gain an appreciation for a select few upon a reread. &#8220;Office Hours&#8221; was a thrilling read about a secret passage in a film professor’s office, appealing to my interests in sci-fi and parallel worlds and selves. &#8220;Peking Duck&#8221; gave me more to contemplate and is one I often find my mind wandering back to. It follows an Asian American writer who tells her mother&#8217;s experience working as a nanny, raising discussions about appropriating stories and experiences. The form was clever and thematically appropriate, blurring the boundaries between the story and the story within the story.</p>
  407. <h3>Sci fi/horror</h3>
  408. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61150781-walking-practice"><em><strong>Walking Practice</strong></em></a>* by Dolki Min (x2): A weird, violent, and grotesque but also unexpectedly vulnerable story about an alien stranded on earth, seducing humans to kill and feed on by transforming their body into their preys&#8217; sexually desirable form. This short little book isn’t one to read for the plot necessarily, which doesn’t really get into how the alien ended up on earth or plans to get home, but more for the alien’s inner monologues and sociological observations, particularly on the performance of gender and incidentally, the surveilled woman. The translator’s note puts it well: <em>Walking Practice</em> a profoundly queer novel about literal alienation. This was a book that I finished feeling confused, but grew on me as I sat on it afterward.</p>
  409. <h3>Thriller/mystery</h3>
  410. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25820446-the-kind-worth-killing"><em><strong>The Kind Worth Killing</strong></em></a> by Peter Swanson: I haven&#8217;t read a thriller in years because I find the misogyny exhausting and I don&#8217;t find unreliable narrators that compelling. I found Part 1 boring and almost DNF-ed, but Parts 2 and 3 had me hooked. Plot. Twists. Everyone was sus and I didn&#8217;t know who to trust. It was all a gamble. Sure, Ted was misogynistic but Lily literally murdered someone before?? If I were stuck in this situation and had to figure out who to trust, it&#8217;d be too much for me to handle. Just kill me at that point haha. Worth the read if you&#8217;re looking for a thriller.</p>
  411. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40121959-miracle-creek"><em><strong>Miracle Creek</strong></em></a>* by Angie Kim (reread): Reread in anticipation of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/75495002-happiness-falls"><em>Happiness Falls</em></a>, which unfortunately isn&#8217;t going too well for me at the moment. Kim&#8217;s experience as a lawyer really added to this courtroom mystery, showing how facts can be framed and reframed with frightening dexterity. On my first read, I was really focused on the mystery and the moral question of: What are you willing to do for family? Upon a reread, the moral question that jumped out at me was: Is it okay to tell a lie in order to make the truth more clear? I did find the conclusion (to the story, not the question) less satisfying on the reread &#8212; too much explaining from one character, making the ending feel forced. But overall, enjoyable like the first time I read it and rec if you enjoy procedurals.</p>
  412. <h3>Romance</h3>
  413. <p>♡ <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59365218-better-than-the-movies"><em><strong>Better than the Movies</strong></em></a> by Lynn Painter: Liz the hopeless romantic enlists the help of her obnoxious neighbour Wes to get noticed by his best friend, her crush Michael, in exchange for the parking spot they’ve been feuding over. If you watched rom coms throughout middle school and high school, you have got to read this book! It is <em>the sweetest</em> YA romance, and I had a smile on my face the whole time reading it! :’) I even liked the third act conflict?? Unheard of! My only tiny, tiny complaint would be about how Liz treated Joss. It was the little niggling thing in what would have otherwise been a fun and sweet story all around, but anyways, it was 99.99% there already. (<a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CoAMQY_AWCZ">Check out my reel</a> for a preview of the cute vibes ;))</p>
  414. <p>♡ <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55648820-seven-days-in-june"><em><strong>Seven Days in June</strong></em></a> by Tia Williams: A second chance romance following a literary writer and erotica writer who have been secretly writing about each other in their books ever since the end of their whirlwind week of teenage romance &#8212; swoon! Yes, it&#8217;s a bit unbelievable that this all started from seven days of knowing each other, but you still can&#8217;t help but feel that Shane and Eva are meant for each other. They&#8217;re soul mates! Even though they&#8217;re dealing with a lot individually, they&#8217;re not toxic toward each other. They understand each other&#8217;s darkness in a way beyond words. And there&#8217;s lots of joy and humour in this story too! Honestly a travesty that <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54985743-people-we-meet-on-vacation"><em>People We Meet on Vacation</em></a> won for Best Romance for the 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards over <em>Seven Days in June</em>.</p>
  415. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44061900-the-stationery-shop"><em><strong>The Stationery Shop</strong></em></a> by Marjan Kamali: I loved when Roya and Bahman were first getting to know each other and the stolen moments in the stationery shop, but I did feel the characters/relationship stagnate once they got together, giving way to the political turmoil of the 1953 Iranian coup. When we circled back to the love story, it was very wistful and I would have been interested in more about the greater political repercussions post-coup. However, the focus on Roya and Bahman is perfect for those seeking out historical romance. (<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CtZX9sIRYZU">See my full review here</a>)</p>
  416. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13153400-5-centimeters-per-second"><em><strong>5 Centimeters per Second</strong></em></a> by Makoto Shinkai: I wasn’t that invested in the romance or any individual character, but I could relate to the growing pains of changing relationships and growing up: writing letters back and forth trying to hang onto a relationship but only making the distance between each other even more apparent, feeling disassociated from your own life, feeling like you’ll never be as uninhibited or feel anything as deeply as when you were a kid.</p>
  417. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61269202-you-made-a-fool-of-death-with-your-beauty"><em><strong>You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty</strong></em></a> by Akwaeke Emezi: This book is so unserious. Wildly entertaining. A fun one to giggle with a friend about and judge all the characters&#8217; questionable decisions together. My review would just be a list of all the characters and their transgressions, but I don&#8217;t want to spoil the book for anyone. I&#8217;ll just say that Feyi was a train wreck I couldn&#8217;t tear my eyes from. Fast paced, addicting, opulent. Not good per se but very entertaining haha.</p>
  418. <h3>New adult romance (smut lol)</h3>
  419. <p>Blame it on TikTok (which I&#8217;m not on, but it&#8217;s infiltrated bookstagram haha). I just want to know what all the hype is about! Plus, new adult is so easy to read. It&#8217;s one of the genres I turn to to get out of a reading slump. The new adult novels I&#8217;ve read this year all happen to be part of a series, but these series are low commitment since the books are companion novels, so I can skip a book in the series if I&#8217;m not feeling it and still be able to follow the next one.</p>
  420. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24920901-the-deal"><em><strong>The Deal</strong></em></a> (reread), (<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25381533-the-mistake"><em>The Mistake</em></a>), &amp; <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27252717-the-score"><em><strong>The Score</strong></em></a> by Elle Kennedy: I remember really enjoying <em>The Deal</em> the first time I read it, but on this reread, I really didn&#8217;t like how Hannah thought she was broken and how Garrett tried to fix her. I DNF-ed <em>The Mistake</em> because I didn&#8217;t get why Logan was so obsessed with Grace, but the last straw was him still being hung up on his crush on Hannah, who was still with Garrett, by the way. <em>The Score</em> was a friends-with-benefits romance, and I liked how Allie and Dean were on the same page and just having fun with each other, and when they eventually developed feelings for each other, they didn&#8217;t pretend otherwise. Got burnt out from the series by this book though, so probably won&#8217;t continue on.</p>
  421. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/86121173-king-of-wrath"><em><strong>King of Wrath</strong></em></a> by Ana Huang: A solid pick if you&#8217;re looking for a billionaire romance. This isn&#8217;t a case of rich boy/poor girl. They&#8217;re both rich so there&#8217;s plenty of extravagance to go around. I liked Vivian and I thought her internal conflict and her complicated relationship with her parents was interesting. It was interesting to see how she was a strong independent woman but would defer to her family out of respect, how she easily adjusted herself to her environment in an empowered way. Despite whatever conflict Vivian had with her parents, it was clear she loved and respected them. As for Dante, his communication skills (or lack thereof) got old really quick &#8212; always going hot and cold with Vivian. Man child lol.</p>
  422. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62057697-twisted-love"><em><strong>Twisted Love</strong></em></a>, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62056013-twisted-games"><em><strong>Twisted Games</strong></em></a>, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62056935-twisted-hate"><em><strong>Twisted Hate</strong></em></a>, &amp; (<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62058385-twisted-lies"><em>Twisted Lies</em></a>) by Ana Huang: <em>Twisted Love</em>, <em>Twisted Games</em>, and <em>Twisted Lies</em> are all pretty much the same. All the male love interests were &#8220;protective&#8221;/controlling and obsessed with security, but since the love interest in <em>Twisted Games</em> was a literal bodyguard, that made more sense. The dynamics were all grumpy/sunshine. The guys were supposed to be these strong, cool, stoic men, but they were sooo bothered by the women. You could tell they were simping from a mile away. There was no chemistry in <em>Twisted Lies</em>, so I DNF-ed. <em>Twisted Hate</em> was an enemies-to-lovers, best friend&#8217;s brother romance and stepped away from that &#8220;protective&#8221;/controlling thing, so that was refreshing. Anyways, I think that&#8217;s enough Ana Huang for me.</p>
  423. <p>(<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58530994-the-fine-print"><em>The Fine Print</em></a>) &amp; (<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60476301-terms-and-conditions"><em>Terms and Conditions</em></a>) by Lauren Asher: Didn&#8217;t get very far into <em>The Fine Print</em> or <em>Terms and Conditions</em>. <em>The Fine Print</em> was too trope-y (grumpy/sunshine, to be exact), to the point where Rowan and Zahra didn&#8217;t feel like real people and they had no chemistry. The way Rowan kept Zahra&#8217;s number and texted her as &#8220;Scott&#8221; felt out of character, and the way Zahra texted back was too friendly to be believable &#8212; meaningless actions to advance what little plot there was. <em>Terms and Conditions</em> didn&#8217;t make sense either. Why would Declan&#8217;s assistant Iris volunteer to marry him to secure his inheritance? Why&#8217;s she so invested? Declan didn&#8217;t even ask! Didn&#8217;t bother trying <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61681786-final-offer"><em>Final Offer</em></a>.</p>
  424. <h3>Memoir</h3>
  425. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50644618-tiny-moons"><em><strong>Tiny Moons: A Year of Eating in Shanghai</strong></em></a> by Nina Mingya Powles: A tiny and tender collection of essays that made me want to write and document my own anecdotes. While I’m not mixed like Powles, I relate to growing up outside of my heritage as a Taiwanese person who grew up half in the States, half in the expat community in China. I also relate to feeling the strongest connection to my heritage through food; everything I know about Taiwanese culture is taught, but my love for Taiwanese food feels innate. The first few essays were my favourite, and I enjoyed the discussions about understanding culture through food when language fails, the untranslatable language of food, the memories attached, the literal imprint of ourselves cooked into the food we make. Rec if you enjoyed <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54814676-crying-in-h-mart"><em>Crying in H Mart</em></a> by Michelle Zauner.</p>
  426. <p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61173577-a-stone-is-most-precious-where-it-belongs"><em><strong>A Stone is Most Precious Where it Belongs</strong></em></a>* by Gulchehra Hoja: A memoir by Uyghur journalist and activist, following Hoja&#8217;s childhood growing up in East Turkestan, her rise as a successful TV personality, her growing discomfort with Chinese state media, immigrating to the States, and her activist work since. It was fascinating to learn about her family history, who were influential in shaping and preserving Uyghur culture. I&#8217;d say that this memoir is more about cultural history than internal introspection, and while it doesn&#8217;t discuss the ongoing Uyghur genocide that much, it&#8217;s an important read for context and to bear witness to a culture under threat.</p>
  427. <p>*<em>e/ARC gifted from publisher</em></p>
  428. <p>PS: <a href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2023/01/2022-in-books">2022 in books</a>, <a href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2022/07/2022-q2-reads">2022 Q2 reads</a>, <a href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2021/08/2021-mid-year-reading-check-in">2021 mid-year reading check-in</a></p>
  429. <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://instagram.com/brunchofbooks"><strong>BOOKSTAGRAM</strong></a> <strong>|</strong> <a href="http://goodreads.com/auderoy"><strong>GOODREADS</strong></a></p>
  430. ]]></content:encoded>
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  437. <item>
  438. <title>The Super Mario Bros Movie &#038; Super Nintendo World</title>
  439. <link>https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2023/04/the-super-mario-bros-movie-super-nintendo-world/</link>
  440. <comments>https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2023/04/the-super-mario-bros-movie-super-nintendo-world/#respond</comments>
  442. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Audrey]]></dc:creator>
  443. <pubDate>Tue, 18 Apr 2023 04:00:31 +0000</pubDate>
  444. <category><![CDATA[travel]]></category>
  445. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.brunchataudreys.com/?p=14241</guid>
  446.  
  447. <description><![CDATA[Super Nintendo World is absolutely swarming right now, what with it being just over a month since opening, The Super Mario Bros Movie just coming out, spring break, and the first week of good weather LA has had in months! These marketers know what they’re doing! The Super Mario Bros Movie We watched The Super Mario Bros Movie the night before visiting...
  448.        <div class="more-button"><a class="more-link" href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2023/04/the-super-mario-bros-movie-super-nintendo-world/">Read More</a>
  449.        <span class="meta-divider"></span></div>]]></description>
  450. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Super Nintendo World is absolutely swarming right now, what with it being just over a month since opening, <em>The Super Mario Bros Movie</em> just coming out, spring break, and the first week of good weather LA has had in months! These marketers know what they’re doing!</p>
  451. <h3>The Super Mario Bros Movie</h3>
  452. <p>We watched <em>The Super Mario Bros Movie</em> the night before visiting Super Nintendo World as a pre-game. While I can’t personally speak to the movie’s nostalgia factor since I don’t play video games, I know that there are a ton of references that fans will enjoy. The movie is pretty much all references and no plot, but hey, sometimes you just need something that’s not that serious! My favourite sequence was towards the beginning of the movie when Mario and Luigi were running to their first client. It was a great adaptation of the game mechanics without being too literal, and it was a great scene for characterisation as well.</p>
  453. <h3>Super Nintendo World</h3>
  454. <p>The next day, we headed out to Universal Studios Hollywood bright and early, and made a beeline to Super Nintendo World. We only had two things on our itinerary: Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge and Toadstool Cafe. The only other things to do at Super Nintendo World are the four mini games, which you need to buy a power-up band to play (they’re kind of like the wands at Harry Potter World), but you can just buy one for your party and pass it around if you don’t want to shill out the bucks.</p>
  455. <p>Despite arriving only 30 minutes after the park opened, we snagged some of the last spots for Super Nintendo World’s virtual line. Luckily I found a link for Toadstool Cafe reservations the previous night, so we were able to book that on our drive over once the link went live for the day. Otherwise, we would have had to wait until we got into Super Nintendo World to scan the Toadstool Cafe reservation QR code, and they definitely would have been fully booked by the time we got in.</p>
  456. <p><span id="more-14241"></span></p>
  457. <h4>Mario Kart: Bowser&#8217;s Challenge</h4>
  458. <p>The wait time fluctuated between 2 and 3 hours all day. At the time we went, the estimate was 2 hours. I timed it: 2 hours and 20 minutes. I&#8217;m just glad that we made it on at all! I overheard an attendant saying how even right when the park opens, the wait times already run 1 to 2 hours &#8212; I assume because of the early access pass holders, who get to enter the park an hour early. But early access isn&#8217;t a sure bet to get on the ride either. I read online that the ride is frequently down for maintenance in the mornings. I chatted with a random lady in line and she told me she was at Super Nintendo World the previous day and lined up for Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge for ages, only for it to go down for maintenance so she never got the chance to ride it.</p>
  459. <p>The park designers do try to make the lines more bearable though. There are plenty of rooms to weave through and decor to ogle, and from the balcony of Bowser’s Castle you get a great view of Super Nintendo World. 2 or 3 hours worth of ogling? Mmm maybe not, but appreciated all the same. I know that some people like the wait even more than the ride, and they say that speeding through via the Single Riders line defeats the experience.</p>
  460. <p><a href="https://youtu.be/2ruAqduHXwc">Here&#8217;s a great video</a> of the queue design + the full ride without AR + the full ride with AR.</p>
  461. <h4>Toadstool Cafe</h4>
  462. <p>While waiting in line for Mario Kart: Bowser&#8217;s Challenge, we were betting whether or not we&#8217;d make it in time for our Toadstool Cafe reservation. Luckily we had 15 minutes to spare, which we spent walking around Super Nintendo World, taking it all in for the first time since entering the park.</p>
  463. <p>At Toadstool Cafe, we ordered:</p>
  464. <ul>
  465. <li>Super Mushroom Soup: creamy mushroom soup</li>
  466. <li>Luigi Burger: pesto grilled chicken with truffle fries</li>
  467. <li>Bowser’s Fireball Challenge: 1lb meatball with mozzarella and Bowser puff pastry</li>
  468. <li>? Block Tiramisu: tiramisu cube encased by ?-printed biscuits</li>
  469. <li>Princess Peach Cupcake: funfetti cupcake, raspberry jam, and buttercream frosting</li>
  470. </ul>
  471. <p>I also wanted to try the Toadstool Cheesy Garlic Knots, but they were sold out. The Luigi Burger and Bowser&#8217;s Fireball Challenge came with decorative plastic toothpicks, which we wiped down and took home. The Mario Burger also comes with a decorative plastic toothpick, but that was too much for us to order! The Luigi burger had raw green bell peppers, which tasted reallyyyy good and refreshing actually. And the truffle fries that came on the side were soooo good.</p>
  472. <p>The Super Mushroom Soup came in an adorable white ceramic bowl with a mushroom lid, but the servers whisk away the mushroom lids as soon as they serve the table. I think it&#8217;s because they don&#8217;t want anyone to steal them. I had to rush my mushroom lid pics. Anyways, the creamy mushroom soup was a bit too salty and one-note for my taste. Might be nicer with bread.</p>
  473. <p>Earlier in the day we had a Mario strawberry soda from a concession stand, as well as popcorn in a collectible light-up Super Star popcorn bucket.</p>
  474. <h3>The rest of the park</h3>
  475. <p>While waiting to get into Super Nintendo World via the virtual line, we killed time in the rest of the park. We weren’t in a rush to explore since we had visited only <a href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2022/12/universal-studios-christmas-2022">a few months ago</a>, so we just hit up our favourites &#8212; Jurassic World and The Mummy &#8212; and also tried The Secret Life of Pets for the first time. We were curious because it&#8217;s the only other attraction that has a virtual line, and we weren&#8217;t able to make it last time. It was okay. Not worth the wait, at least not for us older visitors haha, but we were just there to kill time anyway. Glad we tried it once.</p>
  476. <p>After Super Nintendo World, we were exhausted and ready to head home. We spent a whole day at Universal Studios Hollywood just to ride Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge and eat at Toadstool Cafe, but it’s what we had set out to do, and we were so lucky we got to do both! The rest was a bonus. I think Universal will be pretty crazy this summer, but hopefully the crowds will be more manageable after that.</p>
  477. <p><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="14242" data-permalink="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2023/04/the-super-mario-bros-movie-super-nintendo-world/snd2/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd2-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1920&amp;ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,1920" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}" data-image-title="super nintendo world &#8211; universal studios hollywood" data-image-description="&lt;p&gt;super nintendo world &#8211; universal studios hollywood | brunch at audrey&#8217;s&lt;/p&gt;
  478. " data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd2-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd2-scaled.jpg?fit=830%2C623&amp;ssl=1" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-14242" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd2-scaled.jpg?resize=830%2C623&#038;ssl=1" alt="super nintendo world - universal studios hollywood | brunch at audrey's" width="830" height="623" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd2-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd2-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd2-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd2-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd2-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd2-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd2-scaled.jpg?resize=1080%2C810&amp;ssl=1 1080w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd2-scaled.jpg?w=1660&amp;ssl=1 1660w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd2-scaled.jpg?w=2490&amp;ssl=1 2490w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px" /></p>
  479. <p><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="14243" data-permalink="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2023/04/the-super-mario-bros-movie-super-nintendo-world/snd4/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd4-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1920&amp;ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,1920" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1681320147&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}" data-image-title="toadstool cafe at super nintendo world &#8211; universal studios hollywood" data-image-description="&lt;p&gt;toadstool cafe at super nintendo world &#8211; universal studios hollywood | brunch at audrey&#8217;s&lt;/p&gt;
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  494. " data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd16-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd16-scaled.jpg?fit=830%2C623&amp;ssl=1" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-14288" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd16-scaled.jpg?resize=830%2C623&#038;ssl=1" alt="selfie at mario kart bowser's challenge, super nintendo world - universal studios hollywood | brunch at audrey's" width="830" height="623" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd16-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd16-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd16-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd16-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd16-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd16-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd16-scaled.jpg?resize=1080%2C810&amp;ssl=1 1080w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd16-scaled.jpg?w=1660&amp;ssl=1 1660w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd16-scaled.jpg?w=2490&amp;ssl=1 2490w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px" /></p>
  495. <p><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="14289" data-permalink="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2023/04/the-super-mario-bros-movie-super-nintendo-world/snd10-1/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd10-1-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1920&amp;ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,1920" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}" data-image-title="selfie at mario kart bowser&#8217;s challenge, super nintendo world &#8211; universal studios hollywood" data-image-description="&lt;p&gt;selfie at mario kart bowser&#8217;s challenge, super nintendo world &#8211; universal studios hollywood | brunch at audrey&#8217;s&lt;/p&gt;
  496. " data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd10-1-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd10-1-scaled.jpg?fit=830%2C623&amp;ssl=1" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-14289" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd10-1-scaled.jpg?resize=830%2C623&#038;ssl=1" alt="selfie at mario kart bowser's challenge, super nintendo world - universal studios hollywood | brunch at audrey's" width="830" height="623" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd10-1-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd10-1-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd10-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd10-1-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd10-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd10-1-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd10-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1080%2C810&amp;ssl=1 1080w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd10-1-scaled.jpg?w=1660&amp;ssl=1 1660w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/snd10-1-scaled.jpg?w=2490&amp;ssl=1 2490w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px" /></p>
  497. <h3>Super Nintendo World, again!</h3>
  498. <p>I visited Super Nintendo World exactly a week later and it went so much smoother!</p>
  499. <p>When we arrived, we found a crowd gathered at the escalators to the Lower Lot &#8212; where Super Nintendo World, Jurassic World, The Mummy, and Transformers are &#8212; and we were so confused. Turns out that the park opened an hour later than the previous week, which meant we arrived 20 minutes before the park officially opened! (We were aiming for 40 minutes before our 20 minute-early arrival but we were running late haha) We assumed that the park would open at the same time as it did the previous week so not a single one of us bothered checking the park&#8217;s hours. Worked out in our favour though! I think the park opened an hour earlier the previous week because of the anticipated spring break crowd. Tickets were about $25 more expensive the previous week too, but luckily we weren&#8217;t affected because we have season passes.</p>
  500. <p>Super Nintendo World did not have a virtual line at any point in the day, so everyone was able to walk in. Once again, we had booked our Toadstool Cafe reservation on the drive over, so we were able to leisurely stroll over to Mario Kart: Bowser&#8217;s Challenge. It took less than an hour to get on the ride this time and I got the high score in my Kart <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/15.1.0/72x72/1f60e.png" alt="😎" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /> I had no idea what was going on my first time haha. Maybe next time (yes! next time!) I&#8217;ll ride without the AR glasses so that I can better appreciate the theme design.</p>
  501. <p>After Mario Kart: Bowser&#8217;s Challenge, we went straight to Toadstool Cafe. This time we got:</p>
  502. <ul>
  503. <li>Mario Burger: beef patty, bacon, mushroom with truffle fries</li>
  504. <li>Bowser&#8217;s Fireball Challenge (again)</li>
  505. <li>Super Star Chicken Salad: pretty much a Caesar salad + star-shaped croutons and star-shaped parmesan crisp</li>
  506. <li>Super Star Lemon Squash soda: honey lemon soda with mango jelly stars and popping boba</li>
  507. </ul>
  508. <p>Once again, they were out of the Toadstool Cheesy Garlic Knots. Now having tried a variety of dishes at Toadstool Cafe, I&#8217;d say that my favourite is the Luigi Burger. Also, even though it comes with the same truffle fries as the Mario Burger does, the Luigi Burger&#8217;s truffle fries come with a superior pesto aioli, whereas the Mario Burger&#8217;s truffle fries come with ketchup. Glad we got to collect the Mario toothpick this time around though!</p>
  509. <h3>The rest of the park, again!</h3>
  510. <p>Walked on to Jurassic World. The Mummy had a little wait. We probably could have done Single Rider, but the wait was only 20 min max, so it was fine, and we got a photo together, which I snuck a picture of on my phone.</p>
  511. <p>Did the Single Rider for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, which was less than a 5 min wait. Somehow I got a whole vehicle to myself, so it was just me and three empty seats. There was some kind of malfunction in the middle of the ride. Where I was at, there was just a screen in front of me and it went black. When the ride finally started up again, I was led directly into the dementor&#8217;s cave. It was a very dramatic place to experience the malfunction haha. Excellent transition. When we got to the end of the ride to disembark, the ride operators were telling the riders that they could stay on and ride again. I would have, but since my friends and I were all on separate vehicles (since we went Single Rider), we each had figured it would be too complicated to coordinate. We were all feeling a bit woozy and stuffed from Toadstool Cafe anyway.</p>
  512. <p>With that, we headed out of the park and still had the better half of the afternoon ahead of us. I can&#8217;t believe how efficient the day was! Plenty of time to cram for finals&#8230;</p>
  513. <p>PS: <a href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2022/12/universal-studios-christmas-2022">Universal Studios Christmas 2022</a>, <a href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2022/12/disneyland-christmas-2022">Disneyland Christmas 2022</a>, <a href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2023/02/six-flags-magic-mountain">Six Flags Magic Mountain</a></p>
  514. ]]></content:encoded>
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  521. <item>
  522. <title>Six Flags Magic Mountain</title>
  523. <link>https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2023/02/six-flags-magic-mountain/</link>
  524. <comments>https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2023/02/six-flags-magic-mountain/#respond</comments>
  526. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Audrey]]></dc:creator>
  527. <pubDate>Thu, 23 Feb 2023 21:47:16 +0000</pubDate>
  528. <category><![CDATA[travel]]></category>
  529. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.brunchataudreys.com/?p=14215</guid>
  530.  
  531. <description><![CDATA[Without thinking too much about it, I accepted my friend&#8217;s invite to Six Flags off the high from Disneyland and Universal Studios. I&#8217;m an amusement park girlie now, didn&#8217;t ya know? I went to bed binging POV videos on Youtube, slowly realising what I was getting myself into, wondering if I&#8217;d survive the day ahead. The first time I ever...
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  533.        <span class="meta-divider"></span></div>]]></description>
  534. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Without thinking too much about it, I accepted my friend&#8217;s invite to Six Flags off the high from <a href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2022/12/disneyland-christmas-2022/">Disneyland</a> and <a href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2022/12/universal-studios-christmas-2022/">Universal Studios</a>. I&#8217;m an amusement park girlie now, didn&#8217;t ya know? I went to bed binging POV videos on Youtube, slowly realising what I was getting myself into, wondering if I&#8217;d survive the day ahead.</p>
  535. <p>The first time I ever went on an extreme roller coaster was a trip to Six Flags Great Adventure (New Jersey) during summer camp in middle school. I have no idea what my friend and I spent our time doing, because we were too scared of the big kid roller coasters. We probably just ate a lot of food and browsed the merch shops, but at some point, we figured we should probably go on at least one. Working up the courage for Bizarro (now Medusa), we promised to hold each other&#8217;s hand through the whole ride. As soon as we tottered on the first crest, it was every woman for herself. We immediately released each other to grip our own restraints.</p>
  536. <p><span id="more-14215"></span></p>
  537. <p>It was time to put myself to the test again. I hoped my dear companion would have some limits to what she was willing to ride&#8230; But as luck would have it, it turns out she&#8217;s a roller coaster junkie AND she&#8217;s gone sky diving before, of course! Thank god Goliath was closed for maintenance.</p>
  538. <p>For once, I welcomed waiting in long lines. Without that buffer between rides, I might have gone lightheaded! In line, I was completely at ease&#8230; right up until it was time to strap ourselves in. Then I would start shaking uncontrollably! I tried to play it off as nervous excitement, bouncing my legs and shaking out my arms in exaggeration. To my friend, I deliriously loud whispered: I&#8217;m literally shaking!!!!! But as soon as we hit the first drop, I&#8217;d have the time of my life.</p>
  539. <p>Didn&#8217;t stop me from shaking before every ride though! My mantra of the day: Jesus, take the wheel. The trick is to relax your body and just let yourself flop around. From my own experience, that feeling in your stomach is stronger if your body is more rigid.</p>
  540. <p>We rode Full Throttle, The New Revolution, Tatzu, Wonder Woman: Flight of Courage, Scream!, and Superman: Escape from Krypton. While waiting in line for the next ride, I&#8217;d debrief with my friend and ask her what part of the previous ride she thought was most fun and what part was most scary. She didn&#8217;t understand the concept of &#8220;scary&#8221; &#8212; it was all fun for her <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/15.1.0/72x72/1f480.png" alt="💀" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /> But her favourite ride was Superman, and mine was Wonder Woman. I liked all the loops!</p>
  541. <p>It got dark before the park closed so we headed out early because it was super cold and our Californian selves were unprepared, but not before nabbing a cookies and cream thrillshake! We couldn&#8217;t resist something called a &#8220;thrillshake,&#8221; and the line for funnel cakes was too long. Dumb decision? Good decision? Who&#8217;s to say?</p>
  542. <p>Next time, I&#8217;ll face Goliath. But Lex Luthor: Drop of Doom is a big no from me!! Never!!!</p>
  543. <p><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="14219" data-permalink="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2023/02/six-flags-magic-mountain/sixflags1/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags1-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1920&amp;ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,1920" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}" data-image-title="roller coaster tracks &#8211; six flags magic mountain" data-image-description="&lt;p&gt;roller coaster tracks &#8211; six flags magic mountain | brunch at audrey&#8217;s&lt;/p&gt;
  544. " data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags1-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags1-scaled.jpg?fit=830%2C623&amp;ssl=1" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-14219" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags1-scaled.jpg?resize=830%2C623&#038;ssl=1" alt="roller coaster tracks - six flags magic mountain | brunch at audrey's" width="830" height="623" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags1-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags1-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags1-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags1-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags1-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags1-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags1-scaled.jpg?resize=1080%2C810&amp;ssl=1 1080w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags1-scaled.jpg?w=1660&amp;ssl=1 1660w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags1-scaled.jpg?w=2490&amp;ssl=1 2490w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px" /></p>
  545. <p><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="14218" data-permalink="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2023/02/six-flags-magic-mountain/sixflags-food/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags-food.png?fit=1840%2C1200&amp;ssl=1" data-orig-size="1840,1200" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}" data-image-title="garlic fries &#038; cookies and cream thrill shake &#8211; six flags magic mountain" data-image-description="&lt;p&gt;garlic fries &#038; cookies and cream thrill shake &#8211; six flags magic mountain | brunch at audrey&#8217;s&lt;/p&gt;
  546. " data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags-food.png?fit=300%2C196&amp;ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags-food.png?fit=830%2C541&amp;ssl=1" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-14218" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags-food.png?resize=830%2C541&#038;ssl=1" alt="garlic fries &amp; cookies and cream thrill shake - six flags magic mountain | brunch at audrey's" width="830" height="541" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags-food.png?w=1840&amp;ssl=1 1840w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags-food.png?resize=300%2C196&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags-food.png?resize=1024%2C668&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags-food.png?resize=768%2C501&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags-food.png?resize=1536%2C1002&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags-food.png?resize=1080%2C704&amp;ssl=1 1080w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags-food.png?w=1660&amp;ssl=1 1660w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px" /></p>
  547. <p><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="14220" data-permalink="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2023/02/six-flags-magic-mountain/processed-with-vsco-with-b1-preset-18/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags4.jpg?fit=855%2C641&amp;ssl=1" data-orig-size="855,641" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;iPhone&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Processed with VSCO with b1 preset&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1676213234&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Copyright 2023. All rights reserved.&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Processed with VSCO with b1 preset&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}" data-image-title="black and white selfie &#8211; six flags magic mountain" data-image-description="&lt;p&gt;black and white selfie &#8211; six flags magic mountain | brunch at audrey&#8217;s&lt;/p&gt;
  548. " data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags4.jpg?fit=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags4.jpg?fit=830%2C622&amp;ssl=1" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-14220" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags4.jpg?resize=830%2C622&#038;ssl=1" alt="black and white selfie - six flags magic mountain | brunch at audrey's" width="830" height="622" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags4.jpg?w=855&amp;ssl=1 855w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags4.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/www.brunchataudreys.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/sixflags4.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px" /></p>
  549. <p>PS: <a href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2022/12/disneyland-christmas-2022/">Disneyland Christmas 2022</a>, <a href="https://www.brunchataudreys.com/2022/12/universal-studios-christmas-2022/">Universal Studios Christmas 2022</a></p>
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