kicking off school + recent reads

Happy Spooktober! Its been a hectic couple of weeks. I honestly don't know what's going on or how I am getting through the day as majority of them I only had 4 hours of sleep. My body is moving but my brain is in a wonderland.

Im attending school in person and its a bit weird. Im getting use to having paper work in front of me. All my AP classes (especially Computer Science) have me in a headlock. I honestly can't wrap my head around how people major in Computer science everything goes in one ear and out the other, so props to you. The one virtual class I have which is American Sign Language (my favorite at the moment) continuously reminds me of the bliss I was in during online school. I heavily miss online school and pretending that half of my classes were in an alternate universe, I'd 100% be miserable if I went in person and sat in a class with only 4 people. But glad to have a senior year with some sort of normalcy.

Something else is that I'd like to send a strong apology to my Calculus teacher. Hopefully he sees this (probably not), he's definitely tired of my rushing into his classroom at the end of the day to explain lessons I didn't comprehend. But also thanks because I haven't hit rock bottom in your class yet. ☺︎

Along with trying to survive the first two semesters of school, college essays, I WANT THEM GONE. It's so nerve racking and stressful to attempt to write the "perfect" essay and then change it several times after having multiple people read it. The days are going by two fast, I'm not complaining, but also slow down so I can write my essay.

Anyways, since school started reading has been a STRUGGLE. Im crossing my fingers once November arrives I have time to read the books I wants in a timely manner. Let me stop rambling, I deleted a good chunk of my talking about literally nothing. Here are a few books I adored early September and a bit of October.

Secret History - Donna Tart

★★★★★ (5/5)

"Death is the mother of Beauty"

I immediately sped walk down 3 avenues to my barnes and noble to purchase this book after finishing If We Were Villains. I adore dark novels that take place at elite colleges that discuss the topics of murder, hate, grief, and a persons societal status; while sitting in the dark next to a fall candle. It beautifully tells a story of the narrators joining a world he native to and with immense foreshadowing, you watch everything and the people associated with him collapse. Translating the Greek in this was complete and utter HELL, but aside from that this book is an amazing read.

Open Water - Caleb Azumah Nelson

★★★★ (4.5/5)

Yet another book that takes place in England. I pray that I end up somewhere in London or Paris within the next 10 years, since British Literature is becoming a new found love. It's was a short but impactful story of two unnamed Black British characters falling in love, but trying to preserve their relationship when faced with the challenges of fear and racism. Reading something as poetic as this was definitely a new experience for me but it's something I want to read again.

Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid

★★★★ (4.5/5)

This is my third Taylor Jenkins Reid book and its currently neck and neck with Daisy Jones & the Six. Gender roles, body image, sexuality, and issues of Hollywood were all discussed which I love. Till this day I still can't wrap my head around how Evelyn had the patience for all those husbands, especially with only getting two that were gems and the rest of them being eye rollers. I have a love hate relationship with the complexity of Evelyn's decisions, but overall I appreciated the existence of her flawed character.

My rambling has come to an end. I'm glad I put time aside to do this while occasionally switching tabs to finish an English assignment. Hopefully I get time to read other books this month. Actually side note, I read my first Fantasy novel. The longest 800 pages of my life. I wish I could have put it here but I can't even describe what I read without it summing up to me saying "it's a fantasy". TTYL Talia ✰