Rest in Peace, Mü

My dear Mü,

Three and a half years together is not nearly enough. But I can honestly say that you made me smile every single day you were apart of my life, and that is worth everything to me. I can only hope that I enriched your life as much as you enriched mine.

I'll always remember how adventurous you were, how excited you were to try new things, and how you often got yourself into tricky predicaments.

Adventurous Mü

In a predicament

But most of all, I'll remember our evening/weekend cuddles. Curled up with a book and a ferret was my happy place. I am convinced you were the sweetest ferret there ever was.

Cuddles with Mü

Rest in peace, Mü.

RIP, my girls, Stela and Mü

My 2017 Bullet Journal

Well, since everyone and their grandmother is bullet journalling these days, it was only a matter of time that I started it too as I am nothing if not a complete lemming. I test drove bullet journalling at the end of last year to see if it was right for me and it was immediately apparent to my list-maker, planning-obsessed sensibilities that it was.

I like bullet journalling because, a) it combines a planner and a notebook into one cohesive unit, b) you can individualize the planner to your liking, and c) it is in analog rather than in digital, and I find that putting pen to paper helps me organize my life in a way that computers never quite could.

Because I always love seeing other people's pictures of their bullet journals (I am so nosy) and because a few people have asked me to share some spreads from my journal, I will post some pics below from my Leuchtturm1917 Dotted Hardcover Notebook (A5), in royal blue, for anyone interested.

Full disclaimer though: none of these ideas are my own; they are all taken from other people's posts on pinterest, instagram, etc. I am not particularly artistic or creative like a lot of people in the bullet journal community, so I often look to others for inspiration. Wherever possible, I've tried to find the source of my inspiration and post them here.

Typical Bullet Journal key. Design blatantly stolen from @thevintagewren

2017 Year at a Glance. So I can keep track of important events coming up.

Weight Loss Goals. Gone are the days when I can just eat whatever I want... thankfully I am (pathetically) motivated by colouring in little boxes so this works for me. Based off @bulletjournalweightloss

Budget Goals (again colouring in boxes). I would like to save at least $1,000 a month... Kind of easier said than done at the moment as work has dried up for me so we're living off one income for two people. But I am a firm believer that the best goals in life are the most challenging ones. Based off S. Warrington.

Chore Schedule. I am a recent new homeowner and I am more motivated than ever to take good care of my living space, so I'm giving this chore schedule a try and it seems to be working pretty well for me so far. I'm not much of a doodler, but when I put together this page, I ended up with three big blank spaces so I randomly scribbled in some cleaning items. Based off TinkerTeacherMakerMom

Graphic Novels TBR. I have quite a few regular (boring) list pages (movies to see, wish list items to buy, home improvement projects to do, etc.), and the above is just an example of that. This list of graphic novels to read is based off of the recommendations that people gave me when I asked for some last year.

Monthly Spread. I prefer a boxed monthly spread to the standard list monthly spread that the bullet journal founder recommends, with a list of the major tasks that I want to get done on the right.

Monthly Tracker and Gratitude Log. Trackers are a good way to keep track of habits you are trying to maintain. And because one of my new year's resolutions was to be more thankful, I have decided to write down one thing I am grateful for every day this year. Based off BohoBerry.

Weekly Spread. Because I'm not working at the moment, my days aren't very structured so I don't feel as though I have a need for bullet journal dailies. Instead, I just do weeklies. I like to plan out general and home tasks I want to get done during the week (based off my main monthly task list), plan out my meals (so I know what to buy at the grocery store and what and when to defrost), and to list my chores for the week (based off my chore schedule above).

Et voila: a peak into my 2017 bullet journal featuring no original spreads of my own, but still great ideas to keep organized. I hope this post has given you the semblance that I've got my sh*t together in life, even if that is certainly not the case.

Do you bullet journal? If you do, I'd love to see some pics of your spreads so link me up!

My 2016 Bookish Stats

For three years now, I have been keeping track of my bookish stats in an extensive spreadsheet so that I can compile the data at the end of the year, make some graphs, and keep track of the trends in my reading (see my 2014 bookish stats and my 2015 bookish stats). Yes, I am a nerd. But I will not deny my unabashed love for Microsoft Excel and all its many uses... 

So. In 2016 I read 175 books. I am proud not only of this number, but of the fact that I have been steadily increasing my number of books read every year by 25 books since 2011. So of course now that I am so close to *200 books* read in a year, I feel like I just have to challenge myself to do it, you know? Of course, I will need to read a bunch of shorter books this year to have a shot at meeting such a goal... We'll see what happens.

I consider it a good reading year when the majority of books I read are 4 stars and above. So I am happy to say that 2016 was a very good year for me in books as roughly 75% of books I read were 4 (or 3.5 rounded up) stars to 5 stars, with only a few duds.

Here is a breakdown of books read by genre from 2014 to 2016. Fantasy reading is back on top for me after that weird anomaly in 2015 when contemporary reads actually surpassed fantasy reads. I also read a lot more dystopians in 2016 (I read a few backlist series that I've had on my TBR forever, like the Uglies Series by Scott Westerfeld and the Shatter Me Trilogy by Tahereh Mafi). And I've really been embracing and enjoying non-fiction a whole lot this past year.

I read zero review books in 2016, nor did I purchase any books. All the books I read in 2016 were either borrowed from the library or gifted to me (i.e.. FREE). Now this might be the stat I'm most proud of, and my wallet thanks me! Occasionally I do miss the days of receiving advanced books for review from publishers and all the excitement that went along with that, but overall I find I'm happiest not reading and reviewing on anyone's schedule but my own.

Only three data points here, but I'm pleased that I've managed to meet my goal to read more diverse books: in 2016, almost 25% of the books I read had a MC who was a person of colour.

I've also managed to read more books with an LGBT representation, with over 15% of books read in 2016 featuring a LGBT MC.

And finally, I've managed to increase the percentage of standalones I read in 2016 to almost 50% (probably all those non-fiction reads I read). I still love me a good series read, but I was getting a bit overwhelmed with the number of series I was taking on so I am happy I decided to do less series-reading in 2016.


So there you have it (if anyone did indeed read this post to the end...)! In 2017, I would like to continue to read more non-fiction as I really enjoyed it in 2016. I would also like to read more diversely and limit the number of series I have on the go. I am considering taking up e-galley reading for publishers again (though not in any major capacity), and I plan on maintaining my book buying ban for 2017. Here's to a good year in reading!

Stacking the Shelves: Holiday 2016 Edition

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews to showcase books that I have received for review, bought, borrowed, been gifted, or won to read.


Happy New Year! It's been a year since I participated in the Stacking the Shelves meme to show off my 2015 holiday book haul. I'm super excited and grateful for the books I got over the 2016 holiday season so I thought I would show them off as well:

To start off, a few books I received pre-holidays from the work I do as a bookkeeper for my dad's company:
Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas - I ordered this shortly after completing Queen of Shadows, which I loved. I will hopefully get to reading this soon - certainly before the final Throne of Glass book comes out this year!

Leuchtturm1917 Dotted Hardcover Notebook (A5), Royal Blue - In the tail end of 2016, I decided to try my hand at bullet journalling and quickly fell in love. I've always been a planner and list-maker, but have always done so digitally - to varied success. With bullet journalling, there's something about planning in analog that just works for me and has been keeping me on track and motivated to be productive. So I decided to treat myself to a pretty new journal for the new year!

Holiday Gifts:
The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta - from Ambur of Burning Impossibly Bright
I've only read one Melina Marchetta book before - Jellicoe Road - and I found it to be so beautiful and impactful. So I'm looking forward to my next Marchetta read!

I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson - from Sara of Just Another Story
I have heard nothing but the most amazing things about this author and this book and so I am stoked to read this!

Uprooted by Naomi Novik - from Micheline of Lunar Rainbows
Here's another one that seemingly everyone loved. I just KNOW that this one will end up being a favourite fantasy of mine!

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt - from in-laws
My in-laws both loved this book a lot and thoughtfully thought I would like it as well.


As with last year, I can't help but feel SO lucky to have so many people in my life who are so thoughtful and know my reading tastes so well! I expect 2017 will be a good year in books for me :)

November Recap: Rest in Peace, Stela

November was a bit rough for me and as a result I wasn't up for much blogging. At the beginning of the month, I lost my dear ferret, Stela:

Super Stela

It was about 3 years ago that I adopted my ferret girls, Mü and Stela (whose names together create Mustela, their scientific genus) and they quickly became a big part of my life and my heart.

Mü and Stela

Stela is maybe about 2 years older than Mü and has had a number of health problems over the past few years. And yet despite that, her passing still felt very abrupt. Just that day she was scampering about as per usual and hiding her toys around the house as always. She was totally fine, and then all of a sudden she wasn't.

One of the many nests Stela found for herself to sleep: my sock drawer

Mü for her part is doing okay. They were a bonded pair so I was quite concerned how Mü would handle Stela's passing considering they were always together. We brought the body home from the vet to show to Mü and she seemed to sort of process things in her own way. It was very sad.

Mü and Stela

I've had a few weeks to mourn and adjust now, but damn I miss her. She was such a sweetheart, such a character. She brought a smile to my face every single day.

Silly Stela

It was actually the day before the US Election that Stela passed away and I like to think her little heart was so pure, so virtuous, that she knew she couldn't live in such a world with such a repulsive world leader. Heh.

Rest in peace, dearest Stela.

Favourite TV Show of November:

Now here is a definite bright spot of the month: Gravity Falls. I couldn't help it, when I was watching this show, it just made me feel happy! I can't remember the last time I so thoroughly enjoyed a TV show by Disney, but whenever it was I don't think I was an adult. Gravity Falls is just one of those shows that transcends age though. It's super silly and light hearted and yet it has a great mystery as well. Highly recommended to all!

Favourite Book of November: 

I technically started this one in October, but I wasn't up to reading for a good while there... Thank goodness that this chapter in the Throne of Glass series was able to save me from a potential reading slump! Sarah Maas never fails to impress and Queen of Shadows was another superb instalment. I am so impressed at the growth of all the characters since book one and I am both excited and terrified to see what is yet to come for them in books five and six. I should hopefully get to Empire of Storms soon!

Where Has The Time Gone?

Where has the time gone? One moment I'm busy scheduling regular blog posts and the next moment it seems, it's five months later and I've barely thought about blogging at all. Blogging breaks happen to all of us, but this one was especially lengthy and left completely unexplained on my part (sorry!).

The summer season started up in May at my museum and all of a sudden I was working extremely exhausting days for the rest of summer. These are the busy months at the museum wherein thousands of tourists visit every day from around the world and I was tasked with educating and entertaining them. As a self-described introverted couch potato, leading hikes into the badlands for hundreds of strangers to hunt for fossils took a lot out of me every day and led to me crashing in bed shortly after wolfing down my supper every night.

Leading a hike into the Canadian Badlands

I love my job though, don't get me wrong. Every day I am so happy when I think about the fact that I get to live and work in an environment that I used to LIVE for as a child on family trips, and I get to be surrounded by fellow dino nerds. I am in my element, the place I want to be long-term, and I am loving life.

Mixed up in all of this, I apparently went insane and decided that among all my exhaustion it would be a good time to buy my first home?! Listen, I have no explanation besides that I fell head-over-heels-in-love with the perfect home that was the right price and I needed to have it.

My "new" 1920s home

Since purchasing property, I have been adulting HARD. I'm finalizing budget plans one day, renovating a bathroom the next, and cleaning out my eavestroughs the day after that. It's a lot of work, but I can't put into words how much joy it brings me to finally have my own space to settle and make my own. Have I mentioned that I am loving life?

Of course in all of this, blogging was the hobby that fell by the wayside. I am tentatively hoping to pick it back up now that things have quieted down a bit. I've missed you guys!

And one more thing:

THIS happened. And honestly, I'm still sort of working through my feelings on it. I'm not used to reading plays and I will admit I felt a bit detached at times reading a bare-bones script instead of the writing that I am used to. Ideally, I could see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child as it was meant to be experienced: on the stage. But until then I'm not sure I will be posting a review for it unless I can find a way to sort through my thoughts... Overall though, it was so great catching up with my favourites and seeing what they had been up to all these years. I'd love to know your thoughts on it!

April Recap: Shadowhunters and The Raven King

April was a quiet month for me which was nice, especially because the upcoming months will be more busy than quiet as I start a full-time position at the museum. I'm definitely excited to finally be employed full time at an institution that I love, but I know I will soon be missing these lazy April weeks of watching TV and reading.

This month, I finally took the time to watch Season 1 of Shadowhunters, based off of The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare:

While a lot of people - myself included - were disappointed with the movie adaptation of the series that was released a few years back, I remained cautiously optimistic that they would do a better job with an episodic adaptation of the series. And thankfully, my optimism was not misplaced - the acting and writing still isn't great and I'm not sure what to make of all the changes that were made from the books... But it was still definitely more watchable than the movie. And is it weird that I was still kind of into it despite all its flaws? I don't know, it's easy entertainment (all episodes were made available on Netflix in Canada) and it's addictive once you get going. I will continue watching when they do a second season. Has anyone else watched Shadowhunters? I'm curious what the consensus is from fans.


Also in April, I was presented with the final instalment of The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater in all its glory:

Even though I only read the first three books last month, the series already has a special place in my heart and I was so sad to see it come to an end already. Nevertheless, I dug right into The Raven King as soon as I had a chance. I won't be posting my thoughts or a review anytime soon because a) I'm still processing it, and b) I'm worried that even my raw reaction might spoil the book for others in some way. But feel free to DM me if you've read it too and want to discuss!

Blog Posts in April

Waiting On Wednesday: Penguin Summer 2016 Catalog
Muggle Monday: Chamber of Secrets Illustrated Edition
Muggle Monday: Fantastic Beasts Teaser Trailer Released
Muggle Monday: Career of Evil (Cormoran Strike #3) Review - 5 Stars
Series Review: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi - 2.5 Stars
Series Review: The Raven Cycle (#1-3) by Maggie Stiefvater - 5 Stars
March Recap: Little House, Raven Cycle, and Easter Weekend

March Recap: Little House, Raven Cycle, and Easter Weekend

Oi, I haven't posted in a few weeks, sorry! I fell into a bit of a slump in which I just really did not feel like writing reviews and so my blogging suffered. But thankfully, the same could not be said for my reading habits, which were strong all month long! There were two series in particular that I read and LOVED in March.

First, the Little House Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder:

When I posted about my Anne of Green Gables obsession some years ago, some folks had asked me if I had ever read the American equivalent, the Little House books, which follow Laura and the rest of the Ingalls family growing up as pioneers of the northern midwest US in the 1800s. Well, I finally read the series this month and though nothing could replace my love of Anne Shirley, I adored spunky tomboy Laura Ingalls all the same! I think one of the best parts of the series is that it is autobiographical - all of the successes and hardships faced by the Ingalls family in the books really did happen. And in that way, I really felt that the series was a fascinating history lesson of a sort! I listened to the entire series on audiobook narrated by Cherry Jones and it was wonderful. Highly recommended!

Second series, the first three books in The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater:

This has been a LONG time coming. Since The Raven Boys was first published, really. I knew already from the blurb and reviews and previous works by Maggie that this series was for ME, but I put off the actual reading of it for years because I was so terrified that the prevailing stress of my life at the time would taint my reading experience of what I was sure would be a favourite of mine (does anyone else do this?). So I waited and waited and waited until I knew I was at a time in my life when I was at leisure to enjoy the books in my own time and own way. And that time was this month, FINALLY (and just in time for The Raven King in a few weeks!). I suppose I will save the bulk of my thoughts for a full review at a later date, but suffice it to say that it definitely IS the favourite I thought it would be. The characters, the magic, the writing - so much love!

And lastly of significance this month, the Easter Long Weekend:

Easter for me means three things: painting Easter Eggs (a tradition every year since I can remember), eating loads of chocolate, and spending time with family. And thankfully, one of the benefits of now living close to home is that I was able to make the trip up to Edmonton to be with my family! And so I had a nice weekend, indeed :)


That's it for me and March! I hope everyone else had a good March as well, and I hope to get back to regular blogging for April!

Blog Posts in March

Waiting On Wednesday: Macmillan Spring 2016 Catalog
Waiting On Wednesday: Simon & Schuster Spring 2016 Catalog
Muggle Monday: 7 New Facts About the History of Magic in North America
Review: Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4) by Marissa Meyer - 4 Stars
Review: The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord - 4.5 Stars
February Recap: Blogilates, Sleepovers, and Graphic Novels

February Recap: Blogilates, Sleepovers, and Graphic Novels

I hope everyone has had a good February! I had a pretty good month. Here's some of the things that took up my time these past few weeks:

First off, after a long time of sitting around with a hunched back, typing away at my thesis, I have finally started exercising again! Oh man, I wish I had never let my regular exercise schedule go because it is HARD to get back into the swing of things after taking such a long break off. Fortunately, thanks to Blogilates and Cassey Ho, I have been able to find my motivation again to work on my fitness.

I challenged myself this month to take the Blogilates Beginner's Challenge and I am supremely impressed with myself that I actually managed to keep it up all month long! It wasn't easy, but I am I am so happy I didn't give up. It's pretty exciting to be able to feel your body slowly becoming stronger over the weeks, and I find that I can now push myself harder and take fewer breaks than ever before. Blogilates was new to me in February, but I hope to keep it up in March and for a long time to come! 

Also this month, I found some casual employment! I've been unemployed since I finished my teaching contract at the University of Toronto last year, so I felt so lucky to be given some work in these hard economic times in Alberta. As part of my position, I am now hosting sleepovers for families at the local museum:

Yes, that's right, families are able to spend the night at the museum sleeping among the dinosaurs and also learning about palaeontology - dream come true much?! Well, MY dream come true anyway. And also, I'm essentially being paid to SLEEP for most of the time!! It doesn't get much better than that.

And finally, this month I was able to get a new library card for the town I'm living in and I immediately started requesting as many graphic novels as I have ever heard even the slightest amount of buzz over. And I think it's safe to say that I now have another new favourite way to enjoy reading.

It's strange to think that before now I had just never given graphic novels a go. I would see plenty of reviews from trusted bloggers and think they sounded interesting, but I just never got my butt in gear to make my reading of them happen. And now that I am reading them, I can't imagine that I'll ever grow tired of this medium of reading. I especially love to read graphic novels between bouts of reading normal novels as they make for a quick and entertaining break. The graphic novels pictured above are all ones I read in February and enjoyed - I'll have to write up some reviews for them to discuss them more in depth though.


P.S. If you can think of any graphic novels to recommend to me, I would LOVE to hear them! I'll try pretty much anything! Thanks guys :)

Posts in February:

Muggle Monday: News From A Celebration of Harry Potter
Muggle Monday: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child to be Published
Waiting On Wednesday: Simon & Schuster Winter 2016 Catalog
Waiting On Wednesday: HarperCollins Spring 2016 Catalog
Waiting On Wednesday: Penguin Spring 2016 Catalog
Series Review: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld - 3.5 Stars
January Recap: Thesis Completion, Ice Castles, and True Crime Documentaries

January Recap: Thesis Completion, Ice Castles, and True Crime Documentaries

As I mentioned in my last life recap, I successfully defended my thesis in December. This month, I finally finished all of the required revisions on my manuscript, got it approved by my supervisor and my department, and now I'm... done. It feels a little surreal and a little anti-climactic, but I guess this means I am officially a Master of Science (whatever that entails). I'm pleased though and I'm very relieved it's over so I can move on to the next stage of my life!


Also in January, I got the opportunity to check out the Ice Castles in Edmonton when I went home to visit with my family. Words cannot express how ethereally beautiful this winter wonderland was. Nor could I do it justice in describing how it was made so here's a Buzzfeed article on it if you're curious.

An ice castle Elsa would be proud of

Also in January, I became mildly obsessed with a couple of true crime documentaries. I never had any interest in this kind of thing before, but ever since I listened to the podcast Serial last year about the inconsistencies surrounding a murder case in 1999, I've become equal parts fascinated and troubled by how our justice systems work, the issues with interrogation methods, the problems with relying on a jury's verdict, etc. Here are two other exceptionally well done true crime docs out there that I would recommend:

Okay well, everyone and their dog has seen Netflix's Making A Murderer by now, but I just want to reiterate how in depth and gripping it is, and also how heartbreaking and frustrating. HBO's The Jinx is equal parts gripping, as well as beautifully filmed, and the ending had me literally gaping in astonishment. In a way, these two true crime documentaries are opposites: in Making A Murderer, a poor and uneducated man is accused of a murder he did not commit and sent to prison unjustly; in The Jinx, a rich and well-educated man is accused of murders he did commit and weasels his way out of prison unjustly. Never has the distinction and benefit of having class and money when taking on the justice system been made more apparent than in these two documentaries...


Well, that's it for me - I hope everyone had a great January!

Posts in January

Life Update Again
My 2015 Bookish Stats
Stacking The Shelves: Holiday Edition
Muggle Monday: It's an exciting time to be a Harry Potter fan again
Waiting On Wednesday: HarperCollins Winter 2016 Catalog
Waiting On Wednesday: Penguin Winter 2016 Catalog
Waiting On Wednesday: Macmillan Winter 2016 Catalog
Review: The Martian by Andy Weir - 4 Stars