Sunday, March 17, 2024

February in Retrospect

Okay, I knew I'd be busy this in February, but I didn't expecting how hectic and exhausted I would be after moving into the house. Unpacking and organizing takes a lot more mental work than I expected that I had no motivation to even try to blog. 

But I was still able to read a bit in between all of these changes! Also finished watching Marry My Husband with Shelle right after I started living in the new house! It was soo gooood!

I read: 

  • He’s So Sweet After Class by 沽飞双
  • The Girl Who Wears a Book is Very Salty by You Qian
  • This Villainess Wants a Divorce! by AhBin & Nokki
  • The Wealthy Fiance Has the Ability to Read Minds by 秦皇
  • The Real Daughter is Also Trying to Spend Money to Get Rich Today by Cat Fengqi
  • Zombie's Abnormal Love by 长燃
  • How Did It Differentiate From Omega to Alpha? by 水暖鸭知


I watched: 

  • Marry My Husband (2024)

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

DNF Review: I Was the Heroine, and in the Sequel, Even Though I’m a Mob, All of My Stats Are Maxed Out & Salted Fish Plant Department, But Lord of Another World [Infrastructure]

Title: I Was the Heroine, and in the Sequel, Even Though I’m a Mob, All of My Stats Are Maxed Out
Author: 琴子 & 藤丸 豆ノ介
Chapters: 81 chapters 
Publication: 2022
Summary from Novel Updates:

Summoned as a saintess heroine to the world of an Otome game, Nina saved the world with her capture targets and returned to her original world with a grand ending to her friendship.

Two years later, Nina came to the sequel world.

“All the stats are at MAX? Eh, what is this color… How scary.”

This time, she was supposed to be a mob with no role, but somehow, she had inherited her previous saintess stats. The hearts, which represented the level of favorability, were all full, but for some reason, in the case of the prince, they were completely black.

At any rate, there seemed to be a different heroine this time around, and the script might go wrong if I were to be there.

With this in mind, Nina changed her appearance and decided to use her cheat-level magic to live a leisurely, slow life in the countryside.

However, the previous capture targets who inadvertently met again chased after Nina, ignoring the sequel heroine. Rather, even the heroine became attached to Nina.

“Hey, why did you betray me?”

“I won’t let you go again.”

Above all, Prince Alvin’s appearance was strange.

Far from a leisurely slow life, Nina found herself caught up in the game world and the bug that took her life last time.

MY REVIEW: 

I made it to chapter 35 before deciding to quit reading it. The book was just kind of boring. Everything from Nina's POV is so naive and lackadaisical. Because she's already OP from the get go, there's no tension or rush to do anything. Even making money was super simple for her. Her obliviousness of the opposite sex was interesting at first but annoying after a while, even with her love interest's blatant feelings.  


Title: Salted Fish Plant Department, But Lord of Another World [Infrastructure]
Author: 时空篱
Chapters: 150 chapters + 14 extras
Publication: 2022
Summary from jjwxc

Zhuang Jiu died on the eve of victory.

When she opened her eyes again, she was back before the end of the world, and there was an extra book in her mind. Only then did she realize that she was just an important tool in the book, and she was mainly responsible for giving her credit to the hero and heroine.

Zhuang Jiu: ...What kind of unparalleled scapegoat is she!

After a new life, she got tired of fighting and killing, so she ran into the mountains with the supplies she had stocked up, deciding to stay there in peace and contentment until the end of the apocalypse.

As a result, the apocalypse began, and Zhuangjiu, who was quietly waiting for the appearance of violent powers in her previous life, and then used it as a safety wall to isolate zombies, discovered that she had acquired plant-based powers.

Silently looking at a group of strangely growing and squeaking plants that appeared in the ground, Zhuangjiu thought hesitantly: This... can also be used as a safety wall, right?

—In the year 5X23, the apocalypse has come. Half the planet fell in an instant, and zombies are rampant everywhere.

All animals and plants have evolved, and humans have developed special powers, but they are still unable to resist the invasion of zombies. As a last resort, humans have established major safety zones in an attempt to unite and jointly resist the zombies.

However, there are still intrigues in the safe zone, food, water, and supplies are constantly being consumed, and the territory is gradually being eroded by zombies. Everyone lives in endless panic.

Just when everyone was in panic, a giant base was suddenly discovered deep in a certain mountain range. All the people living there were people who had been expelled. However, it was technologically advanced and rich in materials, comparable to the alliance before the end of the world. developed.

No, it's even more powerful than the Alliance.

All the security zone leaders who were trying to covet the base, after several threats and force deterrence still failed, and suffered a lot of blows, finally understood the fact that it was impossible for them to occupy Zhuangjiu's base!

What to do?

The people in charge looked at each other.

Hurry up and surrender, become the lord's subordinate safe zone, and maybe even be able to hold him in your arms and enjoy the food and drink!

—In the fifth year of the end of the world, half of the safe zone has become a subsidiary safe zone for the winery.

The winery suddenly had a lot more workload, and the pressure doubled instantly. After working for two days in a row, she finally couldn't stand it any more. She broke into the heavily secured laboratory of the base, grabbed the man's collar and roared: "Hurry up! When will the antidote be developed? I can't hold it anymore!"

Gan Jinxing Pointing to the supercomputer next to him: "Then you have to ask it. When will it finish running and when will mankind be saved?"

MY REVIEW: 

Normally, I don't mind an OP lead if everything else is good. However, this book was pretty boring after the initial hoarding spree. Once sbe gained her powers and started working on her base, she was already too OP that there was no tension or excitement about this phase that I quickly grew disinterested in her development. 

Then, the random mystery suddenly introduced made everything seem too contrived to give Zhuang Jiu the perfect ending later, so I was even more turned off and decided to quit after reading 38 chapters.

Thursday, February 15, 2024

Books I Want to Read This Month

Not sure how much time I'll have to read this month in between being busy with work and moving (I haven't even packed all of my books yet!), but we shall see!

  1. Solo Leveling vol. 1 by Dubu & Chugong
  2. Solo Leveling vol. 2 by Dubu & Chugong
  3. Solo Leveling vol. 3 by Dubu & Chugong
  4. Solo Leveling vol. 4 by Dubu & Chugong
  5. Wotakoi Love Is Hard for Otaku vol. 1 by Fujita
  6. Wotakoi Love Is Hard for Otaku vol. 2 by Fujita
  7. Graceling the Graphic Novel by Kristin Cashore & Gareth Hinds
  8. All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody & Christine Lynn Herman
  9. The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
  10. Scum Villain's Self-Saving System vol. 1 Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
  11. Scum Villain's Self-Saving System vol. 2 Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
  12. Bailin and Li Yun by Jayessart
  13. Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Familia Chronicle Novel vol. 1 by Fujino Omori
  14. I Name Him Me by Ma Yan, translated by Stephen Nashef
  15. Home Body by Rupi Kaur

Monday, February 12, 2024

January in Retrospect

Sorry I've been MIA for the past few weeks. Alec and I started house hunting again last month, looked at houses for one weekend, put in two offers, and got accepted for our second pick house. Since then, we've been busy getting everything in order, planning, packing, setting up utilities and everything just to close last Thursday. 

The upcoming weeks are also super busy with the movers coming this Thursday and Friday for Alec's stuff while we need to figure out when to move my stuff as well. Then, unpacking and reorganizing and cleaning again

Posts will most likely be sporadic until things settle down! We'll see how much time I have for reading or watching anything and compare it to January. Look how well I did last month!

I read: 

  • The Supporting Male Character Just Wants to Be a Tool Man by 林盎司
  • The Meaning of You Season 1 by Tilda Kim, Yeyoung, & Lee Sorock
  • The Meaning of You Season 2 by Tilda Kim, Yeyoung, & Lee Sorock
  • After I Flopped on My Crush by 松子茶
  • My Boyfriend Discovered My Zhihu Response by 杳杳一言
  • After Transmigrating Into a Villain Cannon Fodder Male Zerg by 牧粮人
  • I Can Still Salvage It by 松子茶
  • After Marrying the Evil God by 浮白曲
  • BL Fans LOVE My Brother?! by Mimu Oyamada
  • How to Feed a Little Jiaojiao in the Last Days by 君水益
  • Showing Affection with the Villain in the Abuse by Grapefruit 99


I watched: 

  • Strong Girl Nam-Soon (2023)
  • The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)
  • I'm in Love with the Villainess (2023)

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

New Anime and Movies This Winter That I'm Excited For!

I'm so excited for the sequels and movies this season! Loved these series! Also looking forward to all of these other anime because I've heard about their manga series multiple times. Lol Mikey has been reccing Solo Leveling to me for the past few years.

Anime:

  • Solo Leveling
  • Classroom of the Elite Season 3
  • Banished from the Hero's Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside 2nd
  • Blue Exorcist -Shimane Illuminati Saga-
  • My Instant Death Ability Is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me!
  • The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic
  • Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I'm Not the Demon Lord
  • The Foolish Angel Dances with the Devil
  • A Sign of Affection
  • Mr. Villain's Day Off
  • Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!
  • Kui Cheng Shoufu Cong Youxi Kaishi
  • SPY x FAMILY CODE: White
  • HAIKYU!! The Dumpster Battle
  • My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Movie


Movie:

  • Miller's Girl (Jan 26)
  • The Epidemic (Jan 31)
  • Argylle (Feb 2)
  • Madame Web (Feb 14)
  • Dune: Part Two (Mar 1)
  • Kung Fu Panda 4 (Mar 8)
  • The American Society of Magical Negroes (Mar 22)
  • Mickey 17 (Mar 29)

Thursday, January 11, 2024

Mini Reviews: Using a Wok to Reorganize Life and Fly to Immortality, Senior Green Tea Turned Into an Abused Heroine, I Just Want to Be in a Relationship

Title: Using a Wok to Reorganize Life and Fly to Immortality
Author: 盐焗大龙虾
Chapters: 117 chapters 
Publication: 2022
Summary from Novel Updates:

Su Yu, a descendant of a royal chef, entered a novel of the immortal world. She became a second senior sister who took over a mountain full of wounded and disabled from her missing senior brother.

According to the original plot, her third junior brother’s golden core was broken. Her fourth junior brother gets into trouble. Her fifth junior brother was deceived… In short, they are dead, casualties, or injured.

Su Yu: Ah, this… our division seems to be over.

Looking at a group of skinny, weak, or disabled juniors, Su Yu, who wanted to retire: What kind of immortals are cultivating and fighting? Come and help me cook! Peace is a blessing!

However, when she researched the ingredients in this world of cultivating immortals and decided to make a pot of delicious vegetables… the spiritual energy in the wok was great and the fragrance spread, but there was a faint circle of energy, which turned into super-quality spiritual pill that could repair broken meridians lying on the bottom of the wok.

Su Yu: !

The seriously wounded and waiting to die juniors: !

Master Su didn’t believe in failure. When she was preparing to make a lotus leaf roasted rib, oil dripped and the aroma was overflowing. But at the bottom, there was a faint gleam of light accompanied a two-foot-long spirit sword, unparalleled in sword energy and a rare treasure once in a century.

Junior brother who gave up cultivation because of lack of spirit swords: !

Looking at the pots and pans full of spiritual pills and spiritual treasures piled up in her small kitchen, Su Yu frowned.

You may not believe it, but I just want to make a dish.

The heroine who sucked her luck but went all the way to decline: ???

Because his cultivation rose too fast, the number one senior brother of Zhiqiong Peak, Xiao Muge, had to go far to the northern glacier to suppress his terrifying cultivation.

A year later, he finally avoided the Ascension Thunder Tribulation and rushed back to his sect, preparing to regain the luck for his juniors, but he almost didn’t recognize his own peak.

His third junior brother with a broken golden core had leveled up into Yuan Ying. His fourth junior, with extremely poor musical talent, had become a complete success… And his second junior sister, who is sullen, cold, and has never been out of her room, is sitting on the throne of the peak leader with her phoenix eyes narrowed. Her red lips raised when she enjoyed her junior’s respectful thanks. “Second Senior Sister is the master of our peak. She has powerful wisdom and is omnipotent. Senior Brother… Who is Senior Brother?”

Xiao Muge: ?

4.5 STARS - I REALLY  LIKED IT

MY REVIEW: 

This was so funny and delicious! If you're into absurd humor and lots of faceslapping in the beginning as Su Yu starts changing people's opinion of her and don't mind constantly craving food from reading all of the delicious descriptions, then this book is for you!


Title: Senior Green Tea Turned Into an Abused Heroine
Author: You Ying
Chapters: 79 chapters 
Publication: 2020
Summary from Novel Updates:

Lin Xiaocha was a veteran ‘green tea’; she knew her way around playing with love. She could pretend to be cute and innocent, tearing up her opponents, and raised bountiful fish in her green tea fish pond.

She was selected by the system to fulfill the wish of the heroine of an abusive novel, to target the hero and the supporting male characters who were obsessed with the white lotus. And if she were to complete the missions, she would receive generous rewards.

Initially she thought this would be a breeze, her riches were right in her grasp. However, just when the task was about to be accomplished…

She found that she…

Targeted! The! Wrong! Person!

Lin Xiaocha: Don’t panic, I’ll do it again. It’s not a big deal.

Until–

Lin Xiaocha: “Xianjun, why lock up Xiaocha?!”

The cold and pure max-level boss: “Didn’t you say you would stay with me forever, that we would be inseparable in life or death?”

He kissed Lin Xiaocha’s earlobe. “This lord is very sure.”

4 STARS - I REALLY LIKED IT

MY REVIEW: 

I loved how Lin Xiaocha played all the guys around her like a fiddle. She was so good at it and wasn't pretentious about her skills to hook men or why she was such a money grubber. That's why it was great seeing her slow character growth from treating the world as just a book to showing her true nature and caring about people.


Title: I Just Want to Be in a Relationship
Author: 连朔
Chapters: 96 chapters + 6 extras
Publication: 2017
Summary from Novel Updates:

In the last life, Movie Emperor Yu listened to the company and listened to his manager in order not to expose his sexual orientation. Until his death, he never had a relationship.

Yu Qing Huan didn’t want to be a money making machine in his current life. He wanted to travel to the best place, see the best scenery, eat the best food and then find the best man to live a happy life together.

Hou Qu is a genius savant who can easily learn chemical formulas just by glancing at them. One day, he gets lost in the busy streets and Yu Qing Huan helps him.

Little does Yu Qing Huan know that his wish to stay out of the limelight may not ever be granted as he had unknowingly been locked on by a hungry wolf hidden in the shadows because of his single act of kindness…

4 STARS - I REALLY LIKED IT

MY REVIEW: 

I think this was one of the first Cnovels I read that got me interested in the Cnovels. Loved it as much as the first time I read it!

Monday, January 8, 2024

Books I Want to Read This Month

So I didn't actually read any books off of this list last month... Instead, I'll try to do better this month! I'm really interested in reading Solo Leveling since the anime comes out this month!

  1. Solo Leveling vol. 1 by Dubu & Chugong
  2. Solo Leveling vol. 2 by Dubu & Chugong
  3. Solo Leveling vol. 3 by Dubu & Chugong
  4. Solo Leveling vol. 4 by Dubu & Chugong
  5. Solo Leveling vol. 5 by Dubu & Chugong
  6. Solo Leveling vol. 6 by Dubu & Chugong
  7. Wotakoi Love Is Hard for Otaku vol. 1 by Fujita
  8. Wotakoi Love Is Hard for Otaku vol. 2 by Fujita
  9. So You've Been Publicly Shame by Jon Ronson
  10. Scum Villain's Self-Saving System vol. 1 Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
  11. Scum Villain's Self-Saving System vol. 2 Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
  12. Bailin and Li Yun by Jayessart
  13. Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Familia Chronicle Novel vol. 1 by Fujino Omori
  14. I Name Him Me by Ma Yan, translated by Stephen Nashef
  15. Home Body by Rupi Kaur

Thursday, January 4, 2024

December in Retrospect

Didn't read as much as I thought I would last month, but it's probably because Shelle and I were addicted to watching Cdramas lol.

I read: 

  • Don’t Hide From Me! by 今闲
  • Reborn To The Start Of The Apocalypse To Farm by 暖荷 
  • The Omega Can’t Pretend to Be a Beta After Accidentally Witnessing the Major General’s Susceptible Period by 翡唐
  • Non-Human Seeking Re-employment by 梅花六


I watched: 

  • Who Rules the World (2022)
  • Watch A Playthrough of a Certain Dude's VRMMO Life (2023)
  • Blue Beetle (2023)
  • The Saint's Magic Power is Omnipotent Season 2  (2023)