011: Started Reading New Books And A Realization

Good morning! Though in my case, it's a rather late, and also a rainy morning here in Baguio, 🇵🇭. It's nearly 7:30 AM as I'm writing here, just so you know. I'm pretty sure it was also raining in some other parts of the country because of the storm that, according to the internet, it already exited PAR (Philippine Area of Responsibility) since yesterday. But it would still bring rain to other areas for affecting the habagat (southwest monsoon).

I wasn't planning to make this blog entry a weather update or something. But I can't help it. The fogs and the rain was what greeted me when I woke up at 5:40 in the morning earlier and look out of the window. And since it was also cold, I also ended up sleeping a little more. Yes, as you guessed it, I slept late once again. Past 12 midnight while watching Youtube reaction videos and some reading challenge vlogs (again).

I didn't get to finish reading a book yesterday, just to put it out there. But I did start reading two books (one was a novella) and continued reading a light novel. I was able to read a total of 92 pages ㅡ that's 48% more than my page count quota yesterday. Amazing, right? And I love that there were days in which I could exceed my daily goal just doing something that calms my mind. At least, I'm now approaching reading in a different way than before.

I remember thinking reading as a chore before or as a way to join with the array of booktubers or avid readers. Honestly speaking, it would only make me feel bad about myself for not reading the same way they do. For not reading 50 books or even a hundred books or more in a year. Maybe those same feelings was what made me have a long reading slump all this time I wasn't keen to even pick up/choose a book/e-book to read.

But those same booktubers doing reading challenges and watching them do it this time made me feel different. I don't know what made me change my mind about it. Or was it because I have a long break from reading that I was able to see reading differently from before? I don't know. At the moment, it doesn't matter. I wasn't trying to catch up on anything this time. I was approaching it in a chill manner, just like when I was younger. And I love that.

Now back to the topic.

One of the books I started reading (for a reason) even though I have many other ongoing books to read was the first book of a series called "Red Rock Mysteries" titled "Haunted Waters". I decided to start reading this book because I have two physical copies of this series (Books 2 & 14) and I want to read a physical book for once since starting to read again. And yes, I actually minded the thickness of the book for this. The series is the one that currently fits that criteria. The series is about the twins Ashley and Bryce who (based from the 6 pages I read) was about to start a new life in Colorado with their mother, stepfather and siblings. At least, that was how Ashley narrated it. I can't tell much about the story as I've only read 6 pages yesterday. But I'd like to think of this as the modern version of Hardy Boys, but with a boy and a girl combination (still siblings). We'll see what happens in the next chapters and maybe I could tell more (no spoilers, don't worry) about the story.

As for the second book I started reading, it was the 4th book in the multi-authored series "Improbable Meet Cute". This time, it was written by Jasmine Guillory titled "Drop, Cover, and Hold On". Yes, the earthquake made a way for the leads Harris and Daisy to be close and ㅡ hopefully ㅡ clear up the big misunderstanding, as I've understood it from the first 20 pages I've read last night. That's half of the total page of the novella, you know. So it won't be a surprise if I finish reading this today.

And yes, I continued reading a total of 64 pages of "By The Grace of Gods". That's a total of 5 episodes (as stated in the light novel since the entire 1st volume is just Chapter 1). Yes, I decided to reach my page count quota by reading this. It was a comforting read, to be honest. Maybe that's why I chose to achieve my daily goal of 62 pages yesterday by reading this. I've already read the part that covered the 3rd episode of the anime version and maybe half of the 4th episode. I still have a lot to read for me to consider this as one of the books I finished reading. But I don't mind reading what I consider a comfort book.

Now it's time for my page count quota for today. I mean, just that much? Yes, I can definitely finish that novella today if I chose to read that instead so I can reach my quota. Go me! 😊💕✌️