28. End of Year Scaries Already?

The Case of the Gibbering Goalsetter

Hello, friend! Hope you’ve had a great week! It’s been a stormy one weather wise in our part of the matrix. Hope everyone’s keeping dry, cool, warm, cosy, safe, ventilated and calibrated wherever you are in the world.

This week I reached my Goodreads goal of reading 100 books for the year! Woot woot! I like to set myself a random reading goal each year, that’s both reachable but requires prioritising reading time. This number may seem pretty huge to some, and a walk in the park for others - you do you, readers. If you’ve picked up even ONE book this year, I’m proud of you.

I celebrated by getting an iced coffee as big as my head, which is what all the literary scholars say is the appropriate reward. Thanks, Stephen King.

She crazy. She reading.

Fishbird Catch of the Week

We post twice a week on Fishbird Central. This week’s catch included:

• Island Hopping: 3 Island Mystery Books!

  • In this post we review 3 books set on remote locations, where mist-covered beaches and craggy islands become the backdrop for secrets, danger, and a touch of magic! Whether you’re craving the suspense of a whodunit or the allure of high-seas fantasy, these books have it all! ‘The Fog’ by Brooke Hardwick, ‘Tress of the Emerald Sea’ by Brandon Sanderson’ and ‘The Decagon House Murders’ by Yukito Ayatsuji.

Check out the latest post here - Island Hopping: 3 Island Mystery Books!

• Goodreads Choice Mystery Awards 2024!

  • The Goodreads Choice Mystery Awards 2024 nominee list has been released! In this post we'll check out the 20 nominated mystery and thriller titles that have captured readers in 2024! From pulse-pounding whodunits to dark psychological twists, this year’s lineup is full of fan-favourites to add to your reading list! Some great Christmas gift ideas on this list for the mystery/thriller reader in your life!

Check out the latest post here - Goodreads Choice Mystery Awards 2024!

I’m an Individual, You Can’t Plan Me!

So … anyone already got the end of year scaries?

You may be familiar with the ‘Sunday Scaries’ - that feelings of anxiety or dread that can sometimes sneak up on you as the weekend ends and the workweek begins. What if you’re not prepared for EVERYTHING they could possibly ask of you?! Who even ARE they?! What if you go into work and everyone’s suddenly wearing SHORTS, but you didn’t get the shorts memo and you’re there wearing long slacks like some sort of pantalooned fool?!

Well I’ve started pre-scaring myself with both all the things I want to get done by the end of the year, and all the things I’d love to accomplish in 2025. Yay! 😀

If you’re a lover of stationery - and I mean, who isn’t - you’ll know the only thing that could possibly help at this time, is obsessively researching planners and diaries and then getting overwhelmed by the choice. Which isn’t quite as helpful as it may immediately sound.

I’ve looked at a million planners and diaries (not an exaggeration) and have yet to find one that ticks all my boxes (ok, slight exaggeration). I’ve been down the bullet journal path before - and while I loved that, it can be time consuming finding and printing out all those pictures of Mandy Patinkin to stick in the margins, and my highlighter budget goes through the roof!

What’s your favourite way to plan your to-dos? Or do you let the to-dos do their own doing and hope for the best? If you have a favourite planner, help a Jenny out and pop a link in the comments.

Quick Fire Wrap Up

Currently Reading: ‘Outback’ by Patricia Wolf. When two young German backpackers, Berndt and Rita, vanish from the area, DS Lucas Walker finds himself unofficially on the case. But why all the interest from the Federal Police when they have probably just ditched the heat and dust of the outback for the coast? Working in the organised crime unit has opened Walker's eyes to the growing drug trade in Australia's remote interior - and he becomes convinced there is more at play.

Currently Watching: ‘The Penguin’ staring Colin Farrell - eight episodes on Binge, detailing the transformation of Oz Cobb from a disfigured nobody to a noted Gotham gangster. It’s pretty good so far! I’m sure it would help if I knew more about the Batmanverse but I’m keeping up and enjoying it.

Currently Wondering: Why I assign my mugs different priority levels. For example, my fave Emma Bridgewater mugs are for morning coffee, but the dishwasher didn’t magically run overnight - which is cool, but now I have to wake up drinking out of an Exorcist mug and it’s thrown off my whole schedule. I’m easy-going like that.

Wishes for the Week

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead, friend!

If you’re a planner, I hope your planning goes to plan. If you’re a pantser, and like to live life on the edge of your seat, then I hope there’s a comfortable armchair in your future.

We’ve got this. You’ve got this. Someone’s got this, I’m sure. Let’s just agree that someone should have put the dishwasher on before they went to bed, and leave the new year to sort itself out in good time.

Stay cool, punks.

“Stationery? I barely even know her!” - Lewis Carroll (probably)