A new month means a new TBR stack! I’m really enjoying these posts. Planning out what to read is, for some reason, an extremely enjoyable endeavor for me. And being able to share that planning is also enjoyable. So let’s get into it.

I only finished four books during November, though I am in the process of reading multiple books.

• What the Hex by Alexis Daria (3 stars)
• River Marked by Patricia Briggs (re-read, 4 stars)
• A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir (5 stars)
• Namesake by Adrienne Young (3 stars)

Of the four I finished, three were on my TBR for the month. What can I say? Mercy-verse books are a guilty pleasure and a great listen when I’m in the car.

Library Run

The books in this section are ones I already have from the library, or plan to grab from the library for the month. This also includes books I have borrowed via Kindle Prime.

I had a bunch of other books I wanted to borrow from both the library and Kindle, but I decided to tame my list down a bit as we’re coming to a close on the year. This way I can try to focus on finishing out some books that have been on my TBR for a while.

• Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer – This is from November’s TBR Stack. So far I’m ambivalent about it. It may end up as a DNF just for lack of enjoyment. But I’m going to give it a few more chapters before I decide.
• Tunnel of Bones by Victoria Schwab – Another book from November’s list.
• Bridge of Souls by Victoria Schwab – And yet another book from November’s stack.
• Rebel’s Blade by Kay Frost – First showed up in October’s list. Now I’m trying to finish it out as a part of the December readathon. (Prompt 10) And just so I can return it and clean up some space in my Prime borrows.

Shop My Shelves

I’m trying to make an effort to go through the 180-ish ebooks and 100-ish physical books (comic volumes and manga included) that I already own. So you’ll see this list start to become more prominent in these posts come 2022.

• Binti by Nnedi Okorafor – I picked up this novella on Kindle ages ago. I’ve been trying to read it for various prompts but never get to it. I feel like I’m finally in the mood for it, so I used it as a part of Creating & Co.’s December Readathon, which I am extending through the month of December. (Prompt 7)
• Betrayals & Broken Promises by Takari Hunter – This book has been on my Kindle shelf since January 2021 and I decided to finally use it for one of my books in the same Creating & Co. readathon. (Prompt 8)
• No Choice by Mel Todd – New to the TBR Stack this month! I’ve had it for a few months on Kindle, but will be reading it as a part of the December readathon. (Prompt 11)
• A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir – While I technically mentioned this as a new purchase in October’s TBR Stack, it is new to my reading list. I’ve been devouring this tetralogy, and I figured I could also use it as a part of the December readathon! (Prompt 5)
• Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs – While technically a re-read, this has never appeared on my TBR stack posts. I will be reading it as a part of the Creating & Co. December readathon. (Prompt 2)
• Unleashed by Sara Humphreys – I purchased the physical book years ago, but never read it due to the relationship I was in. I figured since I own most of the series it was about time to get to it. Because I’m not lying when I say PNR (Paranormal Romance) is my favorite genre. I’m also reading this for the December readathon. (Prompt 6, Trope is “fated mates”)
• One Witch Too Few by Judith Berens – This book first showed up in August’s TBR Stack. At the time, I had chosen it for another reading challenge, but since I never got to it, it is now fulfilling a prompt for the December readathon. (Prompt 4)
• All the Feels by Olivia Dade – I never got to this in November like I wanted, so now I am using it as a prompt for the December reading challenge. I may also re-read Spoiler Alert just because it’s such a cozy read for me! (Prompt 8)
• 3 Months to No. 1 by Will Coombe – This one just keeps hanging on. I really want to try and finish it by the end of the year so I can move along and not have it hanging over my head!
• To Ride a Silver Broomstick by Silver RavenWolf – First appeared on last month’s TBR stack. Another one I really want to try and finish by the end of the year so I can move along to other books I might be a bit more interested in.
• On the Prowl by Various Authors – First showed up in September’s TBR stack. I’ve enjoyed the first two stories (though one was a given because it was a Patricia Briggs novella), and I’m hoping the next two are just as enjoyable.
• Don’t Keep Your Day Job by Cathy Heller – Another one that keeps hanging onto the TBR stack. I’d like to finish it out by the end of the year as well.

New Purchases to the TBR Stack

All of the new books I’ve picked up this past month—primarily on Kindle with some Audible sprinkled in. Some of these are actually books I plan to read for the month, too.

• Moon Touched by Elizabeth Briggs – At first glance I thought this was a new series by Patricia Briggs. The identical last name threw me off. However, I don’t mind trying out new PNR books, what with them being my favorite genre, so I picked it up anyway. I will be reading this as a part of Creating & Co. December reading challenge as well. (Prompt 12)
• The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan – I had an audible credit, and I’d like to give the series a try… so I figured why not pick it up? This is the newer narration, which if I understand correctly is by one of the actors in the current Wheel of Time show.
• Sabriel by Garth Nix – While I have owned the physical copy of this book for quite a while, I couldn’t resist picking up the audio book, narrated by Tim Curry. This was also my first ever audio book listen way back in high school, so it was also partly a nostalgia purchase. I will be reading this as a part of the Creating & Co. December reading challenge. (Prompt 4)
• Her Soul to Take by Harley LaRoux – Kinky horror PNR? Yes please!
• Her Soul for Revenge by Harley LaRoux – Book two of the kinky horror PNR trilogy.
• Murder at Teal’s Pond by David Bushman and Mark Givens – I picked this one up from the Amazon First Reads choices for December. It was the only book that even mildly caught my interest. And only because the murder case was the inspiration for Twin Peaks (which I absolutely adore).
• Find Layla by Meg Elison – This one was an unexpected grab. Amazon emailed me that I had a free credit, but I could only choose from a specific list of books. This one was the only one that sounded even remotely interesting.
• The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood – I picked this book up to read since it looked freaking adorable. It also fulfills a prompt for the December readathon. (Prompt 8)

Last month I wanted to focus on being gentle with myself and try to finish out books I’d already started as a part of my TBR stack. I also wanted to give myself the room to choose comfort reads as I desired.

I read six books in October, only three of which were on my TBR list for the month.

• Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs (re-read, 4 stars)
• Darling by K. Ancrum (4 stars)
• Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur (4 stars)
• Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs (re-read, 4 stars)
• Peter Darling by Austin Chant (3 stars)
• City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab (4 stars)

I liked how I set things up last month, so I’m going to continue with that layout. So without further ado, here’s the books I want to try and tackle this month!

Library Run

These are books I already have or plan to grab from the library and Libby this month. This also includes books I’ve borrowed via Kindle Prime.

• Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik – Originally in August’s TBR stack. Currently about halfway through this one.
• Namesake by Adrienne Young – Another read from August’s list.
• Rebel’s Blade by Frost Kay – From October’s TBR stack. Like I mentioned last month, I’d really like to open up some space in my Kindle Prime borrows!
• What the Hex by Alexis Daria – New to the list this month. I’ve surprisingly been enjoying some modern romance novels, so I thought I’d give this novella in the Audible Plus catalog a try.
• Tunnel of Bones by Victoria Schwab – Another new addition to the list for November. I read the first book in this trilogy as a group read for Creating & Co’s Fifth Annual RIP Readathon in October. This is the second book in the trilogy. It’s a middle grades read, so I expect a quick and fun fluff read like the first one.
• Bridge of Souls by Victoria Schwab – I figured since the library had the second and third book both available I’d pick them up together and binge them one weekend!
• Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer – This is the group read for the Creating & Co Fall Reading Challenge.

Shop My Shelves

I own all of these books either physically or digitally (Kindle or Audible).

• 3 Months to No. 1 by Will Coombe – From August’s TBR stack. As I mentioned last month, this is helpful and important information for me to use both for this blog and my adult business, but it’s dry and has become a blocker to moving onto other books.
• Don’t Keep Your Day Job by Cathy Heller – From August’s list. I really want to get through all the books I have partially done, and this is one of them. I don’t know how helpful it will be to my desire to move out of corporate into content creation full time, but it’s worth the try.
• To Ride a Silver Broomstick by Silver RavenWolf – I’m trying to be more connected with my spirituality, and I figured I’d finish the book I started last year. I know it’s going be a bunch of me writing out notes with lots of comments like, “Gosh, she’s so condescending”, but that’s a great way to start building critical thought, right?
• Dune by Frank Herbert – From August’s list. I’d like to finish before the end of 2021 if I don’t get distracted by other books!
• Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron – From August’s TBR stack. It was first a library choice, but I picked it up for myself since I didn’t want to wait on the list from the library.
• The Great Passage by Shion Miura – From August’s list. It’s not a long read, so I’m hoping to knock it out this month and not carry it into December.
• On the Prowl by Various Authors – This is a collection of four short stories/novellas from September’s TBR stack. I initially picked it up for Patricia Briggs’ Alpha & Omega novella, but would really like to finish the rest of the collection.
• A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir – Originally in October’s TBR stack. I want to finish this one and get onto the fourth one! This tetralogy is so good! I’m loving it.
• Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade – This is a re-read I wanted to tackle in October so that I could read the next book when it released in November.
• A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne Brown – Another re-read I wanted to finish in October so I could get into the sequel when it released November 2.

New Purchases to the TBR Stack

All of the reads I’ve picked up this past month.

• A Psalm of Storms and Silence by Roseanne Brown – I adored the first book, and I am very much looking forward to curling up with this read as well this month.
• Bound in Stone by Stefanie Simpson – Monster pounding smut? Yes, please!
• These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong – I read this the first time when I grabbed it from the library as a group read for one of the Creating & Co reading challenges. I saw the second one was releasing later in November, so I decided to add this to my ebook shelf to re-read for the new release!
• All the Feels by Olivia Dade – The sequel to Spoiler Alert! While it’s technically a stand-alone because it’s new scenario/characters, we were introduced to the characters and situations briefly in the first one. I can’t wait to curl up with this one and binge it!
• Greater than the Sum of our Parts by Richard C Schwartz – I picked this one up on audiobook at the suggestion of my therapist. We’ve started talking about doing some IFS therapy sessions, and she suggested this as both a great background on the subject as well as some guided meditations I can do on my own outside of therapy.
• The Dragon Charmer’s Apprentice by JC Kang – I picked this one up when it showed up in my Twitter feed as a $.99 deal.
• Crown of the Sundered Empire by JC Kang – Another read from my Twitter feed I picked up for 99 cents.
• Masters of Deception by JC Kang – The last of the reads from that Twitter post.
• Read Between the Lines by Rachel Lacey – My Amazon First Read for the month of November.

Reading kind of went by the wayside in September due to lack of work and mental health balances. I also already know that it could possibly be a bit of a tough mental health month—my CPTSD has been giving me a bit of a rough time the past few days, so I want to be gentle with myself.

Being gentle with myself for October means trying to finish some books I’ve already started, and mainly just giving myself freedom to choose any comfort reads (whether re-reads or new reads in favored genres—largely paranormal romance) I want that are not on this list.

I also don’t know that I’m going to create the “rollovers” section like I did last month. I liked the idea at the time, but I kind of like the three categories I had laid out prior. I can note if it’s a rollover book or not when it’s in the list.

Library Run

All the books I already have, or plan to grab, from the library this month in no particular order. This also includes books I’ve borrowed via Kindle Prime.

• Rebel’s Blade by Frost Kay – I borrowed this book from Kindle Prime back on October 19, 2020. I’d really like to finish it and open up a bit of space in my borrows. Especially so I can check out all of the Black Stars collection.
• Air Awakens by Elise Kova – First appeared in August’s TBR Stack. Another Kindle Prime read that I’d like to return (and knock off of a reading challenge!).
• Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik – This one is from August’s TBR Stack. I’m about a third of the way through. I’m really enjoying it, but it’s a hefty read.
• Darling by K. Ancrum – Initially picked it up as a part of August’s TBR Stack, and I’d like to finish it since it’s a quick and short read.
• Peter Darling by Austin Chant – Another quick and short read that showed up first in August’s TBR Stack that I still haven’t started.
• Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur – So far a really cute read that I’d like to finish up! First appeared in September’s TBR Stack.
• Namesake by Adrienne Young – Another one that was first on August’s TBR list. I currently have it out from the library and would like to get to it before it’s due!

Shop My Shelves

Books I own either digitally (Kindle or Audible) or physically that I want to dig into this month.

• 3 Months to No. 1 by Will Coombe – I’m almost done with this, and just want it off my list. While it’s helpful and important information for my adult business, it’s also kind of dry. It feels like a blocker on my enjoyment of books with it looming over me.
• Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron – This first appeared in August’s TBR Stack as a Library choice. I’d renewed it a few times and was interested in it enough to pick it up myself so that I didn’t have to keep getting it from the library to finish it. Sometimes I just take books I’m enjoying slowly. This is one of them.
• Shadow Fall by Erin Kellison – First appeared in August’s TBR Stack. A comfort read for the month that I’ve not actually picked up, yet. And I may just re-read the first one, again, because I love it that much.
• A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir – I’ve been loving these audio books! I especially love that each character that narrates the book also has a specific narrator to read their chapters. And all of the voice acting is extremely well done. So I definitely want to finish these up so I can re-read them.
• The Great Passage by Shion Miura – Another one I’m partially done with that first showed up in August’s TBR Stack.
• Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade – Oh gosh I loved this book so much that I need to re-read it. It’s honestly the book that made me willing to try other romance novels, because it centers around a thirty-something geeky fat girl. (Also, the sequel comes out this month!)
• A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne Brown – Another re-read! I picked this up as a pre-order and pretty much devoured it when it came out. I don’t often pre-order new books, but I figured there was no harm in diversifying my bookshelf. The sequel to this duology comes out at the start of November, so I want to make sure I’m up to snuff for the second one!
• Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews – The first book was not quite a 3-star for me just based on the writing and the way things felt so disjointed in some parts. But I enjoyed it enough that I wanted to try out the second book… so here we are!

New Purchases

Books of all sorts that I’ve picked up in the last month.

• A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir – The final book in the “Ember in the Ashes” tetralogy. I figured I’d at least pick it up so I could jump right into it after I finish A Reaper at the Gates.
• Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse – This was initially a Library choice back in August. I decided to pick it up on Kindle since the first few pages caught my interest that much.
• Mind Over Magic by Lindsay Buroker – I couldn’t say no to a 99 cent paranormal romance that popped up for me on Amazon. I figured I’d give it a try. I’ve spent more money on books that have ended up being a 1-star read, so it’s not like being out 99 cents is the worst that could happen.
• Tahira in Bloom by Farah Heron – Amazon First Reads is letting Prime members choose two books this month. This was one of the titles I chose. It sounded like a cutesy book, so why not?
• Star Mother by Charlie N. Holmberg – My second Amazon First Reads choice for the month of October. Again, another book that sounded intriguing! I also looked at Her Name is Knight, but the CWs made me decide not to pick it up since I’m having a tough time with triggers so far this month. And I think I also have Spellbreaker on my Kindle (though have yet to read it), so I’m hoping this was a good choice for me!

This is only my second time writing a post of this type. So I was unsure how to handle books I wanted to carry over from another month. I think I’m going to refer to it as the “rollover” section. Do you guys push books from month to month in hopes of reading it sooner than later?

Anyway, here’s my rollovers for September.

• Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik – First appeared in August’s TBR Stack.
• Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse – First appeared in August’s TBR Stack.
• Namesake by Adrienne Young – First appeared in August’s TBR Stack.
• Darling by K. Ancrum – First appeared in August’s TBR Stack.
• Peter Darling by Austin Chant – First appeared in August’s TBR Stack.
• 3 Months to No. 1 by Will Coombe – First appeared in August’s TBR Stack.
• Don’t Keep Your Day Job by Cathy Heller – First appeared in August’s TBR Stack.
• Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron – First appeared in August’s TBR Stack.
• Dune by Frank Herbert – First appeared in August’s TBR Stack.
• The Great Passage by Shion Miura – First appeared in August’s TBR Stack.
• One Witch Too Few by Judith Berens – First appeared in August’s TBR Stack.
• Air Awakens by Elise Kova – First appeared in August’s TBR Stack. I also really need to get this off my Kindle since it’s a Prime Reads lend-out and I want to clear out the ten books I already have out.

Library Run

All the books that I plan to grab from the library that are new to this month.

• Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur – A queer romance book. It’s one of the group read choices for the Written in the Stars readathon on Creating & Co.

Shop My Shelves

Books I want to try and read this month that I either have on my Kindle or physical book shelf, and aren’t rolled over from a past month’s list.

• Binti by Nnedi Okorafor – Afrofuturist novella I’ve had on my Kindle for a while. Going to read it as a part of the Written in the Stars readathon.
• Bitter Demons by Sarra Cannon – I got this for free on Kindle, so I’d like to finish up this one since I read the other two. Reading as a part of the Written in the Stars readathon.
• On the Prowl by Various Authors – I picked this one up to read Alpha & Omega (I’m kind of obsessed with the Mercyverse), but haven’t read any of the other short stories. Reading as a part of the Written in the Stars readathon.

New Purchases

Things I bought this past month! Whether I get to them or not is another question.

• Night of the Wild Stags by Golden Angel – A reverse harem romance novel I decided to pick up for the Written in the Stars readathon.
• Shattered Grace by Josie R. Landry – Queer smut and a detective story? Heck yeah! I found out about this one from a smut author I follow on Twitter, so I had to pick it up on Kindle to try out.
• Struggling with the Current by A.R.K. Horton – I think this was one of those 99 cent specials on Kindle or some such, and I figured why not try it out.
• Hook: Dead to Rights by Melissa Snark – A book I got for free on Kindle that also happens to be a Peter Pan retelling where Hook is a woman.
• The Bennet Women by Eden Appiah-Kubi – Part of the Kindle First program for August. Decided to go for this one based on the diversity.
• A Conspiracy of Mothers by Colleen Van Niekerk – Part of the Kindle First program. This was the only one of September’s books that actually sounded interesting.

I’ve never done a post like this before, and I think it’d be fun to go over what’s currently in my reading stack for the month. I know I’m most likely not going to get to every single book on the list.

I’m not sure how it’ll look in future posts, but I really wanted to talk a smidge about all the books I’m looking forward to trying this month.

Reading is something that’s become enjoyable to me again in the past year or so, and because I’m feeling passionate about it, I figured why not share?

Library Run

These are the books I plan on grabbing from the library this month.

• Dear Martin by Nic Stone – This one is for the Diversify Your Reading Challenge for the “Contemporary Fiction” prompt I didn’t get to last month.
• Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik – This fills in a prompt (Standalone) for the Creating & Co. Summer Reading Challenge.
• Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse – “Multiple POVs” prompt for the Creating & Co. Summer Reading Challenge. I’m also just trying to read more diverse authors within genres I like, and Native voices is one that is lacking.
• Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron – Another one for the Creating & Co. Summer Reading Challenge—this time the prompt is “Published in May/June/July”. Cinderella is Dead was published July 7, 2020 and has been on my overall TBR for a while, so I figured why not.
• The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson – I’ve been wanting to read more horror since re-discovering it, and the Diversify Your Reading Challenge had a prompt for reading a “Thriller” for August. I have this on hold as an audio book.
• Darling by K. Ancrum – A queer retelling of Peter Pan for the unofficial Second Star Challenge (Peter Pan Retellings Challenge).
• Peter Darling by Austin Chant – Another queer retelling of Peter Pan for the Second Star Challenge by a queer trans writer.
• Namesake by Adrienne Young – I read the first one (Fable) for another reading challenge and enjoyed it enough that I wanted to finish up the duology. Not related to any challenge prompts.
• Scarlet by Marissa Meyer – I listened to the first one (Cinder) on audio book and enjoyed it enough that I figured I’d work my way through the Lunar Chronicles on audio book until they don’t hold my interest anymore.

Shop My Shelves

I may not have as many physical books as I once did, but I have a pretty extensive Kindle library, and I’d like to whittle it down.

• 3 Months to No. 1 by Will Coombe – Suggested to me by a model help guru/adult content creator to help build SEO on my website.
• Don’t Keep Your Day Job by Cathy Heller – I picked this one up on a whim last year to start, and then I didn’t feel in a good place to continue with it. So I’m picking it back up this year.
• Dune by Frank Herbert – I grew up watching the movie and sci-fi tv-movies a bunch with my Dad, but I never read the book in full. I wanted to do that this year since the fandom calls to me. It also fits April’s “Classics” prompt in the Diversify Your Reading Challenge.
• The Great Passage by Shion Miura – Another for the Diversify Your Reading Challenge—”Translated Text” bonus prompt. I’m bad at reading books in the month the challenges are sometimes, so I have a lot of books from past prompts on my TBR.
• One Witch Too Few by Judith Berens – This was the first book I ever put on my Goodreads TBR (thus fulfilling a prompt for yet another reading challenge), and I’d like to finally get it off my TBR!
• Air Awakens by Elise Kova – Speaking of a book from a past prompt… Air Awakens fulfills the “Related to Weather” prompt in the Creating & Co. Spring Reading Challenge.
• 90 Days and Paid by Amberly Rothfield – Amberly is a sex worker and model help guru that just wants to see other sex workers succeed. So I had to pick this one up when she released it! Of course I’m not getting to it until now, though.
• Daughter of the Deep by Lina C. Amarego – Yet another book from a past prompt/challenge that I do still want to read.
• Shipped by Angie Hockman – Not my typical read, but it’s a group read for the Creating & Co. Summer Reading Challenge so I’m going to give it a try.
• Shadow Fall by Erin Kellison – I have had this book on my shelf since like, 2010. But my ex didn’t like me reading romance… so I’m reading it now. It’s also a prompt for one of the challenges, though which escapes me.
• King of Fools by Amanda Foody – I loved the first one, so I had to pick up the other two. Now I just have to read them!
• The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by Anne Rice – So… I have mixed feelings about this one. If you know me, you know I’m a sex-positive person. But this book… I have thoughts for the bit I’ve read of it. I picked it as a part of the Diversify bonus challenge to read a “Banned Book”. But I want to finish it and see if I can put together a book review on what I thought on my other blog.

New Purchases

I’m trying not to purchase as many books, especially since I do have so many unread books on my shelves (both digital and otherwise), but sometimes the library just doesn’t have things available.

• Lost Boi by Sassafras Lowrey – A queer retelling of Peter Pan for the unofficial Second Star Challenge. (Do you sense a theme, here?)
• Blood in the Water by M.A. Kersh – A Captain Hook backstory retelling for the unofficial Second Star Challenge. The series is called “Scary Faerie Tales”, so I figured why not give it a try?

So, what are y’all reading this month?

This is post 3/31 for Blaugust You can find out more and sign up over at Belghast’s post!

It seems I write a post like this every few years after I dive headlong into FFXIV… again. This time, I’ve changed my main (different server, though my Cactuar character is still alive and well), and she doesn’t have much leveled up. So I figured creating this list to give me a loose plan on what I’d like to do would be helpful. Again.

Much like the last time I wrote a post like this, I’m maining White Mage for the instant queues and fast leveling experience so that I can get up to learning Dancer. I’m still thinking I can do quests as a Dancer but dungeon queues as a White Mage. Though we’ll see if I’m okay with the DPS queues once I get there.

Last time I wrote this, it was a six-month plan. This time, I’m writing it in phases, with no definition of timing. When I get through one phase, I move on to the next. So, without further ado, let’s look at phase one.

• White Mage to level 60
• Pick up Dancer
• Disciples of the Land to level 60 (or until I feel the urge to start leveling again)

Phase Two

By this point, I’ll have picked up the class I really want to try playing (Dancer just really hits home for me!), but I know I’ll probably need a break with MSQ and dungeon grinds. Hence the gathering at end of Phase One. I’m hoping that palate cleanse will enable me to enjoy the following.

• Dancer/White Mage to level 70
• Disciples of the Land to level 70
• Disciples of the Hand to level 30 (or until I feel the urge to start leveling again)

Phase Three

Phase two gave me another break from the MSQ grind. Plus, I really do enjoy gathering and crafting in games—they almost always end up as some of my favorite end-game content to complete. But phase three is the final push to November! The main push is to get Dancer and White Mage to level 80, assuming I’m still enjoying them. Who knows, I may have picked up a different class by then for Endwalker.

• Dancer/White mage to level 80
• Disciples of the Land to level 80
• Disciples of the Hand to level 80
• Other classes… as another goals list!

I pared down my August goals to try and be more focused in tackling them, so let’s see what I accomplished!

• WHM to 50 (FFXIV)
• Complete updated base game MSQ (FFXIV)

I’m less than 50% away from dinging 50 on WHM, though I haven’t had the time or energy to do a lot of gaming as of late. Some of that is changes at work, and some of that is just trying to work my way through depressive episodes. I just don’t have a lot of desire to game during the work-week due to how my days have been going so far, but I’m going to try to carve out a bit more time for myself on the weekends to sit and play, some. I am hoping to finish these in September!

• Complete three more books for the month (total: 7) (Reading) Check!

I accomplished this! I think I’m more surprised that I finished this than I thought I would be when I set the goal. I’m not sure if seven books is a goal I can keep up with, but I definitely want to try to read a book a week going forward. We’ll see if it’s attainable as I continue.

• Complete Season 5 of Stargate Atlantis (TV)
• Start Season 1 of Stargate Universe (TV)

I had honestly intended to watch these this month, but then I got caught up in Outlander and reading. So they’ll probably roll over to this coming month, as I really don’t want to bring these with me into 2021 like so many other series I never finished despite wanting to.

September Goals

Pared down worked for me last month, but I don’t know if I want to keep them that way going forward, or beef them up a little bit. So for now I’ll keep them pared down and see how I progress. I did consider picking up a game for the Community Game-Along this month, but I’m not sure that the theme appeals to me. I will be participating in October’s theme, however!!

• WHM to 55 (FFXIV)
• Complete updated base game MSQ (FFXIV)
• Start Heavensward (FFXIV)
• Complete four books for the month (Reading)
• Complete Season 5 of Stargate Atlantis (TV)
• Complete Seasons 1 and 2 of Stargate Universe (TV)

I set some goals for July, but I honestly didn’t glance at them much during the month, so I’m not sure if I completed many. Let’s find out together!

• WHM to 45 (FFXIV) Check!
• Complete MSQ through level 45 (FFXIV) Check?

I definitely hit my goal of getting to 45! And I think I was in story quests that were level 45? I know that with the big patch earlier this week everything has changed with MSQ for base game, so I’ve yet to dip back in to check where I was.

• Complete How I Made $10K as a PSO (Reading/Business) Check!
• Complete Don’t Keep Your Day Job (Reading/Business)
• Get halfway through A Song of Wraiths and Ruin (Reading)
• Complete Sunstone Vol. 2 (Comics)

I had a lot of reading goals for July that I seem to mostly have accomplished in August. I completed the first goal in July, but I didn’t complete Sunstone Volume 2 and A Song of Wraiths and Ruin until earlier this month. In fact, I’ve already read four books this month, which is the most I’ve read this year so far. I’m still working my way through Don’t Keep Your Day Job, but I think it’s going to be a slower read as I thoughtfully work through the prompts in each chapter.

• Complete Warrior Nun (TV) Check! 
• Complete Season 7 of Star Wars: Clone Wars (TV)
• Complete Season 5 of Stargate Atlantis (TV)
• Start Season 1 of Stargate Universe (TV)

Unfortunately, I haven’t completed any of these except zooming through Warrior Nun. Not for lack of wanting to. More for lack of losing access to Stargate (it left Prime before I finished it) and Clone Wars (when we built my new rig, I lost access to Disney+ because I’m using Manthing’s login). I very much want to finish both, but I just got access to Manthing’s Hulu (which has Stargate), and I need access to Disney+ again.

Overall, not too shabby on goals, so let’s see what I can accomplish for the remaining 16 days of the month!

August Goals

These are a bit pared down compared to what I would normally choose as goals, mainly because I only have 16 days left in the month. Let’s do this!

• WHM to 50 (FFXIV)
• Complete updated base game MSQ (FFXIV)
• Complete three more books for the month (total: 7) (Reading)
• Complete Season 5 of Stargate Atlantis (TV)
• Start Season 1 of Stargate Universe (TV)

I set up some May goals that seemed like I would manage most of them. I didn’t manage many, however, due to changes in the world and my own changes in game interests.

• Inventory Management (ESO) Check!
• Pick up the last items I need for learning crafting traits (ESO)
• Do a few quests in Grahtwood (ESO)

I worked through my inventory management and tackled that, but I also realized that ESO really isn’t what I’m enjoying right now, as much as I may want to. So I’ll likely be putting ESO goals on the back burner for now, even if I do happen to log in and play some this month.

• Finish Phoenix Wright: Justice for All (Visual Novel)
• Play Muse Dash (Community Game-Along) Check!

I played quite a bit of Muse Dash, and have enjoyed myself greatly. However, I never did write about my thoughts on the game for the Community Game-Along. I’m not currently playing Muse Dash, but I do still have it installed because I will never say no to a game that works out well for depression days, or nights when I just need to unwind with mindless entertainment. I don’t think I’m going to participate in the Community Game-Along this month, as it’s JRPGJuly, and I don’t have the mental bandwidth to pick up an RPG right now (unless FFXIV counts!).

As for Phoenix Wright? Well, I saw that all of the games are available as a bundle on Steam, and well. I unfortunately missed the sale for the bundle. However, since I now know they’re on Steam, I’d rather play them there for ease-of-play, if I’m being honest. So I’m holding out for another sale on the series. For now, however, it’s coming off of my goals list.

• Complete Vol. 2 and Vol. 3 of Sunstone (Comics)
• Complete The Lesser Kindred (Reading) Check!
• Start Redeeming the Lost (Reading) Check!
• Complete one of the two books I am reading for my business (Reading)

I have yet to pick up anymore Sunstone, but I flew through both The Lesser Kindred and Redeeming the Lost. Business books got nowhere, but I think that’s partly because I didn’t call out which one I wanted to focus on, and partly due to the world environment making things feel pointless.

• Complete Season 5 of Star Wars: Clone Wars Check!
• Complete Season 10 of Stargate SG-1 Check!
• Complete Season 3 of Stargate Atlantis Check!

I finished both season 5 and 6 of Star Wars: Clone Wars, but I’ve yet to start season 7, which I addressed briefly in my last post. I also completed season 10 of Stargate SG-1, the two Stargate movies, as well as seasons 3 and 4 of Stargate Atlantis. I am looking forward to finishing Atlantis out, but I also don’t want it to end. Overall, I didn’t do too badly on my goals over the two months I worked on them.

July Goals

• WHM to 45 (FFXIV)
• Complete MSQ through level 45 (FFXIV)
• Complete How I Made $10K as a PSO (Reading/Business)
• Complete Don’t Keep Your Day Job (Reading/Business)
• Get halfway through A Song of Wraiths and Ruin (Reading)
• Complete Sunstone Vol. 2 (Comics)
• Complete Warrior Nun (TV)
• Complete Season 7 of Star Wars: Clone Wars (TV)
• Complete Season 5 of Stargate Atlantis (TV)
• Start Season 1 of Stargate Universe (TV)

At the end of last year, Krikket of Nerd Girl Thoughts put together a list of ten games she wanted to tackle in 2020. I stumbled my way onto this post when she updated how she’s been doing with her endeavor in a blog post during Blapril, and I liked the idea, so I thought I’d try to come up with a shorter list of my own five to six games I’d love to knock off of my to-be-played list (or rather, technically, my massive Steam library) before the end of this year.

This might be a bit difficult, however, because I can be quite an achievement hoarder if I’m enjoying a game. I also play a lot of games with multiple endings/paths (*cough*otome*cough*), so I spend a lot of time going down those rabbit holes, as well. So this could go one of two ways: smoothly and carefree, or never actually finishing anything. I am shamelessly yoinking Krikket’s idea of both checking the average time to beat (I’m using a scale of “completion to full achievements”), and noting how much she spent on the game and when she obtained it.

I’m going to try to be flexible with myself, and see how I’m feeling once I come to what folks would call the “end” of the games, and evaluate if I’d like to explore more of it, or if I can put it down and call it a day. So then, what games do I choose to check off this year…

My Games to Tackle in 2020

I hope your feed reader can handle tables, because it was the easiest way for me to organize everything and get the images to work correctly (all my HTML-for-fun in middle and high school has paid off in life). If not, you may need to click through to the post itself.

	Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice for All Time to beat: 18-21 hours // Purchased late 2007 for $24.99 Okay, this might be a tad “cheaty” since I’m already working my way through it, but I’ve had the dang thing since it came out on the DS in America and I’d really like to tackle it. As I mentioned in another post, I’m using a guide to work my way through it, and I don’t think I’ll be doing anything completionist with it, mainly because the DS version doesn’t have any achievements to go with it.
	Sweet Fuse: At Your Side Time to beat: 9-25 hours // Purchased September 2016 for $9.99 This one might also be a bit “cheaty” since I’ve already played some of the routes. I’m on my way to completionist this one (as I do with most otome), and I’d like to finally finish it.
	Life is Strange (Episodes 2-5) Time to beat: 14-18 hours // Purchased Ep.1 December 2015 for $2.49, Gifted Ep. 2-5 in 2018 This is yet another game that I’m only partially through. I played episode 1 on Twitch in 2018, but never played any more after that (mainly due to jerks in chat trying to spoil). I’d very much like to finish it, and I’ve been thinking of putting the playthroughs on YouTube. I’m not sure yet whether I will just finish the story or completionist it.
	The Longest Journey Time to beat: 17-21 hours // Purchased January 2016 for approx $4.99 I love Funcom games. They’re just so good with narrative, regardless of what they’re doing. So I’d very much like to start the Dreamfall Trilogy, finally! I contemplated adding the other two games (Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, and Dreamfall Chapters) to my list, but I don’t think I will quite yet. Maybe I’ll make them stretch goals, or prioritize the games to play with The Longest Journey last for the year so I can jump into the other two after this one is finished.
	OZMAFIA!! Time to beat: 22-40 hours // Purchased April 2016 for $29.74 I was adamant that I needed this game when it came out on Steam, so I picked it up… and then never played it. I do know why I never did (ex), but I’m going to rectify that now, and finally tackle it this year! It’s an otome, so I’ll completionist it. I have to—there’s CGs to collect, achievements to earn, and stories to unlock!
	Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Time to beat: 29-46 hours // Purchased February 2015 in the Star Wars Humble Bundle ($12.00) Gosh, I picked this bundle up five years ago, and while I don’t know that I’ll ever play all of the games it included, I have been told time and again that this (and KotOR 2) are worth my time. I’ve been in a Star Wars kick as of late, working my way through the movie/tv chronology, so I figured why not finally give this a whirl. Will I completionist it? Not entirely sure, yet. I’ll need to see what I think of the game, first.

Stretch Goals

Assuming I work my way through all of these since they fall within the 18-40 hour range, I’d like to complete the following games.

	Dreamfall: The Longest Journey Time to beat: 12-14 hours // Purchased June 2018 for approx $7.29 Like I mentioned on Longest Journey, I’d very much like to complete the trilogy. Therefore I’m listing it out as a stretch goal!
	Dreamfall Chapters: The Final Cut Edition Time to beat: 21-37 hours // Purchased June 2018 for approx $7.29 Again, I’d very much like to finish the trilogy once I’ve started it!
	Amnesia: Memories Time to beat: 7-34 hours // Purchased December 2015 for approx $5.95 This is another otome I’ve been sitting on for a very long time, and I’d very much like to finally work my way through it. Plus I hear it’s kind of creepy, too, which I enjoy! I will do a completionist run, of course.

This is post 31/31 for Blapril. You can find out more and sign up at Belghast’s original post. You can view those participating on Twitter via the Twitter list I put together. Nogamara of Battlestance has put together an RSS feed of all Blapril participants.