The Monthly Recap: September 2021

Posted October 5, 2021 by Rowena in Features | 2 Comments

The Monthly Recap posts are a way for me to take a look back and reflect on my previous month in books, movies, and Korean dramas. From what I read, what I watched, what I got, and the books, shows, and movies that I need to get to. I always lose track of what I have, what I need to read, what I want to watch and I need these posts to keep me honest with my damn self because I be forgetting shit.

I came home from a trip to Colorado for my nephew’s birthday on September 1st. I was wrapping up my time with my family and though it was a pretty crazy week away from work, I still had a really good time seeing and catching up with the family.

Monthly Stats

Dramas Watched: 12 | Dramas Completed: 4
Dramas DNF’d: 1 | K-Drama Boyfriend of the Month: Hong Du Sik
Favorite Drama: Squid Games | Least Favorite Drama: Uncontrollaby Fond

Ongoing Dramas I Watched

Police University
The Great Shaman Ga Doo Shim
Hometown Cha Cha
Lovers of the Red Sky
Lost
Yumi’s Cells
Dali and the Cocky Prince

September was the month that I started watching a lot of new K-dramas. I’ve never watched so many k-dramas at one time. I thought I’d be a lot more confused but I’m not having any trouble at all keeping stories and characters straight from each drama so needless to say, I’m enjoying each drama that I’m watching. My favorite of the bunch is probably Lovers of the Red Sky, followed closely by Hometown Cha Cha, but Yumi’s Cells ain’t no slouch either. There’s a lot of good stuff here and I’m sad that some of them will be ending in the next couple of weeks.

Dramas I Completed

Uncontrollably Fond | 2.75 out of 5
D.P. | 4.25 out of 5
Tomorrow with You | 3 out of 5
Squid Games | 4.25 out of 5

Of the dramas that I did finish, my favorite leans just a smidge toward Squid Games since I watched that so quickly because I couldn’t stop. It’s not #1 in every single country that streams Netflix for nothing. That show was good and though there were things that I rolled my eyes at, I still really enjoyed it. Same with D.P. I ended up liking that show a lot more than I thought I would. The stories, the characters, all of them made my heart hurt and I always love seeing Jung Hae In acting in anything. I love that guy!

Dramas I DNF’d

Search

I thought that I was in the mood for something suspenseful so I loaded this bad boy right up but about two episodes in, I turned it off. I’m not sure what my issue was but as it turns out, I wasn’t in the mood to slog through something as deep and dark as this show turned out to be so for now, I’m DNF-ing it.

What Movies I Watched

Twenty | 5 out of 5

I saw that Kim Woobin and Kang Haneul was in this one so I had to watch it. I’m SO glad that I did because I laughed my ass off from beginning to end. I’m not sure which friend ended up being my favorite of the trio because I loved them all. This movie is my Midnight Runners from last year. Five stars all the way, it was such an enjoyable movie.

What I Posted

The Weekly Recap (172)
The Wednesday Five: K-Drama Girl Crushes
Eye Candy Friday: Kim Namjoon
The Weekly Recap (173)
The Wednesday Five: My Favorite Second Leads
Eye Candy Friday: Lee Gil Yong
The Weekly Recap (174)

What I Reviewed

My Roommate is a Gumiho | 4.25 out of 5
Racket Boys | 5 out of 5
D.P. | 4.25 out of 5
Uncontrollably Fond | 2.75 out of 5

How was your month, in all the things? Did you read or watch anything good (or bad)? Share in the comments, I’d love to catch up!

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Tags: Month in Dramas, Month in Movies, The Monthly Recap

The Monthly Recap: June 2021

Posted July 6, 2021 by Rowena in Features | 4 Comments

The Monthly Recap posts are a way for me to take a look back and reflect on my previous month in books, movies, and Korean dramas. From what I read, what I watched, what I got, and the books, shows, and movies that I need to get to. I always lose track of what I have, what I need to read, what I want to watch and I need these posts to keep me honest with my damn self because I be forgetting shit.

June was a busy month, as seems to be the norm for me these days. Brenna quit her job, interviewed to work with me at my job, and got the job so I’ve been training her since her first day. We made a long weekend trip to L.A. to see my Dad and hang out with my siblings for Father’s Day and Bren’s been here in Las Vegas with me for the last three weeks. My niece graduated from high school as well but I wasn’t able to make it out for her graduation and that bummed me out a little bit but I was able to see her and hang with her while I was in L.A. so that made me feel a little better.

I also found out that my sister is selling her house and downsizing since all of her kids have moved out so when I went out to L.A. I got to see all of the upgrades she’s done to her house and the house looks great. It’s going to be weird going to L.A. and not going to my sister’s house since that was the house that everyone congregated to. I’m sure we’ll all fill up the new place once she moves so the future is changing. Still, I’m happy for her.

I did manage to consume loads of things though so here’s a look at the month that was June, for me.

Monthly Stats

Books

Books Read: 7 | Books DNF’d: 0
Books Purchased: 0 | Books Received for Review: 2 | Reviews Posted: 2
Highest Grade: Devil in Disguise by Lisa Kleypas | Lowest Grade: To Sir, with Love by Lauren Layne

Dramas

Dramas Watched: 2 | Dramas DNF’d: 1
Dramas Reviewed: 0 | Boyfriend of the Month: Han Joon Hwi
Favorite Drama: Law School | Least Favorite Drama: –

Movies

Movies Watched: 8 | Movies DNF’d: 0
Movies Reviewed: 0 | Boyfriend of the Month: –
Favorite Movie: The Curse of La Llorona | Least Favorite Movie: Annabelle

What I Read

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Volume 12 (Print) | 4.75 out of 5
To Sir, with Love by Lauren Layne (e-ARC) | 3.5 out of 5
Devil in Disguise (The Ravenels #7) by Lisa Kleypas (e-ARC) | 4.75 out of 5
Lord of Scoundrels (Scoundrels #3) by Loretta Chase (e-Book) | 4 out of 5
Worth Any Price (Bow Street Runners #3) by Lisa Kleypas (e-Book) | 4.25 out of 5
The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary (e-ARC) | 4.25 out of 5
So We Meet Again by Suzanne Park (e-ARC) | 4 out of 5

My favorite read of the month goes to Devil in Disguise by Lisa Kleypas. It was pretty much everything that I hoped it would be and I really enjoyed diving back into the The Ravenels series. It was also good to see some familiar faces from The Wallflowers series. Lots of fun. My least favorite read of the month goes to To Sir, with Love by Lauren Layne. Not because I didn’t enjoy it, I just didn’t enjoy it as much as the other books that I read.

What Movies I Watched

Last month, I watched The Conjuring series with my best friend, Theresa. We made a weekend of it and though she didn’t finish (or did you, Tita?), I did. My favorite movie of the bunch would have to be The Curse of La Llorona. Sure, the characters drove me crazy but I liked the story behind everything and the characters in this movie didn’t drive me nearly as crazy as the characters in the other movies. My least favorite of the bunch goes straight to Annabelle. The movie was just okay. Sure, I jumped from time to time but for the most part, I just wasn’t that interested in what was going on. Meh.

What Dramas I Watched

Law School (2021) | 4 out of 5
Doom at Your Service (2021) | 3.5 out of 5
Nevertheless (2021) | DNF

I didn’t finish a bunch of dramas last month and that was mostly because I’m watching a bunch of shows as they’re airing instead of watching shows that have already finished. Of the shows that I finished, my favorite was Law School and my least favorite goes to the show that I didn’t even finish the second episode for, Nevertheless. I wasn’t in the mood for that so I think I’m going to skip it for now.

What I Posted

The Weekly Recap (168)
The Monthly Recap: May 2021
My TBR Pile: June 2021
Eye Candy Friday: Kim Do Ki
The Weekly Recap (169)

What I Reviewed

The BTS Listen: RM
The BTS Listen: Agust D

Wicked Fox (Gumiho #1) by Kat Cho | 4 out of 5
The Intimacy Experiment (The Roommate #2) by Rosie Danan | 4.25 out of 5

How was your month in all the things? Did you read or watch anything good (or bad)? Share in the comments, I’d love to catch up!

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Tags: Month in Books, Month in Movies, Month in TV Shows, The Monthly Recap

The Monthly Recap: May 2021

Posted June 8, 2021 by Rowena in Features | 12 Comments

The Monthly Recap posts are a way for me to take a look back and reflect on my previous month in books, movies, and Korean dramas. From what I read, what I watched, what I got, and the books, shows, and movies that I need to get to. I always lose track of what I have, what I need to read, what I want to watch and I need these posts to keep me honest with my damn self because I be forgetting shit.

My sister in Colorado came out to Vegas for a week in May for her son’s volleyball tournament so I was able to hang with her and attend my nephew’s volleyball games. Games that I normally would have watched on Facebook Watch so it was good to see Kainoa in action. He played well and even though he got beaned in the face so hard that it knocked him off his feet, he survived and is alive to tell the tale so alls well on that end. Helen came with her daughter, Genna and I spent most of that week with Genna. Helen stayed at the hotel and attended team dinners and what not but not Genna. Genna stayed with me the entire time that she was here. She’s almost 12 years old and we fought like sisters and made up like only sisters could but the best thing about us being together for that entire week was Genna is hella Army now.

So Kainoa had three games each day of the tournament. To keep Genna busy (she gets bored easily and didn’t really want to go to the games), we listened to music on my phone. We switched off picking the songs that we listened to so she would listen to a song and I would listen to a song. Every single song that I chose was a BTS song. On Friday, all of Genna’s songs were by Olivia Rodrigo, Shawn Mendes, and Ariana Grande. By Sunday, all of her songs were BTS songs. She spent a lot of time over the weekend, watching the easy lyrics videos to learn the songs herself. Her favorite songs are Save Me, Anpanman, and Butter. She was here when Butter debuted and we had a successful comeback weekend. I knew I raised my little Army right because, by the end of the weekend, she knew how to stream Butter correctly to make sure that her streams counted toward the chart numbers. I was so proud. LOL.

She fell completely down the BTS rabbit hole too. Not only was she listening to BTS music, but she was also watching BTS music videos, Run BTS episodes, the funny compilation videos on YouTube, and she chose a bias as well. It was funny because she woke up one morning and came to my room, turned on the Butter video on my TV and said, “Aunty Wena, I found my bias. It’s JK. I just really like him.” I was so happy that I sent her home with some BTS posters, a promise to help her build up her own BTS merch shelf and everything. Seriously, I was so proud.

Here’s what my month in May looked like…

Monthly Stats

Books

Books Read: 7 | Books DNF’d: 0
Books Purchased: 6 | Books Received for Review: 2 | Reviews Posted: 1
Highest Grade: Demon Slayer, Vol. 8 | Lowest Grade: The Ones We’re Meant to Find

Dramas

Dramas Watched: 2 | Dramas DNF’d: 3
Dramas Reviewed: 0 | Boyfriend of the Month: Kim Do Ki from Taxi Driver
Favorite Drama: Taxi Driver | Least Favorite Drama: So I Married an Anti-Fan

Movies

Movies Watched: 1 | Movies DNF’d: 0
Movies Reviewed: 0
Favorite Movie: Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba The Movie: Mugen Train | Least Favorite Movie: N/A

What I Read

Demon Slayer, Kimetsu no Yaiba: Volume One | 4.25 out of 5
Demon Slayer, Kimetsu no Yaiba: Volume Seven | 4 out of 5
Demon Slayer, Kimetsu no Yaiba: Volume Eight | 5 out of 5
Demon Slayer, Kimetsu no Yaiba: Volume Nine | 4.25 out of 5
Demon Slayer, Kimetsu no Yaiba: Volume Ten | 4.25 out of 5
Demon Slayer, Kimetsu no Yaiba: Volume Eleven | 4.5 out of 5
The Ones We’re Meant to Find by Joan He | 3.75 out of 5

What Movies I Watched

Demon Slayer, Kimetsu no Yaiba, The Movie: Mugen Train | 5 out of 5

What Dramas I Watched

What I Reviewed

Heart and Seoul by Jen Frederick | 3.25 out of 5

And there you have it…the month that was May 2021 in all of the things. How was your month? Did you read or watch anything good? Did you read or watch anything bad? Share in the comments, I’d love to catch up!

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Tags: Month in Books, Month in Dramas, Month in Movies, The Monthly Recap

The Monthly Recap: January 2021

Posted February 2, 2021 by Rowena in Features | 2 Comments

The Monthly Recap posts are a way for me to take a look back and reflect on my previous month in books, movies, and Korean dramas. From what I read, what I watched, what I got, and the books, shows, and movies that I need to get to. I always lose track of what I have, what I need to read, what I want to watch and I need these posts to keep me honest with my damn self because I be forgetting shit.

January was a chance for me to start fresh. I have personal goals, financial goals, and professional goals (mostly to be nicer to my coworkers) and I wanted to find a balance between all of the things that I like. Books, dramas, movies, and now, music. I’m still working on perfecting that balance but I’m getting there and that makes me happy.

Here’s what my month in January looked like…

Monthly Stats

Books

Books Read: 5 | Books DNF’d: 0
Books Purchased: 1 | Books Received for Review: 5 | Reviews Posted: 3
Highest Grade: The Bridge Kingdom | Lowest Grade: The Intimacy Experiment

Dramas

Dramas Watched: 2 | Dramas DNF’d: 2
Dramas Reviewed: 2 | Boyfriend of the Month: Lee Su Ho from True Beauty
Favorite Drama: True Beauty | Least Favorite Drama: Lovestruck in the City

Movies

Movies Watched: 3 | Movies DNF’d: 0
Movies Reviewed: 0
Favorite Movie: The Call | Least Favorite Movie: The Forgotten

What I Read

The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen | 4.5 out of 5
The Traitor Queen by Danielle L. Jensen | 4.25 out of 5
Training Camp: Rain by Wesley King and Kobe Bryant | 4.25 out of 5
The Roommate by Rosie Danan | 4 out of 5
The Intimacy Experiment by Rosie Danan | 4 out of 5

What Movies I Watched

The Forgotten | 3.25 out of 5
Finding Ohana | 2.5 out of 5
The Call | 4 out of 5

And there you have it…the month that was January 2021 in all of the things. How was your month? Did you read or watch anything good? Did you read or watch anything bad? Share in the comments, I’d love to catch up!

2 Comments
Tags: Month in Books, Month in Movies, Month in TV Shows, The Monthly Recap

The Monthly Recap: August 2020

Posted September 2, 2020 by Rowena in Features | 2 Comments

The Monthly Recap posts are a way for me to take a look back and reflect on my previous month in books, movies, and Korean dramas. From what I read, what I watched, what I got, and the books, shows, and movies that I need to get to. I always lose track of what I have, what I need to read, what I want to watch and I need these posts to keep me honest with my damn self because I be forgetting shit.

Something amazing happened at the end of the month. I started reading again and I’m hoping that I keep that same energy going into September. Everyone pray for me, please. 🙂 I finally had a mix of all the things last month so here’s what I’ve been up to in the month that was August 2020.

Monthly Stats

Books

Books Read: 2 | Books DNF’d: 0
Books Purchased: 1 | Books Received for Review: 0 | Reviews Posted: 0
Highest Grade: Magic Binds by Ilona Andrews | Lowest Grade: Iron and Magic by Ilona Andrews

Dramas

Dramas Watched: 13 | Dramas DNF’d: 1
Dramas Reviewed: 2 | Boyfriend of the Month: 2
Favorite Drama: Suspicious Partner | Least Favorite Drama: One More Time

Movies

Movies Watched: 6 | Movies DNF’d: 0
Movies Reviewed: 2
Favorite Movie: The Witch: The Subversion | Least Favorite Movie: On Your Wedding Day