Hi everybody! Today is the last Something Different Sunday of the year, and of course also the last day of the year. So I though this would be the perfect time to get a little more personal and take a look back at my 2017, but also take a look ahead at the year of 2018. Here we go!
2017
On books and blogging
Well, 2017 was not my best reading or blogging year. I got into a blogging slump somewhere halfway through the year and took my first ever hiatus. And then I got back from my hiatus only to fall into a huge reading slump, which lasted months. Naturally, I did not reach my reading goals for the year and lost a lot of followers, views and just general blogging momentum.
However, I’m back now and though I still haven’t figured out anything like a blogging schedule or a work-life balance I’m determined to make it work in my own beautifully chaotic way, all the while keeping an eye that I never lose that love of reading and blogging! 🙂
My TOP 3 READS OF THE YEAR are the Red Winter trilogy by Annette Marie (gorgeous japanese mythology, a swoon-worthy slow-burn romance and lots of action. Come on you all knew this was coming, I’ve only been raving about it pretty much ALL YEAR LONG), A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab (aka the most perfect finale to the most perfect series ever) and They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera (the only one who can make me cry, tear my heart out and make me love him all the more for it)
Posts to check out:
Ten Reasons Why Red Winter Is THE hidden gem YA fantasy | My review for A Conjuring of Light | My review for They Both Die At The End
Special shoutout to Annette Marie’s Steel and Stone series which I have to thank completely for getting me out of my reading slump and thanks to Di of Book Reviews by Di to give me the final nudge I needed to just start this beautiful series already!
Posts to check out:
My review for Chase The Dark
AND 2017 was also the year I did my first buddy read and tackled the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan together with the lovely Uma at Books.Bags.Burgers. We got through the first 4 books in the series and still have the final one to look forward to. Thanks so much for the lovely buddy read Uma, you’ve been amazing! Here’s to many more fun buddy reads 😉
Posts to check out:
My reviews for The Lost Hero | The Son of Neptune | The Mark of Athena
On music
“You know it all, you’re my best friend
The morning will come again
Because no darkness, no season can last forever”
I thought my taste in music was getting beautifully, excitingly varied in 2016 when I fell in love with Hamilton. But while 2016 was the year of Hamilton (well, still a huge fan today), in 2017 I discovered a whole new genre of music I would never have guessed I’d become such a huge fan of. But I did and I couldn’t imagine my playlist without it anymore. Thank you K-Pop, for being my constant companion throughout 2017. There are so many amazing bands and artists out there, but special thanks to Xia, Big Bang and BTS, who pretty much got me through the year.
“I found my heart and broke it here
Made friends and lost them through the years
And I’ve not seen the roaring fields in so long
I know I’ve grown,but I can’t wait to go home”
BUT, though k-pop was a HUGE part of my 2017, I did manage to listen to some non-k-pop songs as well. I discovered and fell in love with One OK Rock, With Confidence, Marianas Trench and Waterparks. I danced my heart out to Lorde, Dua Lipa and Cheat Codes. I played the new Ed Sheeran and Papa Roach albums over and over again. I got to see Bruno Mars and Sleeping With Sirens live and went to the Werchter festival where I got to relive my teenage years with Blink 182, System of a Down and Linkin Park.
“It’s haunting how I can’t seem to find myself again
My walls are closing in (without a sense of confidence and I’m convinced that there’s just too much pressure to take)
I’ve felt this way before, so insecure”
2017 unfortunately also was the year where I lost an idol and I’m still mourning the loss of Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington. Linkin Park was THE band of my teenage years and Chester was my first celebrity crush. I’m just thankful that I at least got to see them all together on stage one last time this year.
Posts to check out:
The songs that dominated my 2017 playlist | My ten favorite 2017 k-pop releases | Ten reasons why I love k-pop boyband BTS | The songs that keep me going: the 2017 edition | Ten songs for the k-pop newbie
On tv and movies
I used to be a huge series fan. But in 2017 I cut it down a lot and decided not to try and watch it all anymore, especially if it didn’t make me happy anymore. I’m pretty much only keeping track of The Flash anymore, and maybe Arrow (jury’s still out on that one). But I still managed to fall in love with quite a few new series this year. I binge-watched all of Sherlock and fell in love with our darling well-functioning sociopath and his BFF. My love for Jessica Jones also has no bounds and I’m eagerly awaiting season 2. And though it’s not a new love, my love for Stranger Things still runs the strongest of them all!
I also rediscovered my love for anime this year. Though I started Yuri On Ice in 2016, I watched it a second and third time in 2017. I loved the cute and fluffy Toradora, the heart-breaking Orange, the action-filled Re:Zero and am still going through the amazing Hunter X Hunter. But the anime that really caught my heart in 2017 was definitely Death Note. I fell in love with the creepy psychological thriller and consequently watched all the movies (the Japanese ones and the crappy Netflix one), the tv show AND the musical, splurged on the complete manga collection and read all the fanfic. Yes, L and Light own my heart.
And then there is k-drama. I think k-drama might have ruined me for a lot of Western tv-shows. It’s just so good, addictive and creative and most of all, I love the format where the story neatly wraps up in one season as opposed to dragging it out for years and years until you’ve lost all interest but just keep watching because you’re commited. I’m slowly but surely devouring all the k-drama (though similar to a TBR, the list of k-drama to watch just keeps getting bigger and bigger), but my TOP THREE WATCHES THIS YEAR have got to be Goblin, W Two Worlds and Legend of the Blue Sea. Oh and Strong Woman Do Bong Soon. I know that’s four, but please don’t make me choose!
Special shoutout to the J-dramas I watched this year, Good Morning Call, Mischievous Kiss, and You’re My Pet (Kimi Wa Petto) which were cute and fluffy and got me to smile whenever I needed it. Except Death Note, which didn’t so much make me smile but rather just got me to fall in love with Kento Yamazaki.
Posts to check out:
Ten Reasons To Love Death Note | Mermaids, Aliens, Goblins, Superstrength & more — K-dramas I’ve fallen in love with
On life and more
Well, when it comes to real life, 2017 wasn’t the best. As you may know, I lost my job in December 2016. It was my first job, a job where I worked for nearly ten years and though not perfect, it was my dream job in many ways. It was difficult for me to deal with that and I spent a lot of 2017 struggling with heightened anxiety, low self-esteem and a ton of crushing loneliness. I found a new job and though I am happy I got that chance, the effects of that period are still ongoing. I’ve been mourning my first job for over a year now, but everybody mourns at their own pace and I can only say that that is ok. Don’t let anybody tell you your feelings are not valid just because they don’t understand.
Honestly, this life section is pretty short since it seems like because of these events my life was kind of at a stand-still in 2017. Because of the situation I wasn’t able to do a lot of things I had planned both family- and careerwise, and that’s just the way it was. But that time is now in the past and 2018 will be the year I’ll be moving foward again!
2018
And now the fun part! Let’s take a moment to look ahead at 2018!
Bookish resolutions
I’ll be doing a whole Top Ten Tuesday on my bookish resolutions soon, but let’s just say I’ll be taking it easy in 2018. I’m not setting my reading goal too high (I’m thinking 50 or 60 books…) and I’m not entering any reading challenges…yet. Blogging wise, I’ll of course have a few resolutions, but the key is: have fun with it and keep loving what I do.
Other resolutions
I usually don’t really believe in New Year’s Resolutions, as I believe every day is a good day to begin, but something about this year has had me eager to think about the future and set some goals or wishes. So here’s what I’m hoping to do or accomplish in 2018, from the big to the small:
- Buy our own house. My husband and I were planning to start looking for our own house in 2017, but life got in the way. 2018’s the year though, I feel it!
- Continue to study Korean. It’s always been a dream of mine to someday master a non-Western language. I’ve now committed to Korean as it’ll help me to understand what I’m singing along to or what I’m watching on tv 😉
- Pick up drawing again. I’ve been looking for an extra creative outlet and I used to draw, but stopped for some reason. I’m hoping to pick it up again in 2018. I’ve already got the pencils!
- Get some online marketing certificates. I’d love to get an official certificate for digital marketing courses such as Google Adwords, Facebook Blueprint or Google Analytics.
- Get tattoo number 3. Stop procrastinating and just do it!
- Let go of the past. Big one, but also pretty vague. But it’s the goal I need to work on the most. May be tough, but I’m determined to make it work.
- Work on showing my appreciation to my loved ones more often. I sometimes get too lost in myself and my own little drama and I want to actively work on showing my love to friends and family. This doesn’t have to be huge, but I think is all in the small things, like sending a random text, funny meme or video I think they would enjoy. Just something to let them know they’re not alone and I’m thinking about them.
- Keep up my love for reading and blogging, and share that love with this amazing community. Thank you all for being here with me and let’s make 2018 wonderful together!
Best wishes to you in the new year! <3
Thanks, wishing you all the best for 2018 as well! <3
I can’t imagine having a job for so long and losing it. I literally got laid off a job after three weeks, but it still really sucked because I left a job I’d had for three years to do it (all part-time jobs but still…) and it took a long time to find something.
I’ve seen BTS perform a couple times on TV recently and I’m kind of loving them; I need to look into their music more. I’ve never watched K-Dramas but I hear great things. Honestly, one of my favorite TV shows is a British soap opera, so you know, whatever makes us happy, right? I still need to watch all of Sherlock Season 4 (I’ve only seen the first episode of the season – for some reason, my dang TV didn’t tape the other two when they aired!!) and I need to finish Jessica Jones S1 so I’m read for the second one, but I’m close – and I love it!
I’m so happy you got to see Linkin Park live before Chester’s death. Unfortunately, I had tickets to see them live for the first time ever but he passed before my show. On that night, I attended a memorial with other fans at the venue though and it really meant a lot, even if it was still heartbreaking to know Chester was/is gone.
I hope 2018 is brilliant for you!
-Lauren
Oh I can only imagine how much that must suck as well, especially if you gave up a long-term job for that one! And it’s definitely demotivating when it takes a long time to find something new, but I’m happy we both got new jobs in the end 🙂
I hope you’ll enjoy BTS’ music, they’re definitely great performers. K-dramas are for sure addictive and you’re right, if it makes us happy that’s most important 🙂 I hope you’ll enjoy the rest of Sherlock season 4 and Jessica Jones season 2!
That’s so sad that you missed out on seeing Linkin Park live, but the memorial with the other fans does sound really emotional. It’s still heartbreaking, but at least his music is still there for us.
Hope you’ll have an amazing 2018 too!
Happy New Year! I’m determined to finally read my first book byV.E. Schwab in 2018!
Thanks Stephanie, wishing you all the best for 2018! And I hope you’ll enjoy V.E. Schwab in 2018 as well 😉
Happy New Year, Lindsey! I’m sorry 2017 wasn’t the best, but you’re coming out of it with such a good attitude! I love your goals for the new year!
Thanks so much Angela! Hope you’ll have an amazing 2018!
I’m sorry 2017 wasn’t the greatest year for you. Here is to an amazing 2018! I’ve been pretty lacking in the series watching department. I haven’t even watched Sherlock season 4.
Thanks so much Annemieke, I hope 2018 will be amazing for you too!
And I’d definitely recommend Sherlock season 4, though if you wait you at least still have more Sherlock to look forward to which is also good 😉
Oh Lindsey you know I have been in a slump too!! Here’s a secret, I couldn’t complete my goodreads challenge too so I edited my goal *shhh* lol and I’m so glad you’re back! I am too but yeah haven’t figured out a proper schedule as of yet! You do an amazing job Lindsey! What with work and life <3 Happy New Year darling!
Also yay for being an amazing buddy reader even when I'm not 😛 sorry I'll be a better buddy reader in 2018 😀
Great goals for the new year chica! Hope it's an awesome year 🙂
Ahh, I should have though about just editing my Goodreads goal, but oh well 😉 This year, I reduced my goal a lot, so hopefully it’ll be less stressful and I’ll end up reading more, haha.
Thanks so much Uma, you are the best buddy reader and our buddy reads were definitely one of the highlights of 2017 for me 🙂 Wishing you all the best for 2018!
Happy New Year Lindsey! Looking forward to reading along in 2018!
Thanks so much and happy New Year to you too Gabby!
Slumps are the worst but glad you’re sticking around! Here’s to a great 2018. I love the covers of those Annette Marie books…
And Jessica Jones- yeah I’m looking forward to S2 also.
Best of luck with your resolutions, and here’s to an awesome 2018!! Happy New Years!!
Thanks so much Greg! I hope you’ll have an amazing 2018 as well! Happy New Year!
One of my goals is to read more Chinese novels & continue on with learning Mandarin, Chinese. So yay, for us, learning new languages! Hopefully we can do it. When I started I did so great with studying, but then work got so busy.. pfff. 🙁
Good luck with all of your goals!
Oh, that’s so cool that you’re learning Mandarin! And yeah, I totally get when things get to busy to spend time to study… But hopefully we’ll both do great this year 😉
Hope you have a great 2018! I loved Ed Sheeran 2017 album so much, I’m going to miss it being the year of a new Ed Sheeran hit. haha. But maybe I’ll see him on tour in 2018?
Thanks, I hope you’ll have an amazing 2018 as well (and that you’ll get to see him live this year) 😉
Those are awesome resolutions, Lindsey. Good luck! And YAS for Sherlock – I love those two guys so much, they’re amazing. And the series is incredible.
Hope you have a great 2018 <3
Thanks! And ah yes Sherlock is amazing! I’m already ready to rewatch the series 🙂 Hope you’ll have an amazing 2018 Amy!