Hey Bookworm friend! It’s the first monthly reset of the year and January flew by. Speaking of flying, I’m hopping on a plane tomorrow morning at an ungodly hour to go to Colombia! I’m so excited but this means that lately, I’ve been more focused on travel prep rather than the blog. At least I figured I’d end the month with my monthly reset post 👍🏽. As for my reading wrap-up, I decided to switch it to a quarterly basis which I think will work better for me.
I joined BlueSky. Find me at darkshelfofwonders.bsky.social 🖤
January Highlights
- For my brother’s birthday weekend, we celebrated by going to a party at a bar and also to brunch at a delicious Mexican restaurant!
- As we were dog-sitting at my parent’s house for a weekend, we were graced with the presence of the most delightful of nightly visitors: Deer! A white-tailed deer Buck enjoyed all the snacks the backyard had to offer. We also saw what I think was a Doe and a yearling but I’m not too sure. Either way, the dogs were furious and I was enchanted!
- I won the video game Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator in a giveaway which is so exciting because it was already on my wish list and I hardly ever win giveaways!
- My husband and I went to a comedy club to watch Adam Conover perform. The opening act was Sammy Mowrey who was also hilarious. We had the tastiest pizza and laughed a lot, what a great date night!
What I Watched In January
Dog sitting also means taking advantage of a Netflix subscription (I no longer have one) so we finished Heartstopper season 3. As always, It’s adorable and I still love it.
Otherwise, it’s been Doctor Who all night every night. When we first met Clara, during the Matt Smith seasons, I thought she was going to become my favourite companion! But sadly, I feel like as soon as the 12th Doctor came on the scene, the writing for Clara’s character changed drastically, and not for the better. I ended up hating the direction her character went, it felt like the opposite of growth. We finished all the Capaldi seasons and last night we finally met the 13th Doctor. I know there was controversy surrounding this doctor back in 2018 or whatever. But the best part of watching shows late is that I get to make up my mind about things without the input of the fandom.
Finished Watching
- Heartstopper (S3)
Currently Watching
- Doctor Who (S6 to S11)
Games I Played in January
- Moon Hunters is marketed as a personality test about exploring an ancient Mesopotamia-inspired world. When the moon doesn’t rise one night, the Sun Cult announces they’re taking over the land. We then have 5 days to solve the mystery of where the Moon Gooddess went. Every time we play, it’s different and it’s the type of game where you have to play it multiple times to reveal more information and become stronger. So far I’ve played twice and the first time I did nothing but die and loose all my money 😂. The second time, I gained the ‘seduction’ skill so, instead of solving the mystery, I seduced the Leader of the Sun Cult and we eloped together. Who knows what will happen next time!
- My playthrough of Baldur’s Gate 3 is still going, and we’re at the start of Act II. I’ve recently befriended an Owlbear cub who is also friends with Scratch, and I am so happy 🥰. I’m still having a great time but at the same time I’m really bummed out because I’m pretty sure I missed my chance to romance Karlach. In Act I, I did the main quest line too soon and met Karlach too late so I missed my chance to flirt with her. I thought the romance aspect of the game was going to happen later, like why would I flirt with someone right after I meet them?! I’m totally not salty about it 😅 So, now I’m saving all my romantic attention for Halsin, because Druids are always my favourites anyway 💚!
Around The Blogosphere
- music of 2024 | part 3 (Sophie @ Me & Ink)
- Timy’s Top 10 Reads of 2024 (Timy @ Queen’s Book Asylum)
- Most Anticipated Releases of 2025 (January to June) (Caro @ Bookcheshirecat)
- Let’s Talk Bookish — February 2025 Topics ft. A Special Announcement! (Dini @ Dinipandareads )
- 2024 End of Year Book Survey, Part 2 & 3 (Leslie @ Books Are The The Black)
Reviews:
- Book Review: Daughter Of Chaos by A.S. Webb (Charlotte @ Bewitching Books, Ravenous Reads)
- ARC Review: Meow! Cats in Horror, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy Movies (Louise @ Foxes & Fairy Tales)
- However You Got Here, Welcome to Dorley Hall by Alyson Greaves (S.B. @ Beauty In Ruins)
- Pandemic Books (Nic @ Dragon Rambles)
- Primate Made (Stephen @ Reading Freely)
I encourage you to go visit some of these lovely bloggers and that’s it for my first monthly reset of the year 😊!
Let’s chat in the comments!
What’s a highlight from your month? Do you get any visits from the wildlife where you live?
Have fun in Colombia, and thanks for the shout-out! I had a Mexican-themed bday party myself this month. 😀
Thank you :D! I had an amazing time and my pleasure 🙂 Ohh how fun, happy belated birthday, I hope you had a great one :D! 🎉
Moon Hunters sounds like such a fun game, and I’m really not a gamer!
Followed you on BlueSky 😊
I am enjoying Moon Hunters so far! I wouldn’t consider myself a gamer either but I have been getting more into video games lately and I’ve been loving it! Thanks, followed you back on BlueSky! 😀
Enjoy your time in Colombia. It sounds like you have a fantastic time ahead of you 🥰 it sounds like you’ve had a wonderful January too with lots going on. Ooh I think I took a screenshot when you’ve mentioned that game before meaning to look it up and forgot 🙈 what’s it like? Yay on winning a giveaway too ❤️ it’s always lovely seeing deer although I’m not surprised the dogs reacted. I actually saw one this month too at the fairly local monkey rescue. They do have price entry for local postcodes each January (to try and draw people in as its one of their quietest months) and there was one stood by the place we were having lunch. It sounds like you’ve had some lovely comedy and food too.
I think I remember having mixed feelings like hours about Clara too. I can’t remember exactly what happened but u loved her initially then came away less sure. I’m not sure if I stopped watching before her storyline was complete though. I’m glad you enjoyed Heartstopper too.
Moon Hunters sounds interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever tried a game with that kind of approach before 🤔 and I was already intrigued by the other when you mentioned it before. I’m sorry you missed your chance to flirt though 😂
I’ve spotted a few games lately that I’m going to have to look into as from the little I heard they intrigued me.
Thanks for linking to my review 🥰 and I hope you have a fantastic month ❤️
Thanks so much, It was such a wonderful time we made the best of our short time there that’s for sure 🙂
Ohh haha that’s okay, which one, Baldur’s Gate 3? It’s really fun, it’s an RPG so you go around talking to characters to learn more information about the strange situation you find yourself in, you make friends or enemies, there’s options to romance characters and there’s also lots of turn-based fighting.
Yeah I love to see the deer too, they’re so beautiful and look super relaxed haha. OH my gosh that’s so cool and adorable! A monkey rescue?! are there lots of monkeys about? That sounds very interesting and how funny we both got to see deer recently!
I’m so glad it’s not just me, well my husband also agrees and my other friend who’s a massive Dr Who fan also agree so maybe that’s a common opinion about Clara, hmm 🤔
I don’t think I’ve played anything like Moon Hunters before either. Ahaha thank you, I’m bummed the one character I had my heart set on seems to have a window I missed but that just means when I play again in the future I’ll have more info to work with! lol Given that I’m fairly new at this stuff lmao! Cool, well I hope you find some games you like then 🙂
My pleasure 😘! Thanks, you too!!
Yay I’m glad to hear it 🥰
Ooh sounds interesting. I remember loving the graphics you shared from it too. I meant Potions Craft though 😅 I should have been clearer.
Theyre adorable 🥰 it is a strange coincidence 😂 when I went the year before I spotted one too which really surprised me. I guess its because it’s near the forest and quieter than normal so they wander over. Yes there’s lots of different varieties of them there including orangutans 😍 my niece loved it because some of the small ones were doing an odd hand movement that looked like they were doing the wind the bobbin up song. Plus she called one of the orangutans ‘grandad with a beard ‘ and made the people next to us burst out laughing 🙈
Wow it sounds like it must be then. How annoying as she had such a wonderful beginning.
Yes that’s very true, good luck for next time 🥰 thank you, I’m sure I will. I also have a few to try out as well 😂 thank you ❤️
Oh, I see my bad haha sorry I went on a whole ramble about the wrong game 😅😅 Yeah, I’ve only played Potion Craft a bit now so I don’t have more elaborate thoughts on yet.
That makes sense then that it’s a good area for them away from the hustle and bustle.
Oh my gosh, orangutans are so adorable and funny. haha oh that’s cute, I’m glad your niece had fun. Kids’ comments can be so spot-on and hilarious sometimes!
Right? Oh well!
Thank you so much 🥰 Yay, I’m excited for you then 🙂
Don’t worry, it’s another I’m interested in so it was good to hear a bit more about it 😊 ah right well I hope you enjoy it.
Very true. Oddly in the forest, which is also quiet, I feel like I hardly ever spot any. I guess its where it’s such a vast area though.
They really are 😍 I love the colour of their fur too. And yes very true. I can’t believe some of the things she says sometimes 😂
🥰🥰
I live in the mountains and have yet to see a deer, lol. I love that photo! I hope you have a lovely February as well😁
Ohh interesting, I bet they’re all hiding in the depths of the mountains away from people or something haha 😆 Thank you 🥰 Have a lovely month too!
Looks like a good month. Hope February is even better. Have a great trip and I look forward to reading all about it when you get back.
Thanks for the link.
Thanks, Nic 🙂 The trip was so fun and I’ll definitely chat about it a bit in this month’s reset post for sure. I enjoy doing more personal posts like that sometimes because I find it helps me connect with people more and I also love reading when people make posts like that too 😀 My pleasure, I just really appreciate that you play along with the old review posts sometimes 😀
What a month! Moon Hunters sounds like such a fun game—I love it when there are different endings and you learn more each time. Thank you so much for sharing my post! 💜 I hope you have a wonderful time in Colombia and that February treats you well! ☀️
Thanks! & I definitely think it’s worth playing if you don’t mind slowly revealing more info, I love that there’s different endings depending on what you do too! My pleasure, Dini and I hope you have a fabulous February! 🥰
Enjoy your trip!!
And awww! The deer!! *_*
Moon Hunters sounds pretty intriguing! And I am curious to know what you will think about Potion Craft!! (also, yay for the giveaway!!)
Thanks, Susy, I did enjoy the trip a lot!
I still can’t get over the deer, It’s too cute!!
I tried Potion Craft a bit and it’s fun but harder than I was expecting (it has a cozier/easier mode I will be trying later) but first I want to focus on finishing Moon Hunters, I feel like I need to play one game at a time so I can really get into it. haha
I love staying at a house with a different subscription service to your own, it always feels exciting! I’m glad you enjoyed the end of Heartstopper. I never continued after season one but it is very charming. Maybe one day.
I hope you have a nice time in Colombia.
Thank you so much for sharing my post and I hope you have a wonderful February! 🥰
Ahaha yes, the scrolling and adding stuff to your watch list is half the fun imo 😆
That’s fair, I feel like season one is the happiest season, it gets a bit sadder later on though still absolutely heartwarming! Maybe one day indeed, who knows!
Thanks, Sophie. I did have a wonderful time & my pleasure love your posts a lot!! Wishing you a super Fab Feb! 😉🖤