Job Interviews, Discovering K-pop & Some Reading // September Wrap Up

HAPPY HALLOWEEN MONTH 🎃👻! I can’t believe we’re in October? September seemed to go by in a blur of me applying for jobs and attending interviews. I managed to get some reading done though! I decided to participate in ContemporaryAThon last minute and managed to complete all the challenges (by doubling up but still) 🙌🏻  Something else that happened that I’m sure will make a lot of you happy is that I started listening to K-pop (you can all thank Laura 😂). I’m honestly excited for October. The first week will be stressful, but after that things should be good. I always do the most reading (which bodes well because it’s SimsAThon!!), it’s spooky season and I’m going to 2 concerts back-to-back at the end of the month. Anyway, before I get too ahead of myself let’s discuss September ✨!

Dead Voices by Katherine Arden || ★★★★★ || This is the sequel to Small Voices and I loved it just as much! For someone who doesn’t usually get scared by books I get super creeped out by these middle grade ones. I listened to the audiobook at night and it honestly made me jumpy. This is set in a cabin that gets snowed in and it was super atmospheric. There’s such a cute friendship group at the centre of everything too. If you’re new to horror I really recommended them!

Dragonhearts by Nikita Gill, Amanda Lovelace & Trista Mateer || ★★★★★ || I adored this poetry collection. I really resonated with a lot of the poems.

Wilder Girls by Rory Power || ★★★★★ || I was so taken aback by this book and in a good way! I had no idea how horror-ish it was going to be? It was so gripping and I loved Rory Power’s writing style. I loved the relationship between Byatt and Reece and thought it was super realistic considering their circumstances. I am 100% reading whatever Rory Power writes next! [cw: suicide, horror themes, gore, body horror, animal death]

Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff || ★★★★★ || I’ve been anticipating this book for a really long time and I finally read it in September and wasn’t let down. There’s nothing I love more than rag tag characters coming together and it’s even better when it’s set in space. I loved how fast paced and action packed this was. I love books with multiple POVs and I loved how all the characters had their own voice. THE ENDING FUCKED ME UP SO BADLY. Be aware there are some problematic elements with this book with the way an Asian character is depicted when comparing herself to a character who’s white. Also, it’s disappointing that there was no explicitly stated queer rep (in my head they all are 😅), but I’m 90% sure one of the characters isn’t straight because they express attraction to both men and women. Anyway, I loved this and I can’t wait for the next book.

(These were my ContemporaryAThon reads!)

Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell & Faith Erin Hicks || ★★★★☆ || This was super cute. It made me wish I could experience an American fall so badly! I want to go to a pumpkin patch!!!

The Burning by Laura Bates || ★★★★★ || A very hard, but important read that I think she should be taught in schools. This is about a girl who’s trying to move on from a revenge-porn situation. It deals with how victims are often blamed in these situations whilst abusers don’t face consequences. I really do think it’s something everyone should read. There’s almost a fabulist element to it too as the main character’s life is intertwined with a girl who was murdered for being a “witch” centuries ago. It really showed how long women have had to deal with shitty behaviour for simply just existing. [cw: rape, sexual assault, homophobic slurs, misogyny, slut shaming, abortion, revenge porn]

Tell Me How You Really Feel by Aminah Mae Safi || ★★★★☆ || AHHH THIS WAS SO CUTE IT WAS LEGIT THIS EMOJI IN BOOK FORM 🥰. I saw people had a lot of issues with Rachel and Sana, but tbh I totally got where they were both coming from. I got Rachel’s character a lot because I know how it is to be that closed off to the point where you think everyone has an ulterior motive. I loved that we were getting a book with two queer poc women at the forefront who were confident and knew what they want, but maybe they didn’t??? and it was messy but real and just SO GOOD. I loved seeing Sana and Rachel grow and bring out the best in each other. There were a few little plot issues I had (like Sana constantly being injured lmao) but it didn’t really take away from my enjoyment. Side note: Diesel was the most purest boy ever.

Blackbird, Vol 1 by Sam Humphries & Jen Bartel || ★★★★☆ || I am OBSESSED with Jen Bartel’s out 😍 I was a bit confused by the plot because it felt a little disjointed at times, but I really enjoyed it and can’t wait for a volume 2. Plus I’m here for secret magic societies.

Dodge City, Vol 1 by Josh Trujillo & Cara McGee || ★★★☆☆ || I LOVE SPORTS COMICS!!! This was really cute, but it felt a little flat at times? I wished it had been a bit more, but I hope there’s a volume 2 because I feel like there’s so many options to explore. I did really appreciate that this featured a deaf character and depicted sign language though! There’s also queer rep.

Snotgirl, Vol 2 by Bryan Lee O’Malley & Leslie Hung || ★★★★☆ || I’m so trash for this series. I know it’s messy and like probably problematic at times, bUT IT’S SO ADDICTING. Lottie is honestly one of my favourite characters ever. Plus I can not get enough of the art.

Faithless, Vol 1 by Brian Azzarello & Maria Llovet || ★★★★☆ || I wanted a new comic to read so I checked Boom because they’re my favourite studio. I found this one and thought it would be fun because Boom’s comics are normally cute and I figured this might have a little darker edge to it, but oh boy I was not expecting how dark. It was one of the most fucked up comics I’ve read, but I think I enjoyed it? Basically this is seriously NSFW and everyone is banging everyone on almost every page. I don’t really know the plot at all, the devil is involved somehow? Either way, I’m curious and will definitely check out volume there. The art is really nice. There’s also a F/F relationship, but I wouldn’t really say it was like a good depiction or anything lmao. [cw: literally everything]

Having deliberating mental health issues makes trying to have a job very complicated. This month though I finally felt like I was ready to seriously start applying for some. That and I was very desperate. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of experience so I knew it wouldn’t be easy. I was really surprised when job interview after job interview started rolling in. This month I’ve been for job interviews at K-Mart, Big W, Lush, Elizabeths Bookshop and have an upcoming interview at JB Hi-Fi. Unfortunately, I haven’t had success with anyone of them yet. Lush sent a really nice email saying I hadn’t gotten the job, but otherwise it’s been silence. I’m going to give them another week or so, but then will accept I obviously didn’t get them. It can be kind of crushing and frustrating, but I understand my lack of experience and confidence issues are probably playing a part. The interview process at Lush was an experience. I felt like it was intended for extremely extroverted people only so the fact that I got through it and stepped out of my comfort zone made me feel really proud of myself. Elizabeth’s Bookshop consisted of a book, history and maths test and it nearly made me cry because it made me feel super inadequate 😂😂 but hey I got through it and handed it in so 🤷🏻‍♀️ Going to job interviews with anxiety is a really draining experience and it’s exhausting, but I’m trying to proud of myself for at least getting to that point.

Last Friday I went out with some friends with TAFE and it was so lovely. I may have drank too much, but I had the most fun I’d ever had. There was a Panic! At The Disco night at one of the clubs in Perth and I was on stage talking to the DJ and dancing all night with a Brendon Urie mask 😅 Lots of drunken conversations with strangers happened, it was great! There was a bridal party who we joined in dancing with and it was essentially just a bunch of girls telling each other how pretty everyone was 🥰! Drunk girls are the BEST.

It finally happened.

I started listening to K-pop.

I remember when K-pop first became a mainstream thing and everyone started talking about it. I tried listening to it and just couldn’t get into it because I wasn’t connecting with the music style. This caused me to think that all K-pop would sound similar and that it wasn’t for me and that was okay. Then Laura tweeted me a cover Day6 did of “Stop And Stare” and IT CHANGED EVERYTHING. It made me realise that more alternative sounding K-pop existed and I can’t believe I just ignorantly presumed it didn’t? I’m definitely not as well versed as other people. I’m more of a casual listener, but I have a Spotify playlist of a bunch of K-pop bands I found and I’m so happy I did because listening to the music has honestly made me feel so calm? Some of my favourite bands are Day6, The Rose, IZ, CNBLUE, FTISLAND, N.Flying and ONEWE. I’m totally up for recommendations if anyone has any! Here are some of my favourites:

Besides K-Pop so many of my other fave bands released new music this month!

My Perth boys The Faim released their debut album and it was INCREDIBLE. I’m so proud of how far they’ve come. From playing tiny venues in Perth to a handful of people to playing huge festivals in the UK and headlining their own world tour 🖤. I miss them a lot!!!

I loved Grayscale and Sleep On It’s new albums and State Champs released a rad cover of a Matchbox Twenty song — it’s so good be listening to pop punk again!

I was also totally taken aback by how much I loved Sleeping With Siren’s new album? They’ve been hit and miss with me for a while now, but How It Feels To Be Lost is probably one of my favourite albums of the year.

I love supporting local music so I was happy to discover Bad Weather this month who’s another Perth artist. If you’re into early The 1975 I think you’ll like him!

I’d love to hear your thoughts on anything I mentioned.

What have you all been up to this month? What’s been the favourite thing you’ve read/listened to/watched? Let me know!

I hope you all had a fantastic September and have an even better October.

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