April – July 2026 Breakdown: Lots of Internal Screaming While Moving, But I Got a Partial Month of Peace

Hello friends! It’s been a pretty hot minute since I last did a wrap-up post (and touched the blog, honestly – so many plugins to update aaaaaaa), and it probably would be the same for regular posting, but I had some mini reviews in the dungeon that’s been sitting for quite a while that I figured would be about time to release finally. Plus, I finished most of the formatting already from way back in April, so even though my laptop is stuck somewhere in my room, I can still finish it on my phone without tormenting myself too much.

I finally unpacked my laptop in early July and fully had plans to write 3 months’ worth of wrap-up, but I’ve not had any energy lately even if I finished most of it already. My room’s still a mess (but looking better than the beginning of the month, so small baby steps, I suppose), I’ve yet to get a chair for my desk still, and I was very much looking forward to using my new Spy x Family themed keyboard I got before the move and only tested before packing it away. Frankly I had the temptation to just wait until the end of August since I have a hyperfixation with Palworld currently, but knowing myself, it’ll be the end of the year at this rate before I post again.

Anyway, we have quite a lot to get through – 4 months worth of wrap-up! – so let’s jump in! Fair warning that I might yap a lot and go on little tangents, so feel free to skip to your favorite section. (I hate that reusable blocks don’t get added into the Table of Contents block. 😒)

April + May Musings

Most of my blogging was in April (shockingly weekly, wow) and then I had one post in May before I frolicked off into moving apartments.

• [3 Apr] March 2026 Breakdown: Down the Dreamlight Valley (and Probably Fountain Pen) Rabbit Hole
• [7 Apr] Love Between Fairy and Devil, Vol. 1 by Jiu Lu Fei Xiang ★★★★
• [17 Apr] A Stage Set for Villains by Shannon J. Spann ★★★★
• [21 Apr] Palia (PC/Steam Deck)
• [28 Apr] January – March 2026 in Journaling
• [26 May] Mini Reviews: Float Vol. 1, Love Between Fairy and Devil Vol. 2, Give Me a Reason

Book Haul

I usually divide this up by months acquired when I’m covering multiple months, but I figured it would be easier to just throw them all in one go rather than the usual (and maybe do something a little different, I suppose?). I’ve gotten a fair amount of books for the past few months; about half are ARCs/eARCs and the other half were either books I got from publishers or ones I got for my personal collection.

I read four of them during the past few months – Verity Guild, Nobody’s Quest, Ruinous Ends and Gingerbread Bones! Nobody’s Quest was definitely a surprise since I usually have informed delivery turned on, but I already switched that over to the new place and the ARC went to my (now old but at the time soon to be) old place. I ended up enjoying that one enough that I decided to get a final copy as well a few months after it came out (I probably would’ve gotten it earlier but I was in the middle of moving, and I already spent money on a ticket for the Verity Guild event).

The rest of these books I’ve not yet read except for Moriarty the Patriot Vol. 18 which only came about because I got tired of getting the wrong book requested. And Under the Oak Tree Vol. 3, but I’ve only read the manhwa that’s currently ongoing on Manta (but it’s also one of my favorites, so I’m on a safe bet that I will also equally love the translated novel).

I did have plans to read Kaya of the Ocean, The Game of Oaths, and The Lustrous Dark (all from the publisher along with This Thing of Ours) while moving (since most of my books were all boxed up and moved over), but alas. I do have plans to pick up one of them probably in the next few months, though, once I make a little more of a dent through my pile of library books that I’ve accumulated recently.

What I Read

Y’ALL. I did so much reading looking back at this list? I mean, I read a lot of graphic novels, manga and manhwa as I usually do these days, but I also read a fair amount that weren’t that, and I listened to a few audiobooks, too* (at least until July). It’s been a super long time (like… 4-5 years? 3 if we’re being generous) since I’ve listened to audiobooks (I struggle with them) but I wanted a change of pace from listening to music constantly while moving boxes and resting in between runs from 2 places, so I finally dusted off some audiobooks that I’ve accumulated over the months from Libro.fm’s Influencer ALCs.

*I make it sound like it’s a bad thing to just read graphic novels, but I just miss reading novels.

Some of them were disappointing though – I think April had a whole string of books that were DNFs or disappointments, and June had a very short string of DNFs that got balanced out earlier in the month. Nothing that really stood out over the months, though. I think if I had to choose 1-2 it would be Max, a Little Axolotl #1-2 by Joey Spiotto (super cute and adorable; highly recommend it) and Break Room by Miye Lee (a little underwhelming, but it really made me think and reflect on what I read; it’s a quick read that can probably be read in a sitting). I also liked True Beauty by Yaongyi, which I caught up through all 8 volumes out so far and watched the anime adaptation (What You Wanna Do by Maddy from the ending credits is currently living rent free in my head since it sounds like Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne).

I had some mini reviews started for some of these that I intended on posting in June that I never got around to doing so (aside from a draft in the cloud), so I might just compile all of my reads while moving that I have thoughts for and wish to share beyond the usual 1-2 sentences I do normally for wrap-ups into one big post instead of multiple 3 or 6 mini reviews that I usually go for. Not sure how I want to format it yet (maybe bullet points? Quick 1-3 sentences? A mini paragraph? A mix?), but that sounds like a future Hannah problem.

In the meantime, though, here’s a giant list compiled by month that you can toggle at your leisure (and to make the post seem much less intimidating than it really is since this is 4 months worth of a wrap-up to go through).

Media Consumed/Discovered

Music

I didn’t keep track of all the music I enjoyed the past 4 months, but I did keep track of some of them when I can so this definitely isn’t the full exhaustive list. I have my Current Addictions/To Listen playlist on Spotify that I use to keep track, but I’m pretty sure I cycled out some of the songs I would’ve placed on this list.

• Who is She by Kiss of Life – This reminds me of a Brittney Spears song
• MWUAH by STAYC
• Enjoy the Show by Henry Lau – This song has been living rent free in my head.
• Boompala by Le Sserafim
• Lucid Dream by IVE
• Killa by Kep1er
• Bad by ATEEZ
• If I by Treasure
• ‘Til We Die by aespa
• Iconic by Mistake by Le Sserafim, Illit, Girlset

Movies

I finally caught up on all of my movie checkouts in April, so my external DVD player officially got packed away for moving (forever mad they took that away from being part of laptops). Currently it’s sitting in one of my desk drawers that I’ll probably pull out soon so I can watch two movies I recently checked out before they’re due. I switched to a few streaming services throughout May and June – not that I watched much.

For April, I watched Hamnet, which I enjoyed a lot. I honestly liked how the movie touches upon the various ways grief shows up for people and how everyone copes differently. There’s a lot of nuance when it comes to grief (and I suppose many things in life), and I think Hamnet portrays it well, but I can also see why some people might not enjoy it.

In May, I watched Season 1 of Wistoria: Wand and Sword, which I’ve been reading the ongoing manga for the past few months as they come out. Season 2 was just airing when I finished Season 1, so I took a break from the show until more episodes are out. They’re all about 20-25 minutes long, so with those I prefer binge watching in batches of 3-6 episodes, which usually ends up being the entire season because I wander off to watch other shows or watch nothing until I remember, “Oh, yeah, did the rest of Season X of this show come out yet?”

I finally watched Season 1 of Heated Rivalry in June! Just in time for the hype; everyone else was simply early. 🤪 I truly love how as I got closer to the end of the 6 episode season I slowed down and very much took my time to get through the episodes since I was enjoying it a lot and didn’t want it to end. I watched the first season of the anime adaptation for True Beauty after finishing Heated Rivalry (and debating on whether I wanted to watch the K-drama version first or the anime), and I recently finished it. The ending credit song (What You Wanna Do by Maddy) is super catchy and lives rent free in my head currently. I’ll probably watch the K-drama after that since it’s available on Viki, and I should really use my subscription.

July would have nothing watched, but I did watch The Mist with some friends and their friend group when they visited from out of town. I still hate spiders, fictional or not.

Games

Not much gaming for April – June. I played Disney Dreamlight Valley in early April and then dropped gaming towards the rest of the month aside from logging into Palia to get my free in-game stuff for the game reaching 10 million players not long after my review went live. I’m thinking I dropped DDV since it’s pretty similar to Palia, and I was already slightly burnt out from that (or just in general) so I probably needed a bit of a break from all similar games rather than just Palia. (Or since I already unlocked Moana and Mulan in DDV, I just don’t care about unlocking the others as much…)

I did pick up Palia a little again in June, though – mostly because the Pride nameplate is so cute with the rainbow colors so I at least logged in to get that. I ended up doing some gardening there and frolicking in the Royal Highlands from their most recent update which also added mounts to the game. I haven’t played around with it more but as of right now I’m not the biggest fan of the controls for it and tend to jump off more cliffs than I wish to.

I played a quick round of Monster Prom as well – got rejected, but hey at least I got an accomplishment out of it, and it doesn’t hurt as much as it would in real life. 😂

In July, I picked up some new games from the Steam Summer Sale (there goes my streak for the year, I guess) and played a few others from the backlist! Palia’s newest update in July had some ‌bugs that affected controllers (switching to PC would be bad for me since it would cause motion sickness), so I decided it was the perfect time to play some other games that have long gathered dust. Among those games: Slay the Spire, HELLCARD, and Librarian: Tidy Up the Arcane Library. Who knew libraries could be so stressful with that last game… I also started playing Hades, which I got from the Steam Summer Sale – I’m really liking the voice acting in it!

Palworld went out of early access, so I ended up caving and getting that so I’ve been spending the past few weeks obsessed with Palworld catching pals and exploring the world (and getting ambushed when I walk or fly into places I have no business walking or flying into*). Hades promptly got put on the backburner, and I fear it’ll continue to stay that way for the next 3 months at least (or longer) with my hyperfixation**. Palia? I don’t know that game. 🙈

*I very liberally use the Emergency Respawn in that case since I don’t have any penalties set up for my world.
**Recently I came across a “crinkle me” board book at work and I don’t why but it very much scratched some itch in the depths of my brain after I was playing with it for a good five minutes.

Life

Most of the past few months have been moving, moving, and lots of moving. Also lots of field days for my therapist (I mean, they always have a field day, who am I kidding).

April: Starting the Moving Process

The moving process began! Mostly applying to places and paying fees, and whatnot. I was very much hoping to not have to deal with constant trauma dumping, but that’s not happening, so I’m trying to reframe it as “at least this is my first time moving as an adult and ideally that means I can learn to navigate all the things not exactly on my own but also kind of on my own, so when I do it again in a few years ideally on my own, this will just be a trial run where I learn some lessons.” Ha…

Without getting into too much detail: it’s very hard to reframe.

There’s a lot of internal guilt over tossing things out that I haven’t used in the sense of “I’ll use them one day,” but part of that is also the guilt trip I get from my mom since “that’s money being thrown away!” so I’m trying to quietly get rid of things that are being shuffled off on me if I don’t actually need it, want it, and it does not bring me joy. I’ve unearthed some cute skirts and dresses (some have pockets!!! Of course I’m keeping those) relegated to the back of the old closet that I’m hoping to bring into my regular outfit rotation before deciding to get rid of them.

May: Onwards with Moving!

Officially began moving into the new place, and I’m woefully reminded regularly that I’ve not worked out in the past few years. T_T A set of stairs doesn’t normally take me out, but when you’re doing it 10-30+ times a day, it definitely is a doozy. I’d like to say I’ve gotten used to it by now, but considering I still have to take a mini break when going up 14 flights of steps to my therapist’s office (I know, how diabolical of me to do that), I don’t think I’m there just yet.

I spent most of the month moving stuff, but I also got some things to furnish the place since I’m making it a goal to make my room truly my space* (going to try to set up boundaries, wish me luck). I’m trying to focus on getting the things I need and worrying about the rest later over time, but my new desk got set up! Although my mom was quite insistent that it couldn’t be set up until July, which store returns for anything that goes awry are usually no more than a month, if even. I’ve never actually thought about it until my therapist mentioned there’s a privilege to comply with (follow?) superstitions and traditions, but I can’t unsee it now.

*I found the most delightful window sill decor that’s Pokemon themed that I’m thinking of eventually getting, but that’s not currently my priority.

The desk is much larger than my old one and there’s so much space – I even have a shelf area that I’ve been putting my library books on (easier to keep track) and some of my physical ARCs and review copies I want to read soon (or at least, that’s the plan – there’s a couple floating amongst the mess). If I put them away, they’ll never be read. I also got washi tape drawers so I can easily see my collection better and reach the ones previously at the bottom of the container they were in.

More things were decluttered – I finally got rid of some of my bookstagram props that I used back when I was more regularly on there. I’ve yet to decide what to do with the rest, though, since part of me does find enjoyment in taking photos, but I also don’t think I’ll return to bookstagram (the last time I posted was in 2020? 2021?); I’m quite content with just having my content on my own blog. I might consider using the props for the blog, since I think some of the photos on the home page could use a little refresh. I’m also content with them currently, though, so we’ll see.

I also broke yet another screen protector on my phone, and it’s not even been two years since I got my phone. And a phone case got broken too! Which makes me pretty glad I have a small stash of phone cases that are good for backup (I like deep cleaning my cases every once in a while) because I don’t trust myself not to break it and I’d like to keep my phone for the rest of the decade. T_T

Spoiler: I dropped the new phone case like two weeks later. It’s not cracked, at least.

Outside of moving, I went to the book event for Verity Guild by Mai Corland! I mainly went to get my copy of The Games Gods Play and its sequel signed by Abigail Owen, which was absolutely worth getting the ticket since I unfortunately wasn’t the biggest fan of Verity Guild. It’s been a long time since I’ve gone to a book event; the last one resulted in me missing out on the event, going to therapy, and just all out avoiding book events (though that one was also contributed by the pandemic), so I’m kind of proud of myself for going to one over 6 years later, even if it’s under the guise of “work-related event.”

June: Probably the Most Peaceful Month I’ll Have for a Hot Minute

Most of the stuff got moved in May, so a lot of the focus was cleaning up the old place. I spent most of my time over at the old place while my mom stayed at the new place unless I was off – it was honestly very freeing to be on my own (even for a little bit), and I cherished every minute of the break that I could. She did double down on wanting me to stay over at the new place*, but I was quite determined to take time for myself while I could (while cleaning).

*Something about I have no ancestral protection and how only ancestors from her side of the family would “protect me” unless I cut her off – not to speak ill of my ancestors, but frankly, I don’t think any of them are my biggest fans for setting boundaries. But I like to think there’s at least a couple of fellow “rebellious” ancestors who are on my side and telling the rest that they’re being a little (okay, for some, maybe a lot) delusional. Cue more internal screaming.

I did some unpacking too in my new room, though I’ve been feeling exhausted all month and the humidity doesn’t help, so my room is probably going to be a mess for the foreseeable future. Maybe I’ll get it all unpacked by the end of the year…

Anyway, it felt very weird the first day, and then it didn’t! I guess that says something. And I learned quite a lot about myself in the first few weeks.

I went on a trip to collect some library cards in the area (the ones my local one has a reciprocal agreement with) like they’re Pokemon cards like the library gremlin I am and did little hobbies like picking up a Woobles kit for Ana the Sunflower. Turns out crocheting is probably not for me, but maybe that’s the perfectionist in me talking. I started working on the sunflower near the end of the month and made some progress, but didn’t finish it like I wanted to. I’ll probably finish it up in six months or six years. It’s a little lopsided so far, but I guess life kicks you sideways sometimes even if you’re [trying to be] a happy little sunflower.

I also got some food and desserts that I’ve not had in ages like egg tarts and shumai, and honestly, that’s such a small thing, but I was obsessed with egg tarts as a kid.

At some point in the middle of the month, I also realized I could hang out with some friends I haven’t seen in years or grab food with them without question or getting told that it’s unnecessary (and a waste of money, which you know, not that it’s not true, but I’m of the opinion the money spent is well worth it) and I could just text them instead, but also get told that reaching out first is bothering them. It’s been such a long process to get comfortable popping into my friends’ texts/DMs and not feel like I’m hated for it or bothering them, but that feeling still lingers and I still don’t reach out unless I’m comfortable with that person. And even then there’s maybe 5 people I’m comfortable enough to send a bunch of memes/reels in a row or double/triple stack messages (which is very valid for some people to hate, but sometimes I have an afterthought of an afterthought to the original thought).

But anyway, I grabbed lunch with a couple of friends to catch up with them and hung out with another friend and her partner where we played games (I’m awful at platformers and like to choose violence chaos as a result) in the evening. I also made the most delightful jumbo dice for a reading adventure from a program I put together at work.

July: Too Hot to Unpack Things, But At Least There’s a Nice Walking Trail

I started going out on regular walks in July in place of working out like I did at the old place – there are some nice hiking trails behind my complex that I’ve been using (although the hills are taking me out currently). It’s been mostly hot and humid all month, so I didn’t go as much as I’d prefer. I’ve also been pretty low energy for most of the month (also affected by the humidity; I wish I got energy from being in the sun like some people I know, but alas, I am not like them), so I haven’t made much progress in unpacking. This section is much shorter than the others since not much happened and I left the bullet points I originally had in the draft aside from some cleanup.

Other things in July:

• Got a haircut! Unfortunately for me since I have naturally wavy/curly hair, my hair also poofs up more when it’s shorter (and the humidity makes me look like I stuck my hand in a socket T_T). It is nice to not have my head feel weighed down, though…
  • Sometimes I get tired of going through the entire process of scrunching my hair so I just skip it and let it be in its frizzy glory (although I do get self-conscious about it because if it rubs against anything a bird’s nest just builds back there).
• Trying to adjust my sleep schedule a little because my room is so much brighter than my old apartment (enough that I could probably take some nice photos without editing the brightness or turning up the blinds. You know, if I actually wanted to go back to bookstagram). Sleeping in? Lol.
• My little program got the highest turnout since its inception at the beginning of the year! (Technically it started last year but due to holidays and scheduling it was basically restarted this year and therefore I won’t count them.) Look at my little project gooo.
  • It brings me a lot of joy that more people are coming along and are equally as passionate about my little hobby (for the obvious purposes of personal safety, no, I will not reveal which hobby it is). August looks like it’ll be about the same amount of people.
• Hung out with a friend, their partner and their friend group for an afternoon.
  • Another thing my therapist is proud of me for. 🥹
  • Warm boba is apparently a thing, but don’t ask me what it was like because I didn’t get it, and I was too busy trying to bring back my blood sugar to normal levels and not pass out. One of these things is more important than the others.

Stationery Progress

Since there’s 4 months worth of wrap-up and this post is already getting long, I’m skipping the numbers I usually share on my usage this time around! Still going to yap about stationery during that time, though (and of course, always amongst my friends and being their favorite bad influence).

I did some decluttering of older stuff that I no longer see myself using (and haven’t used for awhile) and ones that I’ve been on the fence about but wanted to wait a few more months to see if anything changes. I figure it’s time to let them go on to new homes at that point instead of continuing to hold on to them. Plus while I did get washi drawers and my collection is now out in the open more (therefore I have no more excuses not to use them because I can’t see them/buried at the bottom!!!), there’s only so much space on my desk and the drawers. I have a few that are still stored away in a box that don’t fit, but I do have a couple rolls that take up a lot of space in the drawers that I might get rid of or move elsewhere.

But I did use up quite a few rolls of washi though! I thought I would last a week or so more with some of them but I ran out the third day and there was a little bit left so I just made a little graveyard for it in my journal as one quirkily does to send it off into the washi afterlife and then marked the date in my washi tape journal on when it “died.” I’ve been falling off with this, though; there are some I haven’t yet added to my journal and some I’ve yet to mark out since they’re no longer in my collection.

I also used up two notebooks since I last wrote and would probably use up a third by now, but I’ve also been skipping on brain dumping the day’s events and not writing everyday since I haven’t had much energy. My daily one that’s been relegated to the dungeon known as the corner of my desk continues to gather dust. I think part of that might be my journaling needs changing yet again, and I just need to sit down and figure that out when I have the energy to do so.

I had a silly little urge to write about the joys of finishing a notebook which I started, so maybe it’ll come out of the blogging dungeon in the near future. Or I’ll forget about it until 2 years from now and start from scratch. Or just never post it…

My washi drawer purchase was enough to unlock a coupon that expired at the end of June and I was originally going to let it expire since I didn’t need anything nor did I want to add anything to my collection, but I settled with getting another notebook. I was about halfway through a notebook already and would’ve been purchasing a replacement backup soon anyway – let’s just say it was a good move since I ended up getting a pretty notebook for less than a dollar (by the time this post goes up, I would already be halfway through it). 😝

I’ve been debating for awhile about getting sticker books since I wanted a place to put the last few stickers on a few sheets together rather than carrying them in the folder I currently have. I’m very particular with them, though, since I prefer a refillable one (I just want an easy way to remove a page or two when they rip or add on a few additional pages at my convenience) and it doesn’t seem to be as common as I hoped it would be. I found some on SumLilThings, though, since they restocked, so I got two in June – one to carry around in my bag and another left at home, both swappable with each other so I liberally move pages accordingly – and they’ve turned out to be more handy than I thought they would be.

I also picked up a pen that’s been sitting for a hot minute in a drawer since I got it on sale (mostly because of moving) – my first medium nib! I think I’m preferring those over the fine nibs when it comes to Platinum pens – at least when it comes to using their ink cartridges. I’m finding that I’m not a huge fan of ink that seems to be too saturated (I guess dry?) so combined with the fine nib, it doesn’t keep up with my fast writing so I have to intentionally slow down. It’s fine, but it just doesn’t work when I’m essentially brain dumping.

I do plan on eventually switching to bottled ink and getting a converter so the pen is still used, though. I’m waiting until after things settle down and more things are unpacked to do that and trying out some other brands that have cartridges (since my TWSBI Swipe can use international short cartridges and long ones) to see how they write on my usual paper before switching since bottled ink comes with so much ink. Currently I have the TWSBI Swipe with Diamine Purple Dream. The short cartridges are so small compared to the Platinum and Pilot cartridges I’m so used to.

Let’s talk!

We’re at the end, friends! If you read all nearly 6k words (I think we might be over now) worth of content and yapping, here’s a virtual boba just for you: 🧋. Tell me what’s been happening in your lives lately: books, media, games, etc.