Books I read in September

~ Veselin ~ Leave a comment

Last month I read less than the recent months. Maybe I just didn’t click with the books I picked up, or maybe life was too busy. Either way, my stack was smaller, but there were still some highlights.

Best book

The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin – The second book in The Broken Earth trilogy was great. In this world, the Evil Earth is a living, hostile creature. People with magical power can bend volcanos and seismic forces to their will. It’s apocalyptic, imaginative, and also a slow read. This was my only ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ book for me this month.

Other books

  • The Last Ronin (Collection) – A comic book that explores if we’ll like a story where the Ninja Turtles are dying or dead. The answer is that enough drama-loving readers gave this thing a high rating on Goodreads but I do not recommend it. The art is beautiful but the story is ⭐⭐ at best.
  • Sten: The Court of a Thousand Suns by Allan Cole & Chris Bunch – space opera, retro sci-fi with obsolete tech. It was funny, a bit silly, and I’d look for the continuation in the future, ⭐⭐⭐⭐.
  • The Unheard by Nicci French – featured with a blog post, an okay thriller ⭐⭐⭐ that explores our fears.
  • The Prisoner by Freida McFadden – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – a thriller equivalent of a bubblegum. Enjoyable in the moment, instantly forgettable after.
  • The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – same as the one before but the story was a tiny bit better, let’s say 3.75 vs 4/5.

Right now I’m juggling three books at once, giving each so little attention that I’m wondering if October will turn out any better. We’ll see.

Colorful Sofia

~ Veselin ~ 5 Comments

The Cathedral.

We have two cathedrals. This is the touristy one. It is difficult to miss unless you’re local. We miss it every day like it’s the opposite of a black hole. It’s surrounded by an empty square to deter any residents.

Bus line 200 is a tourist line run by the municipality. It uses regular credit card taps for 0.8 euro that cannot exceed 2.1 euro per day (you stop being charged after 2.1 euro). Way better than the regular tourist tour buses around the continent.

4th kilometer and a cat having a snack.

And last but not least, the King’s palace.

How do I keep doing all these steps?

~ Veselin ~ 2 Comments

For the past two years, I’ve averaged more than 10,000 steps a day.

A colleague recently asked me how I stay motivated to keep up with something like this. The question wasn’t specifically about steps, but since walking is my example, here’s how I approach it. Felt like a good writing prompt.

Getting 10K steps every day isn’t easy. Each morning you start from zero. On good days, it feels like nothing. But on days that are grey, freezing, hot, rainy, when my mood is low or my feet hurt, the empty steps bar on the Health app can look like a vertical wall.

(below, steps over the last 5 days, and the weather outside with a nasty AI-generated gambling ad)

Screenshot

So, the only way I can do things like that, and the steps, is by forming and following a habit. There are days where the cats are friendly, people are smiling, the weather is nice, and I’m looking forward to doing the steps. Other days, the only thing that gets me out the door is the habit.

That habit means I don’t waste mental energy deciding whether I should walk, when to walk, or why to walk. The only challenge left is dealing with the obstacles of the day like weather, fatigue, a lengthy todo, mood, and not the decision itself.

For example, today I’ve done 5,800 steps. It’s already 7 p.m., so I’ll head out one more time to add another 1,500–2,000. It’s not always fun, but I’ve got a waterproof jacket, so I’ll be fine.

The Obelisk Gate by N. Jemisin

~ Veselin ~ 1 Comment

Essun is going after her missing daughter Nassun, while the world is slowly ending. Ash and acid are falling from the skies and the wildlife is eating people in unusual ways.

She finds an old friend instead.

Earth is clearly no place for humans in this series and I don’t need the third book to see where it’s all headed. But there’s a tiny bit of hope that this very unstable world can provide home to humans. So I think I’ll continue with it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of 5. Also, the copy is beautiful.

The sleepyhead and the two gentlemen

~ Veselin ~ 3 Comments

The last photo was supposed to be beautiful but I somehow did this wrong crop and felt like it’s still worthy because it features love in the bottom right corner.

I think the first cat has been featured here at least two times before and is only overshadowed by a family of black kittens.