Surprise! I'm back with another annual blog post, but this time, ~travel diary edition~. I'm going to be honest — writing out this post took a lot of convincing and persistence. I haven't written anything in about a year now. I was nervous that taking a year-long break from writing meant all of my storytelling skills, and even passion, have inevitably went down the drain. Shout out to my closest friends for encouraging me to stop worrying about not being a great writer and to just pick up a pencil (or in this case, my laptop) and start practicing again. I can't promise myself that I'll be writing every week now, but hopefully more than once a year. 

Alright, that's enough of this sappy and way too personal prologue. Here are a few of my favorite highlights from my mini vacation to Cape Cod last week.☺

Welcome to my second quarantine book review! At this point in quarantine, I should probably be finishing up my fifth or sixth book, but some old habits (cough procrastination) never die.

Initially, I was supposed to write this book review on Celeste Ng's "Everything I Never Told You", which is the second book I finished while at home, but to be honest, that book didn't nearly hit me as hard as Jodi Picoult's "Small Great Things." Don't get me wrong, I think Celeste Ng is a good writer and her focus on Asian American identity is such an important topic that's often overlooked in popular contemporary books, though "Small Great Things" dives even deeper into the themes of race and prejudice in America. While reading this book, I literally could not put it down because of how suspenseful and thought provoking each chapter was. Okay, that's enough of me gushing over how much I loved this book. Instead, I'm going to go over the myriad of reasons as of why you should also love this book.

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"I'm alone but I'm not lonely. Comfortably indulging and trying to get to know me." 

When I first heard Sabrina Claudio's song "Comfortably Lost", these lines struck a chord with me. As someone who's naturally more introverted and frequently needs alone time after a long day with friends, the idea of quarantine didn't sound so terrible at first. Personally, I love using my alone time to indulge in my own creative interests while finding out more about myself. Now at a time where staying at home is pretty much mandated, it's important to utilize this time to not dwell on the fact that we feel lonely, but take advantage of all the opportunities of personal growth that can be accomplished. I know it's hard to be alone for long periods of time  —trust me, as someone who enjoys much needed alone time, I'm also starting to go crazy being at home 24/7. Feeling lonely is normal, especially now more than ever, though there are ways to combat those hard feelings and find ways to improve your life at home. Here are just a few things that I've been doing to help me not feel so helpless:

Long Monologue (Skip to the third graph to read the actual review): Hi everyone! Long time, no talk. I don't have a good explanation as to why I haven't been active on this blog except for the fact that I've been going through a creative slump these past few... years. As a full-time college student, I barely have time to explore my creative pursuits like writing, and that's something I seriously regret. Nowadays, society has taught us to live and breathe the "rise and grind" mantra. We're constantly bombarded with ads preaching the workday hustle, though sometimes (or most of the time) we need a break from the stress of everyday life. I understand that during this unusual and unfortunate time, many young adults are undergoing even more stress from financial uncertainty, health complications, and a slew of other unpredictable setbacks. I acknowledge that I'm fortunate enough to be able to sit in my bed and type out this blog post, and I'm incredibly thankful that I can utilize this time to take a step away from constant school work and work on myself.

Okay, enough with the long rant. You probably read this article for a book review, and a book review is what you'll get! But please note that my opinions are solely mine. You can hate or love this book — it's completely up to you. Also, if you're expecting a professional literary essay on why you should/shouldn't read this book, you're on the wrong page, sis.