Really, I'm even more confused now than I was before!

 Hey guys, this is Abi here, 

And I'm back with another installment of my, flying by the seat of my pants story! 

I bet you all thought I'd forgotten about it, didn't you? 

I admit, all the Christmas/ end of year posts did put this on a bit of a back burner, but I always had the intention to go back and well, see where the story takes me. 

I hope to continue to expand the story, do some world-building, and eventually introduce some new characters (even though I don't even know their names yet). 

So, without further ado, I hope you enjoy (whatever ramblings inside my head make it onto the page). 

~Really, I'm even more confused now than I was before!~

What I walk into... goes straight past surreal to nearly impossible. 

I'm surrounded by blue. That's my first thought. The second is that I'm IMPOSSIBLY HIGH. 

If there's a God up here, please don't let me throw up. 

Before I can procress anything, I automatically reach for Gus' hand. Mine's dripping with sweat. 

He pulls away immediately. 

"What the? Oh Kid, stop that, your palm's all sweaty!" A deep, belly laugh escapes out of him. He's amused at my horror! 

"What do you mean, stop that?! There's no FLOOR!" I try to run, to move in any which way, just away, so I can make sense of what's happening and how we're somehow in the fucking AIR! 

Gus sighs, scratches his neck. "Look kid, or... look Charlie. You're safe, I promise. Nothing is going to happen to you. Look down." 

"That's the last thing I want to do, thank you very much!" Just keep looking at Gus, Charlie. Don't look down.

"Look Charlie. Just look. I've got you." He reaches for my hand. "Sweaty or not. I promise, we're not going to fall. Just look." 

And somehow, as quick as a chiming of a clock, I believe him. 

Taking one quick breath in preparation, I extend my neck outwards. 

What I see, it looks... magical. 

We're in the middle of a boundless sky, seemingly floating in space, but I also know for sure that it isn't, because I can see movement, when random gusts of wind appear. They come and go. I guess you could describe it as an invisible cloud. 

Below us, there are a number of similar invisible clouds, all criss-crossing in multiple directions. Very much like cars, but less noice, with the drivers swearing less. If I look close enough, they actually look like they're behaving pleasantly towards their peers. 

There's no way I'm anywhere near home. 

"You see? You're fine. There's no way we'll be falling." I'd almost forgotten Gus at this point. 

And then I remember why I'm here. 

"Gus, what is all of this? What am I doing here?" 

He taps my hand gently. "All in good time, my young chap. All in good time." Confident now, that I'm not going to pass out, he releases my hand. "Now. Do you want to hang round here a moment longer, or do you want to get where we're going?" 

I take one last glance at wonderous sky, the circular edges, the topsy-turvy vehicles and it's inhabitants, and turn back to Gus. "I'm ready." 

A slight smile plays on the corner of his lips. "Good. I hope you're not against a little bit of SPEED." Before I have a chance to react, we're going at a nosedrive- break point speed! 

Suddenly, we're running at the speed of light, so fast I can't even tell what's around me! We could be about to crash into a tree or a road, or even another cloud! 

"DON'T THINK! DON'T THINK ANYTHING- JUST SEE." I hear in the corner of my ear, so quick, and so quiet, I'm sure I imagined it. 

The blood is pounding in my ears, blocking everything else out, even my terrified screams. 

"DON'T THINK. DON'T THINK. DON'T THINK." 

I close my eyes, trying to block out everything: the urge to throw up, the urge to embarrass myself, sure that this will be the time that I piss everywhere- 

And then, something changes- the feel of it all. Instead of a mad sprint, the whole thing starts to... glide. 

We're light as air. No! Light as a feather. Suddenly, the speed doesn't seem so much anymore. 

"There you go my boy... nice and easy." 

The grim, chomping down on my teeth expression relaxes, just a little. 

"Open your eyes..." Quiet as a whisper I hear it. 

We're flying through a meadow. It's a meadow of these vivacious, bright yellow flowers that give off a particular scent... honey and ginger? I must be going out of my mind... 

"The flowers change. Right now, they're showing you plumeria, but in yellow, based off your essence and energy, and what they think will calm you. I find them most intriguing." 

"You're telling me," a chuckle escapes my throat, "can I touch them? I feel like I should..." I reach down, before Gus can say anything. 

"No, don't!" Gus shouts, way too late. 

"Ah! What was that?!" I gasp, holding my eye. 

"That is what happens when you don't wait until I answer! You just got blasted with seed water, you idiot!" At this point, he's struggling not to laugh, and not succeeding. 

"YOU!" I'm more annoyed than wounded now, and right when I'm thinking of pushing him off this godforsaken cloud- 

"We're here!" He stops dead. 

It's a building, is where we're at. Like a call centre, or a spa. It's light, like everything around her, but dome shaped, very circular. Glass windows, so I can see inside. I have no idea what we're here for. 

"Careful now. You might be a bit dizzy getting off. You have just flown for the first time, after all. 

Sighing, I stretch my leg out, feeling for the ground. "What a load of-" 

I'm on the floor. 

And somehow Gus is helping me up. 

A low chuckle in the back of his throat. "I told you!" He's full on laughing at me now. 

"Stop that!" I shout- but now I'm laughing too. 

This whole thing... I'm really going to miss this, whatever it is. 

"I can't believe this place! The clouds, the flying, how everything is so bright- this isn't heaven is it?" The thought occurs to me so suddenly, I know, straight away, that I'm right. 

Gus' expression changes from laughter to deep worry in seconds. "No, no, no it's not! Listen to me kid, it is not Heaven! You're not dead, neither am I- this is the Cloudlands! The place above Earth. There isn't God! 

"GUS! What are you doing clowning around! You deliberately disobeyed orders, and protocool! Get inside this instant!" Although I know nobody is with us, it sounds like there is, the voice is that loud. It's coming from Gus' headset. 

"Who was that?!" I say, louder than I should. Doesn't matter though, Gus is talking to mystery voice. 

"Yes sir, right away sir." Gus presses a button and turns to me. 

"Sorry about that. That was my Boss, Mr. Budgeswop. He's mad that I disobeyed him, and wants us inside the dome now." 

"Yeah I heard. What kind of a name is Budgeswop?" Smiles playing at the corner of my lips again. 

"Don't ask. But remember when I said that this place isn't Heaven?" 

"Yeah, course. Like two seconds ago." 

"Well, we might be dead after this. Let's go in." Gus leads the way. 

Oh, Joy. 

Okay, that's me done. I'm leaving it there or I'll be writing all night, with no end in sight. 

As always, I hope you enjoyed reading about the ramblings going on inside my head. I have no idea how I started up with this idea, if it's any good or where it's going, but for me at least, it's a nice little project to get my ideas out on paper. 

I hope you all have a wonderful evening and I'll see you all soon!

Byeeeee! 

-Abi xxxxx

Christmas Book Haul

 Hey guys, this is Abi here, 

And since I got/purchased quite a few books in the Christmas period, I thought it would be fun to share them! 

Some of these are in my January TBR, so they won't be a surprise, but other than that, I bet they'll be a few that you won't expect! 

Without further ado, I hope you enjoy!

~Gifted~

As the title suggests, these are the books I was gifted by friends and Jordan. For 4/5 of these I gave them choices (three friends- one of them just went ahead and got me both options- you can decide how I feel about that)). 

1. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Seth Grahame-Smith

Is it bad that I've never actually read the original Pride and Prejudice? Never even watched the film. Yet when I heard about this, I knew it was the book for me. 

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies opens with a plague sweeping the nation- and the dead are returning to life! Elizabeth Bennett is our fiesty heroine- determined to wipe out the walking dead- but she soon becomes distracted by the witty Mr. Darcy. Cue a number of funny, witty, romantic, badass scenes that deals with heartbreak, love, and of course, zombies, and we have our book. 

2. Watermelon (Walsh Family #1), by Marian Keyes

I've already talked about this one in depth on my January TBR, so I won't be going too much into it here. Instead, I'll bullet point it:

• Claire has everything she wants. Good job, wonderful husband, house, and a new baby. Then, hours after she gives birth, her husband tells her he no longer loves her and leaves, leaving a newborn daughter, a broken heart, and a postpartum body she can't bare to look at in the morror. 
• Trying to pick up the pieces that is her life, she decides to move back to Dublin, back to her childhood home. 
• Claire is forced to move on, to stand on her own two feet. 
• And that's when her ex-husband walks back into her life. 

Not complicated at all, eh?

I can't wait to delve back into this series (and hopefully continue with book 3 afterwards, haha). 

From here on out, you'll be seeing a lot of anticipated released from the last year. This is a first for me, because, for many years now, although I haven't deliberately gone against the curve of 'popular reading', I haven't really cared at all, when it was published. Whether it was 1950s, or 2000s, I've just read what I've fancied. So it's kind of nice to know that, in this instance at least, that my 'reading taste' is a bit more current. 

3. Strangers in Time, by David Baldacci

And yet, the first book on the list is a historical fiction, taking place in the blitz! Hor ironic! 

I've already described this book in my anticipated releases post last year (link is here) but I'll go through it once more, in case you don't fancy clicking. 

Strangers in Time follows Charlie; a walkabout orphan, killing time, avoiding bombs until he can go up against the Germans- not knowing if the next blitz might be his last; and Molly, once a young girl, having returned home from the country to a London she no longer recognises. 

The two orphans find eachother in chaos, and seek asylum in a lowly bookshop. The owner, widower, Ignatius Oliver, graciously allows them entry. 

But, aside from Charlie and Molly's individual troubles, Ignatius is harbouring a secret- a secret that led to the death of his wife. As the three become their own version of a family, the main question is this- will their problems tear them apart from the only family they have left?

4. Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke

I've had so many people recommend this book to me. Even Jordan's Mum mentioned it to me at one point. 

Piranesi is a fantasy, nominated for Readers' Favourite Fantasy in 2020. It really doesn't feel like this book has been out for five years. It really doesn't feel like a fantasy. 

But it is. And that's really the only concrete thing I know about this book. 

It sure sounds intriguing though. 

"Piranesi lives in the House. Perhaps he always has. 

Then messages begin to appear, scratched out in chalk

on the pavements. There is someone new in the House. 

But who are they and what do they want?

Lost texts must be found; secrets must be uncovered. 

The world that Piranesi thought he knew is becoming

strange and dangerous. 

The Beauty of the House is immeasurable;

its Kindness infinite."

Confused yet? Yeah, so am I. 

5. Katabasis, by R.F. Kuang

This screams acadamia, because it's Grad student Alice Law, endevouring to be the best- in the field of analytic magick, of course (couldn't be an R.F. Kuang fantasy without magic). 

But to be the absolute best, she has to find a particular person. That person happens to be (rather inconveniently) in Hell. 

What's worse is, her arch rival Peter Murdock is going after him as well. 

Hell is nothing like what the Philosophers say- it's topsy-turvy, it's dangerous, it's sadistic- and like it or not, if Alice wants to achieve her dream, her and Peter are going to have to work together if they want to survive. 

But will they survive without riping eachother to pieces first?

This has a feel of The Nevernight Chronicles to it, and as tough as I found the ending to that trilogy, I have a feeling that I'm going to like this a heck of a lot more. 

Anybody else read this? Want to share your thoughts? My comment bar is below. 

~Christmas Purchases~

1. Not Quite Dead Yet, by Holly Jackson

Holly Jackson's first adult murder mystery. 

Loved A Good Girl's Guide to Murder TV show- and was eager to start something of Holly Jackson's published works. 

This seemed perfect. 

We follows Jet, who is the daughter of one of the wealthiest families in Woodstock, Vermont. At twenty-seven years old, it seems she is just waiting for life to start. 

I'll do it later, she thinks. She has plenty of time. 

Until she's violently attacked, on Halloween. 

The doctors say she has at best a week, until her head injuries turn into a deadly anneurism. 

Jet has never thought she has any enermies, but the violent attack is enough to open her eyes to who it just might be: her family, her ex-best friend turned sister in law, her ex-boyfriend. Her Childhood friend is the only one she can count on. 

She has one week to achieve maybe the most important goal in her entire life. 

Solving her own murder. 

2. Among the Burning Flowers (The Roots of Chaos #0.2), by Samantha Shannon

I'm so behind on this whole saga, I have no idea where this book takes place. 

All I know is I have to keep getting them. 

I will pick up A Day of Fallen Night and read this, and then re-read The Priory of the Orange Tree, because I loved the first release, enough to purchase the other two without knowing much about them. 

Samantha Shannon is one of the top fantasy authors in this day and age, and I feel so priviliged to be able to read about her vast worlds, her extensive characters, the heartbreak, the adventure, the romance, and most of all, DRAGON RIDING.

Dragon Riding. Should have led with that from the start. 

3. The Survivor Wants to Die at the End (They Both Die at the End #2), by Adam Silvera

I have no idea why I'm so excited by this book. It's an irrational want at this point to read any NEW Adam Silvera book- even one that promises to be as emotional as this one. 

I mean, the title pretty much speaks for itself. 

It feels pretty insensitive to give a description of my interpretation of the novel for this one. To be fair, it may not be. But I still don't want to risk offending anyone with the language I use (I'm just going to quote my blurb):

"What happens when you want Death-Cast to call?

Paz Darlo stays up every night, waiting for

the Death-Cast call that would mean he

doesn't have to keep faking his way through 

this lonely life. After a devastating day, Paz

decides he's done waiting around for Death-

Cast. If they say he's not dying, he'll just have

to prove them wrong. But right before Paz

can die, a boy saves his life. 

Alano Rosa is heir to the Death-Cast empire 

that encourages everyone to live their best 

lives, but he doesn't feel in control of his

own existence thanks to his father. And

with a violent organisation called the Death 

Guard threatening Alano, his End Day might

be closer than he thinks. It's time to live. 

Fate brings Paz and Alano together. 

But they must survive the tragic trials

ahead so no one dies at the end." 

I love Adam Silvera books, and I hope to love this too. 

Okay! Those are all the books I was gixted/ purchased over Christmas! If you got any too, please comment down below! I love to read your comments! 

Okay! That's everything I have for you all today! 

I hope you have a wonderful evening and I'll see you all soon! 

Byeeee! 

-Abi xxxxxx

January TBR (2026)

 Hey guys, this is Abi here, 

And it's 2026! The first month of the year- which means a brand new TBR (I promise, I won't be abandoning the books I put to one side after American Gods- in fact, some of those are still being carried through to January). 

I can't wait to show you all what I plan to read this month! (And of course, you're welcome to comment your reading plans below as well.)

Without further ado, I hope you enjoy. 

Let's go all out with our reading and smash it! 

1. Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga #4), by Stephenie Meyer

I started this two days ago, and I'm nearly halfway. To say I'm enjoying my Twilight re-read is an understatement.  

Could I be reading a better written book? Most probably. Does it matter an iota? No it does not. 

It's been several years since I've re-read this series, and I'm so glad I finally took the plunge and picked them up again. This series, as well as the films were my whole world growing up. Age 13-15, I was counting down the days until the next twilight film was released. 

I have no idea what I hope to achieve by reading through this series so fast, because I know I'll be completely lost at it's end, but I don't care at this point- I'm enjoying myself way too much. 

2. Anansi Boys (American Gods #2), by Neil Gaiman

After finishing American Gods, I needed a break, a chance to breath, and read something unplanned. That was The Twilight Saga. Now on the last book, I'm in a much better headspace, and ready to start finishing things. Anansi Boys is the first book on that list- I was gifted this over a year ago by a friend, and it's the last gift present I have from that time. 

Not to mention, it would be nice to say I've finished my first series entirely in 2026. 

Anansi Boys is slightly different from American Gods, in the fact that we have a new protagonist. Shadow's brother, Charlie. Charlie is your ordinary guy- until his god Dad drops dead, and he finds out he has a brother. Shadow. 

Shadow is about to make Charlie's life a lot more interesting- and a lot more dangerous. 

It's 450 odd pages, and I'm predicting it'll take me 7-10 days to finish. Slow going, I know, but every book can't be Twilight, can it?

3. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

I went out on a bit of a limb when I asked for this as a Christmas present. I don't have a huge classic collection, I'm not the biggest Jane Austen buff. I have a few favourites, sure, like everyone else. But something felt right about this book. I love me some zombies, and Pride and Prejudice has always been a book I've been interested to read. 

If there are specific quotes to the original works, I definiely won't recognise them, unless it's a very obvious quote, but from what I gather from the blurb, this takes one of the best classics in modern literature and turns it into something entirely on it's head. 

All I've read is the blurb, and I am 100% hooked. I hope I get to it this month (as it is the shortest book of the bunch). 

4. Watermelon (Walsh Family #1), by Marian Keyes

Out of all of my Christmas book presents, Watermelon is the book I've thought the most about. After getting a taste of the Walsh Family series with Rachel's Holiday, I'm eager to meet the rest of her sisters, and read their stories. 

Claire is the oldest walsh daughter, the type A one- at least, that's the gist I got upon meeting her in Rachel's book. I'll be honest. Her book sounds devastating. She basically has to start her life anew when her husband- the very day she's had their very first baby- tells her he no longer loves her, and is leaving her. That's just cold. 

Left with nothing- no job, a newborn baby, and a postpartum body she can barely stand to look at- Claire returns home to her parents house in Ireland. There, sheltered by the love of her quirky family, she begins to pick up the pieces of her scattered life. So much so, in fact, that when her husband creeps back into her life, he's in for quite a surprise... 

Even I have no idea what this surprise is, but what I do know is I'm ready to sink my teeth into another well-written, mammoth book by Marian Keyes. I want to continue on with the Walsh Family series, and commit as much time as I can to it this year. 

5. The Survivor Wants to Die at the End (They Both Die at the End #2), by Adam Silvera

I was so excited seeing this on the shelf in Waterstones the other week, I couldn't resist. I've loved each Adam Silvera book I've picked up in the past, and although these books don't have the fluffiest theme, I love the message behind this series. 

If you didn't know, the premise for this series is an app called Death Cast, that calls subscribers at midnight on the day they are going to die. Morbid, I know, but the point of the app is to forwarn people, and encourage them to make the most of the day. It even gives people the option to meet up with others that are in the same position- their own last day, so they're not alone. I haven't read a series before or since reading the first release, and I always love the sensitivity in which the story is written. 

I've heard this book is slightly different to the rest in the series. People don't seem to be liking it as much. I will however, be keeping an open mind going into this book, given the sensitive subject. Will let you all know what I think in my wrap up, or review (possibly).

Okay! Those are all the books I want to read in January! I know it must seem like an ambitious target, to read so many books, but I'm working solidly through Breaking Dawn, and I hope to keep making the same progress with Anansi Boys, once I've finished. 

As usual, feel free to comment any books you may have lined up! I love to hear what books you all are into at the moment! 

I hope you have a wonderful day, and I'll be seeing you all soon! 

Byeeeee! 

-Abi xxxxx