Good morning, all! I'm checking in to say that I'm still kickin' (kind of), readin' (less), and grad school preppin' (very much).

I could probably fill this whole post with my graduate school application woes, but I'm not quite committed to renaming this place Shaina Applies to Graduate School. After a brief but intense existential crisis ("Do I even want to apply to graduate school?"), I'm back in the saddle, juggling GRE math exercises and statement of purpose drafts. Math is math, and I continue to be amazed by how much statements of purpose are like cover letters but somehow worse. On the bright side, my GRE testing date falls the day before next month's Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon, and I'm thrilled to have a built-in way to celebrate the beast being over. All-day reading parties are the best parties.

Speaking of bookish goodness, I finished a book last week! I was in desperate need of something I could fly through, and The Fever by Megan Abbott fit that bill swimmingly. Abbott brought me back to being a high school girl in a way that was both deeply nostalgic but also left me relieved when I realized how much I've changed since then. Bonus: it totally fit in with the R.I.P. X theme.

This week, I'll continue chugging along with IT. I hit the halfway point in my audio book last night, and I think the slow burn is finally erupting into an inferno. I can no longer listen to it if I'm home alone at night, and my boyfriend might be a little worried about me.

If I have time, I'm also going to dive in to Ancillary Mercy, the final installment in Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch trilogy. I requested an ARC from Orbit ages ago and had just about given up hope, and I shrieked when it arrived unannounced a couple of weeks ago. Did I mention my boyfriend is worried about me?

I'm hoping to get a review up this week (The Heart Goes Last, anyone?), but, as per usual lately, we'll just have to see.