There are three major reasons I’ve been M.I.A. One is that I was in a giant reading slump in late September/early October. It was super difficult to read anything, and what I did read was mostly lighter contemporaries. The second reason is how difficult Blogger has made it to write posts. The new interface is driving me insane. I know simple coding, but to have to code almost every single thing when I’ve been using post templates for so long is frustrating. It makes posts that took 30 minutes to write take double or triple that time. I hate it so much. And, my third excuse is just how busy and overwhelming my life has been lately. Work got crazy and life was icky, but, thankfully, things will be slowing down for a while.
Okay, so that’s my long-winded explanation for being gone. However, I probably won’t be posting super often this month either. I’m focusing on getting back into reading books, not writing reviews and stuff. I’m hoping once I get back into reading, the blogging love will return to me. I do plan on writing wrap-ups for each month, though. I just like looking back at them at the end of the year.
In this wrap-up, I’ll list the books I read in September and October, the books I reviewed, the books I bought/received, and my TBR for next month. Now, let’s get this bookish party started!
Books Read in September & October
A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire: 4.5 stars (my review)
Witchling: 3 stars (re-read)
Children of Virtue and Vengeance: 3 stars
Bear, Otter, and the Kid: 3 stars
Unnatural: 3 stars
Kick at the Darkness: 4 stars
Boyfriend Material: 4.5 stars
Conventionally Yours: 3 stars
Brothersong: 4 stars
Bonds of Brass: 3.5 stars
In September, I read seven books. The three ebooks I read were Bear, Otter, and the Kid; Unnatural; and Kick at the Darkness. Four were physical copies: A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire, Witchling, Children of Virtue and Vengeance, and Boyfriend Material. Witchling by Yasmine Galenorn was a re-read, and I’d like to re-read/finish reading the entire Otherworld Sisters series in the next year or so. It’s a long series, so this may take some time. It’s not the best series, but it is fun and unique. As for Children of Virtue and Vengeance, it was the September book club read. Boyfriend Material and the ebooks I read were pretty much just desperate attempts to get me out of a reading slump by consuming light and breezy contemporary/paranormal romance books. And finally, the first book I read for the month of September, and the cause of all of my reading slump pain was AKOFAF by Jennifer L. Armentrout. This book was so amazing that everything just felt blah in comparison. So rude.
In October, I only read three books. Two were physical copies: Brothersong by TJ Klune and Conventionally Yours by Annabeth Albert. I also read Bonds of Brass, an ebook I purchased for cheap on Kindle back in the spring.
I’ve only written a review for one of these reads. I have notes ready to write up reviews for the other books, but I’m not sure when I’ll get to them. Also, none of the books I read these two months were pre-2020 purchases. Yikes.
Books Bought/Received in September & October
Unfortunately, I made a lot of impulse purchases/downloads in a desperate attempt to get out of my reading slump. I won’t be sharing every Kindle Unlimited book I downloaded, but I will share the ones I read. Those include Unnatural by Alessandra Hazard and Bear, Otter, and the Kid by TJ Klune. These were both downloaded in September.
In total, I purchased six books in September. Three were ebooks: Kick at the Darkness by Keira Andrews, The Black Witch by Laurie Forest, and A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire. The Black Witch was cheap on Kindle, so I bought it. AKOFAF I bought as an ebook because my print book wasn’t going to arrive quickly enough for my taste. As for the three print books, I purchased Conventionally Yours by Annabeth Albert. Also, my copies of AKOFAF and Midnight Sun arrived from Amazon, so I was charged in September versus when I ordered them in August. Oh, I also got the September FairyLoot which I sold because the cover of the book was ugly and the items were meh. Additionally, I traded a book for an ARC of Wicked as You Wish.
In October, I purchased one ebook: The Name of the Wind. I also purchased five books that have arrived this month: Legendborn, Brothersong, Spoiler Alert, White Trash Warlock, and Black Sun. Legendborn was the October Owlcrate book. Brothersong was an Amazon order, and Spoiler Alert and White Trash Warlock were from Semicolon online. Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse (not pictured) I purchased at B&N on Halloween. My first time being in a bookstore since this all started. In total, I purchased six books that arrived in October, seven if you count my October FairyLoot that I’ve purchased and just hasn’t arrived yet.
As for new arrivals, my FairyLoot special edition order of the Daevabad series came in, finally. My Owlcrate pre-order special edition of A Deadly Education also came in. I’m kind of disappointed with how this one turned out. Plus, I’ve heard some not-so-great things. I think I’ll stop buying special editions of books if there aren’t photos of the product available beforehand.
Currently Obsessed With
I’m not super obsessed with anything right now. In the month of September, I was very much into Twilight. I was reading all kinds of fanfic, and I just couldn’t find adequate paranormal romance books to slate my thirst. I ended up putting down a lot of books during that time. (I won’t say DNF, simply because I plan on trying them again when I’m not in a slump.)
I did end up watching Schitt’s Creek, however. It was fun. Patrick and David are very cute together, and the Rose family as a whole is entertaining. I’ve been reading a bit of fanfic for it, but there’s not a lot of longer fics out there for this series. Besides Schitt’s Creek, I’m still re-watching Buffy and Angel with my mom—her for the first time. We’re on season seven of Buffy and season four of Angel. Oh, and I finished season two of The Boys, and Supernatural season 15 is almost complete. Supernatural has terrible writing right now, but I’m still dedicated to watching every Thursday. I just hope the last episode is decent. Jared and Jensen deserve that, at the very least.
Currently Reading/November TBR
I’m not really giving myself a TBR this month. I’m wary of forcing myself to read anything after being in another reading slump. Thankfully, this one didn’t last a full year like 2019’s did, but I don’t want to risk spiraling again. I will say that I’m currently reading The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss for my book club’s fall 2020 pick. I’m only 10% in now, so I’ve got a long way to go. I’m also almost finished with A Game of Thrones. Woot! Woot! Only 7% left. Other than those two, I’ve been hoping to re-read The City of Brass and then read The Kingdom of Copper and The Empire of Gold, as well as Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade and White Trash Warlock by David R. Slayton.
***
Okay, well, that’s the months of September and October, plus some November sneak peeks, all wrapped up into one post. Do you have a wrap-up post for this month? If so, share in the comments!
No comments:
Post a Comment
I LOVE your comments! And I do read all of them so keep at it! Thanks for visiting!