Oh my, is October over already. That means it's November. Which means that Thanksgiving is this month. Which means that freaking Christmas is next month!!! What???? Where the heck has 2014 gone? And why is it freezing cold? Come back summer. I miss you. The blog was actually pretty quiet for the month of October and I apologize for that. I've just had so much going on lately. I haven't been reading as much and therefore, haven't been blogging as much. November is probably not going to be much better. And then December is Christmas, so I guess prepare for the blog to slow down a bit during the holidays coming up. I know you'll all understand though. And that is why I love you all. <3 But I still managed to review 10 books in the month of October! Woot!
Reviews:
Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer: 3 Stars
Exquisite Captive by Heather Demetrios: 3 Stars
Stray by Elissa Sussman: 2.5 Stars
H2O by Virginia Bergin: 3 Stars
Bleed Like Me by Christa Desir: 3 Stars
Snow Like Ashes by Sarah Raasch: 4 Stars
Sublime by Christina Lauren: 2 Stars
Stone Cold Touch by Jennifer L. Armentrout: 5 Stars
Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers: 4.5 Stars
Three by Kristen Simmons: 4.5 Stars
The month didn't start off so great, but it got a lot better towards the end!
Other Posts:
I talked a little bit about my own personal writing and my progress on that. I gave you my list of Top Tortured Book Boyfriends and I also talked about characters that I want to dress up as for Halloween. And that was just about it. I epically failed on non-review posts last month. I'll try to be better this month. I especially want to get back into the swing of discussion posts, because those are always my favorite to write.
In My Real Life:
Busy, busy, busy. Let's see.
1. I started running. I know right? I am just as shocked as you are. I despise running. Hate running. But then my friend talked me into going with her one day. She tracked our distance, lied to me and said we were only going two miles and then we ended up doing three. And you know what? I was okay. Totally 100% fine. And I couldn't believe I ran three miles. So then I went again. And again. And again. And now I'm going consistently both with her and on my own. I did 3.5 miles the other day at an average 10:24 pace. What?? How? I don't know. I just did it. And I'm so proud of myself.
2. At the end of the month, I went back to Chicago with Phil for my Grandmother's memorial service. It was a rough weekend, but it was also really nice to spend time with my family and just remember all the good times we had with Grammy. My aunt and uncle put together a slideshow with hundreds of pictures and it just really made me realize how much better off she is now. Looking at pictures of her from even 4 months ago, she looked like a completely different person. That's how fast her health deteriorated. I'm so happy that she's in a better place now with Grandpa, getting heaven ready for all the rest of us.
3. The rest of my month was mostly filled with work, work and more work. I've been putting in a ton of overtime lately because we've been crazy busy. Which is another reason I haven't been blogging as much. I have also been epically failing on commenting. I am so sorry, but please know that I am still visiting your blogs and reading; I just don't always have time to comment.
Fast-Forward:
This is the part where I normally gush over all the November releases I'm looking forward to, but... is it just me, or is there a lull in releases during the month of November? I looked at my GR and there are some being released, but none I'm like DYING for. So I guess I'm skipping this section this month.
That's all guys! What are some awesome books that you read in October? Did anybody dress up as any awesome book characters? Are there a bunch of November releases that I'm just totally missing?
Sorry things have been so busy, but I think everyone slows down on blogging/commenting in November/December, there's just a lot going on. Traveling, family, shopping, etc.
ReplyDeleteGreat that you're running! I saw a tank top the other day at Pink that said "I hate running." I thought about buying and then running in it. :) I used to run but I haven't in a long time. I recently switched to rowing and it's been a lot of fun! Just need to do something to feel healthy.
As far as November books, there have been a few I'm excited about. The Retribution of Mara Dyer!!! I was crazily excited about that one and read it the day it came out. If you haven't read that series, I highly recommend it and you can binge read! And then there's The Dreamer's Pool by Juliet Marillier. I really like fantasy and I loved the Shadowfell series so I have high hopes for that one. And I was excited about A Thousand PIeces of You. Other November books I'm excited to read are Revolution by Jenna Black and Stolen, the second Heart of Dread book. There's quite a few I'm excited about in December. ~Pam
Very true. And all those things are important. I think it's good to sometimes take a step back from the blog and just enjoy family or even just enjoy reading w/o having to think about reviewing.
DeleteI need that tank top to run in! Rowing looks sooo hard! But I bet you have beautiful arms! lol
I haven't started the Mara Dyer series yet. I was waiting for the last one and then I will binge it. I've heard so many good things.
I've never heard of The Dreamer's Pool or Revolution. I'll have to look them up. I have the first Heart of Dread book, but haven't read it yet. I take it you liked it if you're excited for the 2nd one?
Oh that's so cool that you're running! I haven't gotten as much time to work out or run recently. :( Also, I'm a wuss and only run like 2 miles. Haha. I really really want to work out more. Usually i do weekends but today it was soooo cold and rainy outside I chickened out. Oops.
ReplyDeleteAhhh work. I hope it eases up for you! Seriously, I feel like I don't have time for anything with work now. I'm so exhausted after work that I'm pretty much useless. I'm coming into more of a routine, kind of, so hoping I settle into it.
I'm so behind on reading, I don't even know what's releasing right now! Gahh. Also, since I've been trying to do nano, I really haven't read much. I'm also way too behind on nano to finish but hey, i figure I'm writing and that's good. :)
When it's cold outside, I get soooo lazy. I just want to curl up under a blanket. My problem is that I hate treadmills and much prefer to run outside, so if it's super cold, I tend to just skip rather than go to the gym.
DeleteI know right? This whole work thing sucks. I need more time to read and write!! I'm going to attempt to do Nano even tho I missed the whole first week being in Cancun. But I'm going to aim for like 40,000 words I think. But that means I'll fall really behind on my reading too. :( Not enough hours in the day.