October Wrap-Up: Still slumpin’

It’s autumn and I am struggling.

Pandemic + shorter days + going to school while working full-time tired me out.

I DID finish my second editing course. So that’s fun.

Instead of signing up for my final class right away, I decided to take some time off from school to socialize and read.

I was successful with socializing; reading-wise, I DNFed a lot of books.

And I mean a lot.

Life Updates

HEY! It’s Scorpio Races month!

To commemorate the book’s tenth anniversary, OwlCrate released a special edition Scorpio Races-themed box.

Friends…it was fantastic.

I didn’t take pictures of all the items, so you’ll have to take my word for it. The box had tea! A travel poster! A November Cakes-scented candle! A Malvern Yards blanket scarf!

Best of all, it had a special edition of The Scorpio Races.

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I’m in love.

Can’t wait to reread it sometime this month.

In other news, I decided to do NaNoWriMo after all!

I spent the last few weeks of October prepping.

This year, I’m writing fanfic and sending the chapters to my friends to read. It’s keeping me motivated.

You can follow my progress here.

Reading Stats

In October, I completed 12 books and DNFed 11 books for a total of 23 books.

To paraphrase Princess Mia, I am clearly anhedonic. I can only enjoy cheeseburgers.

Last month, YA fantasy really tested my patience. I’m tempted to stop reading the genre altogether.

Of the books I read in October,

• 91% were fiction
• 4.5% were nonfiction
• 4.5% were graphic novels

• 74% were physical books
• 9% were audiobooks
• 17% were e-books

• 35% were Young Adult
• 56% were Adult
• 9% were Middle Grade

• 91% were new books
• 9% were rereads

The trend continues: gay fantastical romances all day every day.

THIS IS MY BRAND, I GUESS.

My top moods for the month were emotional, adventurous, lighthearted, and, in a surprising departure, dark. (It was Halloween, I suppose.)

Everything I read was more-or-less enjoyable with some aggressively average books thrown in, resulting in a monthly average rating of 3.88.

I only gave one book 4.5 stars. This is unheard of. I usually give out 5-star ratings like they’re going out of style.

I was tired and nothing tickled my fancy, I guess.

I read some witch books and a dark romance or two.

Let’s talk about them.

Notable Books

Bad news: what if I don’t like witch books after all?

I read several witchy books last month and thought they were…meh.

I didn’t buy the romance in The Ex Hex.

I also thought the story decided to have a capital-P Plot way too late in the game.

The setting was cute, I guess? The fall vibes were fine? Other than that, I did not have a good time!

The other witchy book I managed to finish was Edie in Between.

The book seemingly posited that grief is a destructive force that must be defeated.

I AM SUPER NOT ON BOARD WITH THAT.

I also felt like the author let a certain character off the hook way too easily and far too late. I didn’t like it.

As for the other witchy books I started last month? DNF. I wasn’t invested. (I’ll talk more about Payback’s a Witch next month.)

I read Silver in the Wood for the heck of it and really liked it! I even teared up a little!

I may or may not read the sequel because that’s the kind of person I am.

Oh man, here’s an update: I read From Blood and Ash.

Was it good? NO.

Did I love it? YES.

FBAA was very fun and used its explicit scenes to explore relationship dynamics.

10/10. I had a great time.

Here’s my second October reading rant:

I have not been enjoying YA fantasy lately.

I don’t know why!

Whenever I start a YA fantasy book, my interest wanes PRETTY QUICK.

It’s definitely a Me problem; the books themselves are probably fine.

My heartfelt apologies to These Hollow Vows, Caraval, and Crave.

Never mind, not Crave. That book was actively Bad.

I read through This is Our Rainbow in a day and LOVED it (except for one story that felt JARRINGLY out of place.)

This anthology was so good!! A. J. Sass’s story made me tear up. I would say this anthology is on-par with other queer anthologies like All Out and No Man of Woman Born.

I just loved this so much. It gave me warm fuzzies.

Speaking of warm fuzzies, YOU ALL WERE RIGHT.

I LOVED GET A LIFE, CHLOE BROWN.

I adored Red’s storyline. I loved that, though he was trying to heal, he still got triggered. THAT’S SUPER REALISTIC AND I APPRECIATE IT SO MUCH.

I’ve been putting off reading the sequels because my hopes are so high.

Maybe I will finally break down and buy them once I get paid. Who knows.

That was October. It felt very long and also went by very quickly.

I hope you all are having a productive and/or restful time.

Happy NaNo! Stay off the beach!