Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Monthly Reading Wrap Up -- October 2016

The end of October meant the end of the Halloween Bingo 2016!  I'm not going to lie:  I had a ton of fun!  The books I read the past two months were great.  But the most fun was doing my "research" for each square of the Halloween Bingo Card.  Finding new books and learning about new authors is always a plus for me, and when these new searches and new reads leads me to new favorites, my reading life is just all up in the giddy.

I'm actually quite impressed with myself at the number of books I'd been able to put away, as well as the fact that I even managed to complete the Bingo activity with two days to spare.  What I'm really proud of, however, is the fact that the majority of my books were full-length novels.  While three were audio books that I could listen to while multi-tasking, only two of the twenty-five books were short stories; the rest were full-length.  Then on top of that, I still had time to finish my Reading Assignment books as well as insert two 2016 new releases, getting them both read in October--I had read one new 2016 release in September as well.

So, all-in-all, I think I had a pretty good month.  A pretty great past two months, even!

October Reads




Books Dropped/Put On Hold


None this month!  Yay!


Currently Reading


Misborn The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson (audio narrated by Michael Kramer)
Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers (audio narrated by Erin Moon)
The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart
Deeply, Desperately by Heather Webber


October Reading Stats

Total works read:  15
  • 13 full length novels
  • 1 novellas
  • 1 audio book

Average rating:  3.5 Stars
  • Highest Rated:  P.S. I Like You by Kasie West // 4.5 Stars
  • Lowest Rated:  Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman // 2.5 Stars

Series I started reading:
  • Dead Wrong by Jami Alden
Series I completed:
  • The Dregs by Leigh Bardugo
  • Voodoo in Mojo by Stephanie Bond
Series I have made progress on:
  • Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Favorite reads:  Three particular books caught my favorites list in October, one of them quite by surprise, and another quite pleasantly.  Six of Crows was an excellent ending to an equally excellent duology and I had expected nothing less--which means that, even going in with high expectations, I was not disappointed.  And Then There Were None was a pleasantly enjoyable classic read that I hadn't really had any pre-conceived expectations to begin with, but ended up loving anyway, and that's always a plus.

 P.S. I Love You honestly took me completely by surprise--I've always been a fan of Kasie West since the first book of hers I'd read, but going by my mediocre liking of the previous two books she released, I honestly didn't know what to expect from her newest book, but I went into it with some wariness... and ended up with a lovely Book Hangover that still lingers even as I write this paragraph.  I have no complaints about that at all, honestly.  =D

Disappointing reads:  To be honest, there weren't very many books that I didn't like in October, but if I truly had to choose one or two disappointing reads, I'd single out Practical Magic and Beg for Mercy.  I hadn't really been expecting much from Practical Magic, to be honest, and didn't go into it with too many expectations, though I could see that it's a popular book thanks to the movie adaptation back in the 90's.  I didn't really like the book itself, but I wish I could have because it's got a great premise to it.  Beg for Mercy just wasn't what I was expecting, and to be honest, would have been a great book if I could have gotten past the frustrating characters.


Reviews & Notable Posts

Reviews Written


Memes


Other Posts



Coming Up In Month

Tentative TBR


Other Stuff

These next two months in my reading life will be just as packed as the previous two months, but not as aggressively so.  I will be participating in a Read-Along for Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy (also known as the Arthurian Saga with two additional books).  With some other BookLikes friends, we will be reading only the first three books over the next two months, then deciding whether to finish it off with the last two.  Being me, I will probably end up seeking out the last two books anyway.

Moonlight Reader has also announced a new seasonal bookish activity:  the Twelve Tasks of the Festive Season.  This takes place, starting November 1, 2016, and will end on January 2, 2017.  I will be participating casually in this one since I'm not sure how many tasks I'll be able to finish anyway; and I will be keeping an updated summary page that I have yet to make--the summary page will be linked accordingly when I finally write and post it.

Other plans and activities for this month really just include getting ready for the holiday season, finishing up (or giving up on) some yearly reading challenges.  There may also be some more blog organizing going on as I try to continue transferring reviews to the Blogspot book blog, as well as sync my link pages, indices, and other possible blog content pages between BookLikes and Blogspot.

I feel like there will be enough to keep me busy, but I will still remember to make time to socialize with everyone else, both bookish community and real life.  And also take care of some long-standing To-Do's that have been hanging on my To-Do List for too long.


2016 Wrap-Ups 

See Also: 2015 Reading Wrap-Up posts (scroll to bottom of page)

Monthly Reading Wrap Up -- January 2016
Monthly Reading Wrap Up -- February 2016
Monthly Reading Wrap Up -- March 2016
Monthly Reading Wrap Up -- April 2016
Monthly Reading Wrap Up -- May 2016
Monthly Reading Wrap Up -- June 2016
Monthly Reading Wrap Up -- July 2016
Monthly Reading Wrap Up -- August 2016
Monthly Reading Wrap Up -- September 2016


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