Monthly Reading Wrap Up -- September 2017

I totally forgot to start compiling my monthly wrap up until about two hours before midnight, right before October... which really isn't a big deal, I know.  But I'm usually so anal about these things that I've usually got my wrap ups ready to post, with a few last minute edits, at least three or four days in advance.  I have this thing about pre-drafting a lot of my posts.

Anyway, life has been kind of hectic, both in my reading life and real life.

Having a few fun past times have been kind of nice to take my mind off of things, though:  Halloween Bingo, some random television music programs I watch passively, and some sort of farming game where you grow stuff and sell stuff and buy stuff and grow more stuff to sell and make money to buy stuff...

Yeah...  The game wastes a lot of time.  That's why I'm glad I got into audio books, though, admittedly, I haven't listened to an audio book for the past two weeks.

Anyway, September was a good reading month, I'd say.  I didn't read all the books I wanted to read, but I made some really good progress for Halloween Bingo.  I read some books I hadn't planned on previously, but sometimes these subtle changes in reading mood aren't so bad.  See my most recent update to see the almost finished Red Eyes Penni Bingo card frame!

September Reads

Books Dropped/Put On Hold

None this month!  Yay!

Currently Reading

September Reading Stats

Total works read: 14

• 10 print/e-book novels
• 3 audio books
• 1 novella

Average rating: 3.46 Stars

• Highest Rated:  6 books // 4.0 Stars
• (1) Canyons of Night by Jayne Castle
• (2) The Tokyo Zodiac Murders by Soji Shimada
• (3) Blue Dahlia by Nora Roberts
• (4) Every Secret Thing by Susanna Kearsley
• (5) Black Rose by Nora Roberts
• (6) The Lotus Palace by Jeannie Lin
• Lowest Rated:  The Thin Man // 2.0 Stars

Series I started reading:

• Vicky Bliss by Elizabeth Peters
• In the Garden by Nora Roberts
• Kate Murray by Susanna Kearsley
• The Pingkang Li Mysteries by Jeannie Lin

Series I completed:

• The Arkwell Academy by Mindee Arnett
• Arcane Society by Jayne Ann Krentz / Amanda Quick

Series I have made progress on:

• Harmony by Jayne Castle

Favorite reads:  I'd say I had a pretty good run of books this month, judging by how many four star reads I ended up with.  Of all of those, I'd have to say that my most favorites so far for Halloween Bingo are the two In the Garden books I've read--currently I'm finishing up the last of the trilogy, Red Lily and enjoying it as well.  A close second would be The Tokyo Zodiac Murders, though The Lotus Palace doesn't fall short either.

Every Secret Thing is a special mention--it's not a favorite this month, but it is written beautifully, and gives an old-timey nostalgia type of feeling that I really appreciated.

Disappointing reads:  I don't know why I'm disappointed in Brenda Novak's Dear Maggie, but the truth is that I had been expecting more than what I actually got out of it.  And that's really all.  I would say that The Thin Man is a disappointing read as well... but I really didn't know what to expect going into it--at least now I know that these books are probably not for me.

Reviews & Notable Posts

Reviews Written

• Quicksilver by Amanda Quick
• Canyons of Night by Jayne Castle
• The Camelot Caper by Elizabeth Peters
• The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett | Review transfer
• The Nightmare Dilemma by Mindee Arnett | Review transfer
• The Nightmare Charade by Mindee Arnett
• The Tokyo Zodiac Murders by Soji Shimada
• The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
• Dear Maggie by Brenda Novak
• Halloween Bingo Short Book Ramblings -- Garden of Lies; Every Secret Thing; On the Night of the Seventh Moon; The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Memes

• Did Not Meme This Month!

Other Posts

• COYER Summer 2017 | Reading List Wrap Up!
• Halloween Bingo 2017 | Update #1 -- First Book Read! (at BL only)
• Halloween Bingo 2017 | Update #2 -- One Week In!
• Starting: Every Secret Thing
• Halloween Bingo 2017 | Update #3 -- Week Two Down!
• Collective Reading Updates: The Thin Man
• A Ranting Update: Dear Maggie
• Reading Update for Black Rose: Made me laugh
• Halloween Bingo 2017 | Update #4 -- Week Three Ramblings!
• Halloween Bingo 2017 | Update #5 -- Mid Game!

Coming Up In October

Tentative TBR

Other Stuff

Before the month of September I had had a tentative list of books to read for Halloween Bingo; but just as we all know, reading moods dictate what actually ends up happening in real time, and so a few of my books got swapped around.  I more or less stayed on track with my chosen books, so I'm quite satisfied.  Of course, as I know that history will repeat itself, more than likely, a few more book choices will probably be given a swap for the rest of the game as well.  And then there are the two squares I haven't quite chosen a book for yet.

For the month of October, I predict that I will probably just end up reading more for Halloween Bingo, and possibly one or two books that are non-Halloween Bingo; unlike September where all the books I read (except for one novella) were Halloween Bingo books.

Already, I'm trying to figure out how to fit Kylie Brant's newest book release, Deep As The Dead into Halloween Bingo--a new installment of her Mindhunter series, I had briefly considered plugging it into the 'Murder Most Foul' square, and swapping out Every Secret Thing and moving it somewhere else.  This decisions is still in the air.  The Girl Who Knew Too Much is also a book I may include into Halloween Bingo, though I have a feeling it'll probably end up as my 'Creepy Raven Free Space' read.

2017 Wrap-Ups 

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

(updated as year progresses by month)
January | February | March | April | May | June
July | August | September | October | November | December