Monthly Wrap Up: September 2018

I managed, somehow, to have almost two entire free weekends in September! I spent some of that time reading, but I also caught up on review writing and such as well. I did go off my reading schedule a couple of times (ultimately I’m a mood reader, so this happens sometimes). Whoops!

I finished 19 books in September. 16 SFF novels, 2 Adult Romances, and 1 YA Romance. A few of these were novellas. One of the things I went off my reading schedule with was The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. (Whoops!) I binge read them while I was sick with the flu. My fevered brain demanded Murderbot, what can I say?

I also managed to get through 4 review requests/ARC’s. Which is great! But then I still have a backlog of review requests (which I am pretty much on schedule with, at least) and just got some new ARC’s in my inbox so I feel like I’m back at square one in a way. Such is life.

I finished up this month by attending the Baltimore Book Festival. I’ll have a full post on that coming soon.

Overall, this was still a very good month for me in reading, even if I do feel like I’m starting to fall behind for some reason. I don’t think I actually am, it just feels like it. O.o

Favorite Reads of the Month:

• Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw. Such a unique feeling Urban Fantasy series! It’s…kind of hopeful. Full of lovely people and even lovelier monsters being nice to each other. Well, except the whole sect out to kill monsters. I loved this one so much I had to say to hell with my reading schedule and immediately pick up the second book. Is it possible to fall in love with a book series?
• The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty. Honestly thought this was going to be a 3-3.5 star read for me through some of it. But then that ending! I listened to this on audio, and it’s fairly lengthy, but the last 2 hours was so riveting. Literally had to pick up my jaw off the floor, a few times, during the end of this one.
• All Systems Red by Martha Wells. People kept telling me to read Murderbot, that I would love it because I’m basically Murderbot and I’m here to tell those people–yes. Yes, you were correct. I love everything about Murderbot and I can’t wait for the new one to come out in October.
• The Magpie Lord by K.J. Charles. A historical LBGTQ+ fantasy romance? Yes, please. This book was so much fun! I really fell in love with these characters. I wound up binge reading the entire series over a few days. Shoutout to my girls at The Fantasy Inn for the rec!

September’s Book Reviews:

Here are all the book reviews that went up in September in case you missed them. I managed to get out 10 reviews. Not bad, a little above average for me.

 

 

 

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Book of Hidden Things by Francesco Dimitri

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your Ghost or Mine by Shannon Kostyal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Traitor’s Blade by Sebastien de Castell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spinning Silk by T. Cook

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year One by Nora Roberts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Demons Within by Ashe Armstrong

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phoenix Unbound by Grace Draven

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman by Theodora Goss

 

 

 

 

 

Other Posts:

I posted a couple of book tags in September and one book haul. Also, continued with my Friday Favorite Five posts covering a wide variety of topics.

• This is My Genre Tell Me Yours Book Tag
• Reading Habits Book Tag
• Goodreads Book Tag
• New Arrivals! (Book Haul)

Plans for October:

October is my favorite month of the year, and not only because it has both my birthday and Halloween (although that certainly helps). Fall is my favorite season. I love when the weather gets cooler and the leaves change colors. If it could be fall longer, I’d be very happy.

Usually in October I am prepping for NaNoWriMo. I’ve participated in NaNo every year since 2005, although I haven’t ‘won’ even half the time I’ve done it. Lately I seem to give up about half-way through. This is the first year where I’m not sure if I’ll be doing NaNo. With me blogging again full-time and all of the other commitments I have, I’m just not sure I’ll have the time. I could probably get away with writing at lunch break at work and still do it, but I’m not sure I want to put another task on myself while I’m already so busy. But the thought of not doing it makes me kind of sad. So we’ll see, I guess. Still unsure. I’ll probably do a write-up about it at the very least.

Other than that, I’ll be prepping for my first ever major SFF convention, World Fantasy Convention, the beginning of November. And of course, more reading and more writing reviews. Priorities will be review requests, then mood reads. Hoping I can finish up a few more series before the end of the year as well…and time is starting to run out as we get into the last few months of the year.

That was my September and plans for next month! How did everyone else do during September? Any plans for October? Leave me a note in the comments, I’d love to hear from you!