My Goings On in October:
- I enjoyed making Halloween costumes with my two older kiddos. I just put the pictures in my Sunday Post, so I won’t post them again, but you can see them HERE.
- I attended the YA Lit Conference at Anderson’s Bookshop. LOVED it! (You can read my recap here.)
- My two oldest had their first swim meet! We’re all enjoying this new sport!
- I finished editing Unscripted by Samantha Long, a New Adult romance that should be releasing very soon!
Most Popular Posts:
A Spoiler-Filled Discussion of Three Dark Crowns – Technically I posted this at the end of September, but it was my most popular post of October, so I’m including it here. I’m excited that people are reading this because I had so much fun writing it! I want to see everyone’s thoughts on the book!!
I Don’t Do Scary (But Books Don’t Scare Me). Let’s Discuss!
September Wrap-Up Round-Up Giveaway – Today is the last day to enter!
Other Features & Discussions:
October Discussion Challenge Link-Up & Giveaway
I Have Giveaway Guilt! Let’s Discuss.
A Recap of the YA Lit Conference & Fandom Frenzy. And a Giveaway! – Still time to enter to win a signed copy of More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera!
The Bloodmark Trilogy by Aurora Whittet: Check Out My Reviews, Whittet’s Top Ten Addictions & a Giveaway! – Still time to enter to win the entire series in hardcover!
Introducing My NaNoWriMo Novel
October Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up – Link up your October recaps here!
My 2016 Reading Progress:
I’m past my 2016 goal!
October 2016 Reviews
Got a good number of reviews up this month. November will be slower with NaNoWriMo.
- Gilt Hollow by Lorie Langdon | Review | Rating: 4/5
- Remember Yesterday by Pintip Dunn | Review | Rating: 4.5/5
- Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven | Review | Rating: 4.5/5
- Gemina by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman | Review | Rating: 5/5
- Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland | Review | Rating: 4/5
- Time Traveling with a Hamster by Ross Welford | Review | Rating: 4/5
- Momotaro: Xander and the Lost Island of Monsters by Margaret Dilloway | Review | Rating: 4.5/5
- Abducted: Escape From Kraile by J.R. Cleveland | Review | Rating: 4/5
- Twisted World by Kate L. Mary | Review | Rating: 4/5
- Silent World by Kate L. Mary | Review | Rating: 4/5
- Broken Stories by Kate L. Mary | Review | Rating: 5/5
- More Than Survival by Kate L. Mary | Review | Rating: 3.5/5
- Fighting for a Future by Kate L. Mary | Review | Rating: 4.5/5
- Alone by Kate L. Mary | Review | Rating: 4/5
October Best of the Bunch:
Definite winner this month is Gemina (even though I actually read the book months ago—I always count books the month I review them, not when I read them).
Reading Challenges:
Status: 35/49 Discussions posted
Obviously I’m not going to quite make it to my goal for the discussion challenge, but I knew that goal was pretty much unattainable when I started (I really meant to change the levels this year. Oh well. 🙂 )
Introducing My NaNoWriMo Novel
A Recap of the YA Lit Conference & Fandom Frenzy
I Don’t Do Scary (But Books Don’t Scare Me).
I Have Giveaway Guilt!
I’ve Been Known to Go Off on a Tangent … Or Two.
A Spoiler-Filled Discussion of Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
A Spoiler-Filled Discussion of Me Before You: Book and Movie
What Do You Think of Goodreads’ New Look?
Sex and Violence in YA Books: Is There a Difference?
How Reading Can Help Us “See” Hidden Disabilities
My Foray into Anime and Manga
Audiobook Acceleration
I Dream in YA!
The Perils of Growing a Bigger Blog
Is Celibacy Shaming a Thing?
Fun with Spam!
#BEA16 Day One Wrap-Up & Giveaway!!
#BEA16 Day Two Wrap-Up & Jennifer Niven Holding Up the Universe Giveaway!!
#BEA16 Day Three Wrap-Up and Giveaway
Do Stats and Reports Help You?
Do Author Bios Ever Make You Want to Read a Book?
BEA is Coming Soon! What You Need to Know. (BEA Tips)
A Completely Useless (but kind of fun) Bookish Infographic
The Series Dilemma
Sometimes You Just Need to Disappear for a Little While
How Much Do You Read?
The Fine Line Between “Inspired By” and “Copycat”
Can Book Blogging Lead to a Job
Some Books Just Aren’t All That Memorable
Books that Intimidate Us
2015 End of Year Book Survey
Replying to Comments on Older Posts
What Blogging Has Done to My Bookshelves
What Type of YA MC Would You Be?
Culling the TBR
HOST/SIGN-UP LINK – Feed Your Fiction Addiction & It Starts at Midnight
Status: 6/5 Books Read
Gemina is pretty much the epitome of this challenge!!
HOST/SIGN-UP LINK – Shooting Stars Mag
Status: 16/12 Books Read
Holding Up the Universe has a black main character.
Momotaro: Xander and the Island of Lost Monsters has a half-Japanese main character and is based on Japanese folklore!
I’m pretty sure Gemina and The Lovely Reckless also had diverse casts, but I can’t remember for sure, so I’m not counting them.
HOST/SIGN-UP LINK – Chasing Faerytales & Read Sleep Repeat
Status: 12/21-30 Books Read
I read Broken Stories this month, which I’ve owned since last year (even though it’s on my Kindle and not technically on my shelf, I’m counting it!)
HOST/SIGN-UP LINK – Chapter Break, Second Run Reviews & Bookworm Brandee
Status: 6/12 Series Finished
I finished the Broken World Series this month and read some companion books and stories!
HOST/SIGN-UP LINK – Love at First Page
Status: 7/9-10 New Series
Nothing this month.
HOST/SIGN-UP LINK – Lisa Loves Literature
Wrap-Up Round-Up!
Don’t forget to link your October wrap-up posts up to the Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up! And check out the giveaway, which will be posted over at Lisa Loves Literature on the 6th!
So many wonderful reads! Spindle caught my eye!
Happy Halloween! And Happy November!
I would imagine your November will be even more busy with Nano. The best of luck!
Yes! I’m really nervous about being overwhelmed this month, but it’s worth it because I really think the push that NaNo gives you to actually write is SO helpful!
Yeah, Gemina really IS the epitome of the unique format challenge. That’s awesome you read one over your original goal! As for diverse casts, there is diversity in Gemina. I’m pretty sure Nik and his whole family are Latino/Latina, but I’m not 100% sure if that’s the right ethnicity.
-Lauren
I bought Gemina last weekend. I hope I like it as much as you did. Happy November!
Good luck with your NaNoWriMo challenge! I love the sound of your novel, and how it was inspired by your real-life experiences (but with a magical twist.)
Congrats on finishing the editing project! And your kids’ costumes look awesome 😀 Good luck with NaNo – I’m going to go read your post about it now.
Congrats on completing your GoodReads goal! I just completed mine a week or two ago – such a good feeling! 🙂 I am so excited to read The Lovely Reckless and hope to get to it soon.
GEMINA! My copy finally arrived so I’ll be reading it soon! I was in a bit of a book reading slump when it arrived so I held off. Thrilled that it was your favorite of the bunch 😀
I just got Gemina last week and now I can’t wait to read it even more!
I was not as in love with Illuminae as many were–I liked the format, but found the story a bit trite.
I really like your challenges, but just don’t ever get organized enough to follow through on them. I need a secretary to do the tracking for me! Wouldn’t that be terrific?!?
Gemina sounds like a good book. I am going to have to look into it more, I am not familiar with it at all.