Wrap-Up | October 2019

Well... Blogtober went down the pan, didn't it? I do have all the blog posts typed up, but never had a chance to paste them into the web, take photos and then add all the links. Perhaps I'll save them, some I might put up in the coming weeks as they are most autumnal discussion posts and others I'll save and edit them for next year. I don't just like saving the planet, I like saving my words too.

Hex Life: Wicked New Tales of Witchery
Edited by Christopher Golden and Rachel Autumn Deering
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Goodreads
My Thoughts:
I still need to post my review for this. I had planned to post it around the release date, however, things have gotten in the way. I really loved this collection and thought it was well thought out and put together. The Night Nurse is still giving me goosebumps.

The Lie Tree
Francis Hardinge
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Goodreads
My Thoughts:
I've been really good at reading all the book titles that have just been sitting on my shelf for years. This was the second-longest titled I owned and honestly, I shouldn't regret reading it sooner, but I do. Atmospheric, suspenseful, and magical, Hardinge managed to balance history and the strange to create a masterful children's novel.

The Devouring Gray
Christine Lynn Herman
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Goodreads
My Thoughts:
A lot of these books I still need to type up my reviews and this is one of them. I thoroughly enjoyed this one, for the most part, the characters of Violet and Isaac. There's just something magical about small-town settings that just works for contemporary fantasy settings and Herman got the tone perfect.

Northern Lights (His Dark Materials #1)
Philip Pullman
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Goodreads
My Thoughts:
I thought I remembered these books. That I knew the story, the characters and every plot nuance that Pullman put together in this wonderful novel. I was so wrong. The whole experience felt like coming home after being away for a long stretch of time. Nothing changes, the words haven't changed, but I have. My perception of the motivations and characters have changed; I've matured to a point where I can read other meanings into the prose. Just fantastic!

Of Sand & Malice Made (The Song of the Shattered Sands #1)
Bradley Beaulieu
⭐⭐⭐
Goodreads
My Thoughts:

A couple of months later, and my memory of this one is a little hazy. It was a fun little read and gave a little more backstory on Çeda; although, I'm not sure if this will tie into book two and onwards, that's something I am looking forward to finding out next year.

Stardust (2007)
Dir. Mathew Vaughn
I finally managed to convince my brother to watch Stardust for the first time this month. The verdict: "It was good, but I fell asleep." So I'll need to try again, but maybe this time, not at 10pm? 
Stardust is one of my favourite books; the audiobook, alone, I've listened to twice this year. Although I felt guilty about marking it in my reading challenge twice. I understand quite a few folks that I follow, online, read it recently and didn't enjoy as much as I do. The film is a little more child-friendly than the book, but I'm okay with that because it makes for a fantastic fun adventure film. 

Like I mentioned, Blogtober was a massive failure. And some people have noticed that I have gone a little radio silent. There are a few reasons for that, the main one being that for three days a week my time is taken up by my role as a PR intern. I am absolutely loving it so far! It has given me a real taste of what it is like to be working in the PR sector and so far - I can safely say that this is what I want to continue doing. I just wish I was working in the publishing or entertainment sector, instead of where I have ended up.

As mentioned, Blogtober went downhill pretty quickly. As disappointed as I am, it did mean that I have some good pre-written content. When I'll post it, it is another problem entirely.


Apart from that, there isn't anything else that needs to be reported for the month of October.