September & October Wrap-Up | Back From Hiatus, Blog Redesign, and New Blogging Schedule (maybe?)

Hello, hello, everyone! I am back! It’s been over a month since my last post and I’m happy to say that the break I took was really good for me. I was gone for a lot longer than I expected but school was taking up most of my time and I wasn’t feeling ready to come back yet.

But I have returned and am excited to resume blogging! I’m going to be doing two months in this wrap up, as well as give you some updates about the blog, so let’s get into it!

Oh and by the way, where did this year go? I know I say this in literally all my wrap-ups, but I can’t believe it’s almost November. I swear 2021 only started a little while ago, it does not feel like it’s been 11 months. Okay, now we’ll start.

BOOKS READ IN SEPTEMBER

I managed to read 4 books in September which is more than I expected. I thought Muse of Nightmares was going to take me a lot longer than it did, but I’m guessing it was because I’m now used to Laini Taylor’s writing style.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Crown of Thunder by Tochi Onyebuchi|★★★★
I really enjoyed Beasts Made of Night, the first in the series, and Crown of Thunder was just as good. With a lot more action and fascinating growth from the characters, this book was a lot of fun to read. The idea of the sin-beasts is what originally drew me to this series and the concept was expanded even more in COT.

Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor|★★★★
I loved reading more about Lazlo and Sarai. I took a pretty long break between this and Strange the Dreamer and I was happy to complete the duology. What I especially liked was Minya’s character arc. She grew so much and learned that she can’t be in control of everything. I would definitely recommend this series!

Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram|★★★★.5
I learned so much from reading this book. I don’t know much about Persian culture and Darius the Great is Not Okay definitely taught me some things. I loved the relationships that Darius forms with others and he grew a lot from his trip to Iran.

Darius the Great Deserves Better by Adib Khorram|★★★★
While I didn’t enjoy the sequel as much as the first book, Darius the Great Deserves Better was still an enjoyable read. It focused on a lot of different topics, including family, friends, depression, and racism. I really like how Khorram dealt with the racism aspect. The only thing I didn’t like very much was the romance. Landon and Darius’ relationship didn’t feel very real, since they got together before the book begins.

BOOKS READ IN OCTOBER

For October, I also read 4 books. I even got a five-star read this month, which I’m really happy about!

• 

• 

• 

• 

Luck of the Titanic by Stacey Lee|★★★★★
I absolutely loved this book. Many of you probably know that I’m a huge fan of Stacey Lee’s novels and this one was no exception. A retelling of the sinking of the RMS Titanic told from the perspective of a Chinese girl, I think this might become one of my favorites of hers. Valora was an amazing protagonist, with a lot of wit and full of courage and selflessness. And that ending!

Clues to the Universe by Christina Li|★★★★ or ★★★★.5 (I haven’t decided yet)
This is the first middle grade novel I’ve read in a while and I’m pleased to say that it was a great choice. The friendship that formed between Ro and Benji was so wonderful to read. I also liked how Christina Li explored the topic of grief, in the small moments and reminders, which make it such a real and true story.

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé|★★★★
This was one of my most anticipated releases for 2021 and I am pleased to say that it did not disappoint. Ace of Spades tackles a lot of heavy topics, the main ones being racism and homophobia. This book kept me on my toes for a long time and I did not see the twists the plot line took. The ending was a little rushed and I was kind of confused by the epilogue but I still highly recommend it.

100 Days of Sunlight by Abbie Emmons|★★★★
I have been waiting ages to read this and I’m so glad I finally got the chance to. I love the layout of the book and how it was split into five sections, one for each sense. Tessa and Weston were great protagonists and I enjoyed how we got to see both of their perspectives.

CURRENTLY READING

TBR FOR NOVEMBER

We’re already a week into November, but I hope to get through these books, as well as finish The Cost of Knowing, by the end of the month.

The Princess Will Save You by Sarah Henning – This is said to be in homage to The Princess Bride, so of course I want to read it. I love both the book and movie of The Princess Bride so I am very excited to read this.

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah – I’m always on the lookout for more historical fiction novels and this one sounds really interesting. It’s set during World War II and follows two sisters and their journey through it. I’m honestly slightly intimidated by it because it’s so big, but I’m looking forward to it as well.

UPDATES

If you’re on the site and not the WP Reader, I’m sure you’ve noticed that I redesigned my blog! I wanted a change of color scheme so I created this. I’ve been working on this since before I went on hiatus and I finally finished it. Tell me, what do you think of it?

Also, we reached 100 followers! I’m so shocked that this happened, especially since I was gone for almost two months. Thank you all so much! I can’t express how much I appreciate everyone who reads my posts, follows me, or leaves a like or comment. In honor of reaching this milestone, I have some post ideas and I want you all to choose. I’m either going to do a Q&A post, a reacting to your assumptions about me post, or an A to Z of me. Vote down below and I’ll reveal the answer in my next blog post. (Make sure you’re on the site when you do this, it doesn’t show up in the WP Reader.)

I think I may have figured out a blogging schedule (key word: think). I noticed a little while ago that I was posting mostly on those days anyways, so I thought I’d solidify it a bit more. I will attempt to post on Tuesdays and Fridays. Occasionally, I might have a bonus post on the weekends, if I have time or just really want to share something with you all. I don’t have a specific category for what I’ll post on which day, it will mainly just be what I have ready to publish. I have a lot of posts planned out for the near future which I’m really excited about!

AROUND THE BLOGOSPHERE

I didn’t bloghop (random question: do you spell it bloghop or blog hop?) as much as I would’ve liked, but I managed to get some time in to read your posts. Here are some I really enjoyed, from both September and October:

• J @ Midnight Book Blog shared tips for writing book reviews.
• Julia @ Stormy Reads shared 50 tips for high school.
• Saima @ Stories with Saima shared 6 things she learnt after 6 months of blogging.
• Veronica @ Little Corner Reads shared books inspired by the Mid-Autumn Festival legend.
• Sienna @ Booksophobia discussed if reading challenges are useful.
• Phoenix @ Books With Wings shared 5 reasons she’s grateful for blogging.
• Riddhi @ Whispering Stories introduced a new blog series called the Human Book Club.
• Rachel @ A Bookworm’s Paradise discussed reviewing books.
• Cherelle @ A Bolt out of the Book celebrated her one year blogiversary.
• April @ Booked Till Midnight wrote a review for Down Comes the Night.
• Divi @ The Name is Divi celebrated 100 followers.

Aha, you’d think with the break that I got some time to do writing. Well. . . not quite. My writing was practically nonexistent these past few months. The only writing I did was for school and that wasn’t very exciting. I wish I could do NaNoWriMo this month, but I know I’ll be way too busy and it would only add unnecessary stress. I’m still hoping I can get make some progress on my WIP. I have Thanksgiving break later on, so I’ll have a bit of time without school work.

Honestly, not a whole long has happened since I last gave you an update. My time has mostly been occupied by school. But here are few small life updates:

• I turned fifteen! My birthday was a few weeks ago, near the beginning of October. I got a lot of new books and I’m really happy about that. I’m planning on doing a book haul post for them, so keep an eye out for it. I also found out that I share the same birthday with one of my classmates which is cool.
• I had my first in-person orchestra concert! It was a lot of fun albeit a little weird, seeing that we haven’t played live since 2020. And even before then, I’d never done a high school concert since I was a freshman last year and my entire life consisted of Zoom and sitting in my room for over half the day. All in all, though, it was very fun and I’m looking forward to our winter concert in December!
• I tried out for the soccer team at my school, but sadly didn’t make it. I passed the first cut they did, but on the third day of tryouts, my playing wasn’t my best and they cut me that night. I made a friend during tryouts and she got onto the frosh (freshman and sophomore; 9th and 10 grade) team, so I’m really happy for her.

November Goals:

• Read at least 4 books
• Post at least 5 times
• Referee courses (at least start them)
• Work on WIP

---

How was your September and October? Did you read any good books?
Do you have any fun plans for November?