Hi everybody, and welcome to my October wrap up – hope you all had a great October and a great Halloween!
Readingwise, October has been a little slumpy for me. I wasn’t in the mood to read most of the month and only only seemed to get my reading mojo back this last week. Hopefully November will be better on that front, but if not, that’s okay too. I’ll just focus a bit more on TV, music and gaming, because forcing the reading is never a good idea right? Anyway, here’s what I’ve been up to in October:
The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata
I’ve been wanting to go through Mariana Zapata’s backlist and this was one of the books on it. Though it’s not my favorite read by her, I still highly enjoyed the story of Vanessa and Aiden. It was a fun take on the marriage of convenience trope and of course, the slow burn was excruciatingly well done.
Rating: 4 stars
Fence, Volume 5: Rise by C.S. Pacat
I’m still not sure how I got into a comic book series about fencing, but here we are. I still love every installment so much, I love the friendship within the team and the growing friendship between Nicholas and Seji. It’s just hard because every installment is so short and I always need more.
Rating: 4 stars
It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey
This has been such a popular and hyped romance, but for some reason I kept putting it off. But now I finally picked it up and I’m so happy because now I also got to fall in love with Piper and Brendan. But OMG, this is way steamier than I expected. Kind of awkward when I’m listening in the car on my commute…
Rating: 4 stars
Hook, Line and Sinker by Tessa Bailey
This is the second installment in the Bellinger sister duology, following It Happened One Summer and focusing on Hannah (Piper’s sister) and Fox. This was my favorite of the two, because I LOVED the slow-burn friends-to-lovers romance between Hannah and Fox. It was also just a tad less steamy haha.
Rating: 4,5 stars
When Gracie Met The Grump by Mariana Zapata
I also finished Mariana Zapata’s latest release and it was unexpected in some ways, as it was more fantasy than contemporary. The story namely takes place in a world where there are superheroes and one day, one of them falls into Gracie’s yard and she needs to nurse him back to health. Though this fantasy element was a bit unexpected for Mariana Zapata, it still had that excruciating slow burn that she’s famous for. Though it took me a bit to get hooked, once I was I sped through the rest of the story in a day.
Rating: 4 stars
Top Ten Tuesday
8 Famous Bookstores Around The World I’d Love To Visit (& 2 I Have Visited)
10 Cozy Fantasy Romance Books
Favorite Words: The Adjectives I Use Way Too Much In My Reviews
Favorite Fictional Creatures of the Night (Part 2)
Can’t Wait Wednesday
The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren {Can’t Wait Wednesday}
Meet Me At The Lake by Carley Fortune {Can’t Wait Wednesday}
A Witch’s Guide To Fake Dating A Demon by Sarah Hawley {Can’t Wait Wednesday}
WWW Wednesday
WWW Wednesday: 19 October 2022
October was AMAZING when it came to new releases. Every week at least one of my favorite artists had a comeback so my playlist has been overflowing with new songs. A good problem to have, right? 🙂 I’m highlighting my four favorites here:
Dreamcatcher – Vision
Sleeping With Sirens ft Royal & the Serpent – Be Happy
Another fave band with an amazing comeback is Sleeping With Sirens – I LOVE their collab with Royal & the Serpent.
Stray Kids – Case 143
My OTHER favorite kpop band also had a comeback this month! Though I have to admit that Case 143 is not my fave release by them (I prefer their darker songs and this is definitely NOT dark), I still love their ability to keep showing different sides of themselves while keeping that Stray Kids vibe. Plus, sometimes a fun, light kpop song is just what we need!
Taylor Swift – Anti-Hero
Who else has been having the new Taylor Swift album on repeat? I think my favorites have been Lavender Haze, Maroon, Anti-Hero, Midnight Rain and Vigilante Shit (but honestly, my faves have been changing daily).
The Lord of the Rings – Rings of Power (Season 1)
I LOVED this show so much (though I do have a few questions about the ending). I know it received a lot of criticism online, but I honestly do not understand the hate. Now, I have not read The Silmarillion, so I can’t compare to the original source material and I heard the show strays from that quite a bit. But I have read The Lord of the Rings and I have watched those movies hundreds of times. And I felt that this show gave me the same feelings as I did when watching/reading those, so for me that’s a win.
Hocus Pocus 2
I was so excited for this one as I LOVE the original Hocus Pocus, but unfortunately… it didn’t live up to my expectations. It felt a bit like a parody of the original? Still a fun watch, but missing all of the magic of the first one.
October FLEW by. I’m not sure where it went to be honest. I felt a bit slumpy (still) and didn’t read much during the first 3 weeks or so of the month and I only got back in a groove this last week. Let’s recap some of what happened:
Things that made me happy this month:
- Halloween! My birthday was on Halloween and though I had to work, I celebrated at night with sushi and Hocus Pocus with my husband.
- Since I was struggling with the reading, I got into cozy gaming. I got Disney’s Dreamlight Valley for the Nintendo Switch and I’ve been ADDICTED.
- We repainted our bathroom (from light blue to a dark blue) and it was rewarding when it was done.
- Autumn walks with the amazing colours!
- ALL THE MUSIC RELEASES!
THINGS I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH:
- YOUNG ROYALS SEASON 2! It came out on the first of November so maybe I’ve already watched a lot by the time this post goes up. Can’t wait to see what’ll happen with Wille and Simon (check out my rave/review of season 1 here)
- Wednesday is coming to Netflix. Always fun when spooky season gets extended.
- I have tickets to see Evanescence and Within Temptation live.
How was your October? What did you read? What did you listen to and what did you watch? How was your Halloween? What are you looking forward to in November?
Happy belated birthday! I’ve been loving Tessa Bailey lately, too!
Thanks! Tessa Bailey is definitely a fun author, I’ll need to try more books by her.
Happy belated birthday! I’ve read all but the last Zapata book. I’m still only half way through that. I’m glad you ended up liking it.
Thanks! I hope you’ll end up enjoying When Gracie Met the Grump too!
I put it on hold indefinitely. I keep going back to it and then taking long breaks. Maybe someday.
I liked Hocus Pocus 2 but I still prefer the first movie too. I think it would’ve been hard to top it anyways.
Yes indeed, I think my expectations were just maybe too high…
I felt the same way about Rings of Power. LOVED it. Yeah I had a few issues with plotline stuff but visually and worldbuilding- it totally made me feel like I was in Middle earth.
I’m so happy to hear you loved Rings of Power too! Yes, I also had some questions about the plotline here and there, but I didn’t understand some of the awful reviews it got – the vibe was indeed total Middle Earth!
Happy belated birthday! Like you, I’ve been listening to Midnights on repeat 😁.
Thanks! Yay for Midnights! 🙂
Happy belated birthday! ❤️
Thanks so much!
Happy belated Birthday, Lindsey! I enjoyed Hocus Pocus 2 but agree that it was not as magical as the original movie. I wouldn’t miss a Disney Plus series with the teens though. They were a lot of fun.
Thanks so much Suzanne! I agree that a Disney Plus series with the teens from Hocus Pocus 2 would be fun.