Okayy, but did October actually exist?

I’ve been thinking it September for the past month, and now suddenly we’re going into November…WHAT?! It’s nearly Christmas! (Yes, I’m THAT sort of person)

Weirdly enough, October just felt like it didn’t exist. I have a strange feeling that I didn’t read that much, even though this wrap up shows I very obviously did. October for me was just a vague noticing of the leaves changing colour and the temperature dropping rapidly. Lord knows what I did for the rest of it.

But here we are at my wrap up for the month, so let’s find out!

There’s also a video version of this Wrap Up on my booktube channel, where I go into my thoughts on the books a little more. Click here to check it out!

So in the month of October, I read 7 books – but the first one was marked as DNF…so more like 6 books. October saw the last few weeks of me trying to catch up on the books I was sent for review (in that period where they ALL turned up at the same time), but at last I’ve caught up! I mean, I’ve still got a couple of ARCs but they’re not out until January so I’ve been saving them for November/December. Anyway. Not relevant. Let’s see what I read!

Like a Dream

by Shina James

Rated…DNF (Did Not Finish)

I was having a real issue with deciding whether to carry on with this or not. One the one hand, I really wasn’t enjoying it, on the other, it was sent to me for review. But then I thought “it was sent for an HONEST review. I wouldn’t finish this book if it wasn’t sent to me and forcing myself to will just make it worse.” So I gave it up after 100 pages. There’s no proper review, though you can see my explanation as to the DNF label here.

Amazon | Goodreads

The Thousandth Floor

by Katharine McGee

 Rated 4/5 stars – [Review]

I really enjoyed this one, though it sort of felt like a guilty pleasure sort of book. There’s so much drama, it’s somehow entertaining. That combines with the SciFi, and how normal it was integrated into their lives, I just loved how smooth it all felt.

Though I couldn’t quite get the hang of comprehending a building literally a thousand floors tall. Somehow that just eluded me.

Amazon | Goodreads

Dark Waters

by Tracy Abrey

Rated 2.5/5 stars – [Review]

This one was a bit of a miss for me. It WAS enjoyable, but I definitely would’ve liked something more when it came to detail. In the previous book, this world-changing event happens, and I would have liked to see more of the after-effects of it, just to make it more realistic. Unfortunately though, I just couldn’t take it entirely seriously.

Amazon | Goodreads

Just Juliet

by Charlotte Reagan

Rated 4.5/5 stars – [Review]

Don’t judge a book by it’s cover – I’m glad I followed that phrase. Because while I hate the cover, I LOVED the book. So much diversity, so much happiness, so many lovable characters, and a short read!

This felt like a little treasure of a book, that’s all I can say without rambling forever.

Amazon | Goodreads

The Lie Tree

by Frances Hardinge

Rated 3.5/5 stars – [Review]

I had no idea what to expect with this book, I went into it pretty much blind. I did give this a slightly lower rating that I thought I would, purely because the amount of hype surrounding it let me down a tad. BUT it was definitely a gripping book, I enjoyed it thoroughly, and the main character Faith was such a great perspective to read from. Plus, Victorian setting. It’s a win.

Amazon | Goodreads

Northanger Abbey

by Jane Austen

Rated 4.5/5 stars – [Review coming on Monday]

As part of the Austentatious Book Club, I’ve been reading Northanger Abbey throughout the month of October. I absolutely loved this book, so much more than I was expecting! I related the main character – Catherine – SO much, it was almost a little scary, but wow did it make me love the book even more. This is on par with Pride and Prejudice for me – they’re both my favourite classics now!

Amazon | Goodreads

The Dead House

by Dawn Kurtagich

Rated 5/5 stars – [Review coming on Friday]

This was a REREAD for me, and a little buddy read/readalong with a few friends. I absolutely adore this book, even more so the second time round (if possible). It’s formatted as a case file, with newspaper clippings, emails, interviews, diary entries, all that kind of thing provided as evidence. It’s SO gripping, and as you read you have to decide which side of the story you believe – the paranormal or the psychological. I. Adore. It.

Amazon | Goodreads

Surprise surprise, I’m STILL reading The Call Of Cthulhu. I swear I’ve been trudging my way through this for about 3 months now. But with it being a collection of short stories, I do tend to leave it for weeks before coming back and reading another short story. And then leaving it for week. And then another story. And so on in this never ending cycle.

Who knows? Maybe I’ll actually finish it before the end of the year? I’m just under 300 pages in and have just 3 stories left…which all happen to be the longest stories, so there’s that.

---

For my main book, I’m currently reading an ARC of Frostblood by Elly Blake. I’ve had this ARC for a while now, but was saving it for November/December time because the book doesn’t actually come out until January 2017.

I don’t know much about this apart from there’s some sort of frostblood vs fireblood thing going on. But I do go into most of my books blind, so I suppose we’ll see.

Crossover posts from September:

~ September Wrap Up – The one where college starts again and my schedule is suddenly a lot more full ~

~ Naming The Stars by Susan Koefod | A really quick read about a girl who never existed…or did she? ~

~ Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs | A REREAD that I loved, though I’m revoking the “favourite” status ~

Discussions:

~ Let’s Talk: Can a synopsis spoil the book for readers? ~

~ Let’s Talk: Is the average book size getting bigger, or am I imagining things? ~

~ Let’s Talk: Book adaptations – Do we want them? Are there too many? ~

~ Let’s Talk: Your opinion on romance in books…do you love it?Does it make you cringe? Is it necessary? ~

Random:

~ Blogger Tips: Helping you frolic through your blogging life [Design Edition] ~

~ BOOKSHELF TOUR, 1 year of blogging …& possible booktube channel? ALL THE IDEAS ARE HAPPENING ~

~ Blogger Tips: Helping you frolic through your blogging life [Miscellaneous Edition] ~

Bookish News:

~ Such a “Heartless” cover reveal (geddit?) – Heartless by Marissa Meyer is having a separate UK cover? How did I not know? ~

ONTO EXCITING THINGS.

So October was the month where after many many years of wanting/imagining/planning/hoping (okayy we’re getting a little excessive here you get my point)…I STARTED A BOOKTUBE CHANNEL!

I actually did it. You can actually see me ramble on about books EVEN MORE on camera.

My first video was a bookshelf tour – which already has over 300 views!!! – and my second video went up today, which as I mentioned earlier was my October Wrap Up. At the moment, I don’t have a particular schedule for YouTube, I just post a video whenever I have the idea and time to film one. Purely because I’m keeping my blog at three posts a week. Posting three times a week on my blog along with doing college work can already be hard to balance at times, so YouTube will be a thing I do when I have spare time (which is actually quite often, so don’t you worry, I won’t vanish).

But this entire thing is hugely exciting for me. Thank you to everyone who has watched my videos, liked, left me lovely comments, or even subscribed to my channel! If you’re interested, please do subscribe to my channel, it would mean the world to me ❤ Thank you for continuing to support me, you wonderful people!

NEXT UP…

I became a bear cub!

Yes, you read that right 😆

My lovely friend Molly @ MollysBookNook opened a new fandom merchandise online store called Blu Bear Bazaar – and already the designs are just gorgeous. So when the store had a rep search, I had to try my luck.

And I became one of the first reps – or “cubs” – for Blu Bear Bazaar! I’m so so grateful for this opportunity, because I LOVE the designs already and want to do everything I can to support the store.

So check out Blu Bear Bazaar and stayed tuned for more designs – and use the discount code CUBASHLEIGH10 to get 10% off your order!

I finally updated the pages on my blog last night (yes, literally last night, I had t come back and edit this post just to add this little note). So if you’re particularly eagle eyed, you may have noticed. If not, I’ve updated the Art page so there’s a few new things under there, the Milestones page has been moved around a tad, the Review Policy is no longer hidden under the “reviews” tab, AND there’s an entire new page just mentioning my new booktube channel!

Phew.

And finally, for a little Halloween fun…

I transformed myself into a book cover.

Bear cub, book cover…what else can I possibly be?

While rereading The Dead House, I decided to recreate Dawn Kurtagich’s other book cover, The Creeper Man. Because why not?

 

---

---

So there we have it! My month of October, all wrapped up!

Have you read any of the books I read in October? What did you think?

How many books did you read this month? Which was your favourite of the month?

Did you buy any new books? How many and which ones? (feel free to link your haul!)

Did any interesting events happen this month for you? Visit anywhere nice? 

What are you currently reading, going into the month of November?

Let me know in the comments!

I hope you all have a wonderful Halloween!

Until next time…

Come and visit me!

Snapchat: frolic_fiction