October was A LOT for me. Initially, I was still on a blogging and reading high, but then halfway through the month it all fizzled out as I got busy with something else. However, I did finish my Goodreads reading goal for the year (30 books) and even surpassed it. Usually I have to scramble to get all the reads in by the end of December, so, it’s super neat to not feel that pressure. Even if, all things considered, I put that pressure on myself.
Anyway, here’s what I read:
- Charming as a Verb by Ben Philippe (3 stars)
- Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert (5 stars)
- The Lives of Saints by Leigh Bardugo (5 stars)
I did not review this on the blog, because I didn’t know how. It’s like dark fairy tales, but everyone ends up being a saint in the Grishaverse. I think especially the later entries might have had more impact if I had read the Shadow and Bone trilogy, but it still worked great for me. I do love it when a universe is expanded upon. - DKMH by Dacre Montgomery (2.5 stars)
While this had a great opening, I really struggled to connect to the actual poems. I know it was incredibly personal for Dacre, but they felt random to me.
As per usual, click on the covers to get re-directed to Goodreads, where you are always welcome to add me as a reading buddy! My own reviews you’re able to find by clicking on the titles in the list above if there are posts for them.
As mentioned above, I got super busy about halfway through the month. That is due to me finding a job (it’s a call center job, we don’t need to talk about) and having gone to multiple job interviews before that and also scheduling a bunch of doctor appointments to get check ups. I don’t know why I made life for myself harder, but yeah …
Now, my country is entering a second lockdown. I don’t think it affects my work (yet?), but we will have a curfew from 8PM to 6AM and I heard a lot of people went to parties this weekend to have like a last hoorah before it is mandatory … don’t think that was the smartest idea? This whole situation is just so endlessly frustrating. I really think this whole year is a dumpster fire, but I also don’t really see the prospect of 2021 being any better.
Sorry for having been such a downer! On to other things!
I wanted to participate in NaNoWriMo, but I don’t think I will have the time at all. Maybe I will check in every now and then though and try and get some words in. Will any of you be participating?
MY FAVOURITE THINGS
I was caught completely off guard by just how much I loved the Haunting of series but I completely lost myself in those ghostly love and family stories. It reignited my love for Oliver Jackson-Cohen and Victoria Pedretti, which had been pretty strong as is anyway. But now I just want to watch even more of all their existing and future work.

Also, I went back down a rabbit hole of watching Dylan O’Brien stuff. One was Love and Monsters and the other an episode of Amazing Stories (on Apple TV+) called The Cellar. Both were great and will be talked about in a separate post. But … Victoria Pedretti and Dylan O’Brien in the Cellar was just plain heartbreaking. I can’t stop thinking about them!
The fan video below is pretty spoilery, but SO. GOOD!