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Saturday, October 29, 2016

October Wrap-Up + NaNoWriMo


So this time I'm actually going to get into the habit of posting these at the end of each month so I can actually reflect upon the month!  The last time I did a wrap-up was in March which is way too long ago!  I'll be wrapping up what books I read this month (including the books I haven't had a chance to review yet and my rereads).  So without further ado, let's get into it!



Statistics:

Number of Pages Read: 1,326
Total Books Read: 4
Rereads: 2
Books Reviewed: 1

Distribution of Ratings:
5 star: 0
4-4.5 star: 0
3-3.5 star: 1
2-2.5 star: 0
1-1.5 star: 0

Number of Authors Read: 4
Number of Series Books Read: 4

Number of Stand-alones: 0

The Books:

This month, I read two new books (Alicia Bewitched and Hello, Forever) and decided to reread two (The Young Elites and Fire).  I'll actually be posting a critique on The Young Elites for #CritYourFav where you critique your favorite book.  There's not really a whole lot that I could see wrong with it so I'll be rereading it again with a more critical eye.  Alicia Bewitched was the sole book that I managed to write a review for (sad, I know...  Let the shaming begin) and while it did have good aspects, they were balanced out by the problems leading me to rate it a 3.  Read my review HERE.  I'll be releasing my review for Hello, Forever (I was privileged enough to read an ARC and it will be coming out on November 15th) within the next few weeks.  I've been in a bit of a new book slump recently so I decided to read some old favorites like Fire!  Hopefully I'll come out of it soon because I have a pile of R&R's that need reading!


NaNoWriMo:
NaNoWriMo is upon us again!  I'll be participating again this year although I won't be starting a new project, I'll just be continuing my project from last year that I never found the time to finish.  I've actually been publishing chapters and you can read then on Niume or on Goodreads.  So I've been rereading all that I've written and am prepared to begin again!

Life Updates:
So I've pretty much finished my updates on the blog for now so I'll be posting a whole explanation on the new design and everything!  I've also been taking classes on HTML and Java so hopefully one day I'll be good enough at it to finally take the leap to my own website!  I've been taking the free lessons on Khan Academy and it's going really well!  I highly recommend it!

One really cool class I'm taking this semester is History in Fiction and Fiction in History.  We've been reading a bunch of 'fiction' books that have pieces of the past embedded in them and the other way around.  Our final project is actually to analyze a book or situation ourselves using primary sources and I've decided to do Guantanamo Bay and the real conditions and prisoners there which I'm really excited about!  I'll be writing a short story on a fictional prisoner's experience in the prison and what their life was like pre-prison.  Of course, it has to fall on NaNoWriMo but I'll deal with it.  I want to do both!  I really wanted to do a critical analysis of The Devil in the White City which is about the serial killer that killed people during the Chicago World's Fair in the late 1800s.  Unfortunately, at least from reading it, that book seems pretty air-tight.

In November, I'm hoping to get a lot of writing done and a lot of reading done and a lot of reviewing done.  I'm behind on my Goodreads challenge (I've only read 73 books out of 100 so I'm 9 books behind) and also behind on my R&R reading schedule so I have to work on that.  I'll be one productive blogger!


How was your October?  Any plans for November?  How are you doing on your reading challenges?

10 comments:

  1. Don't feel bad. I'm behind on my Goodreads Challenge too. Such is life. Sounds like you've been learning a lot lately. That's awesome I'd love to learn HTML.

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    1. Haha yeah isn't that the truth. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up during winter break before the end of the year! I tried redesigning without knowing even basic HTML and it was really difficult. So I hopped on Khan Academy where they have free lessons and learned some basic stuff so it would be a bit easier. I highly recommend them! Thanks for stopping by, Jenny!

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  2. NaNoWriMo... it's that time again. I'm so nervous I won't make it this year since I'm working so much more. Thankfully, I already passed my Goodreads challenge, with the help of lots and lots of manga! I'd never make it without those.

    Also I tagged you for the Birthstone Book Tag

    http://sweetcherry69.blogspot.com/2016/10/birthstone-book-tag.html

    Carrie @The Butterfly Reader

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    1. It is that time! I'm not sure if I'll finish my current project but I'm looking forward to having some solid dedicated time to working on it instead of putting it off. Congratulations! That takes so much pressure off!

      Thanks for the tag!

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  3. I've taken so many hiatuses (planned and unplanned lol) when life gets overwhelming, so I totally get the feeling of wanting to catch up and be a productive blogger! Good luck on Nanowrimo :D

    - Kritika @ Snowflakes & Spider silk

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    1. Haha yeah I understand completely! I'm really feeling like I'm getting back into the blogging groove again and I'm excited for everything coming up! Thanks, Kritika!

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  4. No need to feel bad about not writing reviews. Sometimes life happens, whether that is being too busy or just not feeling like doing something. :) I love forward to reading your review of Hello, Forever. It actually seems like a book I'd like solely based on the cover and the title, lol.

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    1. 'Ain't that the truth! Haha yeah but really, life does get really busy sometimes! I'm hoping I'll have more time after the semester ends. I really enjoyed it - it's such a sweet romance :) My review will be coming out during launch week (the week of the 15th)!

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  5. It's always good to be regular with wrap ups. I need to get better at being regular with those once again myself! I also really like the sound of being your own site soon. You can do it <3 And I'm glad the online courses at Khan Academy have been able to help you. I'm supposed to be using that whenever I want to brush up on my history studying for class. Oh, and hope Nanowrimo goes well for you!

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    1. For sure! I don't know why I don't post them more often; it's not like they're super hard to put together because I keep track of the books I read anyway... I really need to keep on top of things! Aw thanks :) It's definitely daunting but hopefully I'll be able to do it this year or next! Cool! I use it for math too; it's really helpful with school when you want to keep up with things that you aren't learning right then. Thanks!

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