Monthly Wrap-Up by A Book Wanderer

October 2021 Monthly Wrap-Up

Hello Readers! Happy Halloween to those who celebrate. 🎃 I know I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but October flew by! It’s pretty much guaranteed I’ll be saying the same thing about November next month. 😉 I tied with my best reading month of the year in October thanks to wrapping up my yearly Popsugar Reading Challenge and finishing up my ARCs for the year before I dive into Nanowrimo in November. I ended up reading 13 books, for a total of 4,107 pages! When I looked back at My October TBR, I was happy to see I’d read 8 of the 9 I had planned, plus 5 more I didn’t plan on reading. Woohoo!

Let’s see what I managed to read in October!

Be sure to check out The Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction!

October Wrap-Up

(Link to synopsis on Goodreads through the book title.)

I started the month reading An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. This one has been sitting on my shelf for a couple of years. I was finally able to get to it for the ‘book by a Muslim American Author’ prompt on my reading challenge. I really enjoyed this quick read, and I look forward to continuing the series. It’s also one I would enjoy rereading!

My Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

My first ARC of the month was The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox. This one was very cute, not heavy on the Christmas, but just what I needed at the time.

My Rating ⭐⭐⭐.75
My Review

Next I read Always, In December by Emily Stone and I loved this one so much. So many feelings.

My Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐.50
My Review

Roomies by Christina Lauren was not on my planned tbr for the month, but I started reading it late one night on my kindle and was hooked! Romantic, steamy, with a unique plot. I didn’t want to put this one down.

My Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐.50

I finally crossed this intense, but unforgettable book off my backlist. I’ve had There There by Tommy Orange waiting on my shelves, and it fulfilled the ‘book by an indigenous author prompt’ on my reading challenge.

My Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐.50

I snagged the audiobook version of Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo on my Libby app to cross off the prompt ‘a book by an author who shares your zodiac sign’ on my reading challenge, and I’m so happy I did. The lyrical aspect of it was perfect to listen to. And it was a super quick listen.

My Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I finally picked up the final book in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkein. It fulfilled my reading challenge ‘book on your tbr the longest’ prompt. I did a combination of listening to an audiobook available on Spotify and reading my hard copy. Reading Tolkien is often tedious for me, but rewarding. Frodo and Sam are the original bromance. 😉 I’ve been rewatching the films, as well, but I’ve only made it through the first two. I honestly don’t think I’ve seen the final film. I think I was waiting until I’d read it. I can see why I lost interest after rewatching the second film, which was not as well done as the first one, in my opinion.

My Rating ⭐⭐⭐.5

I needed to cross of another harder-to-fill prompt on my challenge, ‘a book by an anonymous author’. I’d planned on reading my final Jane Austen book, Mansfield Park—even though technically I don’t think it was published anonymously, just with a pseudonym. But I decided to go for something shorter and better fitting for the season. I listened to the first half of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley on audiobook but I couldn’t get into it, so I finished the book in print, which I preferred. It wasn’t at all what I expected, though. Less scary than I thought it would be, but definitely worth the read.

My Rating ⭐⭐⭐.5

My final read for my yearly reading challenge was The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury for ‘the shortest book on your tbr’ prompt. I’ve been saving it to read around Halloween, and it just worked out that it was my last prompt and it was a short one, as well. I enjoyed this classic which included awesome illustrations, too!

My Rating ⭐⭐⭐.5

Next, I read my second book by Jenny Colgan, The Christmas Bookshop, her latest holiday-read I was happy to be approved for. It was charming and full of festive spirit. I especially loved the setting of Edinburgh.

My Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐
My Review

I actually picked up Within These Wicked Walls earlier in the month but DNF’d it at about 35%. I couldn’t seem to get into it. I gave it another shot once I’d finished my yearly reading challenge and felt like I could give it my full focus. I ended up reading the rest of the book in one day!

My Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐
My Review

My final ARC of the year (at least at the moment, although I’ll probably read a few of my January ARCs before the end of the year) was Tracey Garvis Graves newest romance, Heard It in a Love Song. This one wasn’t the romance I expected, but I still enjoyed it!

My Rating ⭐⭐⭐.5
Review to come

I was lucky enough to snag a free ebook of Fool Me Twice at Christmas from Camilla Isley’s newsletter and I picked it up right away, flying through this short but packed full of fun rom-com in one day. I had so much fun with this one!

My Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
My Review

In case you missed it…

Highlights from elsewhere…

What I’ve been watching…

  • Squid Game on Netflix – We binged this over a few days, and while it’s not for the faint of heart, I thought it was very well done. I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time.
  • The second season of The Morning Show on Apple TV+ – I think this is the first thing I’ve watched that incorporates Covid-19, and I think it’s been done as well as can be expected.
  • Dune on HBO Max – I have not read the book yet, but now I want to after seeing the first part of the newest adaptation. And part 2 is coming!
  • Nightmare on Elm Street – I used to watch this when I was a kid and it never really scared me. We rewatched it with our oldest daughter and enjoyed laughing at the 1980s special effects.
  • Only Murders in the Building on Hulu – I’ve only watched a few episodes so far, but I loved what I saw!

How was your reading month? Have you read any of these books? Did you add any of them to your TBR? Let me know in the comments!

Happy Wandering!

9 thoughts on “October 2021 Monthly Wrap-Up”

  1. Such great reads – several I will be checking out. Loved Acevedo’s book. Just finisher her “Poet x” today! Loved it asw well. Happy reading in November!

    Reply

  2. Wow, that’s some great reading for the month! I also loved listening to Acevedo’s Clap When You Land; it seemed the perfect way to experience that book. I read The Poet X for myself, but I’m thinking I need to go back and listen to it instead.

    Reply

  3. Excellent reads for October! I loved Clap When You Land so much and hope I received Always in December for my birthday this December–it sounds so good. The Poet X was really good and I highly recommend it.

    Reply

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