September Wrap-Up | School Has Taken Over my Life

Hey, everyone! I hope you’re all doing well. I don’t normally publish posts in the afternoon, but I was planning to have this up on Friday and that clearly didn’t happen. So I finished it up and am publishing it now.

I can’t believe school has already been in session for almost two months. Things have been moving a lot quicker this year. Many events and projects have happened or been started much earlier than last year. It seems like we’re getting used to being in person again.

Today I have my wrap-up for September. It was a busy month with school and I’ll be busy next month too since I’m going to be starting my volunteer hours after school on Mondays and Wednesdays. Hopefully, I’ll have time for blogging, but I’m not extremely confident that I’ll be able to keep it up as much.

BOOKS READ

The Crystal Ribbon by Celeste Lim|🎧|★★★★
While this is a fantasy book, it dived into some very real things, like being sold to a family and experiencing the horrors of brothels. The book got a bit repetitive at times but I loved the setting of medieval China and was content with the ending.

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune|📖|★★★★★
This is now one of my favorite books. Can it get any more wholesome? The messages in this book were powerful and I loved all the children. They were so precious and seeing them warm up to Linus (and he in return) was so amazing.

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia|📱|★★★★|my review
I love Eliza’s story in this; Monstrous Sea sounds absolutely fantastic. I liked how Eliza slowly came out of her shell and began being more comfortable with others face to face. Also, that ending was perfect.

The Words in my Hands by Asphyxia|📖|★★★★|review to come
This is an empowering book involving activism and learning how to be one’s true self. The main character is deaf and I loved reading about her journey in learning about the Deaf community.

Solitaire by Alice Oseman|📱|★★★★
It’s hard to believe Alice Oseman wrote this at 17. I read Heartstopper before this and realized that Solitaire takes place in the months that are skipped in Volume 4. Things kind of came together. This was a very character-driven book, so not a lot happened, but Tori’s perspective was really interesting.

CURRENTLY READING

The Sunbearer Trials (The Sunbearer Duology #1) by Aiden Thomas

I just started The Sunbearer Trials a few days ago, so I don’t have too much to say on it, but I’m so happy that I was able to get this book. I’m also really surprised that I’m managing to read a book in the year that it was released. This doesn’t happen very often.

MY POSTS

Well, I did it again: I disappeared for two weeks. But I’m not putting too much stress on myself. Here are my posts for the month:

• Let’s Talk Bookish: Do You Get Overwhelmed by Your TBR Pile?
• Review: Forging Silver into Stars by Brigid Kemmerer
• The “How Well Do I Know my Books?” Tag
• Review: Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

AROUND THE BLOGOSPHERE

• Kaya @ A Fictional Bookworm shared a list of the best diverse debuts so far this year.
• Suhani @ Random Reader Rambles celebrated her first-year blogiversary.
• Kira @ Kira Jeanette shared 5 things a bookworm would never do. (I can’t agree more.)
• Naemi @ A Book Owl’s Corner talked about tropes she loves.

BLOGS I DISCOVERED

J Long Books – This blog is run by Jaedyn who has actually self-published two books, which I think is amazing. One of her recent posts that I enjoyed was The Pros and Cons of Writing Fanfiction.

Earl Grey Books – This blog is run by Ely and I love the vibe of it. Her posts are engaging and fun to read. Also, her cat is adorable.

I did writing this month, but it wasn’t for my WIP. I might’ve done a bit at the beginning of the month, but most of my writing has been for school newspaper articles. NaNoWriMo is a month away, but I don’t think I’ll be participating this month. November is always pretty busy for me and I don’t want to add too much stress to my life. I am liking how my WIP is turning out, though. I’m working on the ending and that’s a bit meh right now, but I have a very cool epilogue I need to write, which I hope will turn out good.

🎬 TV Shows & Movies: I started Paper Girls in August and finished it a few weeks ago. It was so good! I’ve never read the comics, but apparently the show takes a detour from the books. It left us on a cliffhanger so I can’t wait to see what happens in season 2. I also watched Everything Everywhere All at Once and came to the conclusion that it was entertaining and fun, but very confusing. I didn’t really know what was happening for a good third of the movie. Some parts were a bit odd as well but it was done well and had a great cast. Also, I am so excited! Heartstopper season 2 is officially in production and Disney+ released a teaser trailer for Percy Jackson. It looks amazing!

🗞 My school newspaper has started up again and I’ve already written three articles. I enjoy writing them and I think having to interview so many people is putting be a bit out of my comfort zone. But it’s good and something that I’m getting better at as time goes on.

🧶* I got into crocheting this month. I learned when I was younger and kept it up for a bit, but it kind of fizzled out. But a few weeks ago, a girl came up to me at school and was like, “Do you want to buy a duck?” She had a crocheted duck in her hand and I was like, “Sure.” The duck gave me inspiration to get into crocheting again. I’m starting over and haven’t done very much, just some simple practice, but it’s getting somewhere.

*please ignore the fact that on some devices, the ball of yarn has knitting needles in it

September Goals:

• Read 5 books ✅
• Post 7 times ❌
• Work on WIP (even just a little bit) ❌

Of course I only get my reading goal done.

October Goals:

• Read 5 books
• Post 7 times
• Work on WIP

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How was your September? Did you read any good books?
Do you have any fun plans for October?