October Wrap-Up | Concert, College, and Costume

It does not feel like it’s been a year since my last October wrap-up. I started writing this post and it hit me that it’s already been a year since the last one. I distinctly remember writing my October wrap-up for 2021. It was my first post after my hiatus and it was really long because I did two months for it. Time flies way too fast.

BOOKS READ

The Sunbearer Trials (The Sunbearer Duology #1) by Aiden Thomas|📖|★★★★.5|my review
The Mexican-inspired world, the high stakes of the trials, the amazing characters and representation all combined to make a fantastic book. This is definitely my favorite book by Aiden Thomas!

Gallant by V.E. Schwab|📖|★★★★
My first book by V.E. Schwab! I’d say it was a pretty good introduction to her writing. The plot was intriguing, though it did drag a little, and I loved the mixed media format for the journal pages.

This Place is Still Beautiful by XiXi Tian|📖|★★★★
While I didn’t expect there to be the amount of romance that there was, this story was a powerful one of two sisters and how they each deal with a racial attack differently. I loved the sisters’ character development throughout the novel.

CURRENTLY READING

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh

I started The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea yesterday, so I’m not too far in. I’ve enjoyed the part that I read! It immediately gets into the action and pulls you in. I was expecting a little more exposition, though; the bride choosing happens in the first chapter.

MY POSTS

• September Wrap-Up|School Has Taken Over my Life
• Let’s Talk Bookish: DNFing Books
• 16 Books for my 16th Birthday
• Let’s Talk Bookish: Can Bloggers Write Whatever They Want?
• Review: The Words in my Hands by Asphyxia
• Let’s Talk Bookish: Do Book Titles Matter?
• The Me & Music Tag
• Review: The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas

AROUND THE BLOGOSPHERE

• Fazila @ Fazila Reads interviewed Joshua Scott Edwards, author of An Ocean of Others.
• Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole wrote a review for If You Could See the Sun.
• Rue @ Tea & Fairytales shared her plans for this year’s NaNoWriMo.
• Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books wrote a review for If You’re Out There.
• Madeline @ The Bookish Mutant is back from her hiatus.

BLOGS I DISCOVERED

Mint Loves Books – I found out about Mint’s blog from a Let’s Talk Bookish discussion she suggested. I enjoy reading her discussions as they’re very interesting. One I liked recently was her post on what’s it like to read while having aphantasia.

A Teen Girl With Thoughts – This blog is run by Sophia who is a high schooler, like me. She blogs about reading and writing, as well as some lifestyle things. I enjoy reading her posts; her blogging voice is really engaging.

Adda’s Library – Adda is a new blogger who recently joined the blogging community after a few years of a break. She’ll be posting about reading, music, fashion, and more!

Writing for my WIP has become such an infrequency, I have no idea when I’m going to finish this draft. I’m so close to being done, all I need is to write the ending of the main story, and then write the epilogue. But, as with all things, it’s taking forever. I’m not doing NaNoWriMo this month, since school always keeps me busy. If I did NaNo, I’d be very stressed.

🎬 TV Shows and Movies: I finished Little Voice this month and really enjoyed it! I love the representation in it, the main two being African American and autism rep. There’s also some prominent characters who identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community. The songs were all amazing, written by Sara Bareilles, and Brittany O’Grady, who plays the main character has a fantastic voice.

🎻 I had my first orchestra concert of the school year! It went pretty well, even though I messed up a lot of the notes. The lighting they had on the stage cast weird shadows and made it hard to see some of the notes. But overall, it was a good kick off for the rest of the year.

🏫 I went on a few college tours! I went to UC Santa Cruz and UC Davis. I don’t know if I liked one better than the other; each of them had a different vibe. They were guided tours and were super informational on academics and student life. They talked about housing and dining which I found really helpful. I’ve eaten in one of the dining halls at both campuses, and so far, Davis wins. It was bigger, since there’s more students, and had a larger selection of food. I also did a self-guided tour at UC Santa Barbara. Note to self: don’t go on self-guided tours. It wasn’t all that helpful and the campus was practically deserted since it was a weekend.

🎃 My school lets us dress up on Halloween and I wasn’t planning on doing it, but my friend texted me the night before and told me that she was. So I felt like I needed to. Half an hour later, I had a very last minute costume thrown together. I was a girl from Higgs from Heartstopper. I wasn’t really going as anyone specifically, but I have great hair for Tori (besides the bangs), so I left my hair down and carried around a Starbucks cup with a lid and straw, because you know, Tori is always drinking something. I had on a blue skirt, black tights, white button-down shirt, black blazer, and gray-blue tie. I also printed out the Higgs school crest and pinned it to the blazer. The colors don’t match the Higgs uniform at all, but I didn’t have the right colors and had to make do with what I had. Out of many who commented on my costume, no one knew who I was from. And only one person had seen the show. I was very surprised.

October Goals:

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

November Goals:

• Read 5 books
• Post 7 times
• Work on WIP
• Clean my room (this is very much a priority)

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