Hello, reader!

It’s that time again to look back at how my reading went last month. I’m gonna tell you right now… it wasn’t great in October 😅 I hit a pretty bad reading slump last month. Absolutely nothing could hold my interest! Not even The Dragon Republic, which I was dying to read! But we’ll talk about it in a moment.

First, let’s take a look back at what I read in the month of October.

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Click on the covers to be taken to the book’s Goodreads page

1. The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang::★★★★★
2. Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger::★★★★
3. The Wolf and the Water by Josie Jaffrey::★★★★::My review
4. Sentience by Courtney P. Hunter::★★★★::My review

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Popsugar Challenge prompts completed: 1

• Your favorite prompt from a past Popsugar Challenge//A book featuring an extinct or imaginary creature (Keeper of the Lost Cities)

Book Riot Read Harder Challenge prompts completed: 1

• Read a book with a main character or protagonist with a disability (fiction or non) (The Wolf and the Water)

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So as I gave nothing on this (rather short) list that I gave less than four stars, we’re gonna skip the lows this month. I do, however, have a clear high for October that I think helped contribute to my reading slump, lol. That book was…

THIS BOOK, Y’ALL! I was reading this as part of a buddy read and I’m glad I had a group of people to talk through my emotions. BECAUSE THERE WERE A LOT. I had the biggest book hangover after finishing this one near the beginning of October. I couldn’t even get into the second book in the trilogy, The Dragon Republic! Which makes no sense, but my brain was just like “If it ain’t The Poppy War, I don’t want it.” Sigh…

Still, I suppose I should be excited that I finally read it and it met all of my expectations!

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You know what’s not good for my reading? Elections.

Well, more specifically, never-ending yet still stress ABOUT the elections. Though I did have a definite book hangover after finishing The Poppy War, but all the stress certainly didn’t help. I found myself doomscrolling more than normal and, every time I picked up a book, it just couldn’t hold my attention. Even if I was enjoying myself, I just felt antsy and distracted pretty much throughout the month of October.

So THANK GOD the elections are (basically) over! Perhaps that’s why my will to live read has finally made a resurgence. That and reading one of my most anticipated books of 2020. Looking back at October, though, it was not the best month for reading. Which makes me super sad because I was so prepared to read ALL the spooky books! I was in the mood to be scared! Well, I thought I was, but my brain determined that was a lie. It feels good to be back on my reading train, though! I wanna close out 2020 on a good note.

Can you believe that there are just two more months of 2020? This has, simultaneously, been the longest and shortest year of my life 😅😂 My body is so ready for 2021 I can taste it. It’s time to move up and move on! With that in mind, I think November will be a month where I focus on cleaning up my Currently Reading shelf on Goodreads and focusing on books that I’ve been really wanting to read for awhile. I’ve already done the one blog tour I had scheduled for this month, so my reading is completely open! I can read whatever I want and I’m SO EXCITED! Not to say I’m not excited about my next tour, but it’ll be nice to just look at my shelfs and pick up whatever strikes my fancy.

So, though October wasn’t the best reading month, I have high expectations for November!

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How was your reading in October? Did you find a new favorite? Make any progress on some challenges? Let me know in the comments!

And, as always, happy reading!