Month In Review: October 2018

I just can’t wrap my head around the fact that it’s November already. I mean, November?! Where did 2018 go?! I’ve been loving the Spring weather though, enjoying the sun and preparing our garden for the summer months. It’s one of my favorite things to do whenever I’m not reading. I also have been baking a lot in October, something I always enjoy doing and never grow tired of. (Brownies to the win!)

Now to the bookish numbers:

• Number of books read in October: 28
• Total number of books read this year: 198
• Total number of pages read in October: 8.540
• Total number of pages read this year: 61.576

I somehow managed to read a LOT last month, and I even got another five star read!  I did have a few lowish reads, but overall I’m definitely happy with this month.

OCTOBER READS

5 STARS: Absolutely and entirely mind blowing! I suggest you to pick up a copy now.

The Smallest Part – by Amy Harmon

4.5 STARS: This one was almost perfect. Surely fantastic! 

Book Love – by Debbie Tung // Before She Falls – by Dylan Young // Evidence Of The Affair – by Taylor Jenkins Reid // The Perfect Family – by Shalini Boland // Her Last Move – by John Marrs

4 STARS: Wow, this was really good. Close to amazing!

The Passion According To Carmela – by Marcos Aguinis // Closer – by K.L. Slater // One Dark Night – by Tom Bale // Reboot – by Amy Tintera // They Both Die At The End – by Adam Silvera // Pruning Simplified – by Steven Bradley // Before Her Eyes – by Jack Jordan // Rebel – by Amy Tintera // The Princess Saves Herself In This One – by Amanda Lovelace // Dear Mr Pop Star – by Derek & Dave Philpott // Baby Teeth – by Zoje Stage

3.5 STARS: Great read. Really entertaining!

Tell Nobody – by Patricia Gibney // The Walls Around Us – by Nova Ren Suma // The Darkness – by Ragnar Jonasson // Snowy Nights At The Lonely Hearts Hotel  – by Karen King

3 STARS: It was a nice read, but not fantastic. 

Love & Gelato – by Jenna Evans Welch // The Giver – by Lois Lowry // The Giving Tree – by Shel Silverstein

2.5 STARS: I give this one the benefit of the doubt. Nothing too exciting.

Sadie – by Courtney Summers // Spell Bound – by Rachel Hawkins

2 STARS: It was ok. But mostly ‘meh’.

Demonglass – by Rachel Hawkins // Small Time Crimes – by Paul D. Brazill

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I haven’t joined a lot of challenges this year so far, mostly because I decided to focus more on ‘fun’ reading and less on goals I have to complete. I had decided last month to update my Goodreads Goal anyway, but I should have aimed higher because I’m almost done again. This is officially the year I’ve been able to read the most ever… Although quite a few were shorter reads and I haven’t reached the highest page count yet. I have found the title for the last era (1600-1699) of the  When Are You Reading? challenge, but I still have to read it at some point.

# CHALLENGES #

• • Goodreads 2018 Reading Challenge: 100/100 DONE!! 
  • Goodreads 2018 Reading Challenge UPDATED: 198/200
  • 2018 Beat The Backlist Challenge: DONE!!! 57/40 books read published in 2017 or 2016 and 57/20 books read published 2015 or before. A total of 114/40 books.
  • Reading Through The Centuries: 5/5 DONE!!
  • 2018 Netgalley And Edelweiss Challenge: 25/25 DONE!!
  • 2018 Netgalley and Edelweiss Challenge UPDATED: 75/75 DONE!!
  • When Are You Reading?: 11/12

As for my other goals… No progress whatsoever in the final two goals, and I’m pretty sure the TBR one is hopeless. I’m going to try and read the 800+ pages book (AKA Outlander) in these last two months though.

# OTHER READING/BLOGGING GOALS #

• Read at least 3 (modern) classics (rereads don’t count) 3/3 DONE!! (Murder On The Orient Express // Slaughterhouse-Five, The Mysterious Affair At Styles)
• Complete at least 5 series (rereads don’t count) 5/5 DONE!! (The Conspiracy Of Us // Bad Girls Don’t Die // Embassy Row // The 5th Wave // Legend)
• Reread at least 2 books 2/2 DONE!! (Harry Potter Y La Camera Secreta // Harry Potter Y El Prisionero De Azkaban)
• Bring my physical TBR pile below 300 books and keep it that way. 435/300
• Read at least one book over 800 pages 0/1 (maximum 528 pages)
• Read at least 1 book in Spanish 1/1 DONE!! (Harry Potter Y La Camera Secreta)
• Read at least 1 book in Dutch 1/1 DONE!! (Het Jaar Dat De Wereld Op Zijn Kop Stond by Clare Furniss)
• Read more international authors/translations (at least 10) 10/10 DONE!! (Stage Four (The Netherlands)/ Born A Crime (South Africa)/ Halfway (India)/ A Castle In Romagna (Croatia)/ My Sweet Friend (Belgium)/ The Elephant Keeper’s Daughter (Germany)/ The Letter For The King (Indonesia)/ The Air Raid Killer (Germany)/ My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry (Sweden)/ The Girl Who Saved The King Of Sweden (Sweden)/ Radiance Of Tomorrow (Sierra Leone))
• Join at least 5 challenges during the year 5/5 DONE!!
• Keep my Netgalley ratio above the 80% currently at 92%

Happy November and Happy Reading! 

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