September Wrap-Up!

September’s over? Wow…I’m exhausted…

In My Life

This month, school got real. And I got real tired. Nothing really happened to me besides the fact that everything is settling into the scholastic rhythm.

I had my first Speech and Debate competition of the year last weekend, and it was crazy. My sister and I ended up in the top 16 of our event, a great way to start off the year.

On This Blog

I had eighteen posts this month! I did drop to only two posts one week, breaking my streak of having at least three per week from summer, but I forgive myself (school and all that).

I took part in three Top Ten Tuesdays:

1. TT Characters I Didn’t Click With
2. TT Series I Haven’t Finished Yet
3. TT Books on my Fall TBR

I also did the Most Likely To Book Tag (which was so much fun, even if I got some crazy combinations) and committed myself to Fall Bookish Bingo, being hosted by Pretty Deadly Reviews.

My original blog meme, Weekend Words, is off to a great start. I haven’t missed a week yet (*high fives self*) and I’ve discovered that taking a few minutes to reflect on each week and choose an inspirational quote or two is a great way to end the week. WW #2, 3, 4 and 5 can be seen by clicking on each number.

In Reading and Reviewing

I read five and a half books this month: I reread the Shadow Falls series by CC Hunter and then started the ARC, Illuminae. Illuminae is AMAZING and it is crushing my soul and I can’t believe I’m only halfway through and how will it break my heart next?!?! Seriously, you know when you’re reading a book and you can just tell that it is going to be one of those books that you shove into people’s hands even if they haven’t asked for it? Yeah, that’s this book. (And the graphic design is incredible, too!)

As always (it seems), I reviewed the books that I read the month before, not the books that I actually read this month. I think the Shadow Falls series is going to get a collective review, mainly because I read them very quickly and the breaks between books kind of blurred together…whoops.

1. Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho (4/5 stars)
2. The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich (a whole lot of conflicted emotions)
3. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (3/5 stars)
4. Black Dove White Raven by Elizabeth Wein (5/5 stars!)
5. Strands of Bronze and Gold by Jane Nickerson (4/5 stars)

In school, we finished The Scarlet Letter, which was interesting but which I expected to have a much more climactic ending, and started A Streetcar Named Desire. ASND is AMAZING; we are halfway through and it seems like every scene we read leaves me more shocked, creeped out, and thrilled than I was before. I cannot wait to see where the plot ends up.

In Writing

September was a double-edged sword for me, writing-wise. On the bright side, I finally started posting writing (and about writing) here.

1. Short Story: Sticking it to the Man
2. Poetry: Never a Fair Fight
3. SDJ #4: Writing at Night, When the Juices Flow

On the less-bright side, I only added 2612 words to my WIP in the entire month. I only worked on my WIP one day. Needless to say, I’m feeling a bit ashamed of myself, and I’m hoping that next month goes better.

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How was your September? To those students out there–are you starting to feel the exhaustion set in (hopefully not, but let’s be real)? What are you plans for October, bookish, writing, or otherwise?