Let’s Rewind: September 2019

My blogging has been dragging lately, which is why we’re well into October and I’m now posting my September wrap-up. I’m borderline in a blogging slump. I think I read too many books for the NEWTs Magical Readathon so when I think of doing the reviews, I feel overwhelmed and give up.

About two months have passed since that readthon and I’m still reviewing books I read for the event. I enjoyed the event but this blogging slump isn’t gelling well with the review writing. But I intend to review each book I read on here, so I’ll write and post them…eventually. Anyway…

Let’s Rewind is my version of a monthly wrap up but instead of talking about only books, I include all types of other stuff, like articles… bookish news… commercials… random-ass links… movies… art… podcasts… cartoons… and whatever else happened to me in the month. You know, the usual stuff that people talk about in monthly wrap ups. So read on to see what I did and read this month. You might stumble upon something that interests you.

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September was fun. I met up with a friend I hadn’t seen in a while to visit a part of D.C. I’ve always wanted to see but have never been to, and I attended Small Press Expo, which is like a comic con for small book publishers and independent artists. I enjoyed myself despite being exhausted and managed to stay almost within my budget, which is a huge accomplishment because I always overspend at that event. If you’d like to see what I hauled, check out this post.

I also celebrated Free Museum Day by visiting one of the museums participating in the event — Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City. It was impressive. At first I’d planned to do Free Museum Day in D.C. but since I’ve seen most of the museums there, I decided to participate in the event in a different city — NYC! 😀 I made it to only one museum because I decided to get my hair done while in NYC because I was already so…yeah! Gotta get my hair done!

Intrepid was amazing. It’s an aircraft carrier turned museum that almost made me speechless when I saw it because I’ve never seen a boat that big in my life (except in movies). The entire time I toured it, I thought of Nick Fury’s ship in Avengers. Although I saw much and enjoyed the outing, there’s much I didn’t experience at the museum because it was crowded and had long lines for the interesting stuff AND certain features were mad expensive. On a typical day, it’s about $30 for admission and additional charge for certain features within. But if you are interested in military history and such, it’s worth the visit.

I returned home from NYC to surprise myself by purchasing my first car. It’s an old car. I won’t say what type it is but she’s great and helps me to get around faster. That was one of my goals for the year and I met it, so I ended September on a high note feeling great about myself. 🙂

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I reread The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuch Hogan by audio book — it’s narrated by Ron Perlman. It’s a horror novel about a vampire apocalypse that begins in New York City, and it was just as engrossing as the first time I read it. My plan is to read the second book in the trilogy, The Fall, for the Spooktastic Reads event, which will begin on October 19.

I also completed The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis, which I buddy-read with Dani from Perspective of a Writer. It’s a YA fantasy novel that has strong Western frontier influences in its setting. It’s about four girls who run away from the brothel they work at because one of them killed a male customer by accident. It was a decent read but has some shortcomings that may annoy some readers.

I read Dominicana for a book club event that I, sadly, wasn’t able to attend. 😥 Dominicana is Angie Cruz’s recently published novel about a girl who marries a man she doesn’t love so that she can move to New York City from Dominican Republic and help make a better life for her family back home. It’s about her sacrifices for her family, and it’s such a good read. I just wish I could have attended the book club event since the author was also there.

Another great read this month was The Tea Dragon Festival by Katie O’Neill (illus.). These graphic novels have a special place in my heart for combining two things I love — tea and dragons. The Tea Dragon Festival is like a prequel of the first book, but we meet different types of dragons and creatures in it. It’s just as sweet and wonderful and magical as the The Tea Dragon Society.

I also reread Eragon by Christopher Paolini, narr. by Gerard Doyle, this month. I reread it because I would like to continue with my reread of the series, but I think this will be the last time I revisit this book for a while. I don’t know if I was just in a funky mood or what but I was so annoyed by this book, which is weird because I enjoyed it the previous times I read it. But this time Eragon was stupidly annoying, Saphira was captain obvious, and I didn’t like the narrator’s voice for her. I blame all this on my mood because I loved Doyle’s narration before. I don’t know what was up with me this time.

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I guess I overdid last month because I read no articles this month. None at all.

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Around the blog-o-verse

Banned Books Week: Graphic Novels (graphicnovelty2.com)

— For Banned Books Week, Nancy discussed graphic novels that have been banned.

Guest Post: From Kill Bill To Wolverine: A Look Into The Most Iconic Movie Weaponry (thecomicvault.wordpress.com)

— A look at some of the coolest weapons in movies and the characters who carry them. My fav is probably the katana from Kill Bill.

Stuff I pubbed

“Cinderella: or The Little Glass Slipper” by Charles Perrault, illus. by Camille Rose Garcia

— A review of my favorite fairytale and the illustrations by Camille Rose Garcia that accompany it.

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AHH!! YAA GYASI COMING OUT WITH A NEW BOOK NEXT YEAR!!! (twitter.com)

— Can you tell that I’m beyond excited for this??

That’s the only news I have. The only one that matters.

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Stuff I watched in September:

Stranger Things

I FINALLY caught up, smh, but OMG! I didn’t expect that ending and I refuse to believe what happened happened because that dude is one of my favs and he can’t go yet. I think he’s in the Upside Down or in Russia because the Russian scientist they’d kidnapped said that the Russian access to the Upside Down was wonky so maybe my dude ended up there.

Loved this season. It’s probably my second fav after the first season. I love all the call outs to the ’80s horror flicks. The monster thing reminded me of The Blob, which I haven’t thought about since I was a kid or something. Steve is my favorite babysitter. Eleven is a badass and I love where the story is going with her powers. I’m glad they didn’t totally rely on her the entire time. It was a good show. I enjoyed it. Can’t wait for the next season.

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That’s it for my September.

How’s life?

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