Let’s Rewind: October 2019

Blogging hasn’t been going great lately. I was in a blogging slump in October and now I’m participating in NaNoWriMo, which was unexpected, so I’ll have less time to blog in November and am barely managing to read any books. Super busy this month, y’all!

I’ll try to drop a post when I can, and hopefully I’ll be able to visit everyone’s blogs as well, but if not, I’ll see y’all in December instead.

But anyway, let’s rewind to October…

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.

---

October was great. Wanna know why? BECAUSE I HAVE A CAR AND CAN GET EVERYWHERE SOOO MUCH FASTER!! 😀 I’m stubborn. I didn’t want a car and was convinced I didn’t need one for a very long time. But I’m glad I got some sense this year and cut myself some slack by getting one because OMG! It’s so helpful.

I mean, it comes in handy for the little things. I can actually do more grocery shopping now. I don’t have to give all my money to Uber. I can get more than one thing done in a day. I can WEAR HEELS MORE OFTEN and walk in them for shorter periods.

Maaan! If you take public transit on the daily, you can’t wear heels often because there’s no telling when everything will break down and you’ll have to walk miles to catch a ride home or to wherever you’re going. And in heels, all distances feel like miles. Now, I get everywhere quicker and almost on time. 🙂

Apart from that, October was all work, a bit of travelling, and a couple movies. The most exciting thing I did in October was visit the Mint Museum in Charlotte, N.C., to see an exhibit on the illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi, who’s known for the Spiderwick Chronicles and the Search for Wondla series. I love his illustrations which often feature fairy creatures and was worried that the exhibit would end before I could visit. But I got lucky and work brought me to Charlotte so I could check it out — and catch my cousin’s soccer game, which was also fun.

I had several plans for Halloween, none of which panned out because the weather wasn’t great. Even my stay-at-home activities didn’t work out because I was either too tired or busy to read the horror books I chose or watch any horror flicks — except, of course, for Supernatural, which I watch whenever I can’t decide on what to watch on Netflix. But despite the lackluster Halloween, I still count my October a success because I DROVE EVERYWHERE!! 😀

---

I only completed two books, but both were over 600 pages, so huzzah to me. Assassin’s Fate wraps up Robin Hobb’s epic fantasy series Realm of the Elderlings, which begins with a story about the bastard son of a prince who becomes an apprentice to an assassin. This last book was… wow! I buddy-read it with Emily from Embuhleeliest, who I buddy-read almost all the books with, and we were both blown away by it. Man! Hobb played with my emotions the whole time. I was sad at the end, but it was for the best.

I also finished Libba Bray’s Lair of Dreams, the second novel in her Diviners series, a YA paranormal, historical fiction series, which I buddy-read with Rachel from Life of a Female Bibliophile. In this installment, a spirit preys on the inhabitants of 1920s New York City, which causes fear to brew and people to turn on each other. I enjoyed this one more than the first book and liked that we get more backstory about the side characters from The Diviners and are introduced to new ones. I also liked that this story taps into much of the social conflicts at work in current society. The story kept me wondering what will happen next, so I look forward to the next book.

---

Didn’t read anything noteworthy.

---

Around the blog-o-verse

I Didn’t Realize Nancy Drew Was Irrelevant (pagesunbound.wordpress.com)

— A response to a review of the new Nancy Drew show on the CW that posits that the character is made more relatable to modern audiences because of her sexual encounter. This response post points to several reasons why readers (like me) enjoyed the Nancy Drew books.

All the *WARNINGS*!!! (theorangutanlibrarian.wordpress.com)

— About trigger warnings

Calling Out Call Out Culture (theorangutanlibrarian.wordpress.com)

— About call-out culture

The Most Pretentious Post You Will Ever Read (theorangutanlibrarian.wordpress.com)

— A satire (I love the Orangutan’s satires!)

Top Ten Witchy Reads for Halloween (booksbonesbuffy.com)

— Recommendations for books about witches

Horror Stories to Read Online (cupofteawiththatbookplease.com)

— A list of horror stories available online for free

Here There be Dragons / My Dragon Collection (adancewithbooks.wordpress.com)

— Annemieke shares her collection, and love, of dragons

---

Video break

Former President Barack Obama on “woke” and “call-out” culture

---

Stuff I pubbed

“The Good Luck Girls” by Charlotte Nicole Davis | Review & Discussion

— A review and discussion of a debut YA fantasy novel that I buddy-read with Dani from Perspective of a Writer

“In the Night Wood” by Dale Bailey

— A review a literary fantasy novel that has a strong sense of atmosphere and borders on creepy; HIGHLY recommend

Comics Roundup #33: “Moonshot”

— A review of a comic book anthology by and about indigenous peoples in North America

---

Stuff I watched in October:

Gemini Man

It was okay. It didn’t blow my mind or had me super excited or anything, but I enjoyed the entertainment. I liked the chase scene with the bike and the fight scenes as well. The CGI thing or whatever used to make Will Smith appear younger threw me off sometimes because it looked weird whenever they did a closeup. Otherwise, it was pretty believable. I wasn’t crazy about the end when that last figure was unmasked. It was a bit comical. And the college scene was meh.

The Addams Family

Is it just me or are kids movies very boring and dry these days? They seem to have lost their charm and humor. I was bored by Wonder Park earlier this year, and actually fell asleep in it, and I was bored by Addams Family as well. (I stayed awake.) It wasn’t entertaining. I much prefer the original.

Zombieland: Double Tap

Sold! 😀 I’m a fan. If there’s another movie, I’ll be at the theater to see it. I freaking enjoyed this one! It’s the first one I’ve seen — haven’t watched the first movie yet but I will — and it was so funny! It has all my favorite things: zombies, jokes, zombies, and action, action, action with guns blazing! Lol! 😀

Parasite

This was interesting. It wasn’t at all what I expected. I thought it would be some sort of sci-fi, horror flick, like a alien body-kidnapping-type show. It wasn’t. And once it got going and I thought I understood it, it made a twist that made me go wah? It certainly kept me on my toes and led to decent discussion with a friend about the two families after.

The show was decent, but I don’t think it’s as great as everyone is saying it is. However, I think some things were lost on me and my friend. There were parts where we couldn’t pick up on the nonverbal communication to fully understand what’s happening or the significance of what transpired. It’s probably one I’d need to watch again to really get.

---

That’s it for my October.

How have you been? What are you reading or watching?

Advertisement