Welcome back to another Monthly Wrap Up here at Speaking Of! I have been awful at posting wrap ups this year, because boy has it been a year! We sold our first home, bought a new house, moved cities, and are gearing up to welcome a new family member in 2022. Busy doesn’t even begin to describe our lives the past few months. But we’re finally slowing down, just in time for the Holiday season and I’m finally getting back into the my routine.
If youāre new to Speaking Ofā¦, or stumbled upon us in the last few months, let me catch you up on what Wrap Ups normally include. As the name suggests, my monthly wrap up are a collection of everything I read during the month. I link my full reviews to what I read for easy access, talk about any books I did not finish (DNF), and pick out my favorite and least favorite reads for the month. I also like to give updates on some personal goals of mine, which while not all bookish related, sharing them helps keep me accountable!
Lately, I haven’t had a monthly target goal of books to read but I’m still right on track to hit 125 books read for 2021! For October, I managed to read 11ish books. I say -ish, because I started an additional 4-5 that I’m still currently reading. I don’t normally have that many ‘in progress’ but I’ve been indecisive on what I want to read lately. Most of what I read fell into the witchy category, which was perfect for Spooky Season. They really got me into the Halloween spirit, though I never say no to magical story. I also spent most of my reading time this month, getting through some October and November releases. My ARC (advanced reader copy) shelf has been overflowing lately, and I tried hard to make a dent in it during October.
Check out everything I read in October below!
October 2021 Reading Recap
- A Spell of Rowans: Byrd Nash |Ā ā ā ā ā Ā |Ā REVIEW
- In the Company of Witches:Ā Auralee Wallace|Ā ā ā ā ā ā Ā |Ā REVIEW
- The Resting Place:Ā Camilla Sten |Ā ā ā ā ā Ā |Ā REVIEW
- Betwixt (Betwixt & Between #1): Darynda Jones |Ā ā ā ā ā Ā
- Bewitched (Betwixt & Between #2): Darynda Jones |Ā ā ā ā ā Ā
- Betwixt (Betwixt & Between #3): Darynda Jones |Ā ā ā ā ā Ā
- Mom Jeans and Other Mistakes:Ā Alexa Martin|Ā ā ā ā ā Ā |Ā REVIEW
- The Ex Hex: Erin Sterling |Ā ā ā ā ā |Ā REVIEW
- These Silent Woods:Ā Kimi Cunningham GrantĀ |Ā ā ā ā ā ā Ā |Ā REVIEW
- Hello, Transcriber:Ā Hannah Morrissey |Ā ā ā ā ā Ā |Ā REVIEW
- The Keeper of Night (The Keeper of Night #1)Ā : Kylie Lee Baker ā Ā ā ā ā Ā |Ā REVIEW
Books In Progress
- Plain Bad Heroines – This is my main read right now and I’m 400 pages into this 600+ brick of a book.
- Winter’s Heart (The Wheel of Time #9) – I’ve been slowly making my way through the entire Wheel of Time series. I’m primarily listening to these on audio.
- The Book of Magic – Savoring the final installment of Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic Series. While I enjoy Hoffman’s writing her books are always slow reads for me.
- The Hawthorne School – My current ARC read. I’m not very far along but it seems very fast paced.
Favorite / Least Favorite
My favorite book this month was by far These Silent Woods. It wasn’t what I expected but was a great slow burn mystery. If you enjoy character driven novels or need something set in a snowy environment for winter, this is a perfect read to pick up.
I didn’t dislike any of the books I read this month, but The Keeper of Night was my least favorite. The pacing was off for me and I needed more from the story.
Did you read any of these this month? Share your thoughts and your favorite/least favorite reads this month with me in the comments. Or by going to my instagramĀ @speakingof_books
2021 Goal Updates
While I mainly focus on what I read in these wraps up, I do like to jot down updates to my entire goal list for the year. Mainly because this keep me accountable and motivates me to keep going. You can see a full list of my 2021 goals, both for reading and non-reading, HERE.
- Read 125 Books:Ā Currently Iām 4 books ahead of schedule according to Goodreads. Which means that I have read 108 books so far in 2021.
- Ā Book buying ban for 6 months: I’ve been doing a great job at not buying books lately. I did still get my usual Book of the Month box, but didn’t purchase any other books in October.
- Ā Get my Netgalley rating up to 80%: Um yes, Iām so behind. I donāt want to talk about this one.
- Post 3 blog posts a week: Staying consistent with posting is a huge goal of mine. Iāve been fairly active in this space. I did a great job this month of being more active in this space, and hope to continue throughout the rest of the year now that life has slowed down a bit.
- Write More: Not blog writing, but novel writing. While I haven’t put a ton of effort behind this goal, I was able to get some outlines done, which I’m proud of.
- Ā Read my backlist: None of the books I read this month were apart of my 2021 backlist. However, I had plenty of ARC backlists from Netgalley that I was able to catch u p on.
Thanks for helping me stay accountable with my 2021 goals. If youād like to share your goals with me please comment below or visiting my Instagram page @speakingof_books. Make sure to follow both my blog and Instagram to see how Iām doing on my goals all year long!
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Impressive goals! Keep up the great effort. š