What I’ve been up to in October 👻 Moving, Halloween & other Disasters (+ Hiatus Announcement)

Hello fellow bookworms 👻 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! I cannot believe that the spooky month is already over! It was honestly so much fun to get spooky and consume all the content that was appropriate for a scaredy cat like me 😄 October was full of changes – moving into my new flat and settling into a new city – so it was stressful at times, but there were also many good moments 💗

I also wanted to announce that I’m going on a hiatus for November, as I’ll be adjusting to the workload of my new Master course and want to dedicate the time to settle in some more! I’ll of course still be blogging, but I want to take some time to focus on my new life and make connections with my classmates 😊 I still have some posts planned and scheduled (lots of reviews of favorite books that I read recently and want to talk about) and I’ll be doing my best to do blog hopping. However, it might take me longer to reply to comments and I might not do as much blog hopping, depending on how busy I’ll actually be. (I’ll still be lurking around Twitter though 😂 You can also always reach me under my E-Mail – bookcheshirecat@googlemail.com – if you need anything 💕) Here’s a peek at my blogging schedule for November 🥰

Important Resources

• Carrds to check out if you want to educate yourself & help out
• BLM 2020 Resources Spreadsheet
• BLM Resources Masterlist
• Black Fiction Directory

🔄 = Reread 💌 = Library Books 🌈 = Here and Queerathon

🐯 = #YARC2020 ✨= #StartOnYourShelfathon ⌛ = Digital Arc

I read 10 books in October and had a fantastic reading month!! With the stress of moving I wasn’t sure how my reading would go, but I ended up reading amazing books and found 3 (!!!) new favorite books this month 💕 I enjoyed all the books I read for Sbooktober and found the right atmospheric and spooky books that gave me the chills 👻 In terms of enjoyment, this might be my best reading month all year because I kept having great reading experiences. I picked up both books I predicated I would love and also some books on a whim because I felt in the mood for them. There’s nothing better than a) loving books you were super excited about and b) indulging in a book you’re 100% in the mood for 🥰 As I said, I took part in Sbooktober this month, as it’s the Readathon I’ve been loyal to the longest (I first participated in 2016). I was tempted to join even more Readathons, as so many good spooky ones took place, but I didn’t want to overwhelm myself. This turned out to be a good idea as I could focus wholly on Sbooktober and the lovely books I had picked out 💗 (Yes, I reread All Systems Red after only a month, but the audiobook is SO comforting, I highly recommend it!)

Sbooktober was a huge success!!

I read 5 books out of my comfort zone in October and I loved all of them, so I’m calling it a win! I’ve even read 2 books that were VERY out of my comfort zone because they contain horror elements and since I’m a huge scaredy cat I don’t read horror at all 😱 Fortunately Rules for Vanishing (YA) and Small Spaces (MG) were both fantastic books with just the right amount of spooky content! As predicated I also adored Ghostly Echoes (YA Mystery & Historical Fantasy) and Artificial Condition (Adult Sci-Fi) 💕 In addition, I picked up A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (YA Mystery) on a whim and it was so entertaining!

Ghostly Echoes (William Ritter) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ✨

Artificial Condition (Martha Wells) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 💌

Rules for Vanishing (Kate Alice Marshall) ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 💌 🌈

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (Holly Jackson) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 💌 

Small Spaces (Katherine Arden) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 💌

I read 8 Books for Sbooktober, and as I said above, it was a fantastic Readathon. I loved all the challenges and had a good time reading both spooky and atmospheric books! I’ve already said everything I wanted to about the Readathon (check out my month’s posts to see what my TBR looked like), I’ll dive right into the books I read! 🎃

1. Ghostly Echoes (William Ritter) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ✨ ➽ RTC!

2. Artificial Condition (Martha Wells) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 💌 ➽ Review

3. Cemetery Boys (William Ritter) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ✨ 🌈 ➽ RTC!

4. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (Holly Jackson) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 💌 ➽ RTC!

5. Rules for Vanishing (Kate Alice Marshall) ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 💌 🌈 ➽ Review

6. Small Spaces (Katherine Arden) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 💌 ➽ Review

7. In An Absent Dream (Seanan McGuire) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 💌 ➽ Review

8. Secrets of Camp Whatever Vol 1. (Chris Grine) ⭐⭐⭐.5  ⌛ ➽ Review

9. All Systems Red (Martha Wells) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 🔄 ➽ Review

10. Pumpkinheads (Rowell & Erin Hicks) ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 🔄 ➽ Review

Favorite Book 💕

Sbooktober TBR 2020 👻 & other spooky Readathons you can join in time for Halloween 🎃 Arc Review: The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker by Lauren James 👻 Vengeful Ghosts

Celebrating 3 Years of Blogging 🎉 Sharing my favorite blogging resources 🎃 Hocus Pocus Book Tag ✨ I Put a Spell on You & Now You’re Mine 

🎃 Recommending Spooky Books for Scaredy Cats 👻🐱 🎃 Review: You Say It First by Katie Cotugno 💌 Complicated long-distance relationships 

🎃 All Hallows Write Tag 👻🎃 A spooky writing Tag 🎃 Arc Review: The Tea Dragon Tapestry 🍵 Cute tea dragons & found family

For this section of my wrapup I’m linking up with the Favorite Blog Posts of the Month Meme that has been created by Kristin @ kristinkravesbooks to showcase our favorite blogs of the month!

• Going off the grid & Book universes i do NOT want to live in (Alison @ antarireads)
• How to Get People to Follow Your Blog! (A Less Embarrassing Version of Part One) (Caitlin @ caitlinalthea)
• LET’S TALK ABOUT… down-sizing and BIG changes! (Destiny @ howlinglibraries)
• Celebrating 30+ Nigerian voices in Publishing (Em @ emmiebooks)
• The Reread Book Tag (Emme @ aliterarylatte)
• TV shows and movies that (hopefully) won’t give you nightmares & My Notion set-up + tips and tricks (Fleur @ fleurisreadingagain)
• 9 Books You MUST Read This Spooky Season & 5 Books with Fall Vibes + Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew Recipe! (Kal @ readervoracious)
• All Hallows Write Tag – AGAIN! & What I’ve Been (Binge-)Watching #44 (Spooky Edition) (Kat @ lifeandotherdisasters)
• 6 Hauntingly Atmospheric Books to Add to Your TBR This Halloween & 6 Diverse Books for Earthbenders & 7 Fierce Books for Firebenders (Kat @ novelsandwaffles)
• Goodreads TBR Spring Cleaning Challenge // #Goodreadance2020 (Kate @ readingthroughinfinity)
• Gothtober Readathon TBR (but i only read YA contemporaries lol) & five YA contemporary fantasies for the ~Halloween vibes~ (Lais @ thebookishskies)
• The best piece of writing advice ft. six amazing bloggers & I don’t understand the concept of overhyped books and at this point I’m too afraid to ask & Writing update | racing to finish a draft + my NaNoWriMo project (Margaret @ weirdzeal)
• Monthly wrap-up – September 2020 | I’m back! & Review: The Silvered Serpents, Roshani Chokshi & 10 really underrated ya contemporary books you need to read (Marie @ drizzleandhurricanebooks)
• NaNoWriMo Announcement! (Mary @ marydrover)
• Sharing My Notion Set-Up and a Brief Tutorial + Tips! & 10 Books I Want More People to Read and Appreciate (May @ foreverandeverly)
• Why there’s no such thing as an unbiased review & Why people think book bloggers shouldn’t get paid (Mel @ cottoncandybookwitch)
• My Top 10 F/F Books Of 2020 ft. Ranking My Sapphic Faves And Recommending Them All… Mostly (Rhi @ marshmallowharmonies)
• BOOKS I NEED TO READ BY AUTHORS I LOVE // dear fave authors, my deepest apologies for being a terrible fan (Ruby @ rubyraereads)
• 23 Books by Filipino Diaspora Authors For Your Shelf (Shealea @ Shut Up Shealea)
• October TBR | Trying to read all my spooky books: Hocus Pocus Readathon & Gothtober Readathon 🎃 & Spooky Books #1 | Rare & Twisted Plots 🎃 & Last Post! : Colorful Bookish Sundays | Prioritizing Books from my TBR 💫 & Spooky Books #3 | Mystery & Thriller Books 🔍 & Spooky Books #4 | Adult & Middle-Grade Halloween Books 👻 (Sofii @ abookathought)
• Books I Added to My TBR Because of Tumblr Edits & The Spooky Scary Book Tag (Tasya @ theliteraryhuntress)
• My Library Surprised Me! Did It Work? & How I Avoid Blog Burn Outs & 30 Marvelous Mystery-Thriller Book Recommendations & Books For Every Kind of Paranormal Being & Halloween Appropriate Recommendations To Read, Watch, and Listen To (Veronika & Sabrina @ wordyandwhimsical)
• Books I Must Read Before The End of the Year // exposing myself for not reading your favorites (Xandra @ starryskybooks)

Moving to my new flat 🏡 The end of October meant a lot of changes, including finally moving into my flat. This move was tough for me because I got farther away from my family and support system, being on my own in an area where I knew no one. Especially with the current situation and the fact that I had 6 months off university that I spend largely at home, changing my routine from being more passive to active wasn’t easy. I’m happy that I could finally move on with my life, but I’m still uneasy because I’m completely on my own in a stressful, anxiety inducing situation. And to top it off, I got a nasty cold the day after I moved, so that wasn’t fun 😷 In the end, I’m glad I choose this flat though, as it’s the one I felt most at home AND my kitchen is so much better!! A part of me is also proud of myself for going out of my comfort zone and trying my best to cope with my anxiety. I had a lovely chat with my neighbor (who lives in the same house) and did a lot of adulting.

We had an impromptu Online Introduction Week. I knew from the beginning that there’d probably be a second wave of The Virus in autumn, but it still sucked that it happened right when I moved and was supposed to get to know my new university. I completely understand that we have to be safe, yet the introduction week being online was stressful as I didn’t know anyone yet and was afraid I wouldn’t connect with the others. Luckily, some classmates were happy to meet up in small groups to at least get to know others in person. We had a picnic one Sunday and went out for coffee (before the second wave of restrictions happened), which was really nice! There were a lot of friendly people that I enjoyed chatting with and I hope we’ll keep in touch  🙏 I also have to give a shout out to the students that organized the intro week as they had to change all events to online on short notice and did their best to answer our questions and have game nights, so we could get to know each other. Everyone was trying their best, and I was going out of my comfort zone to engage with people as much as possible, though I was also exhausted from the constant socializing.

Because of the current situation, we also switched to 100% online again, so I won’t have any classes in person. It’s a tough situation, as I live alone (unlike most other students in my year) and I have to keep an eye on my mental health, as I’ll be inside my flat a lot to do my online coursework. Being away from my family right when infection rates are rising and new restrictions are in place is very scary, especially as I’m on my own for the most part. However, I gotta make the most of it, as I’m grateful that my university is making sure we’re all safe.

Things that made me happy 😊

• Watching so many great TV Shows 📺 Watching TV Shows with my friend Sandra is what helps me wind down every month, so it’s becoming a recurring theme in this wrapup to share what we watched 💕 In October we watched Emily in Paris, Julie and the Phantoms and the creepy show Ratched. In addition, I finally finished watching The Haunting of Hill House and caught up on Trollhunters so I can watch Wizards! Because it’s the spooky season I had to rewatch Hocus Pocus and The Nightmare Before Christmas, two iconic Halloween movies 👻
• All the Autumn & Spooky Vibes 🎃 As the weather finally got colder, I felt more of the autumn vibes and reading so many spooky and atmospheric books helped put me in a great mood! The colder seasons always make me feel so cozy because I can huddle in my blankets and read a book with a mug of tea 🍵

The new semester is ahead! I’m finally starting university in November and I’m curious to see how it’ll go with the online classes, but I’m honestly happy to be learning something new again and having a different routine! I still have no idea how I’ll be able to cope with the workload (especially as I did a different Bachelor Course so the level/areas of knowledge might differ), which is why I’m taking a hiatus to figure out how busy I’ll be and what I need to prioritize. Obviously, I’m also not taking part in NaNoWriMo, as I won’t have the energy and time every day to do my revision. However, I plan on revising as much as possible. Just working on my WIP for a couple of minutes per day is going to be great. I’m trying to abandon this ‘all or nothing’ mindset and focus on doing the best I can I wrote this pre-Intro Week and to be honest I don’t think I’ll do any writing. It’s sad, but in between getting to know my classmates, classes, general chores and making time for self-care, I don’t see myself with an energy or time for writing. Obviously, I’ll still be reading (it’s an act of self-care for me, so I can wind down after a long day) and blogging a bit, though it’ll be less than before 💕

Top 3 Priority Reads 🍂

• The Dire King (William Ritter) ✨💗
• The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet (Becky Chambers) 💌💗
• The Tower of Nero (Rick Riordan) ✨ 🌈

What were you up to in October? What was your favorite book this month? Did you read any spooky books? I hope you’re staying safe 👻