What I’ve Been Up To|September and October 2020 Wrap-up and Goals

What a crazy few months! I absolutely cannot believe it’s already November. I haven’t been able to blog that much recently, but today I decided it’s finally time I posted a monthly- or in this case, bi-monthly- (bi-monthly? Encompassing two months) wrap-up.

It’s hard to feel the cozy fall vibes right now because where I live it’s very unseasonably warm today. But here’s a fall-themed picture anyway:

As per usual, I’m going to break this post up into three parts:

• Reading
• Blogging
• Goals

Reading:

I am currently in the throes of a horrible reading slump. Maybe it’s because I’ve been so swamped with schoolwork, maybe it’s because I haven’t rated many books over 3 stars for the past few months… who knows. I don’t think I’ve ever given out so many one-stars in a row. But nevertheless, I still got a lot of reading done in September and October. I read 19 books in the two months combined!

I’m going to organize this post slightly differently today: since I read so many nonfiction books, I’m going to list the nonfiction books and the fiction books separately. I don’t think I can fairly compare the two groups.

Nonfiction:

Becoming by Michelle Obama- this was an interesting memoir; it was pretty cool to read about Michelle Obama’s life story and what it was like to be first lady.

The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia by Candace Fleming- I love reading history books about random topics, so this was a very fascinating read for me.

Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett Krosoczka – Storytime: I didn’t actually know this was a graphic novel until I opened on my Kindle and started reading it.

Stamped: Antiracism, Racism, and You by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds- this was recommended reading from my school

Fiction:

1-1.5 stars

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin– I feel like I owe the world an explanation for why I did not like this very popular long-time resident of my TBR. The plot was confusing, there was no suspense, and there were comma splices galore (I hate bad grammar)

Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell– I was kind of grumpy when I read this book. There were fall vibes, sure, but the storyline was pointless and very predictable.

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer– the combination of juvenile writing, complete disregard for science, and very poor characterization compelled me to give this book one star.

2-2.5 stars

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher– I read this book because of the CONTROVERSY. Overall, it wasn’t good but it also wasn’t awful. The writing left much to be desired and the subject matter could have been handled a lot better, but it wasn’t a horrible book.

Wildcard (Warcross #2) by Marie Lu– I liked the first book in this series (more on that later), but not the sequel.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo– I know, I know… how could I give two stars to what seems like everyone’s favorite book? I don’t know… I found the story rather confusing, disorganized, and slow-paced, and I wasn’t invested in the plot.

3-3.5 stars

The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas – this was an okay YA mystery, but I wanted more from it. The plot was a little too predictable for my tastes

Eliza and her Monsters by Francesca Zappia – my mini-reviews post

The Lovely War by Julie Berry – my mini-reviews post

4-4.5 stars

A List of Cages by Robin Roe – my mini-reviews post

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky – my mini-reviews post

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr – my mini-reviews post

Little Monsters by Kara Thomas – This was a super creepy and Halloween-y read… and it was a good mystery too! If you’re looking for a dark YA mystery with some good twists, this is a good one. I did guess the ending, though.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel– Station Eleven was a very unique post-apocalyptic book… that just so happened to be about a pandemic that leads to the end of civilization.

Warcross (Warcross #1) by Marie Lu – UNPOPULAR OPINION: Warcross is a better version of Ready Player One

Blogging:

Time for unflinching honesty: I did not really focus on this blog during September and October. I have been posting only once a week and I missed a few? posting weeks in a row, but at the same time, I have been writing longer posts. That’s a positive. I also recently hit 300 followers!

I had been feeling really overwhelmed, but things are starting to settle down now and I have a bunch of post ideas. (Any requests?)

Here’s a list of my posts from the past two months:

In case you missed any.

Frappes and Fiction is Changing…|August 2020 Wrap-up and September Goals

This is How I’m Resetting my Life for the School Year

I Need Your Help|Celebrating 250 Followers

The Currently Reading Book Tag

Book Review: Quiet by Susan Cain

Are We Wasting Our Lives?|Gen Z Perspective on Social Media

The Reread Book Tag

Important Announcement

Fall Book Haul!|Mini Book Reviews

It’s Fall Y’all!|Doing the Fall Book Tags I Procrastinated

Goals:

September/October Follow-up:

1. Add variety to what I post– I think I did a pretty good job with this over the past two months, although I didn’t post very often.
2. Don’t go on my phone right after I wake up– Sadly, I did not succeed with this goal…
3. Focus on school– I definitely have been focusing on school, and now that I’m settled into the new school year, it has been much less stressful. We recently finished the first marking period and online school is way easier than regular school… that’s another positive

November Goals:

1. Work on my French– I have always been fascinated with the fact that tons of people in the world know how to speak more than one language… it just seem like it would be impossible for me to ever understand anything but English. I really want to speak another language fluently, though, so I want to focus on practicing French every day, even when I don’t have school. (If anyone has language-learning tips, I really need some!)
2. Don’t go on my phone right after I wake up– let’s just extend this one for now.
3. Prioritize my mental health– I have been feeling very stressed/anxious since the beginning of September. Really since the begining of quarantine, but it has gotten worse during school. I just really, really hate staying home all day. That’s why in this coming month, I’m going to focus on getting more sleep, writing in my journal, etc.

By the way…

I have not been very active on WordPress recently. I have been trying to keep up on my WordPress reader, but if you are wondering where I am, it’s not that I have forgotten about your blog. I’m going to try to catch up later this weekend, and also to anyone reading this, if there’s a post you want to share/promote, feel free to leave a link in the comments!

*Note- I forgot to turn comments on AGAIN on my last post! I always do that! They’re back on now.

That’s all for today’s wrap-up! Thank you for stopping by my blog (even though I posted about an hour and a half late)

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